...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...
Words: 1052 - Pages: 5
...Running head: BUS520 Assign 5 ROWE Program at Best Buy Abstract The work force has become a stressful place to work. Employees have found it hard to balance jobs and personal life. Employees have been looking for businesses that promote a balance of work and personal life. To the same token Employers are realizing that turnovers are costing them money also. Employers are looking for ways to improve morale within their company and reduce turnover. Best Buy has implemented a program that will treat their employees with a perfect balance of work and personal life. Background Best Buy corporate culture was to solve problems no matter how many hours it took to finish the problem or project. The employees were expected to work long hours and a sacrifice their personal life, for the benefit of the company. In 2003 Best Buy adopted a new work environment policy called Results-Only Work Environment ROWE. Describe the culture of Best Buy Best Buy has had two types of cultures. The first culture of Best Buy was working their employees without giving interest to the employees’ personal life. Best Buy would give assignments with deadlines to their employees without regard for the amount of hours that it took for completing the job. Best Buy understood that this was not the best way for the company to survive in keeping their seasoned employees. The second culture of Best Buy was Results-Only Work Environment program, or ROWE. Best Buy decided to change their culture to a more...
Words: 1258 - Pages: 6
...Abstract In this paper we will be reviewing a program called Rowe or Results-Only Work Environment. This program was first used in 2003 by Best Buy. The system was a success. The basic concept of Rowe is to take some of the pressure off the employees by relieving the stress from over working and allowing the employees to create their own work schedules. By doing this the company improved morally, decreased turnover and reduced stress. The ROWE program allows employees to work on their own time and from anywhere they were most comfortable. It gave employees the freedom to work as many and as little hours as they wanted as long as the job was complete and it reached the targeted goals. Before this program was implemented, employees tended to work long hours and were burnout, which caused the high turnover. Best Buy faced many challenges while implementing the ROWE program. Challenges included meeting the prerequisites for the company’s success. In this paper I will also discuss Best Buy being able to implement the policy in all their locations and the pros and cons of that decision. "ROWE Program at Best Buy" Culture of Best Buy Best Buy has implemented the Result-Only Work Environment or ROWE which was established by Jody Thompson. Before the ROWE system, Best Buy employees were known for working long hours and a substantial amount of overtime. The employees were over worked which affected the company as a whole. With this system in place employees have more...
Words: 1910 - Pages: 8
...FORD’S CEO ALAN MULALLY A NEW APPROACH TO DECISION MAKING 1.0 According to Rowe and Mason (1987), each decision style elicits specific traits and/or preferences. For example, the following decision making styles of analytical, behavioral, conceptual, and directive, respectively prefer specific facts, accurate and complete data, broad coverage of many options, and limited data that are easily understood (Rowe & Mason, 1987). Further, Rowe and Mason (1987) believe that style descriptors should be able to describe an individual’s mental predisposition, cognitive process, and problem solving ability. They also deem that the style descriptors can be contextually explicit—describing the environment in which the decision is being made (Rowe and Mason, 1987). These theorists describe four elements of an individual’s decision style. The four elements are: • Perception and reception to stimuli, • Capacity to handle information and to reach a meaningful conclusion, • Intuition or creativity to develop alternatives, • Dexterity to make a decision (Rowe and Mason, 1987). Rowe and Mason’s model provides general descriptions of each style through specific categories such as organizational fit, problem orientation, level of tolerance for ambiguity, technical concern, leadership, and major criticism. The general descriptions of each decision style are as follows: Analytical Style This style is characterized by a problem solving and intellectual orientation. These...
Words: 1072 - Pages: 5
...[pic] |Leadership and Organizational Behavior – BUS 520 | |Student Course Guide | |Prerequisite: None | |Quarter |Fall 2010 | |Meeting Days/Time |Wednesday 6pm-10pm | |Instructor |Karmetria Burton | |Instructor Phone |678 362 0842 | |Instructor E-mail |Karmetria.burton@strayer.edu | |Instructor Office Hours/Location |5-6 pm Wednesdays or by appointment | |Academic Office Phone Number | | |INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL - Required ...
Words: 7940 - Pages: 32
...ROWE Program at Best Buy Craig Doss John Mitchell Leadership and Organizational Behavior BUS-520 8/30/2011 Abstract Previous to the implementation of the Results-Only Work Environment or ROWE for short. Best Buy had a really high turnover rate. Jennifer Janssen works in the finance department at Best Buy. She was often called to put out fires at her job that may have required her to stay late at the risk of not being able to pick up her children. She was definitely a team player and wanted to do what she could to help the company which employ’s her. However, her demanding schedule was causing havoc or her other tasks outside of work. For people like Jennifer, Best Buy created a program where you take the time you need, come in when you want. Leave or take off if needed as long as the job was done. And while there was some hesitation and apprhension when this program was first implemented. With time people have come to value this new system and retention has improved among employees. When anyone mentions where to purchase the newest electronics, most people first thought is Best Buy. It has become a consumer favorite. Over the years, Best buy has become a household name. Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than 45 billion in annul revenue and that...
Words: 1288 - Pages: 6
...ROWE PROGRAM AT BEST BUY Abstract We all have been employed at a job that we thought overworked us and did not get enough time off with our families. And if we were to try and take time off, someone would always have something to say about it. We all also wish that we could have a job where we can make our own schedules and our managers could not control us as much. That is why Best Buy implemented a program called ROWE (Result- Only Work Environment) that would help out with all of these factors. The program will also help reduce voluntary turnover, improve productivity, and increase employee morale. Working somewhere that we hate to work can affect our morale, performance, and attitudes about the employer. Best Buy is one of the few companies who found a solution to combat these problems. If all companies implemented the ROWE program within their organization, would the workplace be better? Would the employees respond better to their employers and perform better? ROWE PROGRAM AT BEST BUY Describe the culture of Best Buy At Best Buy, the culture is like it is at most employers. All eyes are on you at all times and everything that you do is seen. As for Jennifer Janssen in this case, she needs to leave to pick up her kids from daycare but if she does leave early, someone is bound to notice and say something about it. Or at least before the ROWE was implemented in Best Buy’s culture, a coworker of Jennifer may have judged her. In 2003, Best Buy finally launched the ROWE...
Words: 1599 - Pages: 7
...Financial Breakthrough Introduction Valuable employees on a daily basis contribute to the profitability of major corporations. T. Rowe Price Group (TROW or the group) is a global investment management organization with $482 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2010 (Datamonitor, 2011). In the nearby future it is my intentions to explore employment opportunities as a business associate at T. Rowe Price Inc. Also, according to the Datamonitor T. Rowe Price provides a broad array of mutual funds, sub advisory services, and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries (2011). Moreover, The Wall Street Transcript 2006 had revealed that T. Rowe Price operates under the leadership of its President George A Roche. In addition, T. Rowe Price is a vast corporation that primarily operates in the US. and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland with 5,052 employees (Datamonitor, 2011). Variation in leadership style is often times an element that plays an important role in the financial breakthrough of a corporation. Introspecting Management Style Good sound business management can be applied in any forum. Whether in the corporate world, the military, or even households management plays a role. Every aspect of management is a result of a process or situation requiring attention. Many factors separate successful managers from the unsuccessful managers. Some of these factors or principals...
Words: 2113 - Pages: 9
...ROWE Program at Best Buy Describe the culture of Best Buy. As we begin to more towards a more diverse work environment, we may encounter changes that at one time were unheard of such as women and minorities being in charge. Because of this dynamic group, Best buy will need to implement changes to support the efforts of the business. One of the things that were prevalent at Best Buy was women were not only charge but also were wives and mothers who had to find balance in the workplace as well as at home. There was a time when Best Buy would accept that fact that if you were working long hours you were a dedicated worker who loves their job. Do not work more if you will sacrifice something irreplaceable. Everyone knows that dying people do not wish they had spent more time at work (Malleck, 2007). Again, some women had to decide if they would make ultimate sacrifices to be a supportive wife and mother and work less to stay at home more. For some they would have to decide if working long hours make them stand out among their co-workers at the cost of health concerns that may follow them. Best Buy knew that this type of atmosphere needed addressing and revamped to support the generation that would come in and take over. Ms. Jansen was facing a dilemma and for the reason that she felt like she was overworked and contemplated the thought of quitting since she was a working mother and wife who wanted to meet the demands of her family as well as work (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2011)...
Words: 1010 - Pages: 5
...Post Event Report : “Ethics in the Workplace” Panel Discussion Event 11th October 2011 at Accenture, London EC3M 3BD Report By: Manisha Dahad, Centre for Social Brilliance, manisha@socialbrilliance.org Vinay Gulati, Spinlondon Network Limited, vinay.gulati@spinlondon.co.uk Introduction Spinlondon Network Limited conducted an interactive Workshop on Ethics in Business in August 2010, which was very successful. A year later in August 2011, on popular demand, Spinlondon organised a Round-Table discussion on the subject of Ethics which eventually led to planning and conducting a Panel Discussion event on Ethics in the Workplace. This short report highlights some key points from an exciting and thought provoking discussion that took place on the evening of 11th of October 2011 in London at the Accenture offices on the topic of Ethics in the Workplace. The diverse panel consisted of representatives from Reed Smith, Diverse Ethics, Institute of Business Ethics, Accenture and Centre for Social Brilliance and a very participative and enthusiastic audience. 2 Testimonial “I had a very engaging time discussing business ethics with the panellists and attendees. I am always impressed by how deeply our people care about ethics and values in the workplace, and I think we all know that without integrity and values, we have no business. I found it quite interesting how several panellists noted that more and more, new employees are looking for an ethical organization to join...
Words: 2730 - Pages: 11
...All Hands on Deck: Best Buy Fights for Traction Organizational Change October 1, 2013 All Hands on Deck: Best Buy Fights for Traction Best Buy was incorporated on October 20, 1996 and is a multinational retailer of consumer electronics, computing and mobile phone products, entertainment product, appliances and related service (Reuters, 2013). In the early to mid-1990s, Best Buy was growing aggressively throughout the United States; however, as they grew the company had grown too big to function effectively (Gibson & Billings, 2003, p. 10). Net store operating profits were not keeping pace and stocks were dropping (Gibson & Billings, 2003, p. 10). Most of this was based on most of the stores being managed by the brash energy of young management teams (Gibson & Billings, 2003). It was early on in Best Buy’s evolution that they needed to move from inexperienced organization to more practiced and seasoned business strategy. In order to gain back their momentum, Best Buy leadership had to do something never done before with such a large organization: implanting transformational, cultural and process change in a company of over 30,000 people with a small team of internal change agents and the support of a consulting team (Gibson & Billings, 2003, p. 10). In order to create this change, Best Buy created a change implementation team (CIT) that focused on changing the way employees would think and behave in the workplace. The CIT team developed...
Words: 2207 - Pages: 9
...Brossard, Michel; Maurice, Marc. Spring 1976. Is there a Universal Model of Organizational Structure? International Journal of Sociology. Vol. 6, Issue 1 p41-75. Chegini, Mehrdad Goudarzvand. (2010). The Relationship between Organizational Culture and Staff Productivity Public Organizations. Journal of Social Sciences. Vol 6 Issue 1, p127-129. Clegg, Stewart; Kornberger, Martin; Rhodes, Carl. May 2007. Organizational ethics, decision making, undecidabilty. Sociological Review. Vol 55, Issue 2, pg393-409. Causon, J. (2008). The diversity advantage. Engineering and Technology. Vol 3 Issue 18, p78- 81. Dani, S; Burns, N; Backhouse, C; Kochhar, A. June 2006. The Implications of Organizational Culture and Trust in the working of Virtual Teams. . Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers -- Part B – EngineeringManufacture. Vol. 220 Issue 6, p951-960. Doyle, Robyn; George, Usha. Feb 2008. Achieving and Measuring Diversity: An Organizational Change Approach. Social Work Education. Vol 27 Issue 1, p97-110. Felmlee, Diane H. (1986). A Model of Classical Organizational Structure: A Look at Administrative Intensity. Journal of Mathematical Sociology. Vol 12 Issue 1, pg 1. Giberson, Tomas; Resick, Christian; Dickson, Marcus; Mitchelson, Jacqueline; Randall, Kenneth; Clark, Malissa. June 2009. Journal of Business & Psychology. Vol. 24 Issue 2, p123-127. Gilson, Ronald J. April...
Words: 1010 - Pages: 5
...presenting effective ways to improve cultural diversity in a workplace. This study was commissioned by JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in Texas, USA and three hotels in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA: Atherton Hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites and Residence Inn. The bachelor´s thesis incorporates culture theories and their applications to the workplace. Additionally, it focuses on cultural diversity dimensions in hospitality workplace, such as its benefits and challenges, its reflection in the work environment which have been related to the organization’s cultural diversity management. Eventually it provides solutions, such as a corporate strategic plan which focuses on the improvement of cultural diversity in the workplace by means of cultural diversity training. These best practices of cultural diversity are discussed in detail both in the literature review and in the study. The bachelor’s thesis has used two research methods, both qualitative and quantitative research approach. Qualitative research method was implemented by seven in-depth interviews with a target group of managers in the JW Marriott resort hotel whereas the quantitative research component executed captive questionnaire survey and included target group of entire workforce of the three properties in Stillwater. The aim of the interview was to support the literature review and...
Words: 13922 - Pages: 56
...VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HCMC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DECISION MAKING STYLES OF BUSINESS MANAGERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of BACHELOR OF Business Administration Advisor: PHAN TRIEU ANH, Ph.D. Student’s name: DO TIEN THINH (BAIU08113) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2012 i DECISION MAKING STYLES OF BUSINESS MANAGERS IN HO CHI MINH CITY APPROVED BY: Advisor Committee APPROVED BY: Phan Trieu Anh, PhD., Chair ……………………………… ……………………………….. ………………………………. THESIS COMMITTEE (whichever applies) ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I wish to register my great thanks to (Almighty) Jehovah, the true God who strengthen my soul and spirit, and save me from being lost. I would like to show my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Phan Trieu Anh for his brilliant support, and precise advices. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family who has supported me a lot. My sincere appreciation also goes to my professors and lecturers at School of Business Administration, International University for teaching and training me during these four years. It would be a huge mistake if not mentioning my sincere appreciate to Miss Nu Hanh and all my friends who support me a lot during the semester that I had been doing my thesis. Last but not least, I would like to give my thanks to members of CIU, a small group bible study, who encourage me a lot. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...
Words: 15684 - Pages: 63
...181 Wells Avenue, Newton, MA 02459, USA Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, USA Abstract: Outreach and engagement are regarded by many who work in homeless programs as essential services. Outreach on the streets and in shelters is often the first point of contact for people who are not served by traditional sitebased services and is often the first step in engaging homeless people in services. While outreach and engagement are critical components of the response to homelessness, consensus is lacking about the nature and effectiveness of these services. The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known about outreach and engagement for people experiencing homelessness. The authors review quantitative studies that examine outcomes and augment this understanding with information from qualitative studies and non-research literature. The latter provides information about the goals of outreach, assumptions and values, staffing issues, and consumer involvement. The paper concludes with implications for practice, policy, and research. Keywords: Homeless/homelessness, outreach, engagement, review. INTRODUCTION At a recent discussion among outreach workers in Washington, DC, one participant described the reasons for providing outreach to people experiencing homelessness: “Waiting for people to come to us didn’t work…so what we’re doing is going to where people are comfortable, to where they are right now, because that’s probably most effective.” This description...
Words: 11383 - Pages: 46