...GM591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior Instructor: Michael McCarthy Submitted By: Cassandra Norton DSI#: D97056313 Date: November 8, 2009 Email: cassie.norton@comcast.net Overview of Organization The organization that will be the focus of my discussion in my final paper is Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). HCSC is the largest customer-owned health benefits company in the United States and is the fourth largest health insurer in the country overall. The organization is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and is the parent company to four regional Blue health plans: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma. HCSC’s line of business is to provide group and individual health plans, managed care programs, and Medicare supplemental coverage to its members. Beginning in the late 1990’s, the corporate culture started to deteriorate and employee morale took a turn for the worst amidst public claims of unethical business practices and poor corporate citizenship. In 1998, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) was involved in a public scandal and pled guilty to eight felony counts of Medicare fraud and agreed to pay $4 million in criminal fines and $140 million in a civil settlement for lying to federal auditors, destroying documents and mishandling claims. The company’s reputation suffered grievously and it seemed...
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...Transforming ATena heath care companies into high performance culture GM591 Leader ship and organizational behavior instructor : Bob Bustretsky ,Ph.D Email : carolinebabiker@yahoo.com August ,26,2008 Introduction Aetna Inc. is a diversified healthcare benefits company as well as one of the largest managed care companies in the U.S. It offers traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life, and disability plans, and medical and healthcare management services. Among its historical highlights: It insured the Manhattan Project and also the lives of the first seven American astronauts in 1963.Aetna and its employees know that business success and community success are inseparable. Aetna carries with it a legacy of civic responsibility and an ingrained culture of caring deeply. Aetna’s approach to philanthropy is grounded in the philosophy that a prosperous economy has as its foundation a stable society. Aetna was the corporation reviewed in my OCI paper. Aetna has a great diversity culture . It have difficulties with innovation in their culture . They must use better technology to provide greater customer service and feed back . Training their workers on how to organize their customer...
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...At IDEO, collaborative interaction is a core competitive advantage. To accomplish this, IDEO promotes a “democracy of ideas.” It discourages formal titles, does not have a dress code, and encourages employees to move around, especially during mental blocks. Stimulating interactions are encouraged by creating open work spaces and many opportunities for collaboration in the office. Designers are encouraged to talk to one another in whatever forum possible, and experts co-mingle in offices that look like “cacophonous kindergarten classrooms.” As described by Tom Peters, “Walk into the offices of IDEO design in Palo Alto, California, immediately you’ll be caught up in the energy, buzz, creative disarray and sheer lunacy of it all.” For IDEO, creative interaction and collaborative communication are keys to success. ------------------------------------------------- The Nature of Communication Workplaces are becoming increasingly collaborative, making communication more important than ever. New technologies, trends toward global real-time work, and a younger generation more comfortable with social connectivity are dramatically reshaping how companies and employees function. Social tools such as wikis and blogs are putting more communication power in the hands of employees and customers. Do companies worry that this will lead to confusion and loss of control? Not at Google, IBM, and Xerox, where collaborative communication processes are breaking down traditional corporate barriers...
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...1 – Everyone’s Gasoline Problem: We are all familiar with fluctuating prices of gasoline at the pump. Why does this happen? Research the recent history of gasoline pricing in your area, and attempt to relate any fluctuations you observe to documented supply and demand factors outlined in our book. Be sure to cite any references used. Fluctuating gas prices are caused by a number of factors. The combination of the price of crude oil and the cost of producing and marketing gasoline have greatly impacted the fluctuation of gas prices that we experience on a daily basis. Crude oil prices are determined by worldwide supply and demand, with significant influence by the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) as they determine how much oil to produce and sell to other countries. The more crude oil OPEC chooses to produce and release, the lower the price. With an increase in worldwide demand for oil, including unexpected demand growth in China, India, and other fast developing nations. These nations have experienced a tremendous growth in the number of citizens who have access to automobiles, and their billion-person populations have a strong impact on the amount of crude oil needed in those parts of the world. Seasonal changes can have a serious impact on gas prices as well. Gas prices increase greatly during the summer and holiday seasons because American’s travel increases during these times. For example, the American gas demand increases by 5% in the summer season...
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...GM 591 My primary style would be conventional which falls in the passive/defensive styles. My back up thinking style would be achievement which falls in the constructive styles. So according to this model since my primary thinking style is a passive /defensive style that represents self-protecting thinking and behavior that promotes the fulfillment of security needs through interaction with people. U would have to agree with this for the most part but not 100 percent. Looking back when I use to manage, I did have a lot of these characteristics under the conventional style. For example I did enjoy being recognized by my superiors for any of my achievements and I still do. I always try to avoid any conflicts in the work place and even outside too. I was very respectful to others, whether they were employees or bosses. Now on the flip side of things there are something’s that I have to say are completely off or not in my character. For instance I don’t think I was always one to accept the status quo, instead I would always be on the opposing side and I never been one who was inconsistent or even indecisive. Now my back up style is a constructive style which reflects self-enhancing thinking and behavior that contributes to ones level of satification, ability to develop healthy relationships and work effectively with people and proficiency at accomplishing task. This constructive style of thinking I would have to agree with almost completely. I do tend to be honest...
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...Term Project Course: GM 591 Instructor: Dr. Charles W. Creamer Student: Evan T. Dickinson Submitted: December 11, 2010 INTRODUCTION STSCM Systems LLC, a public company with headquarters located in northern New Jersey, has been a leader in providing wireless data solutions since its formation in 1998. The company's primary focus is on delivering advanced wireless monitoring and control solutions for many industries with emphasis on refrigerated transport, railroad, and specialty freight. The company's current solutions are improving the efficiency and operations of refrigerated trailers, trucks, containers, railcars, general-purpose railcars, bulk-transport trailers, barges, generators, compressors, and oil-field equipment. STSCM's operations center, also located in northern New Jersey, manages wireless equipment deployed worldwide including North America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. STSCM has become a successful leader in its marketplace by having developed the capability to define and specify solutions optimized for customers’ applications. The company provides vertically integrated technical resources including project management, engineering development, software, firmware, and hardware engineering and applications delivery using a highly qualified, experienced technical team. STSCM's solutions are flexible and adaptable for use by customers with information delivery accomplished using a variety of methods including internet, advanced...
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...Use ‘Bullet Format’ EXCEPT for section VI. For this section, use a ‘Paragraph Format.’ I. Brainstorm [Define] the Case Issue(s)/Problem(s) a) Corporation firing an employee due to his views, violating his U.S. Constitutional freedom of speech. b) Employee disturbing the work environment with graphic expression of his political and personal views. c) Negative effect on the image of the corporation with employees car present at his work assignments. II. Choose the Main Issue/Problem – just one a) Corporation firing an employee due to his views, violating his U.S. Constitutional freedom of speech. III. Perform a SWOT Analysis [in grid form] A. Strengths – Information about the present - Employment at will signed by every employee. - Employee is disturbing others at the workplace with his political and personal views. - The employee has recently started expressing his views that offend others at the workplace, not affecting his pass performance. B. Weaknesses – Information about the present - Negative image broadcasted by the employee. - The employee being fired is expressing his U.S. constitutional rights being taken from him. - Employee is affecting others at the workplace. C. Opportunities – Information about the future - Preventing the corporation image from being damaged. - Strong position by the company on not tolerating anything that will affect other employees in a negative way. - D. Threats –...
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...Week 8 Questions For Critical Thinking: 1. Distinguish between leadership and followership. Followership is defined as “the act or instance of accepting the guidance and command of someone who leads or guides” (dictionary.com). A newly employed worker is a prime example of a follower. Having little knowledge about the job, the employee is unable to neither make important decisions affecting a group of people nor teach others by example. The employee is only able to accept the lessons and duties imposed upon him by his ordinates. The follower will imitate the leader’s behavior and actions, gaining self-discipline, motivation, ideas, and responsibility from those experiences, if the leader exhibited those qualities as well. These acquired qualities are necessary for the cadet’s development as a follower, and eventually, a leader. Leadership is essentially the contrary to followership. Leadership is defined as “is the process of influencing others and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” (Organizational Behavior, 11th Edition. John Wiley & Sons p. G-6). Leaders have the necessary experience, skill, and motivation to bear responsibilities that a follower might not be capable of handling. As mentioned previously, a follower imitates the behavior imposed upon him or her by his or her leader. The leader must act properly as a role model for the follower, exhibiting self-discipline, motivation, and responsibility to teach the...
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...Information: This United States Postal Service is a current company that I work for. I choose to write about them in particular because of I’ve gain a great deal of experience in a real work place from being at this company. With delivering more than 200 billion pieces of mail per year and connecting to every U.S. home and business. We are said to be integral to our nation and its economy and seek the best leadership available to continue our excellence in operational performance. The Postal Service had a tradition of on time delivery and customer satisfaction, but due to budget cuts there has been a decline. In the station I work out of there are approximately 75 employees and 5 managers. This company has been around for over 200 years with the same Vision, Purpose, and Direction. Current culture: The primary skill expressed based off of the OCI is the need for power. No matter what position you play in the company everyone needs their voice to be heard. In the service and delivery department the two most important powerful ones were of course the Postmasters, who hired, fired and who had control over all the aspects of service and delivery decision making and a say so in some parts of the overall company progress. Then in my department of delivery I have a few supervisors who didn’t really care how the employees felt, it was what upper management wanted no matter if it was right or wrong. Then you have the managers who demand power but really don’t deserve it...
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...A Case Study of the Illegal and Unethical Behavior in Corinthian Colleges, Inc. Benancio Varela benancio.varela@yahoo.com GM 591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior Professor Horst August 10, 2011 Introduction Corinthian Colleges, Inc., (CCi) by way of more than 102,000 students enrolled as of March 31, 2011, is one of the leading post-secondary education companies in North America. Their duty is to change students' lives. They present diploma and degree programs that prepare students intended for careers in demand or for advancement in their chosen fields. The corporation operates 105 schools in 25 states and 17 schools in Canada. CCi has 122 Everest, Heald and WyoTech campuses nationwide. CCi serves the great and growing segment of the population seeking to acquire career-oriented education. They propose programs in areas that include health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades and information technology. CCi in addition offers students the chance to take classes online through Everest College in Phoenix and Everest University in Florida. Their business was founded in 1995 and they completed an preliminary public offering in 1999. Historically, CCi has developed through acquisitions as well as through organic growth. Organic growth consists of opening new division campuses, remodeling, escalating or relocating existing campuses and adopting curricula into existing colleges. As of December 31, 2010...
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...GM591 Professor Carr Case Study Essay There are five stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. After reading the case study “The Forgotten Group Member”, I believe that the whole of the group and the majority of the group are in two different stages. They experienced the forming stage when the teacher assigned their group. They got to know each other and what to expect from each member, good or bad. As a whole group they are in the storming stage now, dealing with the tension created by Mike. Ideally, they will pass into the norming stage where they can work cohesively as a team. At the performing stage they will each be turning in their completed pieces of work and meeting the expectations of their peers. This is where the majority of the group is, minus Mike. At this point the group has all turned in their completed parts of the whole while Mike has turned in hand scratched incomplete notes. Once the team has completed their tasks, they can complete the final stage of adjourning or disbanding the group. If Christine, the team leader, had a clear understanding of these stages, she might have been able to motivate Mike out of his social loafing as well as create a cohesive team with a sense of belonging that could have fostered better performance from all members. The primary problem I see with this case study is the social loafing Mike is exhibiting and that the group is allowing. With one week left before the final product needs...
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...Course Project MGMT591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior February 3, 2013 Overview of Organization Preliminary Problem Statement How technology is changing the way we face our day to day business challenges and solutions. I will focus on how new technology approaches with smartphones and tablets will provide advantages for managers and employees. My approach will be to demonstrate that by providing these devices to managers and employees will set their companies above the competition. Some benefits of using smartphones and tablets are the ability to submit real time scope audits and quicker communication between the corporation and its clients. Companies that are converting to this technology are increasing their stake in the market. Literature Review According to Andrew Douglas (2011), “Smartphone’s allow firms access to their company files and networks in an affordable way and can provide a business communications lifeline when other systems fail. He goes on to state that through Smartphone’s management is able to communicate immediately with employees to inform them of any incident, check on their safety and location and communicate necessary measures or contact details. The advantages of Smartphone’s over regular mobile phones are that most of these activities can be automated via dedicated software applications and that much of the relevant documents, such as business continuity plans, employee contact details and...
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...Getting the Right People to Work at Domino's Pizza GM591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior INTRODUCTION Domino's Pizza is a international pizza chain with roughly 9000 locations worldwide who has been in the pizzeria business for nearly 50 years. Domino's Pizza has a combination of corporate owned and franchised locations. They are also a publicly traded and multinational organization. Domino's Pizza have set their goal in becoming the number one pizza delivery service ever. Domino's Pizza falls under the fast food industry, which has been characterized for high employee turnover. Domino's Pizza is no exception to the high employee turnover of this industry. Domino's Pizza has a trend of young and inexperienced employees that only stay with the company for a short while. With turnover rates high and new inexperienced employees filling job positions it seems that Domino's Pizza is in a vicious cycle of hiring and re-hiring. Employees do not see Domino's as a long term dream job, but a temporary job just to earn money. The costs of the hiring process is taking a continuous toll on this pizzeria company. In terms of my role with this company I have been asked to assume the role of a consultant. A manager has asked me for my expertise in handling the large employee turnover rate. In this industry the employee turnover rate can be as high as 200% to 300%. It can be quite a challenge to bring this rate down. However I am confident...
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...Overcoming Workplace Discrimination GM591 Leadership and Organizational Behavior April 15, 2012 Dr. Barb Vallera Introduction The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Inc. is the oldest and largest privately-held specialty coffee and tea retailer in the United States, whose corporate headquarters are in Los Angeles, CA. They have experienced steady growth and profits since their conception in 1963, but have since embarked upon an international expansion boost. The company has expanded at such a rapid pace that they are considering an IPO in the next couple of years to raise further capital. We primarily sell premium coffee and tea blends that are harvested across the world from private farmers and growers to ensure exclusivity. We select only the top 1% Arabica beans and the finest hand-plucked, whole leaf teas. Our coffee is freshly roasted daily in small batches in a manual European roast style in our private roasting facility. All of our teas are hand blended under the direction of our tea master. Today we proudly offer over 30 varieties of coffee and 20 varieties of teas. In addition to our coffee and tea selection, we have developed the CBTL system, which is a single-serve, automatic proportioning system that provides customers with The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf experience in the comfort of their own home. You can now find The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf products in grocery stores, restaurants, and offices. The company has grown to be an international...
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...GM591 LSI paper The LSI assignment gave me a chance to see on paper what behavioral and thinking styles I use more of on a daily basis and where I rank compared to others who have taken the same survey. My primary constructive style is affiliate, which fell into the high percentile range, and the one that I scored the most on in any category. My next highest ranking style is humanistic-encouraging, then self-actualizing, and last was achievement at the lowest percentile. Then for my back-up personal thinking style in the Passive/Defensive category dependent is the one that is the highest scoring. The next highest is approval, then conventional, and last is avoidance. I believe that some of the rankings for the constructive style category are pretty accurate in the way that I think and behave at work, as well as in my personal life. With the affiliative style showing up as my highest raw score, that really doesn’t surprise me because I think people are more important; I try my best to be available to answer questions, and provide the most help I can offer. I am also not surprised that humanistic-encouraging shows up as my next highest because it goes hand and hand with the affiliative style in being a leader, thinking people are worth more, and trying to bring out the best in others. What I was most shocked over was how low both self-actualizing, and achievement scored. I am not sure that I totally agree with the results. I believe that my scoring...
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