Solving Application Symphony Orchestras on Strike The rarified world of classical music is often perceived as calm, even staid, and above the hassles of the workaday world. But with the cost of producing performances rising and ticket sales and donor support slumping in many markets, this picture is far from the truth. In recent years musicians of more than one symphony orchestra have gone on strike for better pay and other benefits. Among the latest are the players of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the top (and best-paid U.S. classical ensembles. The musicians' union had been negotiating a new contract for almost a year when players recently began picketing Orchestra Hall in Chicago in an attempt to hang on to disputed employment benefits, including their prized defined-benefit pension plan. The orchestra's management says the cost of maintaining this retirement benefit has skyrocketed, making it unsustainable for the group's future, and proposes substituting a less expensive defined-contribution plan. This would follow the example of organizations in many other industries, which have switched to defined-contribution plans for their employees and thus shifted the investment risk to workers as well. But Chicago's defined-benefit plan "has been the hallmark of the orchestra's benefits package (and those of other leading orchestras) for over 50 years," says a member of the musicians' negotiating committee, and members want to keep it that way.65 While defined-benefit plans, in which benefits are essentially guaranteed, are still common in major U.S. orchestras, many such plans are underfunded, putting benefits for both current and future retirees in jeopardy. Management says its current offer will "put the musicians in as good if not a better state upon their retirements," but Chicago's players counter that attracting and retaining world-class musicians will grow ever more difficult "if our benefits continue to fall." Meanwhile, the orchestra's famed director Ricardo Muti urged management to consider the welfare of the musicians, even visiting the picket line, though some perforihances had to be canceled while talks continued.57 Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 

1: Define the problem in this case. 

Step 2: Identify the cause of the problem. Do the parties featured in this case use the principles of expectancy theory? 

Step 3: Make a recommendation to the orchestra's management. Should the musicians be allowed to keep their defined-benefit pension.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Step 1 The problem in this case is the ongoing strike by the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra over their employment benefits particularly t... View the full answer