se Study Chapter 7 (12 marks) Decision Making And Creativity Name _____________________________

SCENARIO 1: THE PRODUCTIVITY DIVIDEND DECISION As head of the transmission/distribution group (TD group) in the citys water agency (a government corporation), you have been asked to reduce costs over the next year by a minimum of three percent without undermining service. Your department employs about 300 people who are responsible for constructing and maintaining water lines throughout the city. Although you have an engineering background, the work is complex and involves several professions and trades. Even the TD groups first line supervisors (one or two levels below you in the hierarchy) are not fully knowledgeable of all aspects of the business. You believe that most employees support or at least accept the citys recent mandate to reduce costs (called the productivity dividend initiative). The city leaders have stated that this initiative will not result in any lay- offs this year. However, the labour union representing most nonmanagement staff in the water agency (including most of your employees) is concerned that the productivity dividend initiative will reduce employment numbers over time and increase employee workloads. Although the TD group is a separate department within the city water agency, it affects most other work units in the agency. It is possible, for example, that ideas that reduce costs in the TD group might increase costs elsewhere. The TD group employees may be unaware of or care about these repercussions because there is limited interaction with or social bonding with employees in the departments. SCENARIO 2: THE SUGAR SUBSTITUTE RESEARCH DECISION You are the head of research and development (R&D) for a major beer company. While working on a new beer product, one of the scientists in your unit seems to have tentatively identified a new chemical compound that has few calories but tastes closer to sugar than current sugar substitutes. The company has no foreseeable need for this product, but it could be patented and licensed to manufacturers in the food industry. The sugar-substitute discovery is in its preliminary stages and would require considerable time and resources before it would be commercially viable. This means that it would necessarily take some resources away from other projects in the lab. The sugar substitute project is beyond your technical expertise, but some of the R&D lab researchers are familiar with that field of chemistry. As with most such discoveries, it is difficult to determine the amount of research required to further identify and perfect the sugar substitute. You do not know how much demand is expected for this product. Your department has a decision process for funding projects that are behind schedule. However, there are no rules or precedents about funding projects that would be licensed but not used by the organization. The companys R&D budget is limited, and other scientists in your work group have recently complained that they require more resources and financial support to get their projects completed. Some of these R&D projects hold promise for future beer sales. You believe that most researchers in the R&D unit are committed to ensuring that the companys interests are achieved. Instruction You can choose Scenario 1 or Scenario 2 Answer all 3 questions Q1. To what extent should your subordinates be involved in this decision? Select one of the following levels of involvement: 1. Decide alone. Use your personal knowledge and insight to complete the entire decision process without conferring with anyone else. 2. Receive information from individuals. Ask specific individuals for information. They do not make recommendations and might not even know what the problem is about. 3. Consult with individuals. Describe the problem to selected individuals and seek both their information and recommendations. The final decision is made by you, which may or may not take the advice from others into account. 4. Consult with the team. You bring together a team of people (all department staff or a representation of them if the department is large), who are told about the problem and provide their ideas and recommendations. You make the final decision, which may or may not reflect the teams information. 5. Facilitate the teams decision. The entire decision-making process is handed over to a team or committee of subordinates. You serve only as a facilitator to guide the decision process and keep everyone on track. The team identifies the problem, discovers alternative solutions, chooses the best alternative, and implements their choice. Q2: What factors led you to choose this level of employee involvement rather than the others? Q3. What problems might occur if less or more involvement occurred in this case (where possible)? Choose one scenario from them to answer that questions