Case Study Analysis: Chrysler's Strategic and Cultural Transformation

This case study analyzes the organizational culture and strategic changes at Chrysler under Sergio Marchionne's leadership. It examines observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions of Chrysler's culture, focusing on market share and price slashing. The study explores how Marchionne improved person-environment fit, implemented a new culture emphasizing clan characteristics and adhocracy, and altered the hierarchy. The case delves into cultural intelligence, particularly in the context of Chinese business practices, and discusses the importance of communication and risk management. Additionally, it reviews the application of Schwarzman's principles for executive selection, Schwartz's 10 values in companies like Bain & Company, and the challenges of managing during a recession. The study also touches upon perceptual errors in recruitment, the effects of layoffs on employees, and the performance management cycle at Taco Bell. Finally, it addresses the concepts of roles and norms in the context of mixed-gender work groups and the potential impact on sexual harassment and group dynamics.

Running head: CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
Table of Content

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s
Chapter 9....................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 11..................................................................................................................................4
Chapter 12..................................................................................................................................5
Chapter 13..................................................................................................................................7

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Chapter 3
1. Chrysler’s Culture like the culture of many companies will have imbibed, a trend that
has been a part of their company for a long time. These the observable artifacts,
espoused values, and basic assumptions associated with Chrysler’s culture is their
interest in market share and their tendency to slash priced when sales falls and such
heavy discounting bars them from earning profits.
2. In order to facilitate Person Environment Fit for his Direct Report, Mr. Marchionne,
ousted various people at various ranks who did not fit the demanding roles. He
carefully interviewed, existing executives and made sure that he kept the ones fit and
willing to work.
3. The new Chrysler’s culture wants to possess the characteristics of Clan, by making
sure that they are retaining only the employees who are well suited and capable of
achieving the aims and objectives set for the new culture. The Adhocracy has been
implemented by the new CEO who is willing to bring in considerable changes that
help the profitability of this particular business. Chrysler has always been heavily
market oriented and they had a policy of rebates in case of reduction in sales to retain
their market position however the new CEO aims to retain their market position
without rebates. The hierarchy has been checked and changed according to the present
needs of the company.
4. The Chrysler motto is ‘design with purpose’. The culture as explored was much
keener on market share than on achieving the motto now with new changes this motto
will be put into design.
5. Changes need to be brought into organizational culture of every company as time
changes. With the bankruptcy that had plagued the company a year ago demanded a
change in the employee structure that was brought by Mr. Marchionne with newer and

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better communication systems that can be put into better use by much more
competent and filtered executives.
Chapter 4
1. The idea that I was of that then Chinese are so individualistic that they have problems
in teamwork, however, this presentation shows that they are really skilled at
teamwork and this is especially useful in organizational growth.
2. On a business trip to china, it is important that I maintain personal space effectively
yet be engaging and expressive of ideas, that can be implemented. In other words, the
Chinese being very entrepreneurial in nature will be interested in the business if the
same amount of involvement is displayed.
3. In an industry where Chinese owned companies are growing rapidly in numbers it is
important that they bring in strategies that improve the communication within
employees. Americans display a high level of individualism but too much of it in the
workplace will make it difficult for them to adjust and therefore communication must
ensue. Americans are also very thoughtful when it comes to risk and therefore the
risks that are taken should not be sudden or random and must be carefully thought and
discussed.
4. Given the amount of high energy business that is practiced by the Chinese and the
risks they are willing to take, I am interested to take up a foreign assignment someday
to be exposed to new kinds of organizational behaviors.
Chapter 5
1. Schwarzman is a very skeptical man given his experiences, he is careful and refuses
to move forward with work if he is not sure of it. Thus it can be said that he is the

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kind of man who does not want to make mistakes because he knows that the
consequences of such actions can be derogatory for the company.
2. The candidates who will be selected as blackstone needs to be very careful and
efficient. They have to be careful that after committing to do something, he or she will
make sure that he does not submit the work done until and until he is sure that has the
requiredinformation has been attained. They also need to be efficient enough to
submit the work within the deadline.
3. The Gardener’s eight multiple intelligences from important to least important for
being an executive Blackstone are:
 Logical-mathematical intelligence
 Spatial intelligence
 Intrapersonal intelligence
 Naturalist intelligence
 Interpersonal intelligence
 Linguistic intelligence
 Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence
 Musical intelligence
This is done in relevance to the demands of the company. The kind of intelligence that
is not required for the company like musical intelligence is placed absolutely below.
4. The various intelligence level competencies are required for making smart investment
decisions because they devise if the investment at a particular time will be profitable
for the company or not. Investment at the wrong time will cause a fall in the profits of
the company.
5. I have what it takes for someone to work for Scwarzman given the care on needs to
take before taking decisions. I admire risk taking abilities but I make sure that the risk

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is taken at the right time and decisions are made correctly after checking out the pros
and cons of the same.
Chapter 6
1. Schwartz 10 values are driving the behavior of managers at Bain & Company, Home
Depot, and Best Buy. They are being imbibed with values like self-direction to
achieve the goals that area set out for them, tradition and conformity to realize the
values of the company and work accordingly and achievement or gratification after
reaching the goals.
2. Managing a recession is a difficult job. Slashing employees is a difficult task.
However they can be reinstated in departments that are booming. Ellis made sure that
these departments are paid attention to so that employees can retain their jobs while
focusing on areas that are still profitable.
3. Home Depot and Best Buy are trying to increase employee involvement by making
sure that communication is free flowing amongst the employees. They are constantly
being updated and addressed to make sure that they do miss out on important
information.
4. Aizen’s theory of planned behavior states that various attitudes are responsible for
shaping the behavior and intentions of an individual. During recession,. The beliefs
and attitudes of employees can be controlled by presenting objectives keeping in mind
the effect of the recession. It is important that the new attitudes are involved and old
attitudes decimated to ensure that employees are not disappointed.
5. During recession the employees are usually unwilling to work and are frustrated by
the condition of the market. They should be engaged in the kind of work that is still
profitable and they should be communicated the problems clearly and correctly so that

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it helps adjust their behavior and they commit to the work better instead of living
under distorted ideas.
Chapter 7
1. Perpetual errors that affect the perception of the recruiters are nervousness, taking or
presenting characteristic that are not weaknesses as weaknesses, lying or even being
too confident of themselves.
2. Negative stereotypes that fuel the recruiter’s perspectives are stereotypes like the
interviewees think that the recruiters want people who seem perfect or can conduct
themselves perfectly; they are of the idea that they can lie about perfection and land
the job.
3. The Pygmalion effect, the Galatea effect, and the Golem effect play a role in this case
as this case deals with the recruitment of candidates based on how and what they
portray themselves as. The Galatea effect is noticed as companies are much keen on
recruiting people who are majorly self driven. The Pygmalion effect is the effect that
higher expectations place don people, like people who claim to be perfect are often
placed on a pedestal and they suffer if they do not live up to the demands. While the
golem effect leads to lesser expectations and dissolution of interviews.
4. Perception, especially the recruiter’s always have a keen eye out for the correct
candidates, they cannot be fooled. They perceive the reality and the people who can
present their competent reality correctly. Perception is how the recruiters perceive a
possible employee and it is based on this perception that a company decides to invest
on a particular person.
5. In order to answer the question that asks me about my weakness, I will admit that I
am afraid of taking risks although jobs demand it and am very particular about finding

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a lot of reasons to take a risk. If the risk I take is not backed by enough evidence that
it is going to be successful, I lose heart.
Chapter 8
1. Employees who survive a layoff ore of the idea that they may be laid off anytime.
Thus it is important that they are motivated for them to continue working for the
company without presuming that they have no future or the risks are too high.
2. Conaty’s advice shows signs of being prevalent like the equity and expectancy theory
as it focuses on equitable treatment of the important workforce when the market is not
doing as well as it is supposed to.
3. Yes, motivation will be helping layoff survivors as they fail at self motivating
themselves hence, external motivation will help in reinstating the confidence and
drive to excel at work.
4. Layoffs are depressing events and they kill the work culture as employees are quick to
assume that they are being suppressed. This tension cane handled by having fun in
bringing in various interactive elements to make people feel care for and to make the
environment light.
5. This case is very important in order to understand the psychology of the employees
after a layoff and the main takeaway is that layoff’s can be a back draw but
recuperating from it is integral. Managers must make sure that people find stability
and joy again order to get work done.
Chapter 9
1. The Performance Management Cycle consists of the elements: Planning, Monitoring,
Reviewing and Rewarding. All of the elements are incorporated in Stewart’s comments.
She dealt with the employees at Taco Bell like a teacher, she was carefully overseeing the

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counter and making sure that they proceed in a planned way. They were being monitored
in a way that ensures that their output is of the best quality. She reviewed the specifics
while catching them at work and rewarded them with compliments when they are doing
well. This shows that Stewart followed the Performance management cycle pretty well.
2. Generation of employee engagement is an important task and Stewart made sure that she
engaged in the same while they were working and while they were a doing a particular
job. Engagement promotes motivation and goodwill amongst the employees.
3. The teaching style of management that was utilized for the generation of motivation
within the employees, she approved of their choices or the methods they implemented to
get the job done, she displayed appreciation for progress and the inherent competence of
certain employees and her appreciation were meaningful and not flimsy.
4. Positive reinforce is effective in this case because the employees rarely get credit for their
work except for monetary incentives. Positive reinforcements in the form of verbal
appreciation are highly motivating factors for employees.
5. I would prefer working under Stewart in Dine Equity because her ability to mentor is
commendable and working under her will motivate me to do better.

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Chapter 10
1. The concept of roles and norms figure in this case because it is assumed that the
nature of work at oil rigs is very masculine in nature because all the work there is very
heavy duty.
2. Mixed Gender Work groups can actually help reduce sexual harassment because in
this case the men are exposed to women in the field which allows them to work in
unison with them than being interested in women who are kept safely under company
rules, away from them. Mixed effort fieldwork normalizes the situation and helps in
reducing sexual abuse.
3. This makes groupthink very likely as in field both the genders can work in unison
with each other while extending help in their own ways to each other.
4. Men have to realize that the workplace provides and equal platform for both sexes,
hence, it is important that they do not try to bring in the idea of masculinity, especially
on a neutral ground where it does not matter.
Chapter 15
1. The influence tactics and power bases that are evident in this case is that the manager
was a control freak who was micromanaging employees that had led to them being
scare of taking new risks and ended up staying back in a system that was visibly old.
2. The person displayed more personalized power as he micromanaged the buyers as
well. He wanted to strongly influence others and had very little socialized power until
he understood it’s necessity in a job like that.
3. Doug Rauch’s behavior is that of someone who likes to be in control and know that
the situation is under control. He tried to maintain this by not stepping out of comfort
zones and by trying to convince people that he is the only one worth listening to.

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4. This case bolsters the argument in favor of delegation because Doug Rauch finally
learned to let go and trust in the people to whom he had delegated the duties.
5. A man who micromanages will be advised to give people a breather and some space
to let them bring in newer ideas to the floor that might be better and more profitable.
6. This shift in management style is definitely going to bring in further office politics
because the ideas of various people will now be involved than the idea of one.
Chapter 16
1. Lynn Titon displayed characteristics that can be the characteristics of a good leader
and a manager. She maintained a personality meant to impress. She has an impressive
CV and is unapologetic and risk taking.
2. Her leadership traits are both positive and negative as too much of anything will harm
the idea. She is a dynamic leader who maintains a façade that has to be feared and
looked up to however she refuses to pay her personal life much heed. Her life is
unbalanced and this is a negative trait.
3. She takes situational approaches like her management of the losses buying America
LaFrance had incurred. She is ready to tackle the negative and positive results of her
decisions.
4. The various kinds of transformational leadership that was used by her were, Idealized
influence, given her excellent character and speaking abilities that made her a role
model. Individualized consideration s she was on the lookout for every individual in
the organization and wanted to make sure that each was as effective as the other. She
was an inspirational motivation as well for the employees; she was a leader who took
part in everything, not just a boss. She provided intellectual stimulation as well as she
is an innovator who likes further innovation.

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5. I would like to work for Lynn Tilton given that her leadership is not just something
that is limited to orders. She is a part of the process and she leads by example. She
helps motivate people and is interactive. Work under her seems like an achievement.