Open Door Policy Effectiveness

This assignment requires a thorough analysis of the open door policy, examining its effectiveness across different organizational settings. Students must evaluate the policy's impact on communication channels, levels of trust between employees and management, and overall organizational culture. The analysis should draw upon provided research articles to support arguments and conclusions.

Running Head: Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior
Case Study

Organizational Behavior 1
Contents
Reasons for resisting change...........................................................................................................3
1. No privacy............................................................................................................................3
2. Reduced focus.......................................................................................................................3
3. Partial behavior.....................................................................................................................3
Recommendations for partners to minimize resistance...................................................................3
1. Take Suggestions..................................................................................................................4
2. Online booking system.........................................................................................................4
3. Bigger spaces for senior employees.....................................................................................4
4. Partners should spend more time..........................................................................................4
Barriers to communication..............................................................................................................4
1. No privacy:...........................................................................................................................4
2. No transparency....................................................................................................................5
3. No clarity..............................................................................................................................5
4. False promises......................................................................................................................5
5. Biasness................................................................................................................................5
Overcoming barriers to communication..........................................................................................5
1. Transparent reviews:.............................................................................................................5
2. Discuss before promising.....................................................................................................6
3. Meeting rooms......................................................................................................................6

Organizational Behavior 2
4. Anonymous feedbacks..........................................................................................................6
5. Open door policy..................................................................................................................6
6. Respecting privacy................................................................................................................7
Sources of Power.............................................................................................................................7
Legitimate....................................................................................................................................7
Reward:........................................................................................................................................7
Coercive:......................................................................................................................................7
Expert...........................................................................................................................................8
Referent........................................................................................................................................8
Influence tactics...............................................................................................................................8
1. Exchange...............................................................................................................................8
2. Upward appeals....................................................................................................................8
3. Legitimating..........................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Organizational Behavior 3
Reasons for resisting change
As mentioned in the case, Employees are resisting change in the plan of the interiors given to the
new office. The new office is predominantly following an open plan. Cubicles and cabins are
only assigned to the Partners of the firm and rest everyone shares a common seating space. This
was done to improvise communication, enforce team work and, reduce cost of making cubicles
and create a relaxed and vibrant working environment (Hongisto, 2016). According to Lewin’s
model also every change will have driving forces as well as restraining forces and the agenda of
the top management should be to reduce the impact of these restraining forces (Burke, 2017). It
has been noticed that this new plan is receiving mixed responses. Few reasons mentioned to
resist this are as below:
1. No privacy: A few ladies complained about not being able to talk to their boyfriends
during work hours as everyone can hear their communication. Also certain lawyers felt
that they could not discuss classified information with their clients because of the open
plan. Meeting rooms were assigned but the online system for booking the meeting room
is inefficient and hence people faced troubles specifically due to a lack of privacy in their
working space.
2. Reduced focus: The senior partners of the firm believe that the new relaxed environment
of the firm is making its employees more lethargic and hence reducing their focus on
work. They mentioned that people waste a lot of time chatting and loafing around which
they would have rather spend in working. They are therefore not comfortable with the
relaxed working culture.
3. Partial behavior: Few senior employees who earlier had personal cabins, have felt that
they are not as respected and they have lost their status in this open plan. Employees have
also noticed that both the partners have a well-designed cabin with a great view but they
are forced to sit in open. This implies a partial behavior and the employees find it unfair
(Anicich, 2015).

Organizational Behavior 4
Recommendations for partners to minimize resistance
Every time there is any kind of change in the organization, there is resistance from employees.
Certain employees will be in favor and certain will not be. However these mixed responses are
only natural and efforts must be put in by the top management to reduce the level of resistance
shown by the employees. In this case, Cathy and Mark could have done the following:
1. Take Suggestions: Since the number of employees is 30, a meeting could have been
conducted where employees would have given feedbacks on the new office plan. They
could have put in their suggestions as this way the employees would have felt more
connected and associated with the new office plan. Although it is understandable that
every employee’s every suggestion cannot be implied but if such a meeting was
conducted, they would have felt that at least they were asked (Weibel, 2016).
2. Online booking system: Since the privacy is one of the biggest issues faced by the
employees, the online meeting room booking system should have been efficient and in
place. The employees are very new this open structure and if the meeting rooms also
cannot be booked, employees will develop a sense of frustration. This online booking
system should have been checked after installation and the top management should have
ensure that it was working properly.
3. Bigger spaces for senior employees: Since the senior employees were given cabins
before, certain demarcation becomes imperative as currently they feel they have lost their
status. This is a very demotivating factor for such senior employees. They should not be
given personal cabins as that spoils the whole purpose of an open structure hence they
should be in the same area but they should be given bigger spaces as compared to the rest
of the employees.
4. Partners should spend more time: As the Lewin’s model suggests that restraining forces
can take many forms including absenteeism (Shirey, 2013). After the implementation of
the new structure, it was noticed that both the partners did not come to office regularly,
Jack only came in the afternoons and Owen was barely present. Every time a change is
introduced to the organization, first and foremost the partners and the senior management
must make peace with it only then can other employees accept and appreciate it. This is

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important otherwise employees feel like they have been forced to follow something while
no such obligation is on the partners and this is a strongly demotivating factor.
Barriers to communication
1. No privacy: Many employees feel that their privacy is getting compromised. Ladies
found it increasingly difficult to speak with their boyfriends and one of the employees
was frowned upon the usage of social networking website Facebook (Voinea, 2015). It
has been noted in the case that since the online meeting room allocating system is not in
place, employees could not even discuss confidential information with their clients. This
will affect their performance.
2. No transparency: Transparency was another major issue faced by the employees. One of
the incidence mentions that an employee was offered a mere 2% raise and was told that
his reports had a lot of mistakes. When asked about the mistakes, no clear answer was
provided to him. This lack of transparency leads to frustration among employees and also
hinders their performance (Salazar, 2017). No clear idea about their mistakes makes it
difficult for them to improve upon their performance.
3. No clarity: Lack of clarity in communication is clearly evident in the case. One of the
employees was promised a high raise for a good performance however despite her
performance, she was offered just a 4% raise. It must be understood that ‘high’, ‘good’,
‘poor’, these are all relative terms. Bonus and incentive structures of organizations must
be clearly specified. Quantifying such details becomes imperative to avoid
miscommunication leading to an entirely wrong expectation setting in the organization.
4. False promises: Making false promises by the employer or employee is one the most
dangerous communication barrier that can be seen in organizations today. Employees
tend to over promise while their recruiting process and vice versa. The case mentions that
the account was promised that his tuition fee would be compensated but the management
refused to do that owing to a higher than expected fees charged by the university. These
kind of false promises make the employees feel cheated (Hafner, 2017). Employers must
make sure that they live up to the promises that they make to the employees.
5. Biasness: Employees also feel that there is a lot of biasness towards white men in the
organization. This is why the minority of the organization often feels left out. This is also

Organizational Behavior 6
a communication barrier as cultural differences are not taken into consideration. Someone
laughed the food that Anand bought at the picnic. This is a clear insult to an Indian
colleague and such a behavior must not be promoted in office space (Gaertner, 2014).
Overcoming barriers to communication
1. Transparent reviews: Reviews given by employers to employees must be transparent and
absolutely clear. One of one review meetings must be conducted monthly or quarterly
and an honest feedback must be given to employees about their performance. Every
manager must keep a sincere track of employee’s performance and in case of any issues
or mistakes, the employee must be informed on the spot. A good feedback session keeps
employees motivated and on the right track. They understand their mistakes and can
improve their performance upon receiving genuine feedbacks (Bernstien, 2017). This is
beneficial for the organization as well as the employee’s personal growth.
2. Discuss before promising: As we saw in the case of the accountant that he was promised
a compensation of his tuition fee. Had there been a proper discussion before making such
a promise, both the parties could have a reached a consensus without any
miscommunication. Therefore before making any kind of promises to employees,
management must make sure that they know exactly what will they be able to deliver.
Making false promises or over promising only leads to employees feeling cheated and
frustrated.
3. Meeting rooms: online system to allocate meeting room must be efficient. In an
organization where most members are complaining about a lack of privacy, it is
important that the meeting rooms should be well functional so that employees can discuss
confidential matters with clients. It was noticed in the case that a few ladies complained
about not being able to speak to their boyfriends. It must be kept in mind that the usage of
these meeting rooms must be restricted to business conversations only. Personal
communications can take place during lunch hours outside the office area. But for every
other important personal communication with clients or between peers must be done in
meeting rooms. Performance reviews should also be conducted on a one to one basis.
4. Anonymous feedbacks: The firm should be open to receiving feedbacks anonymously.
Many times employees are scared to give feedbacks when asked in open with the fear of

Organizational Behavior 7
creating any kind of biasness. This is why organizations must encourage anonymous
feedbacks from everyone. This can be done by installing suggestion boxes at different
spots in the office (Detert, 2016).
5. Open door policy: Open door policy is an extremely efficient way creating better
communication. In this policy the senior management of the firm keeps their doors open
at all times implying that anyone can come and discuss any issues as they may deem
necessary (Fox Business, 2015). This policy encourages employees to directly
communicate with the top management in case of an issue rather than getting frustrated
about it or gossiping with their peers about the same (Cibis, 2017).
6. Respecting privacy: When employees were in their cubicles, no one could see what they
were doing. Now that employees have moved to an open space, it must be the
responsibility of the top management to not unnecessarily interfere into employee’s work.
As long as they are delivering targets, incessantly keeping a check on their computers and
noticing the websites they surf will surely create frustration among employees and will
even reduce performance efficiency. If an employee feels that in between work, they
need a breather for a few minutes, they should be able to take it without any negative
reaction from the management.
Sources of Power
There are five sources of power that makes every individual experience a possession of authority
and influence over others. These five sources are legitimate, reward, coercive, referent and
expert. Let us look at incidences where these sources have been used:
Legitimate: This power comes from an individual’s position or designation in an organization.
The partners have using their legitimate power (Riasi, 2016). They made their personal cabins in
an open plan organization structure. In one of the incidences, Jack has mentioned to Owen that
most people are “Not like us”, this clearly implies that they feel superior to the others and are not
even comfortable with everyone treated equally in the firm.
Reward: Reward power arises from a person’s ability to offer incentives, bonuses or other such
rewards (Baumann, 2016). The partners have this source of power and it has adversely impacted
the employees. Most employees are not clear with their reward structures as the partners have

Organizational Behavior 8
made the process very opaque. Reward power comes with a huge sense of responsibility. As seen
in the case, Jack and Owen used their reward power to hire the accountant by offering to
reimburse his tuition fee but after his joining, they set the limit of reimbursing $6000. This has
led to frustration and a feeling of taken advantage of.
Coercive: Coercive power comes from one’s ability to influence someone by threats,
punishments and sanctions (Pierro, 2013). One of the instances in the case depicts that when an
employee was using Facebook, she was frowned upon. In another instance, an employee was
given just a 4% raise without clearly mentioning where and how did she go wrong. Even Anand
and Pauline felt that they were consistently overworked and short on staff. All these incidences
prove the frustration of employees due to the use of coercive power.
Expert: Expert power comes to play when an individual feels that they have better knowledge
than the other. Jack offered a 2% raise to one of the employees and said that it was because he
made a lot of mistakes. When asked the details of the mistake, he was shrugged off. When the
same employee offered to take up an important case, he was again told that the case was too big
to handle for him. This clearly implies that Jack finds himself must superior especially in terms
of the knowledge he possesses. This has led to employee feeling demotivated.
Referent: This power comes from one’s interpersonal relationships and is shown by Candy. One
of the employees who is over friendly with Jack and hence disregarded her peer when they
expressed a concern regarding the new structure. Other employees felt that they are being
subjected to partial behavior.
Influence tactics
Leadership often requires influencing employees into performing in a certain manner. The
following three tactics have been predominantly seen to be practiced in the case:
1. Exchange influencing technique seeks influence through making promises that others will
receive rewards or any other benefits (OC, 2013). Partners have promised good raises,
larger teams and reimbursement of college tuition in order to join the firm.

Organizational Behavior 9
2. Upward appeals seeks approval of those in a higher position by establishing relations
with them (Epitropaki, 2013). Candy is seen to be over friendly with jack in the hope of
any tangible or intangible reward.
3. Legitimating influence is seen due to a position of power. Changing the entire office
structure without consulting other employees and setting up personal cabins for
themselves with a view is a clear implication of legitimating influence.

Organizational Behavior 10
References
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hierarchy collide: Power without status drives interpersonal conflict. Organization
Science, 27(1), 123-140.
Baumann, O., & Stieglitz, N. (2014). Rewarding value‐creating ideas in organizations: The
power of low‐powered incentives. Strategic Management Journal, 35(3), 358-375.
Bernstein, E. S., & Li, S. (2017, January). Seeing where you stand: From performance feedback
to performance transparency. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2017, No. 1,
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Burke, W. W. (2017). Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Cibis, M. L., Wackerhagen, C., Müller, S., Lang, U. E., Schmidt, Y., & Heinz, A. (2017).
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Fox Business, 2015, ‘An open door policy for digital age’,
http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2015/06/30/open-door-policy-for-digital-age.html,
viewed on 7 October, 2017.
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identity model. Psychology Press.

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