2 Jessica Emmons
JFT2 Organizational Management Task 1
July 30, 2014

1. Bill Bailey – chairman of the board of the Utah Opera Organization a. Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation
Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation is a model of motivation that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or give-and-take relationships. The organizational justice theory is an expansion of the equity theory that works to explain employees’ attitudes and behaviors and reflects the extent to which people perceive that they are treated fairly at work. There are three different components of organizational justice: i. Distributive justice – the perceived fairness of how resources and rewards are allocated ii. Procedural justice – the perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make allocation decisions iii. Interactional justice – the extent to which people feel fairly treated when procedures are implemented (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010)
Bill Bailey’s concerns regarding the merger focus mainly on the financial stability and flexibility of the opera versus the symphony and the fear that the opera will lose its identity. According to Mr. Bailey, the opera has a reserve fund and is financially stable. In addition, as a result of the current business model, the opera has the flexibility to adjust the size of opera or eliminate projects if necessary, while the symphony has a 52-week orchestra without any flexibility.
According to Kreitner & Kinicki (2010) there are six practical implications within the equity theory that Bill Bailey can utilize to gain support for the merger. The first implication is to determine the employees’ perceptions of what is fair and equitable. Second, it is important to involve employees in the decision making process and give them a voice. Third, employees should have the opportunity to appeal any decision that would affect their welfare. Fourth, the promotion of cooperation and teamwork among members can be achieved by treating everyone fairly. Fifth, employee perceptions of justice are strongly influenced by the leadership behavior of management. And lastly, Mr. Bailey needs to pay close attention to the climate of justice amongst the organization. Mr. Bailey can follow these implications by having informal conversations with employees, performing interviews, or initiating attitude surveys. The utilization of Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation will help Bill Bailey to support the merger and ensure that the merger is fair and just for all involved parties. 2. Scott Parker – chairman of the board of the Utah Symphony Organization b. Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Alderfer’s ERG Theory states that there are three basic needs that influence behavior: iv. Existence – physiological and material well-being v. Relatedness –desire for meaningful relationships with others vi. Growth – desire to grow and use abilities to perform to fullest potential
Ms. Abravanel is currently opposed to the merger, stating that her husband never would have taken second billing to anyone and would not have approved of a merger. To convince Ms. Abravanel that the merger would be beneficial for the symphony, Mr. Parker can utilize the ERG theory and its three needs.
Mr. Parker can first appeal to Ms. Abravanel’s existence need by discussing the current precarious financial position of the symphony, including the declining economy, the decreased attendance, and the near deficit situation. By explaining that merging with the opera would help to alleviate some of the financial pressure the symphony is currently experiencing. The second need, relatedness, can be appealed to by discussing the benefits for the employees as a result of the merger. Mr. Parker can appeal to Ms. Abravanel’s desire for meaningful relationships with others by discussing the positive impact that a merger could have on the attitudes of the employees and the stability that the merger could provide in regards to the symphony’s future success. And finally, can appeal to Ms. Abravanel’s desire for growth. Considering the current CEO for the symphony announced that they would be leaving in February, the merger would solve the problem of recruiting a new CEO, as Ms. Ewers would become the CEO for the merged organizations. By merging the two organizations, both organizations will have greater abilities to continue to grow and utilize their abilities to the fullest potential. 3. Anne Ewers
Social power is defined as the ability to marshal the human, informational, and material resources to get something done (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Within an organization, power is a necessary and typically positive force. Power is the ability of a leader to command the respect, attention, and desired actions of those who follow you. The balances of positional and personal powers are the key to being a successful leader.
Legitimate and referent powers are two of five power bases, with each base involving a different approach to influencing others. Legitimate or positional power is a base of power that is anchored to one’s formal position or authority (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Positional power is an external power that which comes from your position or role within an organization and can encompass status and reputation. According to Phatak (2012) positional power is essentially a set of rights which a leader inherits as a result of his position within a power structure.
Referent or personal power is a base of power that comes into play when one’s personality becomes the reason for compliance Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). While positional power is an external power, referent power is an internal power which comes from within an individual. Referent power is directly related to an individuals’ attitude, persistence, charisma, intelligence, knowledge, confidence, and other personal characteristics.
Positional and personal powers are closely related and typically complement one another. As one area of power improves, it is essential that a leader works on striving to improve their other power base as well. For example, as a leader strives to increase their positional power, by achieving promotions or raises, they can work to improve their personal power by increasing their knowledge base, honing their interpersonal skills, and gaining the respect of their employees. This in turn will increase the likelihood of positional power increases and so on. c. Using positional power to lead merger efforts
As discussed above, positional power refers to the power obtained as a result of an individuals’ role or position. In Anne’s case, her positional power comes as a result of her possession of several prestigious positions. She was able to gain a positive reputation within the opera community for her work as a stage director for over 60 opera productions across the U.S and abroad. Following her work as a director, Anne worked as an assistant director to the San Francisco Opera and the Canadian Opera Company. She then served as the general director of the Boston Lyric Opera, where she successfully retired a $450,000 debt that she inherited from her predecessor, built an endowment fund, and increased the number of productions from one to three. Anne then continued to increase her positional power when she was hired to lead the Utah Opera Company. Under her direction, the opera has continued to grow, increasing the number of annual productions from three to four and attracting annual audiences of approximately 130,000 patrons from Utah and neighboring states. In addition, the opera also stages performances for over 70,000 students in an attempt to increase the appreciation for the opera and ensure a future audience base.
As a result of these positions, Ms. Ewers has secured a solid reputation for having a strong sense of business, the ability to promote growth, and her outstanding artistic talent. With her solid history of growth and improvements, Anne can utilize her positional power and reputation to successfully lead the merger efforts and convince the others that the merger will be equally as successful as her previous business endeavors. With positional power, Anne can use her privilege of authority to get people to listen to her, as well as partnering with them through open exchanges of ideas and visions. By working to gain the respect and esteem of others, she can continue to increase her positional power and improve her ability to influence others, which will be crucial to leading the merger efforts. d. Using personal power to empower Keith Lockhart
As discussed above, personal power is an internal power which is directly related to an individuals’ personality or character. In Anne’s case, she has gained a reputation among the executive committees at the opera and symphony for being energetic, enthusiastic, and capable. She views the opportunity of leading the merged organizations and the integration effort as exciting and challenging, requiring a well thought out plan for successful integration. Ms. Ewers can utilize her personal power to empower Keith Lockhart after the merger by her projecting positivity and charisma.
Mr. Lockhart feels that it is his responsibility to protect the symphony’s interests. He feels that the way to do this is for him to stay in complete control of the symphony. He fears that a merger will cause him to lose control, as well as the respect of the musicians. He also recognizes the current unstable state of the symphony and the benefits of a merger. He feels that the organizations could benefit from having both artistic vision as well as a solid business and financial vision and recognizes the synergy that could be realized by merging the two organizations. His initial reaction to Ms. Ewers was that she was a good listener and extremely energetic.
Ms. Ewers can use her personal power to strengthen their relationship by displaying her respect for him and his opinions and ideas, as well as ensuring that he understands the value of his position to the organizations. She has already demonstrated to Mr. Lockhart that she is a good listener and by working to share the power with Mr. Lockhart by involving him in decisions in an open and willing manner, Ms. Ewers and Mr. Lockhart can create a solid leadership partnership. By creating a strong partnership, both Ms. Ewers and Mr. Lockhart could increase each other’s personal and positional powers by utilizing each other’s strengths to help bring the two organizational cultures together. This partnership will also be beneficial to assuring the symphony musicians that the two organizations interests will be treated equally. 4. Potential Issue with the Symphony musicians
One potential foreseeable issue with the symphony musicians is that of a union strike or musicians quitting their jobs. The Utah Symphony currently employs 83 players, who are unionized and receive annual salaries of between $50,000 and $85,000. The current collective agreement calls for large salary increases over the next two years, with an increase of 12.9% the first year and 6.8% the second year. The orchestra salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes currently account for 60% of the total expenses for the symphony and will increase dramatically under the current agreement. In addition, the relationship between the musicians and management has not always been amicable, with the board altering the collective agreement resulting in decreased salaries for the musicians. As a result of the proposed merger, some of the musicians are already accusing the symphony board of entering into merger discussions as another way to renegotiate terms of the current collective agreement. This has the potential to become a legitimate issue as the symphony has already formed an ad hoc committee to represent their concerns to the board, with their main concern being changes to the current bargaining agreement and decreases in salary and benefits. e. Mitigation recommendation
There are several ways in which Anne Ewers can work to mitigate the potential of a union strike or the loss of musicians. After receiving the list of guiding principles outlines by the ad hoc committee, Anne can formulate a plan to address the concerns and principles outlined: * An organizational structure that protected and enhanced artistic excellence * Effective fund-raising * A budget strategy that improved the position of the Utah Symphony as a major 52-week season orchestra * A strong collective bargaining agreement
Ms. Ewers can work with the musicians and ensure them that the merger will be beneficial for both organizations. She can work to gain their respect by sharing her artistic vision for the organizations and the importance of artistic excellence and growth to her. To address their fund raising concerns, she can provide examples of her strong history of fund raising experience and the successful fund raising she has accomplished in the past. The current state of the orchestra has them very close to being in a deficit situation with no break in sight. She can explain the benefits of a merger, considering the opera is in a more solid and stable financial state, and the potential for future growth. With her history of significant financial growth among previous organizations she has directed, the musicians should realize that their future income possibilities will be more secure as a result of the merger. Ms. Ewers can also work to assure the musicians and ad hoc committee that the intention of the merger is not to undermine the union or renegotiate the terms of the current contract, but to strengthen and grow both organizations. 5. Organizational Influence Tactics
While there are many organizational influence tactics that Ms. Ewers could utilize to persuade the opera’s staff to endorse the merger, it is recommended that Ms. Ewers use the rational persuasion and consultation tactics. According to Kreitner & Kinicki (2010) rational persuasion is trying to convince someone with reason, logic, or facts, while consultation involves getting others to participate in planning, making decisions, and changes.
To utilize rational persuasion, Ms. Ewers can use her positional power to get the staff to listen to her proposal and provide them with the facts. This would include presenting the financial data of both organizations, including interpretations of the current financial states and future projections. She can also explain to the opera staff that adding their current budget of $4.7 million to the symphony’s budget of $12.4 million, would place the symphony in the position to be a Group 1 symphony, which would classify it as a tier-one arts organization, providing increased status and increasing the potential for attracting world class artists and increasing artistic potential.
The other influence tactic that Ms. Ewers can utilize is consultation. Consultation works to get others to participate in the planning, making decisions, and changes. It typically results in an increase of willingness to participate and increased commitment on the part of the participants. By engaging the staff and providing them with a say in the decision making process, trust can be earned. By seeking the suggestions and input of the opera staff, Ms. Ewers can work to build interest and support in the merger, as well as building the staff’s trust and commitment to the organization. 6. References f. Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2010). Organizational behavior (10th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. IBSN: 978-0078029363 g. Phatak, O. (2012). Legitimate power in leadership. Buzzel.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014 from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/legitimate-power-in-leadership.html