Back in 2002, arts communities across the United States were experiencing financial hardships due to the weakening economy and declines in public and private support resources. Two art organizations in Salt Lake City, Utah; the Utah Opera and Utah Symphony, are just two examples that experienced these hardships. In order to alleviate the effects of those hardships, the two company boards and Anne Ewers (general director of the Utah Opera) are convening in meetings to discuss merger of the 2 organizations. Anne Ewers was approached whether she would be interested in becoming the CEO of the merged organization. Anne Ewers has a good reputation for being energetic, enthusiastic, and fully capable of assuming this position. Her reputation also entails retiring a $450,000 debt at a previous company and growing the Utah Opera’s annual budget from $1.5 million to $5 million. A merger of the two companies will bring about different reactions and emotions from both sides and the community. We will analyze motivations of various constituents to better understand their positions for or against the merger and assist Anne Ewers in identifying issues she may experience.
A1. Bill Bailey Bill Bailey is the chairman of the board of trustees at the Utah Opera. Mr. Bailey and the board will have direct a direct say in the merger by voting yes or no. When Mr. Bailey was made aware of the proposal for merger, he had concerns and showed opposition towards the merger. To motivate the rest of the board in opposing the merger, he can utilize Adam’s equity theory of motivation. “As a process theory of motivation, equity theory explains how an individual’s motivation to behave in a certain way is fueled by feelings of inequity or a lack of justice (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010).” People strive for fairness and justice when it comes to social exchanges or give and take relationships. Mr. Bailey feels this is a classic example of a give and take relationship with the symphony as the merger will provide a greater outcome for the symphony than the opera. To further explain, the equity theory is based on ratios of inputs and outputs which can result in equal equity, negative equity, or positive equity. Equity exists for an organization when their ratio of perceived outcomes to inputs is equal to the ratio of outcomes to inputs of another organization. However, if the comparison organization enjoys greater outcomes for similar inputs, negative inequity will be perceived. On the other hand, an organization will experience positive inequity when their outcome to input ratio is greater than that of a relevant organization. To apply the theory to the two arts organizations, Mr. Bailey believes the opera will be inputting more into the merger as they are more financially stable, they own their own production studio, only have 23 permanent staff members with no full time production personnel on staff, and a much more flexible schedule to adjust or eliminate productions that have not reached fundraising goals. In comparison, the symphony is experiencing financial hardships based upon their financial statements, the employment of 33 staff members and 83 musicians who receive fulltime salaries, the strict 52 week schedule with no flexibility for fundraising, and their facility is owned and managed by Salt Lake County. The only benefit to the opera would be the recognition of being a tier-one arts organization; however, Mr. Bailey feels the opera will lose their identity through the merger. Mr. Bailey needs to present this information to his board members and show how the opera will be inputting more benefits into the relationship and receiving less in return while the symphony will reap the benefits of the opera by providing financial assistance. This would present a negative equitable situation for the opera and positive equity for the symphony. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010)
A2. Scott Parker Scott Parker is chairman of the board for the Utah Symphony. He became a member of the board in the early 1990’s and 9 years later, became the chairman. Mr. Parker is realizing the changes surrounding the arts community and the decrease in funding. This is leaving the Utah Symphony in a deficit without a break in sight. Not only is the symphony experiencing reductions in funding but also have 33 fulltime staff members and 83 musician’s salaries to pay that are all under contract. Realizing these issues brought Mr. Parker to the idea of a merger with the Utah Opera which he presented to his board members. However, standing in the way of this merger is Mrs. Carolyn Abravanel. Mrs. Abravanel is the wife of the late Maurice Abravanel who was the conductor and eventually became the music director of the symphony. She is still heavily involved with the Symphony Guild. Keith Lockhart is the current music director and follows in the footsteps of Mr. Abravanel. Mrs. Abravanel informed the board and public that she was against the merger because she knew her husband would never want to take second billing to anyone. With a background of the situation presenting Mr. Parker, he must find a way to convince or motivate Mrs. Abravanel the benefits of merging with the opera. Mr. Parker will utilize Alderfer’s ERG Theory of motivation to do this. Alderfer’s ERG Theory consists of three levels from lowest to highest; existence needs (E), relatedness needs (R), and growth needs (G). Existence needs is further described as the desire for physiological and materialistic well-being. This would be the most important motivator as Mr. Parker would focus on the need for the merger in order to keep the symphony’s doors open. Mrs. Abravanel possesses the same passion for the symphony that her late husband did and wants to see the organization prosper. However, the symphony will not last much longer financially and will begin to see a deficit if a merger does not occur. Again, the organization is financially strapped due to a decrease in funding and the contractual salary obligations of its workers and musicians. The musicians are also expected to see an increase in pay as they turn to collective bargaining within the next two years. It is important that Mr. Parker presents these financial facts to Mrs. Abravanel. Relatedness needs is further defined as the desire for meaningful relationships with significant others. Mr. Parker can use this motivator step in a couple ways. He can express the desire to keep the members of the orchestra performing together. If the doors of the symphony were to close, all employed members would be out of a job and the orchestra would be disbanded. Another method would be developing new relationships with supporters of the opera. A merger would mean developing new relationships with opera supporters who can become supports of the orchestra because it’s an art they never took part in or listened to. The final step is the need for growth. This motivator is also important for Mr. Parker to express because the merger will provide the opportunity for the symphony to further develop and grow. With the financials more stable under the merger, the orchestra can explore ways to improve their performances and perform in areas never traveled to in order to gain more supporters. Under Alderfer’s ERG theory, it’s important for Mr. Parker to understand that this theory does not assume needs are related to each other in a stair step hierarchy method. Alderfer believed that more than one need can be activated at a time. In the discussion with Mrs. Abravanel, all these needs will need to be realized and touched on so Mr. Parker will be utilizing each need motivator simultaneously. Mr. Parker will need to keep in mind Mrs. Abravanel’s position in mind in wanting to maintain her husband’s wishes for the symphony. With the merger, it should be a goal to keep the two entities as separate as possible to respect the wishes of the Abravanel family but also bringing them together in order for both organizations to flourish. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010)
A3. Power Anne Ewers was hired as the general director of the Utah Opera in 1991. Previously, she was the general director of the Boston Lyric Opera and assistant director to the San Francisco and Canadian Opera companies. However, it was directing operas where Ewers received her reputation in the opera community. As you can see through her multiple positions and experiences, Anne Ewers has a respectable and successful management foundation. With management comes the topic of power. “Power is the ability of a leader to command the respect, attention and desired actions of those who follow. (Craig, 2011)” Power also allows leaders to make decisions and give directions to employees who accept the decision and carry them out. This can also be considered as earning the respect from your employees. The composition of power can be further broken down into two sub types; positional power and personal power. Positional power stems from the authority a person receives from an office or position in which they are appointed or elected. (Craig, 2011) Positional power is derived from a set of external factors promoting a person to higher positional power; however, this can be easily taken away. Anne received her positional power through the years of experience in directing, earning assistant director position, and currently the general director of the Utah Opera. Being a hard, dedicated, productive, and influential worker has paved the way to her earning positional power by being elected to the general director position. “Personal power is defined as the combination of positive traits and characteristics a person possesses that makes them naturally appealing to others. (Craig, 2011)” Personal power stems from internal factors being utilized by a leader in the form of charisma, intelligence, expertise, experience, and self-confidence that cannot be taken away. It’s important that Anne Ewers finds a balance between her positional power and personal power in order to effectively lead the merger between the two art organizations.
A3a. Positional Power Anne Ewers has gained a great amount of positional power through her many years of experience in director roles within the art community. Now, she is being offered the opportunity to be the CEO of the opera and symphony as one organization. The symphony is experiencing low budgets and other financial difficulties leading to this merger. Anne Ewers has a reputation for turning organizations around from being in debt to raising annual budgets significantly. She has proven to be successful at fundraising for the opera and soliciting donations from entities outside the state of Utah. Being the CEO will give Anne a great deal of positional power to head the merged company but how she utilizes it will determine how successful she will be. Anne Ewers needs to use her positional power in order to become a great leader. Leadership can be defined as followership. If Anne does not have followers, then she will not have anyone to lead. Anne will also need to have the understanding that her career has solely encompassed the world of opera. Now, she is in charge of the symphony as well. She will need to utilize her staff members in order to gain suggestions and listen to concerns that they may have. This will allow her to develop a positive working relationship and develop trust and respect from the members. Having a staff that respects their leader brings out the best in their performance. This can be witnessed not only in practices and performances, but also during fundraising opportunities which they understand is important to keep the organization growing. They say having great personal power will develop greater positional power but, in this instance, utilizing positional power effectively will garner higher personal power.
A3b. Personal Power Like mentioned above, someone who earns personal power possesses a combination of characteristics and traits that makes them appealing to others. (Craig, 2011) This happens to be an area of concern for Anne Ewers being at the helm of the merger. It’s been noted that even though she is a devoted, energetic, and hard-working manager of the opera, there is some concern in regards to her people management skills. She has been described as being of an autocratic style in dealing with staff members and makes unilateral decisions without consulting with those who are expected to implement those decisions. In order to improve her personal power, she can start with the situation with Keith Lockhart. Mr. Lockhart is the musical director of the Utah Symphony and is well respected by the board and in the orchestra community. For Anne Ewers, becoming the CEO doesn’t mean she won’t experience problems along the way, especially in regards to the symphony. Anne has spent all of her career in the opera business. Empowering Keith Lockhart to remain the music director of the symphony will develop mutuality of interests between Ewers and Lockhart. Mutuality of interest can be defined as the balancing of individual and organizational interests through a win-win cooperation. (Answers, 2014) It will increase organizational effectiveness through an environment of openness, cooperation, and trust between Ewers and Lockhart. (Answers, 2014) This will also show Lockhart that Ewers does care about his opinions and his knowledge in regards to the symphony. These acts of empowering Keith Lockhart will also improve Anne Ewers overall personal power.
A4. Organizational Performance The discussion of a merger with the Utah Opera has made the musicians uneasy about the move. Again, the Utah Symphony has 83 musicians under annual contracts who receive salaries between $50,000-$85,000 and full time benefits. With payroll taxes included, this makes up 60% of the total expenses for the symphony. The musicians are also protected by being unionized and work through collective bargaining agreements. What could jeopardize the merger are unhappy musicians. The relationship between the musicians, management, and the board has not always been amicable. The musicians feel as if the discussions to merge are an excuse or ploy to re-open negotiations of the current collective bargaining agreement. Another issue that has them worried is the organizational structure of the opera. The opera currently functions by hiring performers for specific productions. So, there are no extra expenses in full time salaries and benefits. Even though the musicians are protected by the union, the union cannot prevent the occurrence of the merger from happening. It’s also very likely with Anne Ewers in the CEO position and who was the director of the opera, changing the organizational structure could be one of the first decisions she makes in order to cut back on expenses. However, for the symphony to be successful, Anne Ewers must realize that the musicians are a critical component to the success of the merger and the success of the symphony.
A4a. Recommendation Anne Ewers must realize that the musicians are a critical component to the success of both the merger and the symphony. The musicians had put together a committee and developed a list of four critical components they felt was important in the success of the symphony. The first principle is the development of an organizational structure that protected and enhanced artistic excellence. Anne Ewers must meet with the musicians and their board to explain her intentions and decisions will not be made without fully investigating all options and communicating with them every step of the way. Ewers should also involve Keith Lockhart in the discussions to consider his opinions and find a way to mutually make necessary changes that will benefit the organization as a whole. Anne also needs to keep an open mind in regards to the different structures presented in both entities. The second principle is effective fundraising. This topic happens to be right up Anne Ewers alley. She has a great reputation for implementing successful fundraising activities and bringing in donations from entities outside the state of Utah. Anne should begin organizing methods and ideas in order to start the fundraising immediately. The third principle is developing a budget strategy that will improve the symphony’s position as a major 52-week season orchestra. In order to improve the budget to keep the orchestra on the 52 week schedule, it will depend on the success of the fundraising activities and the donations they bring from the outside. If the symphony continues to lose money and work in the deficit, obviously changes will need to be made. The goal for Anne should be to keep the schedule as is at this point. The fourth and final principle is a strong collective bargaining agreement. With the merger will involve the reopening of a collective bargaining agreement. However, the goal for Anne, the boards, musicians, and the organization as a whole is to find mutual agreements that all parties can agree on. Again, Anne is given the recommendation to not make unilateral decisions without consulting with the staff members and other powers that be like Keith Lockhart. This will be a quick way to lose the respect of your employees and becoming an ineffective leader. With the merger in heavy discussions, Anne Ewers will need to influence her current full time opera staff and performers to support the merger of both organizations.
A5. Influence Tactics Anne Ewers will need to implement influential tactics towards her full time staff members and opera performers. The opera itself was self-sufficient in annual budgets, fundraising opportunities, and outside donations. So, her opera employees will not immediately understand what the merger will do for them. It currently appears to them that the symphony will be benefiting greatly from the merger as it will provide financial assistance and earn them a Group 1 ranking of symphony orchestras in the United States. The first influence tactic Anne can utilize is inspirational appeals. Inspirational appeals involve trying to build enthusiasm by appealing to others’ emotions, ideals, or values. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010) Anne Ewers can use this tactic to present the great advantages that can occur with the merger. She can build their enthusiasm by making them understand that they could possibly gain further recognition as being a top tiered opera as the symphony will become a Group 1 symphony. Currently, the opera only has a reputation for being a regional opera company. So, being associated with the top tiered symphony could bring more interest and more patrons wanting to experience the opera which will boost ticket sales and overall revenue. The second influence tactic Anne can utilize is consultation. Consultation involves influencing others to participate in the planning, decision making process, and changes that are to be made within an organization. (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010) Anne Ewers has the positional power to empower the opera staff to become more involved in the decision making process for changes that are to affect them. Giving staff members the power to input suggestions and opinions gives them a sense of accomplishment and increased morale. With an increase morale, staff members will be enthusiastic about performing their job duties or in other words, giving full commitment. When it comes down to it, it’s up to Anne Ewers to motivate and influence all staff members in order for them to commit to the successful implementation of the merger and the success of the company as one into the future. B. Sources
Answers. (2014). Mutuality of Interests. Retrieved May 13, 2014 from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_mutuality_of_interest?#slide=4
Craig, Rita. (2011). Positional Power vs. Personal Power. Retrieved May 12, 2014 from http://www.palmbeachlwp.com/archive/positional-power-vs-personal-power/
Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2010). Foundations of Motivation. In B. Gordon (Ed.), Organizational Behavior-10th ed (pp. 204-235). New York: McGraw-Hill.