ROWE Program at Best Buy

Schantee’ D. Sales

Dr. Mensah-Dartey

Leadership and Organizational Behavior

September 1, 2011

Describe the culture of Best Buy. Organizational culture is determined by the allocation of core values among the extreme numbers of employees in any organization. The culture of Best Buy can be described as a fast-paced, high energy team orientated business that strives to appreciate the essentials of their consumers, but its culture has immensely changed. The company at one time worked long hours. Because Best Buy addressed issues on the spot this required numerous hours, there were individuals who would work 24 hours and miss out on important family dates because the commitment and long hours Best Buy required of them. Prior to the ROWE program being implemented employees had to solve the problem before their day was over, regardless of the number of hours it took. For example, the guy who stayed up for 72 hours straight to write a report that was due. Yes, he was given a vacation because of the time he put in, but unfortunately he ended up in the hospital. There is a possibility that this individual may not have ended up in the hospital had the ROWE program been implemented. He would have been able to work from home. Just the change in environment could have made a difference.
Discuss the approach to organizational change that the ROWE program illustrates. The ROWE program illustrated the organizational development approach. The organizational development approach refers to employees’ competencies to solve problems by enabling them to identify and become emotionally committed to improving the performance of the firm (Hellriegel & Slocum p. 516). Best Buy Headquarters implemented the ROWE program for the purpose of allowing their employees to work where and when they like, as long as the job gets done. Each