steph korey case study Organizational behavior answerCase $8\mathrm{.}1$: Doing Away with Toxic Bchavior

One of the fastest$-$growing retail startups over the past five years, the Away direct$-$to$-$consumer luggage brand was the brainchild of co$-$

founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio, who met while working at another successful startup, eyewear retailer Warby Parker. Away became

the darling of Instagram and young travelers everywhere with its "wired" luggage, gaining a large following among people who wanted to

travel the world while staying connected. Away's products contain embedded batteries that will charge cell phones. tablets. and anything

else powered by a USB cord. But media coverage of the company turned controversial in late $2019$ when an investigative report

published by The Verge detailed how Away employees were fed up with Korey's bullying comments on Slack, a popular workplace

messaging app.

Working for a startup company can be exciting but also requires a lot of dedication and long hours by everyone for the business to

become a success, keep attracting investors, and provide a satisfying customer experience. Away was no different$-$in a one$-$year period,

company revenue grew more than $200$ percent. However, when customer service inquiries started to flood the company's inbox, Korey

began to send messages to Away employees strongly encouraging them to do whatever it took to get the job done $($initially with no

overtime pay for extended workdays$)$ and denied requests for vacation days or time off until the customer service problems were

resolved. $($Some employees complained there was not enough staff to handle all the customer service issues.$)$

According to The Verge report, when Korey didn't think the workers lived up to her expectations, she bullied and berated them on the

company's public Slack channel. For example, one of her messages to employees talked about "learning the career skill of

accountability." She also randomly called the customer experience line to see whether any of Away's employees would pick up the

phone, often screaming at people in the office if her calls went unanswered. As a result of Korey's behavior, and going against company

policy, some employees started a private Slack channel$-$called #HotTopic$-$to vent about Korey's behavior and mistreatment. Korey soon

found out about the private channel, confronted the haters, and fired six employees.

The fallout from The Verge article and Korey's bullying was immediated in the press and on social media. Korey issued a lengthy

apology, acknowledging that her phrasing of feedback to employees wasn't as "thoughtful" or "constructive" as it could have been. Four

days later, the company announced it was hiring a new CEO and Korey would become executive chairwoman. However, a month later

$($in January $2020),$ she told the New York Times that she had made a mistake when she promised to give up her CEO role and would not

be stepping down $($even though the company had already hired Stuart Haselden away from Lululemon to be Away's CEO$).$ Korey said

she and Haselden would share the co$-$CEO title going forward. Fallout from Korey's decision continued, with the company's HR director

resigning the day Korey announced she would be staying on$.$

Away's troubles were compounded by the pandemic and ensuing travel slump, which hit the company's bottom line hard in spring of

Taking drastic measures, the company furloughed half its staff and laid off another $10$ percent. During this time, while on

maternity leave, Korey continued to berate social media platforms for what she perceived as unfair treatment, which irked some Away

employees so much they sent a letter to Rubio and Haselden expressing their concerns. By June $2020,$ Korey's business partner and the

new CEO issued a stern statement about Korey's comments, trying to distance the company from her personal views, and announcing

she would be stepping down by the end of the year.

In October $2020,$ Away announced Korey was leaving the company but would remain on the board. Four months later, in January $2021,$

CEO Haselden announced he was leaving the company for personal reasons, and Away began an extensive search for a new CEO.

Questions

To what degree do you believe Korey's behavior constituted "bullying"?

Do you think Korey's passive$-$aggressive communications to employees helped or hindered their ability to do their jobs? Explain your

reasoning.

What should the company's board $($and Korey herself$)$ have done differently to get the organization back on track? Provide several

strategies.