Organizational Behavior: Case Study

Read a case study on Organizational Behavior and learn about the issues faced by a fictional firm named XYZ training consultants. Get recommendations and analysis based on different organizational and employee engagement theories.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
Name of the student
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1ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
Executive Summary
The respective paper is a case study of fictional firm named XYZ training consultants and the
organizational issues the firm has been facing. The respective paper provides an intense
introspection, analysis, interpretation and recommendation of the respective case study with the
help of different organizational and employee engagement theories as well as ethical and
motivational theories.

2ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Discussion....................................................................................................................................................3
Background of the case...........................................................................................................................3
Identification of the Issue............................................................................................................................4
Motivational elements: Then and Now...................................................................................................4
Training consultant’s behavior: Organizational Justice and Equity theory of motivation........................8
Fiona’s leadership: Reflection................................................................................................................10
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Employee engagement and maintaining a prolific organizational culture is completely
dependent on the decision taken by the leader. The respective paper is a case study of fictional
firm named XYZ training consultants and the organizational issues the firm has been facing. The
respective paper provides an intense introspection, analysis, interpretation and recommendation
of the respective case study with the help of different organizational and employee engagement
theories as well as ethical and motivational theories.
Discussion
Background of the case
The respective case study provided in the assignment is about fictional company XYZ
Training consultants, which is a medium sized organization that provides management training
and leadership development programs or solutions to the aspirants in Malaysia. The company
was officially founded in the year 1990. The founder of the company had taken up the policy of
open management style. Open management style is a special kind of organizational style where
the employer empowers his or her employees by providing them a platform where they would be
able to express their views, opinions, perspectives, ideas, approaches as well as grievances
regarding the happenings within the organization and approaches to work (Rolková and
Farkašová 2015). However, after the retirement of the founder, another individual who replaced
him amended the organizational style and pattern of the company completely which harmed the
company in multifaceted and multidimensional way. The new manager also removed the
performance bonus and merit pay incentive increase and in that place, she introduced annual
across- the- board increases. Apart from such changes, she has also introduced new office layout
which has consequently proved to be impacting on the functioning and performances of the
organization respectively. The new manager has also closed the weekly recreational classes
which the company used to conduct because the manager thought that it would be complete
waste of time. Dissatisfaction among the employees has completely disrupted the positive and

4ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
optimistic organizational environment which is hampering the output and performance of the
company.
Identification of the Issue
Motivational elements: Then and Now
Employee engagement can be defined as the concept of perspective by which the
relationship between an organization and the employees are comprehended, analyzed and
interpreted with the help of qualitative and quantitative yardsticks (Anitha 2014). According to
the employee engagement theories, a leader or a manager is supposed to create an environment
in the organization that assures the fact that all the employees, no matter how significant or
trivial they might be, get involved in the statics as well as dynamics of the organization,
participate in the functioning as well as decision making along with providing the organization
with the best performances with their best efforts in order to make the company survive and
thrive in the world of competition. The employee engagement theories are also mutually
interdependent because it involves not only the engagement of the employees with the employers
but also with the employers and the employees.
In the respective case of XYZ Training consultants, the different aspects of motivational
elements in the employee engagement programs conducted by the company can be noticed.
1. In the beginning of the firm’s operations, the first founder and manager of the company
had provided his employees with a paradigm where the personal relationship of the
employer with the employee would determine his or her performance appraisals at the
end of the day. The most important motivational factor for the arena of employee
engagement in the respective XYZ Training consultants was the sense of respect,
integrity, equity as well as trust and belief among the employers as well as that of the
employees (Bailey et al. 2017). With the provisions such as flexible working hours for
the employees who had family and was committed to them along with additional holiday
leaves proved that the company respected the condition as well as the social status of the
employee. The family values of the committed employees were acknowledged by the
previous leader and ample of scopes were given to them to attend and take care of their

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families. The other situations included granting of additional holiday leave, above
average merit increases and performance bonuses. In order to increase the morale of the
staff, the earlier manager of the company had also provided for recreation opportunities
such as Yoga in the organization. As the earlier leader did not believe in structuralism,
therefore, he took an egalitarian and liberal way of making decisions within the
organization (Bailey et al. 2017). Therefore, a sense of equity and integrity was
maintained in the organizational environment. As the new managing director came into
the scenario, the motivational factor of the company was almost lost.
2. Communication is also considered to be another important factor in terms of employee
engagement. An effective communication can create an efficient and an effective
employee engagement environment within the organization. The most important part of
the motivational program taken up by the company was an effective communication.
Communicating with the employees on professional level to understand their professional
as well as personal goals and progress factors at work were well executed by the
company (Anitha 2014). The former manager made every possible ways to communicate
with the employees directly and without any structuralism or bureaucratic way in
between. With the inclusion of open management style, the staffs were encouraged to
walk into the office of the manager any time and discuss the issues with him openly. The
respective habit of open management style was brought down by the physical structure
and framework of the office (Hatch 2017). The office of the former manager and the
departments of the consultants (the employees) were located on the same floor. With the
common sharing of dining spaces as well as toilet spaces, the former manager was able to
make informal ties with the employees so that the employees might not feel hesitant
about the issues they might have been facing and the issues were ventilated or rectified
then and there (Karanges et al. 2015). The communication between the employer and the
employee within the company was effective as well as efficient. After the retirement of
the former manager, the latter or new manager did not follow the rules or the statutory
way of organizational structure that was set up by the previous manager. The new
manager introduced structuralism within the organization along with a complete change
in the office structure. Such changes have proved disastrous for the growth and
development of the country.

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3. The employee appraisal system, the reward system along with the other monetary
incentive devices are also some of the most important factors of motivation that keeps the
employees engaged in the organization (Murphy and Deckert 2013). Monetary
incentives, indirect as well as direct, help the organizations to motivate the employees in
such a way so that the employees feel satisfied and devoted towards the respective
organization. The monetary reward system was amended by the new managing director
Fiona as she introduced annual across the board increases and removed performance
bonus and merit pay increase incentives which meant that individual wage incentives
based on merit was no longer practiced in the company (Mone and London 2018). In that
place, across the board increases were practiced which included all the employees
without paying attention to individual employee and his/ her special contribution. Such
action led to loss of motivation and job dissatisfaction among the employees (Murphy
and Deckert 2013).
4. A proper organizational structure was also maintained in the work culture of the
respective XYZ training consultants. The organizational structure of the XYZ training
consultants was different and unique in its own way. The consultants who belonged to the
office when the previous manager was in charge of the office were highly involved in all
aspects of the business. The work culture that was in the organization was amicable,
interdependent, liberal and harmonious to each other (Men 2014). The employees, most
importantly, were involved in each and every aspects of business in a way that the
employer (or the manager) could not take decisions about working hours, extra working
hours, work schedules and the dynamics of the jobs by himself. Rather, the employees
played an active role in participating in such decision making processes. Staff of the
company actively participated in the arenas of determining their job schedules, tenures,
programs as well as schemes which also can be considered to be an excellent example of
employee engagement within the organization (Saks. and Gruman 2014.). After Fiona’s
involvement in the management of the organization, certain changes were brought down
by her such as re-arrangement of the office and also rigid structure of organizational
hierarchy where she appointed Head of the Department of every department in the office
by giving them private spaces and chambers, alienating the employees from the

7ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
supervisors, thereby, the work culture was no longer egalitarian or democratic in nature.
Rather, it became bureaucratic and autocratic up to certain extent.
Training consultant’s behavior: Organizational Justice and Equity theory of
motivation
Organizational justice can be defined as a concept which concerns about the employee’s
perceptions regarding fairness within a company. Fairness within a company would literally
mean fair and equal distribution of work and labor force within the organization, equal wages to
all the employees irrespective or any kind of discrimination, equal rights and responsibilities to
all the employees along with safeguarding of the dignity and integrity of an employee within the
organization (Greenberg and Colquitt 2013). Organizational justice can be divided into three
sections, namely, distributive, procedural and interactional. Organizational justice is directly as
well as indirectly based on the equity theory, which states that equity and inequity is derived
from the factors of comparisons between one self and others based on inputs and outcomes
(Blader. and Tyler 2013).
According to the respective case study provided in the assignment, it has been noticed
that the new manager Fiona has tremendously failed in maintaining the organizational justice and
equity theory of motivation within the organization. The most important factor of an organization
to run smoothly and ethically is to provide fair and just environment to its employees and
employers as well. In the respective case, Fiona had taken up the decision to inculcate Head of
the Departments for every consultancy departments in the office where she gave the supreme
autonomy to the head of the departments in order to judge the employees and their capabilities.
Earlier, the employees had been investigated and their performances were tracked by the
manager himself directly and the decisions were immediately taken by the manager himself.
However, in the present scenario, the new manager Fiona has been completely dependable
towards the head of the department of the consultancy departments in order to understand the
performance of the employees which has often led to corrupt practices (Blader and Tyler 2013).
The employees who were at the good book of the head of the department were given better work
to do with better clients and the employees who did not match the preference of the head of the
department were burdened with unnecessary work and overloaded tasks, which made them
exhausted and dissatisfied towards the respective organization. Fiona had been seen to be

8ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
completely biased with the reports and the decisions which the head of the department provided
to her. As the normal training consultants who has been working in the organization have now
got little or utmost no scope of communicating with the new managing director Fiona, thus, due
to the communication gap that has been deliberately created by Fiona by restructuring and
reframing the organization, she has failed to directly create a good impression about her in the
mind of her subordinates or the consultant employees. Such action escalated to injustice among
the employees.
Fiona’s catastrophic decision to remove the bonus and the appraisal schemes for the
employees is considered to be the most unfair strategy taken by the managing director in the
organization. The system which she introduced, annual across-the- board increases made the
employees completely de-motivated towards their work as the salary increase was not according
to the performance of individual employees. The access to pantries, washroom facilities and
other refreshment facilities were different for the ordinary and the management employees which
led to a complete injustice within the organization and the egalitarian and democratic zeal of the
organization was lost (Saks and Gruman 2014.). Such action led to resignation of many
employees.
Fiona’s leadership: Reflection
The leadership style that Fiona had utilized in the respective case is “Autocratic
leadership style”. Autocratic leadership style can be described as a particular type of leadership
style where the individual leader controls over all the decisions with little or no input from the
subordinates (Giltinane 2013). Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their ideas
and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers (Wang and Hsieh 2013). However, there
are certain limitations of being an autocratic leader which has been very well depicted in the case
study itself. For instance, since Fiona no longer includes the employees to participate or provide
their opinions in decision making processes, the employees have been completely dependent on
the whims and woes of Fiona which has also led to being demoralized and de-motivated towards
their work (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider 2015). With a lack of sense of inclusiveness in the decision
making processes of the company, the employees might get dissatisfied with their job (Khan et
al. 2015). Autocratic leadership depicts and initializes power distance in the organizational as
well as external cultural dynamics which can also lead to negative impacts on employees such as

9ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
employee voice behavior and negative performance (Giltinane 2013). Fiona’s decisions and
actions, if challenged by any staff or employee, the result was that the staff received
unprecedented and unnecessary workload. The Head of the department of the consultant
departments of the company directly communicated with Fiona regarding the employee
performance. Fiona gave little scope to the employees to communicate regarding performance
with her. Such instances proved unethical treatment of the leader to her subordinates which
escalated to tensions among the employees and poor performance.
Recommendations
1. Democratic leadership: Fiona is suggested to reshape the leadership style of the
organization. With inclusion of democratic leadership, Fiona would be able to make the
employees take active part in the decision making processes in the company. Such action
will increase employee morale, motivation and zeal to work productively (Giltinane,
2013).
2. Restructuring employee appraisal system: The employee appraisal system, bonus system
and increase in wages as per the performance of the employees must be restructured and
made fair and equitable. Fiona can include merit pay increase incentives and individual
bonuses based on individual performance (Murphy and Deckert 2013).
3. Open management style: Fiona is suggested to include open management style in the
company to directly and amicably communicate with the employees regarding
grievances, doubts as well as performance without any middlemen (such as the head of
the department) (Rolková and Farkašová 2015).
Conclusion
Employee engagement and maintaining a prolific organizational culture is completely
dependent on the decision taken by the leader. The respective paper intensely analyzes the wrong
decisions that can be taken by a leader and the consequences that can happen thereafter. The
respective paper concludes to be a case study of fictional firm named XYZ training consultants
and the organizational issues the firm has been facing. The respective paper concludes by
providing an intense introspection, analysis, interpretation and recommendation of the respective

10ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
case study with the help of organizational justice and equity in motivation theory as well as
theory of employee engagement hereafter.

11ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: CASE STUDY
References:
Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee
performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3), p.308.
Bailey, C., Madden, A., Alfes, K. and Fletcher, L., 2017. The meaning, antecedents and
outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management
Reviews, 19(1), pp.31-53.
Blader, S.L. and Tyler, T.R., 2013. How can theories of organizational justice explain the
Efl’ects of fairness?. In Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 329-354). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Giltinane, C.L., 2013. Leadership styles and theories. Nursing Standard, 27(41).
Greenberg, J. and Colquitt, J.A., 2013. Handbook of organizational justice. Psychology Press.
Hatch, M.J., 2017. The symbolics of office design: an empirical exploration. In Symbols and
artifacts (pp. 129-146). Routledge.
Iqbal, N., Anwar, S. and Haider, N., 2015. Effect of leadership style on employee performance.
Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), pp.1-6.
Karanges, E., Johnston, K., Beatson, A. and Lings, I., 2015. The influence of internal
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131.
Khan, M.S., Khan, I., Qureshi, Q.A., Ismail, H.M., Rauf, H., Latif, A. and Tahir, M., 2015. The
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Men, L.R., 2014. Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership, communication
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Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

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Murphy, K.R. and Deckert, P.J., 2013. Performance appraisal. American Psychological
Association.
Rolková, M. and Farkašová, V., 2015. The features of participative management style. Procedia
economics and finance, 23, pp.1383-1387.
Saks, A.M. and Gruman, J.A., 2014. What do we really know about employee engagement?.
Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), pp.155-182.
Wang, D.S. and Hsieh, C.C., 2013. The effect of authentic leadership on employee trust and
employee engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 41(4), pp.613-
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