Organizational Behavior | Tamarack Industries Case Study

In this article, we'll look at the case study, in which Tamarack Industry, created by Brigham Young University's David J Cherrington, is challenged with workplace organizational behaviors. This includes poor communication, generational difference, and there are no defined regulations and no correct conduct. Theories and recommendations included are - to organize a communication workshop and establish a space for many forms of communication, etc.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Executive Summary
In this article, we'll look at case study 1, in which Tamarack Industry, created by
Brigham Young University's David J Cherrington, is challenged with workplace
organisational behaviours. The organisation behaviours discovered in this example, as
well as theories and recommendations, will be included in the report.
Organisation behaviours discovered in this case study:
 Poor communication
 Generational difference
 There are no defined regulations and no correct conduct.
Theories and Recommendation:
 Organize a communication work shop.
 establishing a space for many forms of communication
 come up with a set of clear rules and policies – no defined regulations Instead of criticizing, report to your boss and write a nice comment. – no
correct conduct
Intro
To begin, what specifically is organisational behaviour? Organizational behaviour is
a huge factor that modern businesses must not overlook. A workplace is made up of a
diverse group of people who have had different experiences and have different personalities.
When this happens there are several issues that may arise between the employees and their
contradictory personalities. When interpersonal conflicts fester for a long period of time they
start to hinder with the productivity and motivations of the employees. In order to avoid this
and create a functional and healthy environment there are organisational behaviours that can
be used. In this report we’re going to discuss some issues that are apparent in the case study,
relate them to different organisational behaviour and recommend viable solutions. The study
and implementation of positively oriented human resource qualities and psychological
capacities that may be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance
improvement in today's workplace is characterised as organisational behaviour (Youseef &

Luthans 2007). In organisational behaviour, the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory
states that leaders form differentiated connections with their subordinates, ranging from high-
quality socio-emotional ties with some to low-quality transactional relationships with others
(Matta, Scott, Koopmaan and Conlon, 2015). We chose this topic for our report because it
highlights how important workplace harmony is for a company to be successful. Positive
organisational behaviour is a very integral part of an effective and productive workforce.
With this report we aim to dismantle the reasons how and why the Tamarack Industries
employees are having friction and disagreements on the way work should be done.
Body
a
According to case 1, in the Tamarack industries employee disagreement, the older
employees and the Geek team workers had differing perspectives about how things
should be done, ending in a productive conflict. Relationship issues arise when people
concentrate on the qualities of others. For example, the elder Tamarack employees
resent the university team employees because they are slow and rude. A resolving
conflicts paradigm, but at the other hand, can be used to effectively resolve dispute in
any firm. This model contains numerous alternatives for coping with conflict issues
among Tamarack employees.
Tamarack Industries is a company that makes motorboats which are mostly used for
water skiing. A third production line is set up throughout the summer to meet the
additional demand. However, this has resulting in workers being assigned to all three
lines, and also the employment of college students for summer jobs to help with the
crew's difficulties. Experienced professionals, but from the other hand, have
previously expressed their dissatisfaction with dealing with university students,
alleging that they are arrogant and slow. As a result, the company's foreman, Dan
Jensen, designed a new strategy in which the third line is made up entirely of
university students (the Geek team).
Mark Allen was appointed to manage the Geek team and spent a significant amount of
time with them about their training field, leading to a rise in the output rate to the level
with low error rate. Dan Jensen then instructed the new crew to manufacture forty

identical units instead of the thirty identical units they had previously produced, since
this would help reduce errors. However, tensions developed between the Geek team
(university students) and the company's senior personnel (permanent employees). As a
result, foreman Dan Jensen changed the approach in order to shift the scenario and
rearrange the job assignments between both the two crews, but Mark Allen was never
on board. As a result, there is a conflict in the Tamarack industries that needs to be
resolved.
b
First issue in the given case study of Tamarack Industries is poor communication. The
development of effective interpersonal communication skills is a vital element to
success in today's team-oriented workplace. Effective workplace communication
requires effort commitment of employees. The parties engaging in communication
must have a common and clear understanding of the many definitions and criteria
about which information is being conveyed in order for communication to be effective
(Goutam 2013). Both older workers and Geek team do not have appropriate
communication skills, in order to establish relationship and understand each other.
Older workers do not have desire to communicate with Geek team, because they think
that university students are arrogant. On the other hand, Geek team not enough
experienced to construct proper way of communication with older staff.
Second issue is generational difference. Generation Y, born between 1982 and 2002,
sometimes referred to as Millennials, is the most recent generation to enter the labour
market. Their work attitudes differ from earlier generations in the workplace.
Generation X, born between 1961 and 1981, tend to be more independent. They also
prefer to achieve balance between work and family. Parents of Generation X, taught
them to prioritise family, thus they would like to have flexible work arrangements that
allow them to manage work and family obligations (Lyons & Kuron 2014). Two
generations university students and older workers have different point of view,
background and perspective on how work should be accomplished. Additionally, they
had different goals and each brings various characteristics to the workplace.
University students were always talking about technology and had passion in that, so

their ‘Geek team’ was named regarding to this. They could accomplish tasks faster
with the help of technologies, than older workers.
Third issue is unclear rules and not proper behaviour. One of the things that
distinguishes an organisation is its rules. They determine the type and direction of the
organisation. There would have been lots of mess and conflicts if there would be no
relevant regulations. Also, it will effect on productivity of employees and output of
organization (Mulgund et al 2017). Having not clear rules and proper regulations, lead
to conflict between teams. Dysfunctional behaviour of older workers, such as
executing of sabotage negatively affected university students. There was no fair
punishment for making sabotage. Moreover, Geek team after lunch was widely
laughing because of experienced workers deception. The norms of behaviour from the
both teams were unsuitable and disrespectful.
c
The first issue that has been identified was the poor communication between
Tamarack Industries older workers and the Geek team. The recommended method to
close this gap is first hold a communication training session. This allows both older
employees and Geek team members to get a better understanding of each other
strength and weaknesses. Besides that, it also helps to improve individual
communication skills and create a better work environment. Secondly, to maintain the
communication, a scheduled weekly meeting should be held. Weekly meeting allows
both older employees and Geek Team to keep communicating and updated. For this
method to have a progress, the meeting shall consist of a clear objective, and everyone
should keep an open mind for new ideas to consider as an effective meeting thus a
stronger communication.
Carrying on, the second issue that has been identified is differential in the generation
age gap. The recommended method to put the differences aside is by creating a space
for different form of communications. For example, Tamarack Industries can set up
different types of channels to make sure both Y and X generation able to receive and
share the information and sometimes technology can break down therefore passing
information to them face-to-face during working hours is the way. Another method

that can bring generation gap close is by implementing a two-way mentorship
program. Because, as for the older employees and Team Geek they both are lacking in
their own aspect such as older employees are lacking in technology knowledge and as
for Team Geek, they are lacking in working experience wise. This will be a great
opportunity for both generations to learn from each other and from there they are able
to improvise and work together in the future while creating a balance in workspace
where both parties are benefiting.
As for the third issue that has been identified is unclear rules and improper behavior.
Firstly, have to address the issue of unclear rules. It is recommended that, Tamarack
Industries management should come out with clear rules and policy as this would give
a clear vision to the employees and avoid any unnecessary conflicts. Focusing on the
improper behavior shown by both the older workers and Team Geek there will be two
solutions for it. As for the older workers behavior, it is recommended that instead of
sabotaging the Geek Team they should first report to the supervisor about Team Geek
improper behavior and the supervisor can gather both older workers and Team Geek
to discuss together regarding the issue. On the other hand, for Geek Team they should
leave a positive remark instead of criticizing all their work as nobody likes to be
criticize on a job they have been doing for years. Therefore, by giving a positive
remark will allow them to communicate openly and help strengthen relationship
among them. Even though it is a need to provide negative feedback, rather than
making demeaning remarks in front of them Geek Team should construct their
feedback properly and confront them in subtle and private manner instead of
humiliating them.
Conclusion
In this report Various methods were used to identify and help wity

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