...Stress Kills – Chapter 8 Case Leonardo Caldeira Introduction to Management– MAN 2021 Professor Robert M. Downey – Broward College September 25, 2013 Case Background: Stress affects employees at work and is a serious concern. There has been suicides and psychological problems that people have to overcome. Companies have to resolve this by rebuilding the morale of their employees. Something that companies have been doing to help this issue is allowing employees to work from home so the person can balance their work and stress. The employees don’t like to be transferred to one company to another and they should look for other options. France Telecom is one company that is being investigated for suicide and analyzing what happened to hopefully prevent this in the future. 1. What is your reaction to the situation? What factors, both inside and externally contributed to the situation? I think that no matter how much stress you can be going through taking your life is just the easy choice, the easy way out. Instead, one should work hard and keep up never giving up. Some factors that contributed to this is that the employees were not being listened to when they expressed their problems. Several occasions the worker wrote and was not replied. The worker was also being transferred from one place to another involuntarily. Some external factors that contributed was the morale of the employee was down and they were going through some kind of trauma or suffering. ...
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...(1) To what extent has the systems model of training been used? Discuss some of the implications of using this model? Discuss the benefits of the training described in this case for the organization, employees and society? In case one, it provides inadequate information of using systems model of training. First of all, Canadian American transportation System recognize that ferry need highly regulated by U.S Coast Guard and Transport Canada. Therefore, they have to train no experience employees in order to meet the standards of related government officials. They identify two levels of training need to be conducted. One is safety of life at sea (SOLAS), another one is seafarers’ training certification and watch keeping (STCW). Both levels involve a series complicated procedures and trainees need take a lot of responsibilities. * Systems Approach to Training However, in this case, after recognized two levels of mandatory training, the employee were taken to pools to learn a series actions, such as how to jump in to water to get people into safety rafts, and how to use equipment in cold-water conditions. It did not provide information of identifying the needs between employees and organization or designing training program according to the current situation. Therefore, I believe that Canadian American transportation System provide inadequate information of using systems model of training. Theoretically, there are four major parts in systems model of training. These are conducting...
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...The Reaction of Corporate Human Resources Management to the Economic Crisis Finding the ways-out in HR KINGA ILONA BÁRDOSa - ERIKA VARGAb Dobó István Grammar School Széchenyi út 19, Eger 3300, Hungary cetebe@hotmail.com b Károly Róbert College Mátrai út 36, Gyöngyös 3200, Hungary evarga@karolyrobert.hu a T he cyclical movement of the economy is a natural process but, fortunately, a global economic crisis is a rare phenomenon. The credit crunch starting in September 2008 has grown into a global one primarily affecting car manufacturing and then it has its percussions in the whole economy-gradually reaching all the players. The crisis management in human resources implies layoffs, redundancies or shorter working hours and weeks. In many cases there were not wellthought corporate strategies for crisis management as managers as well as employees had to face a problem they had never experienced before. One of the corporate operative steps is to examine and realise how deeply the organisation itself is affected in the crisis. Our objective is to present what theoretical and practical solutions were or are invented besides the ones already mentioned. Keywords: crisis management, human resources management, atypical employment 1. About the crisis in general About a year ago the credit crunch became widespread primarily hitting the financial institutions worldwide and had its impacts felt in the motor industry reaching all players of the economic life. There were no companies...
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...The Value of Independent Directors: Evidence from Sudden Deaths* Bang Dang Nguyen Chinese University of Hong Kong nguyendang@cuhk.edu.hk Kasper Meisner Nielsen Chinese University of Hong Kong and CEBR nielsen@cuhk.edu.hk NOVEMBER 12, 2008 PRELIMINARY DRAFT – DO NOT QUOTE Abstract We investigate the contributions of independent directors to shareholder value by examining the stock price reaction to an exogenous event: sudden deaths of directors. Compiling an extensive database of sudden deaths of directors in the U.S. from 1994 to 2007, we find that following the death of an independent director, the firm’s stock price drops by almost 1% on average. For our control sample of inside and gray directors, we find no significant reaction to such events. The difference in abnormal returns following the sudden deaths of independent, gray and inside directors is statistically and economically significant given our sample’s average market capitalization of 5.3 billion dollars. Consistent with the view that independence is valuable, we find that stock prices react less negatively when the independent director is older, appointed to the board during the tenure of the current CEO, or when he has long board tenure. Our results hold when controlling for director-invariant heterogeneity (e.g. ability, experience, and skills) using a fixed-effect approach. Overall, our results demonstrate that independent directors provide a valuable service to shareholders. Keywords: Independent...
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...3) What general obstacles would you foresee in a company such as Ivanovskaya Manufactura trying to make the transition from a hierarchical, or bureaucratic, to a learning organization? What are some general measures managers can take to smooth the way? The main benefits are; * Maintaining levels of innovation and remaining competitive[9] * Being better placed to respond to external pressures[9] * Having the knowledge to better link resources to customer needs[1] * Improving quality of outputs at all levels[1] * Improving Corporate image by becoming more people oriented[1] Increasing the pace of change within the organization[1] However there are of course some obstacles that the company will have to tackle in order to successfully transition from a hierarcgial to a learning organization, such as Even within or without learning organization, problems can stall the process of learning or cause it to regress. Most of them arise from an organization not fully embracing all the necessary facets. Once these problems can be identified, work can begin on improving them. Some organizations find it hard to embrace personal mastery because as a concept it is intangible and the benefits cannot be quantified;,[3] personal mastery can even be seen as a threat to the organization. This threat can be real, as Senge[3] points out, that “to empower people in an unaligned organization can be counterproductive”. In other words, if individuals do not engage with...
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...Walt Disney Company Case Study Employee empowerment refers to the development of a person's confidence as well as abilities in a business setting. Companies utilize employee empowerment to create strong operating partnerships with personnel and enlighten them various business practices. Common attributes of employee empowerment include instructing employees to understand and feel good about themselves, showing them how to relate to other employees and customers, and offering resources for training and increasing an employee business understanding. The Walt Disney Company is an organization commonly utilized as an example for the use of employee empowerment strategies with their associates. The Walt Disney Company has actually invested copious amounts of time and work in creating a strong organizational society to teach their workers on the Disney Company’s mission and values. According to Disney's corporate website, one of the five crucial characteristics of working for Walt Disney is the passion as well as devotion from actors and staff. Disney, in some cases, describes their workers as cast members in an attempt to break the regular boundaries of the manager/employee relationship. Disney likewise makes use of advancement, quality, community, positive outlook, and decency in their organizational culture for empowering staff members as well as making the Disney Company a unique workplace. Disney provides many numerous extras and benefits to its employees and cast members...
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... Nov 26, 2012 MGT301 Personality and Perception Case Study 1. People are born different, with distinctive personalities and attitudes. Some are optimistic or pessimistic, active or passive, calm or agitated and so on. Such diversity in personalities, in addition to the culture that individuals are attached and raised by, affects their attitudes and thus their perception. Therefore, personality plays a role in defining people’s reactions and behaviors to events around them. In the case, “Differing Perceptions at Clarkston Industries”, the manager Susan contemplates the problem of Jack, a new employee she hired. Jack was hired directly after he left prison, given a chance by Susan who in turn passed through a similar situation in the past. Later then, Jack was accused and suspected of stealing money by his fellow coworkers who perceived such an incident on previous records that is he staying in prison. On the other hand, Susan had ambivalent thoughts and was disturbed. She perceived the problem considering Jack and avoiding muddling up with perception shortcuts such as stereotyping and Halo effect along with reflecting on the reaction of other employees to her decision. 2. In my opinion, Susan should not fire Jack for two reasons. The first reason is that Jack, as mentioned in the case, is a hard working and capable worker who appreciated the chance he was given. Second, disregarding if it is true or...
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...ORGANISATIONS& BEHAVIOUR CASE STUDY 1:Dimension of Organisational Structure Changing the rules at BOSCO PLASTICS Case Questions(AO 1.1,1.2 &1.3) * Do you think Jill Thompson’s proposal to decentralise the rules and procedures of Bosco Plastics will work?if so,why and how?Give reasons.What,in your opinion,are the requirements to make decentralisation effective? Organisational structure and organisational culture have a dependent relationship with one another.In the business world management structe determines the behaviours,attitudes,dispositions and ethics that create the work culture.If a company’s organisational structure is strictly hierachical,with decision- making power centralized at the top,the company’s culture will likely reflect a lack of fredoom and autonomy at the lowest levels.If a company’s managment structure is descentralized ,with shared power and authority at all levels,the culture is likely to be more independent,personalized and accountable.For this in my opinion decentralise the rules and procedures of Bosco Plastics will work because every department manager have different aproach with the people in their department and also different ideas of how they can make that department work more efficient.In each business it’s important to be good manager and leader both in the same time, thats why in my opinion it is a very good goal if each department manager knows their people that they work with, and will also make them feel more confident if the department...
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...Problem Identification The overall issue in this case is employee dissatisfaction in the workplace due to the frustrating and stressful environment in which they are immersed in daily. This tension ends up having harsh personal effects on employees. These effects show as problematic symptoms to the company and range from emotional distress, indicated by one employee taking her anger out on her roommate at home, to physical ailments exemplified by increased illnesses and stress disability claims amongst these employees. The “Impact on stress on the Canadian economy is huge, costing an estimated $33 billion a year in lost productivity “(Langton et al, 2009, p. 121). This presents a significant problem, broader in scope, to the company in which employee turnaround turnover may be high, thereby minimizing the effectiveness of their employee support system . This paper will provide an analysis of the above mentioned problem and offer recommendations to help minimize the effect of employee dissatisfaction due to a stressful role . Problem Analysis According to the Affective Events Theory (AET) (Langton et al, 2009 , p. 63-4), job satisfaction and performance are directly influenced by positive or negative emotional reactions. Those emotional reactions are in turn formed by a combination of work events such as daily hassles and uplifts, which is affected by the work environment, and personal dispositions such as personalities and moods . The work environment at the call...
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...Case Study #6 – The Social Agency– “Managing Performance Through Training and Development” – Page 354 Questions: 1. What information should be collected and from whom should it be collected? The information that is collected is information based on knowledge, attitude and behavior. The evaluation should be done to see if the trainee’s knowledge has increased due to the training, or if the information provided to them during the training has helped them expand on the knowledge that they already have. In the case of the social agency, the evaluation should look at if the managers were able to learn the key methods of encouraging and supporting the employees. The trainee’s attitude towards the training process and the intended outcome of the training should also be part of the information collected. The evaluation should take into consideration the attitudes of the managers in regards to encouraging employees and if they are able to come up with new ways of encouraging the employees. Finally the behavior of the managers should also be looked at. The evaluation process should look at if the managers are actively participating and implementing what they have learnt in the training to help employees transfer their new skills. Asking the employees to evaluate management support and encouragement is a good way of collecting this information. The managers should be given a self-evaluation as well so that they can compare and identify areas that they may need improvements...
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...Notably, starting up a new subsidiary is an exercise that would require considerable planning, preparation and strategizing so as to ensure that the activities would run smoothly once it was in operation (Kerzner, 2009). The kind of effort required in making this a reality is time consuming and employees within the organization may not be able to handle the project while performing their other normal duties. Consequently, there is bound to be high levels of inefficiency and poor organization. The project organization, in turn, ensures that the persons involved only concentrate on the project such that it is likely to be successful. Project organizations prove appropriate for vital projects due to the factors discussed below. Project management allows for fuller utilization of employees. Conway and Delgado should have agreed on priorities in order for the project to be effective. Both must be willing to negotiate for resources. However, when both maintain a high degree of authority; it becomes difficult for the project manager to do what is best for the project. Decision-making in a matrix organization alone is a difficult process. When working on transitioning, it becomes difficult for the employees to do what is right when their own, their division manager's and the project manager's feelings are in play. As compared to where the company's managers are involved in other duties apart from the project, the project organization management team concentrates fully on the project such that...
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...Case Assignment 2.1, pg 1 1. What’s your opinion regarding forced ranking performance appraisals? Do they motivate employees? Explain. While at first I would somewhat agree with forced ranking performance appraisals, from a management and leadership perspective in order to assess who deserves merit for recognition, pay raises and promotions. But from an employees’ point of view, it can be very demotivating if one finds themselves at the lower end of the spectrum. Instrumentality may be negative and affect overall job security and satisfaction. Individuals may not perceive the forced ranking system as fair when being compared to their coworkers and inputs may vary from person to person. Overall, I feel that forced ranking does not motivate employees as there are a variety of factors to include that may each weigh differently (i.e. job experience, EI, reliability, productivity, quality, etc.). 2. How would equity theory explain some employees’ negative reactions to forced rankings? Explain. The equity theory explains some employees’ negative reactions from forced rankings by changing an employees’ inputs, how much effort to invest into their current job. The attitudes or mindsets of employees’ may change, that job security is more important than a raise. Or, the employee may just decide to resign from their current job position due to annoyance or perceived inequalities. The equity theory centers on overall pay as the outcome. 3. Based on Chapter 5, if you...
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...people’s reactions and behaviors to events around them including work-related behavior. In the case, Susan contemplates the problem of Jack, a new employee she hired. Jack was hired directly after he left prison, given a chance by Susan who in turn passed through a similar situation in the past. Henry Clarkston had given her a chance despite her record, and Susan had made the most of it. In other words, Susan gave the chance to Jack perceiving the result from her own story. In this case Susan attributed her attitude and situation to Jack and hoped that he too may come up in the organization in a similar way. This is referred to as attribution. Later then, Jack was accused and suspected of stealing money by his fellow coworkers who perceived such an incident on previous records that is he staying in prison. The human mind and behavior is subject to its perception about the thing in question. Here until the point Jack's past was not known, he was perceived as an another human being jolly and working to meet bread and butter, but as soon as his past was known, the perception drastically changes to someone who is rogue and hence the attitude toward him becomes hostile. The things which would have been ignored in normal circumstances were looked with suspicion and things were added to justify their hostile actions. Susan has a unique perspective about the topic because of her past and shows different attitudes toward it then her colleagues. On the other hand, her employees are displaying...
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...Ob Case Study Christiane Khoury Nov 26, 2012 MGT301 Personality and Perception Case Study 1. People are born different, with distinctive personalities and attitudes. Some are optimistic or pessimistic, active or passive, calm or agitated and so on. Such diversity in personalities, in addition to the culture that individuals are attached and raised by, affects their attitudes and thus their perception. Therefore, personality plays a role in defining people’s reactions and behaviors to events around them. In the case, “Differing Perceptions at Clarkston Industries”, the manager Susan contemplates the problem of Jack, a new employee she hired. Jack was hired directly after he left prison, given a chance by Susan who in turn passed through a similar situation in the past. Later then, Jack was accused and suspected of stealing money by his fellow coworkers who perceived such an incident on previous records that is he staying in prison. On the other hand, Susan had ambivalent thoughts and was disturbed. She perceived the problem considering Jack and avoiding muddling up with perception shortcuts such as stereotyping and Halo effect along with reflecting on the reaction of other employees to her decision. 2. In my opinion, Susan should not fire Jack for two reasons. The first reason is that Jack, as mentioned in the case, is a hard working and capable worker who appreciated...
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...I. Situation Analysis This case is about a problem identification and solution of the Millennium Insurance Company. It’s a mid-sized insurance company with 10,000 employees and about 1.8 million customers. It offers various lines of insurance. For example: life, property and casualty and health. The biggest ratio of the revenue is generated by selling insurances and as well from a substantial mortgage business. The company is performing well, but there some problems in the IT-department. Many employees in the line business divisions as well as lower-level analysts have bought and used various PC’s and software. This happened without support of the IT department. When end-users contacted the IT-department they were unconfident, because they didn’t get help of them. The staff of the IT-department were focused on mainframe computing and operational systems and not about the PC’s and the software’s. This led to a high amount of complaints of the line business units about the unresponsiveness and the incompetence of the IT-department. So the senior vice president ‘John Cheng’ wanted to change this situation. He and senior managers developed a one year plan. This plan is structured in a three step approach: PC Research and Development Knowledge Management End User Education and Support The focus in this essay is on the end-user education and support strategy. The key manager is Elise Smart. She is 32 years old and was the senior manager in the development group of the IT...
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