JFT2 Task 1
A1
The two motivational theories the board members Bill Bailey and Scott Parker should employ to motivate and support or oppose the merger between the Utah Symphony and the Utah Opera are McClelland’s Need Theory and Adam’s Equity Theory.

Bill Bailey the highest ranking officer as chairman of the Utah Opera board is tasked with conducting business in an orderly fashion. As chairman, it is Bill’s job to lead the other board members from varying points of view or decisions to making decisions that are in the best interests of the organization he presides over. Finally, it is Bill’s job to set the overall direction and strategy of the organization. For Bill, McClelland’s Need Theory is most appropriate considering his position on the proposed merger. This theory comprises of three needs; the need for achievement, the need for affiliation and the need for power.

The need for achievement is to accomplish something difficult (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Bill has two primary concerns regarding the merger. One is the financial strength of the opera versus the symphony. The opera had established a reserve fund and as a result was more financially stable and had a more flexible business model. Second, is that the opera could potentially become a tier one arts organization as a result of the merger but in doing so could also potentially lose its identity. Bill could look at these two challenges as something worth accomplishing. Historically, there haven’t been a lot of these types of successful mergers. This would be a key pivotal moment in Bills career. If successful, then his career would most likely continue to grow. If the integration of the two organizations results in failure, then his job and those within the two organizations would most likely suffer. Once the merger was made public in 2002, the hope was that by combining the two organizations there would be an increase to grow and attract world class talent and artists. The need for affiliation is the need to spend more time fostering and maintaining social relationships and activities (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). With the merger, Bill would be positioned right in the middle of fostering and maintaining socialrelationships and activities. The potential new doors and resources that would open and be available to him to attract new clientele may cement the final piece of the need for affiliation and that is the want to be loved. Bill is passionate about the Opera and with his leadership of the combined organization could spread throughout the community and bring in new customers who may not have been interested. Lastly, the need for power reflects an individual’s desire to influence, coach, teach and encourage others to achieve (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Bill has achieved a very powerful role as the Chairman of the opera. With the merger, Bill has the opportunity to elevate to the same position of the combined but larger organization. As mentioned above, Bill is passionate about the opera and its impact on the community. This passion and power can influence employees and customers. According to Kreitner & Kinicki (2010), people with a high need for power like to work and are concerned with discipline and self-respect. As an effective manager with power, Bill must positively influence others around him. Focusing on accomplishing organizational goals and helping others contributes to having power. It is

possible that as a top performing manager the need for affiliation would be low. If this is the case for Bill, then he may want to oppose the merger and keep it as a single entity. A2
Scott Parker as chairman of the board for the Utah Symphony has the same tasks that Bill Bailey does as chairman of the Utah Opera. Not only are both men responsible for the future of their respective organizations but Scott also has to satisfy Maurice Abravanel’s widow. Maurice Abravanel was hired to be the conductor of the symphony and went on to become the music director and spent 32 years with the Utah Symphony. He built the program from a small community venue into a renowned, world class symphony. His widow publicly announced her opposition to the merger in the form of a letter to the community. In her letter she states that “Maurice would never take second billing to anyone. He would be hammering the inside of his casket [about the merger]” (Baker, 2002). Scott Parker might want to use Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation to persuade Mrs. Abravanel on the benefits of the merger. The Equity Theory of Motivation is a model that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social relationships (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010).
As a process theory, it explains how an individual’s motivation to behave in a certain way is fueled by feelings of inequity or a lack of justice. Clearly, Mrs. Abravanel has feelings of inequity or a lack of justice as it relates to the potential merger. If Scott can work closely with Mrs. Abravanel to ensure her that the proposed merger will not harm the symphony that her husband worked so hard to build. Furthermore, he can ensure that the prominence that the symphony will grow and gain strength as a result of the merger. If he can deliver on these two arguments with Mrs. Abravanel he will be successful in winning her over. Scott’s previous experience in overseeing mergers within the health-care industry to exploit economies of scale will become instrumental in the success of this merger. It was Scott’s idea to merge the two organizations after realizing that the Symphony was close to running into a deficit. There are economies of scale and both organizations are in the same business so he pressed forward with the idea. Scott saw that merging the two organizations he could relieve financial pressure perhaps both were experiencing and also solve the issue of needing a CEO to run the Symphony. A3

Describe the positional and personal power Anne Ewers the general director of the Utah Opera can use to persuade others. Positional power is external to you. Examples of positional power include your job title, the amount of money in your wallet or purse, the fancy car you drive, how large and impressive your house might be, and that all important degree from an Ivy League school (Collier, 2008). All of these things can be taken away at any time based on your position. Personal power is internal to you. From that job title you have you may have learned essential skill sets because of the experience with that position. It is the knowledge gained from attending and graduating from that Ivy League school. Lastly, it is your character, resilience, persistence, patience and intelligence (Collier, 2008). These are all internal and cannot be taken away.

Anne Ewers if the merger is successful would become CEO and would be her positional power. Prior to coming to Salt Lake City she held a general director position for an east coast opera where she retired just under $500K of debt. In addition, she was able to build an endowment fund and increased the number of productions 66%. During her tenure at Utah Opera, she has grown the company’s annual budget from $1.5M to $5M and has been very successful at fund-raising including donations from entities outside the state of Utah. She has a reputation for being energetic, enthusiastic, being capable of doing and completing assigned tasks, and for being a hardworking and devoted manager. As a general director and potential CEO she has had to make difficult decisions and has been put into situations that may make some people uncomfortable in leading the organization and its employees. This power to manage and overcome these challenges and situations come from her experience (positional) and are personal power traits. Both positional and personal power can be employed by Anne to persuade and lead.

A3 a
Positional power is defined and comes from the authority and influence bestowed by a position or office on whoever is filling or occupying it (Unknown, 2012). Each job description in an organization authorizes an individual or group of individual’s to conduct specific actions and conduct in the organization. How can Anne use her positional power to influence and lead a successful merger? Depending on her personality and leadership style she could just direct it from the top down. That is to say, whatever she says goes. This would be an authoritative leadership style not allowing input and participation from stakeholder’s concerning the merger. She would simply bully her way through the merger as a lot of executives often do. However, judging by what others say about her skills and characteristics this doesn’t seem like something she would do. Anne would most likely be methodological and precise in blending the two organizations together and involving those around her for input and participation as challenges and issues arise.

Anne is cautiously excited about the opportunity to become CEO and lead the combined organization, but there are concerns and skepticism expressed by the public, board, staff members and various artists. Upon his skepticism, Anne realized that this merger was going to be much harder than she first thought. Status quo in business was not created by women. Women must gain power in a system at odds with the way they are in order to change and influence that system (Perdue & Perschel, 2012). Anne in using her positional power could expect those she leads to create an environment for the greater good. Anne can band together the people and organization in effect shifting power from the individual to that of what is best for the combined organization, its people and the community. Anne will need to take some risk, responsibility and accountability to show she is capable of leading this effort. A3b

Personal power is defined as the ability to influence others, the source which resides in the person and not as a result of a particular position held (Unknown, 2012). Personal power comes first as serves as the foundation for acquiring positional power (Perdue & Perschel, 2012). Anne’s personal power began to develop at a very young age. Beginning at the age of six, she began directing plays in her family’s garage

(Batchelor, 2008). Anne acquired her personal power from learning by doing, loving and being dedicated and committed to her work. How can Anne help Keith Lockhart in his new role? Keith Lockhart joined the symphony in 1998 and served as its music director. He has many years of experience and is seasoned in a variety of similar roles around the world. Keith was approached by the executive committee members once the initial discussion of a proposed merger was kicked around. It is important to note that the committee does not want to compromise their relationship with Keith. Once approached, Keith’s initial reaction to the merger was negative. Keith doesn’t seem to embrace change and is more comfortable clinging to the existing model. Keith has a tremendous amount of power and if he objected to the idea then the merger would never have moved forward. Once Keith learned that the committee was committed to retaining him then he agreed it should be explored further. Keith recognizes that the reality is the organization is two headed. One who provides artistic vision with sensitivity to the real world. The other seeks, secures and manages the financial resources with sensitivity to the purpose and mission of the organization. Being the head of the symphony Keith made all the decisions regarding the orchestra with lots of power and control reporting to the board of directors. The strength of Anne resides in her ability to manage the financial resources, being a good listener and extremely energetic.

Anne can empower Keith by listening to his concerns, being non-judgmental and overall supportive in his goals as the head of the symphony. Anne using her skills and experience can convince Keith of the benefits of a merger. At first, Keith felt sandbagged by new organization chart showing him reporting to Anne. There was an emotional reaction from Keith about his ability to lead the symphony if he gave up his control and power reporting to the CEO versus the board of directors. Since the organization is twoheaded it would make sense that Keith would manage the symphony side of the business and Anne the operational side with both reporting to the board. Anne can empower Keith by allowing him to retain his power and control in the new structure since he has shown his capability to lead. Anne too recognized that the organization is two headed with different cultures. The opera in most communities plays second fiddle to the symphony and requires new ways of fund raising, marketing etc. and is quicker to adapt to change. By splitting power, Anne and Keith can exercise a veto if the final arrangement doesn’t seem beneficial to either of them. This collaborative leadership and split management duties is in the best interest of the combined organization and should allow the two of them to work very well together based on their strengths and previous experience. A4

The issue brewing with the union is the stability of wages the 83 employed symphonic players have. Some in the community believe that wages as a result of the union are too high. Currently, salaries are between $50,000 and $85,000 and with benefits and payroll taxes it represents 60% of the total program expenses. It is projected that these expenses with increase significantly over the next couple of years due to the collective bargaining agreement with the orchestra’s union. The historical relationship between the orchestra musicians and the board and management has not always been amicable. In the past, the board had reopened the collective bargaining agreement and altered it so that the musicians were worse off (Delong & Ager, 2005). Given the historical relationship, the musicians may fear that the merger may negate the old collective bargaining agreement and a new one that is worse than the previous version(s). Once the musicians learned of the proposed merger they collectively joined a committee of their own to represent their concerns to the board. In addition to the concerns above, below are what the musicians believed were essential to the success of the new organization. 1.

2. 3. 4.

Organizational structure that protects artists. Effective fund raising strategies. Budget strategy designed to improve the symphony as a major 52 week program. Strong collective bargaining agreement.

Ultimately, the boards of the Utah Symphony and Opera will determine whether or not to move forward. They also recognize and acknowledge that the artists and musicians are instrumental to the future success of the programs and organization as a whole.

In managing the issues that are of great concern to the musician’s, Anne will want to partner with union representatives to achieve the organizations goals. Forming a partnership that brings more solutions to the table is invaluable. Under Anne’s leadership she can keep the musician’s as salaried full time employees regardless of what venue is in production and running and that nothing would change to threaten the existing collective bargaining agreement from the merger. A4a

It is recommended that Anne to reduce conflict form an alliance with the union and musicians employ the below strategies.
The first step is for Anne not to make the issues “us” versus “them”. Anne needs to have the mentality that she would rather work with people than against them. Her past experience should align with this strategy as she has been very effective and successful working independently and within a group to accomplish established goals and objectives.

Anne should be open and willing to share her challenges and issues with the union and musician leaders. Here is an opportunity to approach an issue collectively as a team so that comprise can be reached and the issue resolved. Next, focus on the positive of the merger. Combining the two organizations will elevate the organization into a Group II of Orchestras in the United States and Canada. Over time, it is possible that it will rise to a premier Group I making is one of the best in North America. This should create an incentive for both the union and musicians to strive for excellence and overall build pride to be a part of the combined organization. This will attract greater talent and more community involvement from attendance to notoriety.

Once Anne has made the decision to include the union as a business partner she will need to grow the partnership strategically. It will take time to build a strong relationship, but knowing and understanding the needs of each other will help maintain a respectful relationship and show internal and external stakeholders the dedication the partnership has toward one another.

Finally, Anne will need to build multiple union company relationships. Instead of having a single point of contact, allow the organization as a whole to participate and contribute to the greater good. Form a committee and meet on a regular basis to discuss successes, challenges, issues and collectively solve problems. The strengths of integration primarily lead to long lasting impact due to dealing with underlying problems instead of managing conflict symptoms (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). Following these recommendations, Anne will be more successful in tackling major problems and delivering effective, significant results to the organization. A5Anne can use a variety of tactics to influence stakeholders involved in the proposed merger. Using her positional power as the incoming CEO, Anne can influence to bring about change like this merger. Employing rational persuasion using logical arguments and factual evidence to support why the merger makes sense should gain acceptance of the community and employees.
For example, Anne can show that under her leadership she has been able to retire inherited debt, build endowment fund, increase fund raising efforts thereby increasing budget and number productions. By combing both organizations she can logically argue that she can achieve the same or better results having everything under one focused roof.

Employees and those close to Anne say she is enthusiastic and dedicated. Anne could use this enthusiasm as a way to inspire and appeal to those who are opposed to the merger. For example, enthusiastically outlining the organizations values, ideas and inspirations and illustrating the need for internal and community support and acceptance of the merger would be for the greater good of the Salt Lake City community. Anne should make a personal appeal concerning her loyalty to serve the organization and community and make it successful.

Much like the collaboration with the unions and musicians Anne should use the same approach in a consultative and collaborative manner to influence and shape favorability toward the merger. Consultatively, when someone provides input they become more committed to the initiative. For example, Keith is not 100% on board with the merger due to him potentially losing power and influence. If Anne were to engage Keith about his concerns the two of them could form an alliance that is satisfying to both resulting in a favorable vote for a merger and a strong alliance. Keith would feel involved and motivated to take action knowing his role and position.

Collaboration is an influence technique that can be effectively utilized by Anne. Collaboratively, Anne can instead of seeking advice, offer assistance. Merging the two organizations will be difficult and nonroutine. Anne can gain commitment to complete the merger and in support offer to help directly to provide resources. For example, the musicians have several concerns. One being that if the organizations merge then a new unfavorable collective bargaining agreement may be negotiated and second they will be forced to cut back on the number of productions. If Anne can commit to keeping a favorable or creating stronger collective bargaining agreement for the musicians and dedicate resources and commit to stronger fund raising activities that keep

the musicians active for 52 weeks she will earn

their support. In the end, Anne cannot employ tactics that manipulate or coercive if she is to be successful.

References Baker, C.R. (2002). “Abravanel Widow Blasts Symphony-Opera Merger”. Salt Lake City Tribune, April 14, 2002, p.03 Batchelor, J. (2008). Anne Ewers brings out winning performances from opera companies. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/11/24/focus20.html?page=all Collier, N.S. (2008). Personal Power vs. Positional Power. Retrieved December 1, 2012 from: http://www.nscblog.com/entrepreneurship/personal-power-vs-positional-power/ Delong, T.J & Ager, D.L (2008). Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger Proposal. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from: http://hbr.org/product/utah-symphony-and-utah-opera-a-mergerproposal/an/404116-HCB-ENG Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A (2010). Organizational Behavior 9th Edition McGraw-Hill Perdue, J. & Perschel, A. (2012). Women and the Paradox of Power 8 Keys for Transforming Business Culture. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from:

http://getyourbigon.com/whitepapers/BG_womenandparadoxofpower Unknown (2012). Position Power. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/position-power.html Unknown (2012). Personal Power. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personal-power.html