Organizational Behavior Cases - Case Study Example

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF MEN’S WEARHOUSE Q1: You are a consultant for Suits You Sir. They wish to hire for attitude like their competitors Men’s Wearhouse. Using OB theory and models, advise whether your client can determine if job applicants have appropriate attitudes and values for the job and if so, how can they do it? 50 marks The recruitment of personnel based on attitude may be a challenge to embark upon for the first time. Men’s Wearhouse says that they have “tossed out conventional hiring rituals” to recruit personnel solely on the basis of attitude. At first blush, it appears avant-garde and a common-sense simplification of a fundamental organisational function. Having managers hire solely on the criterion that the successful recruit be “like themselves,” however, opens the door to subjectivity and possible abuse. Where the company has long been adjusted to this technique, with a long line of managers with track records and whose attitudes have long been acclimatized to a corporate culture such as Men’s Wearhouse, then this may make sense. Such managers would have been moulded into the ideals of Men’s Wearhouse, whether they are aware of it or not, so that their choices of people “like themselves” would actually be not purely subjective or based on personal likes and dislikes, but hiring according to the company’s ideals to which their own attitudes and behaviours have been shaped through the years. In short, the managers who choose on the basis of their own personal attributes have been “accultured” to the Men’s Wearhouse ideals. Culture has much to do with a person’s behaviour and attitudes. By “culture” is meant “the attitudes and behaviour that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization” (Wordnetweb, 2009). Prof. Geerte Hofstede of Maastricht University, stated it succinctly. According to him, “we tend to have a human instinct that ‘deep inside’ all people are the same – but they are not” (Itim International, 2009). Prof. Hofstede has anchored his original theory on the study of cultural differences among countries and their impact on the international organization. While his theory is based on nationalities, his concepts are nevertheless applicable in observing cultural differences among groups in a society. Hofstede defined five cultural dimensions: power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term (vs. short-term) orientation. Applied to Men’s Wearhouse, from a cursory inspection of the case facts, it appears that: 1. Power distance is low, implied by the emphasis on commonalities among managers and the subordinates they choose; 2. Individualistic, because people are chosen on the basis of personal attributes they already possess upon entry into the organization (“optimism, passion, excitement and energy”); 3. Feminine (“We want people who enjoy life,” who empathize with customers) rather than the masculine attributes of assertiveness and competitiveness; 4. Low uncertainty avoidance, characterized by the fluidity of dealing with customers, adherence to an unstructured method of determining customers’ needs (“delaying gratification and taking rejection in stride; emotional intelligence”); and 5. Long-term orientation, because of the emphasis on perseverance (Itim, 2009), particularly in helping the customer decide on which merchandise truly meets his needs, “to move beyond the initial customer request and to satisfy the true need.” It is apparent at this point that Men’s Wearhouse’s recruitment method In the case of Men’s Wearhouse, their corporate culture has been ingrained through years of association with their personnel; thus their methods could not be so easily uprooted and transplanted into other organizations that have not undergone the same organizational development as Men’s Wearhouse has. In the diagram below, role of the organisation and its interface or interaction with the individual, in the context of the external environment, is emphasised, indicating that it is possible that at the recruitment stage, when no interaction has yet taken place, what is discerned as employee attitude may not result in the desired employee behaviour once the individual has been assimilated into the organization. Source: Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. Delta Publishing Co, 2006 Another aspect of this analysis deals with whether or not attitude can be determined during recruitment. By “attitude” is meant the “complex mental state involving beliefs, feelings, values and dispositions to act in certain ways” (Wordnetweb, 2009). It also alternatively defined as “a relatively stable cluster of feelings, beliefs, and behavioural predisposition (i.e. intentions) toward some specific target (Delta, 2006). A person will tend to act in accordance with his attitude, his personal feelings, values and predisposition; but his action will also be modified by his motivation to take such action. By “motivation” is meant that which “arouses an organism to action toward a desired; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behaviour” (Wordnetweb, 2009). There are two types of motivational theories that comprise academic literature. The first is collectively termed the Content Theories, focused on what makes people act or what appeals to them. Examples of these are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory. On the other hand, Process Theories, which describes the organization’s approach towards mobilizing its members towards a particular activity. Adam’s Equity Theory is counted under this type of theory. Thus, in determining a person’s disposition to act within the context of an organization, it is not only important to find out what an individual’s attitude is, but how his attitude will be translated into behaviour in the framework of the organisation. The earlier discourse on Hofstede’s cultural theory has defined the organizational behaviour expected in Men’s Wearhouse; this also provides the process motivation, the system of rewards and remunerations, monetary and non-monetary, that the individual expects to receive. Whether an individual can or cannot work within such context is governed by the content theories, what his needs are and whether his expectations of hygiene and motivational factors are met. To answer the question as to whether or not attitude can be determined during recruitment, this is apparently answered by the case of Men’s Wearhouse: it can, but only under certain defining circumstances. The method of recruitment should be well attuned to the corporate culture, and thus must be the product of long-term development; it cannot be imported wholesale and then expected to work, despite corporate culture mismatch. Furthermore, the organisation’s motivational framework should suit the individual’s personal predisposition. In determining this, much depends upon the skill of the evaluator in ferreting out the applicant’s deep-seated attitudes and also upon his thorough grounding in an understanding of the organisation. Lacking this skill and understanding, one still has to resort to the conventional recruitment procedures, which would involve psychological and aptitude tests that could unearth in a short amount of time what could not be discerned in a brief face-to-face encounter. Q2: Zimmer and the people at Men’s Wearhouse believe that how people feel about their work is a significant factor in their success. Using OB theory explore the relationship between a range of work attitudes(e.g. Job satisfaction), and a range of performance metrics (eg. Absenteeism). 50 marks Men’s Wearhouse may well be right in saying their excellent sales and financial performance was influenced by their employees’ enjoyment of their jobs; however, it may just as well also be the excellent product design, marketing strategies, financial savvy and streamlined operations that provided efficiencies to the company that impacted on the organizations’ success. Performance is defined simply as the manner in which the employee gets the job done (Duncan, 2007). In academic literature, three factors are generally determined to influence performance: motivation (the desire to do the job), ability (the capability to do the job), and work environment (the tools, materials, and information needed to do the job) (Buchanan, 2008). Earlier, mention has been made concerning the motivational theories of Maslow, Herzberg and Adams. Under these theories, it is important that the demands and rigors of the job fulfill a particular need of the individual, thus affording him emotional satisfaction. In Maslow’s case, this satisfaction is attained by the progressive levels of needs met, from the physiological at the lowest to the self-actualization needs at the apex. This is recognition of the changing expectations of men and how the job should evolve to meet this ever-changing expectation. When the job no longer suffices to fulfil the individual’s needs level, it ceases to have motive force, and performance suffers. Herzberg’s two factor theory differs in that it distinguishes between motivation and satisfaction. It is the presence of motivating factors that enhances internal motivation, i.e., the initiative to achieve more, while it is the absence of the hygiene factors that causes dissatisfaction. The presence of hygiene factors, no matter how replete, could not motivate, nor could the absence of motivating factors cause dissatisfaction. However, extending the analysis, absence of motivation creates boredom, and dissatisfaction creates dissension – in either case, an individual’s work performance could suffer as a result. Finally, Adam’s equity theory states that were the organization is seen to be inequitable in providing the expected rewards in return for the expected behaviour, it may be the cause for both dissatisfaction and demotivation among employees, impacting negatively on their performance (Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior, 2006). Apparently for the equity theory especially, a means of measuring performance is necessary that is acceptable to employees and employer, and by which remuneration or rewards may be allocated. Performance metrics have been the subject of much discussion among human resources practitioners as much as organizational behaviour researchers. Common measures include absenteeism, tardiness, and some measure of output such as number of sales closed or jobs accomplished; but these are general indicators, and companies resort to more fine-tuned measurement methods and standards that are supposed to provide more information relating to the company’s status. The need to measure and provide interim feedback about employee performance is necessary for managerial decision making; the problem lies in what measurements provide information that is both reliable and valid as basis for decision-making. By reliable is meant that “similar procedures get similar readings;” and validity means that “the procedure forecasts some future outcome at a useful accuracy,” or that “the procedure agrees with the reasonable measures of the phenomenon” (Ross, 2003). Ross observes that there are five methods for measuring performance; these are essay, description of instances of effective performance, graphic rating, ranking, and paired comparison. “Essay” involves giving an informed person a blank piece of paper and asking him to describe “target performance” in his own words. “Describing instances” includes asking the observer to describe a moment when observed performance was good or bad, and what made it so. “Graphic ratings” is undertaken by describing an performance element and asking the observer to rate the target performance on a rating scale that is usually anchored with words and numbers. “Tanking” requires that the observer tanks a group of people whose performance is known to the observer, based on such characteristic as “overall value to the company” or “contributions to our team’s effectiveness.” Finally, “paired comparison” ratings entails giving the observer two phrases describing performance and asking the observer to say which one of the two phrases best describes the person observed (typically, many pairs are used in a questionnaire) (Ross, 2003). The foregoing discussion by Ross highlights the subjectivity of designing performance metrics. There are no absolute measures of job performance; to a degree, it always depends on the subjective judgment of the observer, because quantitative measures alone could not capture the qualitative aspects which are just as important. According to Buchanan (2008), labor turnover and absenteeism are commonly associated with dissatisfaction, but no direct correlational study has confirmed this because of the present of many other explanatory factors. Given the choice, most employees would prefer to leave their jobs when dissatisfaction sets in; they may, however, choose to keep their jobs due to other factors, such as the availability of other equivalent job positions and the general economic situation. Where the employee chooses to stay with his job, it is a reasonable assumption that their performance tends to suffer. However, the link between job performance and satisfaction is weak. One important reason is that performance on some jobs are regimented, such as in the use of machinery or absence of exercise of prerogatives. The weak empirical association between job satisfaction and either employee withdrawal or performance drives home the point that attitudes are not perfect predictors of behaviour (Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior, 2006). [wordcount = 1,950, excluding title and questions, including in-text citations] REFERENCES Besemer, D; Clark, E; Dussert, B; Ferguson, M; Finnigan, D; Funk, R A; Neveu, R; & Sasser, S 2005 Recruitment Requires “Take Charge” Attitude. Recruitment and Staffing Services. Human Capital Mag, January-February, pp. 25-27. Buchanan, K 2008 Job Performance and Satisfaction. Ezine Articles. Accessed 19 December 2009 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Job-Performance-and-Satisfaction&id=290072 Duncan, W J 2007 Organizational Behavior. HR Folks International. Itim International 2009 Geerte Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Accessed 19 December 2009 from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ Polansky, D 2009 Managing Groups and Teams/ Motivation. Accessed 19 December 2009 from http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?oldid=1481022 Ross, P F 2003 Measuring Job Performance: Why, How, and Whether. Lecture presentation, American Statistical Association, Puget Sound Chapter. Accessed 19 December 2009 from home.att.net/~pfrswr/psasa_03.doc ____ 2006 Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. Delta Publishing Co., Los Alamitos, California. Wordnetweb 2009 Princeton University. Accessed 19 December 2009 from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Read More