Case Study On JTT Insurance Corporation | Forces Pushing For Change

Added on -2019-09-22

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PART I: Read the following case study carefully and analyze it by answering the three Questions for Discussion in an integrated essay format. (50 points)Please read the following case carefully and write an integrated essay (no less than 3pages inlength)based solely on the information provided in the case. You should not discuss this assignment with anyone - group collaboration is not permitted. JTT Insurance Corporation provides automobile insurance throughout the southeastern United States. Las year a new president was brought in by JTT’s Board of Directors to improve the company’s competitiveness and customer service. After spending several months assessing the situation, the new president introduced a strategic plan to improve JTT’s competitive position. He also replaced three vice presidents. Don Linker was hired as vice president of claims, JTT’s largest division with over 1500 employees, 50 claims managers and 5 regional directors.Don immediately met with all claims managers and directors and visited employees at JTT’s 50 claims centers. As an outsider, this was a formidable task, but his strong interpersonal skills and uncanny ability to remember names and ideas helped him through the process. Through these visits and discussions, Don discovered that the claims division had been managed in a rather authoritarian, top-down manner. He could also see that morale was extremely low and employee-management relations were guarded. High workloads and isolation (claims adjusters work in tiny cubicles) were two other common complaints. Several managers acknowledged that the high turnover among claims adjusters was partly due to these conditions.Following discussions with JTT’s president, Don decided to make morale and supervisory leadership his top priority. He initiated a divisional newsletter with a tear-off feedback form for employees to register their comments. He announced an open-door policy in which any claims division employee could speak to him directly and confidentially without going for their his/her immediate supervisor. Don also fought organizational barriers to initiate aflextime program so that employees could design work schedules around their needs. This program later became a model for other areas of JTT.One of Don’s most pronounced symbols of change was the “Claims Management Credo”outlining the philosophy that every claims manager would follow. At his first meeting with the complete claims management team, Don presented a list of what he thought were important philosophies and actions of effective managers. The management group was asked to select and prioritize items from this list. They were told that the resulting list would be the division’s management philosophy and that all managers would be held accountable for abiding by its principles. Most claims managers were uneasy about this process, but they also understood that
the organization was under competitive pressure and that Don was using this exercise to demonstrate his leadership.The claims managers developed a list of 10 items, such as encouraging teamwork, fostering a trusting work environment, setting clear and reasonable goals, and so on. The list was circulated to senior management in the organization for their comment and approval and sent back to all claims managers for their endorsement. Once this was done, a copy of the final document was sent to every claims division employee. Don also announced plans to follow up with an annual survey to evaluate each claims manager’s performance. This worried the managers-but most of them believed that the credo exercise was a result of Don’s initial enthusiasm and that he would be too busy to introduce the survey after settling into the job.One year after the credo had been distributed, Don announced that the first annual survey would be conducted. All claims employees were to complete the survey and return it confidentially to an outside consultant who would compile results for each claims center manager. The survey asked the extent to which the manager had lived up to each of the 10 itemsin the credo. Each form also provided space for employee comments.Claims center managers were surprised that the survey Don had promised a year ago would be conducted, but they were even more worried about Don’s statement that the results would be shared with employees. What “results” would employees see? Who would distribute these results? What happens if a manager receives poor ratings from her/his subordinates? “We’ll work out the details later,” said Don in response to these questions. “Even if the survey results aren’t great, the information will give us a good baseline for next year’s survey.”The claims division survey had a high employee response rate. In some centers, every single employee completed and returned the form. Each report showed the claims center manager’s average score for each of the 10 items and how many employees rated the manager at each level of the five-point scale. The reports also included every comment made by employees at that center.No one was prepared for the results of that first survey. Most managers received moderate or poor ratings on the 10 items. Very few managers averaged above 3.0 (out of a total of 5) on more than a couple of items. This suggested that, at best, employees were ambivalent about whether their claims center manager had embraced the 10 management philosophy items. The comments were even more devastating than the ratings. Comments ranged from mildly disappointed to extremely critical of their claims manager. Employees also described their long-standing frustration with JTT, high workloads and isolated working conditions. Several people bluntly stated that they were skeptical about the changes that Don had promised. “We’ve heard these promises before, but now we’ve lost faith,” wrote one claims adjuster.The survey results were sent to each claims manager, the regional director and employeesat the claims center. Don instructed managers to discuss the survey data and comments with their regional manager and directly with employees. The claims center managers, who thought employees received only their managers’ average scores, were shocked to learn that the reports also included individual comments made by employees. Some managers went to their regional

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