University Case Study: Managing People and Organizations - Analysis

This assignment presents an analysis of three case studies focused on leadership and management. The first case study examines issues of poor management, lack of employee motivation, and high staff turnover, proposing strategies such as improved compensation, employee empowerment, and appraisal programs to enhance organizational operations and reduce turnover. The second case study analyzes the leadership style of a procurement leader, Detlef Schultz, and suggests incorporating charismatic leadership and delegation skills to improve supply chain management and employee engagement. The third case study addresses Facebook's data privacy scandal, discussing the organization's responses, the implications of GDPR, and Facebook's e-business model based on user data. The analysis highlights key leadership challenges, strategic responses, and the importance of employee motivation, effective leadership styles, and data privacy regulations in achieving organizational goals.

Running head: MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
Table of Contents
Case study 1.....................................................................................................................................2
Answer to question a...................................................................................................................2
Answer to question b...................................................................................................................3
Answer to question c...................................................................................................................3
Case study 2.....................................................................................................................................4
Answer to question a...................................................................................................................4
Answer to question b...................................................................................................................5
Case study 3.....................................................................................................................................6
Answer to question a...................................................................................................................6
Answer to question b...................................................................................................................7
Answer to question c...................................................................................................................8
Answer to question d...................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................12

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Case study 1
Answer to question a
The issues that are faced by the organization are based on the ill- management and lack of
motivation to the employees resulting to maximization of the staff turnover rates. The former
CEO of the organization aimed at undertaking lean management in order to reduce the costs that
were incurred by the business. Therefore, the management undertook the strategy of dismissing
staff members for minor errors or breaches of procedure. It has affected the organizational
operations largely resulting to system failures. On the other hand, the poor remuneration policy
of the organization and the lack of motivation to the employees affected the productivity of the
business.
I would take steps to bring forth changes min the workplace conditions in order to
facilitate the smooth functioning of the workforce as per the objectives of the business. On the
other hand, I would take steps to improve the compensation and remuneration policies of the
business in order to adhere to the needs of the employees. The improvements in the remuneration
policies of the business will be helping me to motivate the employees in order to enhance the
organizational operations. Dries (2013) stated that Appraisal programs help in enhancing the
involvement of the employees in the organizational processes and thereby motivate the same in
undertaking steps to enhance the operations. I would undertake the employee empowerment
strategy to boost the organizational operations. The identification of the interests of the
employees will be helping me to develop different remuneration schemes in order to motivate the
employees towards undertaking the smooth functioning of the same.

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Answer to question b
The strategy that is planned by me will be helping to empower the employees and thereby
enhance the operations of the workforce through encouraging the engagement of the workforce. I
believe that framing a positive workforce culture will be helping the employees in working on
the organizational objectives more proficiently. On the other hand, providing the employees with
the suitable remuneration scheme will be helping the organization in enhancing the operations of
the same. Appraisal programs and enhanced compensation will be helping the management in
reducing the rate of staff turnover. Jiang et al. (2012) stated that the management of the
employees through identification of the issues and thereby mitigating the same helps businesses
in facilitating the smooth functioning of the same.
The strategies that are planned by me will be helping the organization in encouraging the
involvement of the employees in the process. The active participation of the employees in the
business processes will be helping the same in enhancing the productivity of the same. Van De
Voorde, Paauwe and Van Veldhoven (2012) stated that the key elements of change in the
organizational operations are dependent on the smooth functioning of the employees through
continuous motivation. Appraisal programs will be adding on the performance of the employees
through continuous motivation and induction of positive workplace competition.
Answer to question c
The major resistances that might be faced by me while implementing the employee
empowerment strategy on the organizational model will be from the senior management team,
which consists of five people. The people were appointed by the former CEO and thereby they
developed an insight of the cost cutting strategies that were undertaken by the former director.
The strategies that were planned by me required the organization to bring forth changes ion the

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processes of the people management through induction of fair remuneration strategy and
appraisal programs. Therefore, the senior management team might oppose the strategies that are
planned by me as the strategy does not correlate to the activities or the principles of lean
management followed by the same. On the other hand, the senior management team of the
organization holds the opinion that retention of the employees is a least regarded concept due to
the higher rates of unemployment in the operating markets.
However, I would take steps to make the senior management aware of the different issues
that are faced by the organization due to lack of involvement of the employees in the processes. I
will take steps to make the senior management team aware of the outcomes relating to lack of
proper motivation provided to the employees as it affects the smooth functioning of the business
through lower retention rates. Kehoe and Wright (2013) stated that providence of fair
remuneration to the employees will be helping enterprises in designing the smooth functioning of
the business units.
Case study 2
Answer to question a
Detlef Schultz was awarded with the Procurement Leader Award in the year 2011, which
uncovered the different aspects of strategic research, category intelligence and suitable
networking skills in order to enhance the involvement of the communities in the innovations.
However, Schultz could have made use of the charismatic style of leadership in order to enhance
the operations of the employees by persuading and influencing the same by the characteristics of
the leadership phenomenon. Mhatre and Riggio (2014) stated that the utilization of charismatic
leadership assists leaders in influencing the workforce in order to undertake smooth operations of

5MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
the same as per the objectives of the business. Schultz has undertaken transformational
leadership as an approach, which aimed at undertaking consultation with the employees for the
development of the workforce through mitigation of different issues that are faced by the same.
However, the implementation of charismatic leadership style would have helped Schultz in
influencing the employees to operate as per the innovative approach of the business. Charismatic
leadership helps in facilitating convictions and commitments in the workforce for undertaking
the proposed changes in the business model (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo and
Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez 2012). The major function that was undertaken by Schultz was related to the
compilation of the fragmented supply chains into a single global function. Therefore, the
introduction of the charismatic leadership style in the approach of Schultz would have helped
him in maximizing the involvement of the employees in the processes for enabling the smooth
functioning of the supply chain and logistics by persuasion.
Answer to question b
The range of leadership skills, which Schultz should have incorporated while undertaking
the transformational change in Vodafone’s structure, are delegation and flexibility of operations.
Braun et al. (2013) stated that delegation skills of the leaders assist the same in understanding the
needs of the organizations and thereby allocate different tasks to the concerned departments.
Delegation skills would have helped Schultz in understanding the different feasible manner in
which tasks might be allocated to the different departments in order to enhance the quality and
smooth functioning of the workforce as per their expertise. Moreover, the proper delegation skill
would have helped Schultz in gaining feedbacks from the employees on the different processes
and thereby bring forth changes in the fragmented units to ensure the performance. Delegation

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skill would have helped Schultz in understanding the capabilities of the employees and thereby
assigning tasks as per the priorities of the same.
Schultz would have benefitted through induction of flexibility in the operations, as it
would have helped him in treating the employees as individuals. Grant (2012) stated that
Flexibility helps in facilitating adaptability to the different changes that were faced by the
organization while operating in competitive market structures. The key changes that were
planned by Schultz in the supply chain operations of the business is backed by the adaptability
of the organization and the ability of the same in adhering top the different changes efficiently. It
would have helped Schultz in enhancing the supply chain operations of the business while
operating in diverse economies.
Case study 3
Answer to question a
Facebook was alleged of a data privacy scandal affected the goodwill and trust of the
users. The organization undertook steps to testify the issues that are faced by the users relating to
data privacy while utilizing the proposition made by the organization (Pinchot and Paullet
2012). The internal audit department of the organization was entitled with the responsibility of
investigating the apps and third party developers. The organization also restricted the activities of
the app developers relating to their access over the personal data of the Facebook users (Veltsos
2012). The organization updated its privacy tools in order to restrict the activities of the third
party developers in assessing information of the users for the proper development of the
applications. The organization also created a data management tool “Access Your Information”
for the users, which would enable the same with the actions that relates to the management,

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omission or monitor over the posts and the personal profile in Facebook (Tankard 2016). The
strategies helped the organization in enforcing suitable data management plans for its users. It
has also helped the organization in avoiding situations of data breach that might affect the trust
of the users. Previously the organization reviewed the most visited sites of the users and the non-
users without the explicit “opt-in” consent of the users in order to develop the applications
through the utilization of artificial intelligence technologies (Isaak and Hanna 2018). However,
the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) restricted the actions of the organization relating
to the monitoring user activities without the consent of the same (Spiekermann et al. 2015).
Answer to question b
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation ) is a regulation under the EU laws which
emphasizes on data protection and privacy for every individuals in the European Union. The
GDPR aims at providing the users with the control over the personal data exports for reducing
situations of data breaches and falsification of user data and misutilization (Boban 2016). The
purpose of framing the regulation is to provide the users with the capability of controlling and
monitoring their personal information in the web for reducing data theft and breaches for private
gains of different business enterprises.
The key privacy and data protection requirements of the GDPR are being discussed in
this section:
Undertaking the consent of the users for data processing: The regulation emphasized on the
organizational role of undertaking the consent of the users while processing their personal
information as it would helps in making the user aware of the organization with whom the data is

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being shared. On the other hand, the requirement will be helping to avoid different risks of data
breach and misstatement from the end of the reviewer (Boban 2016).
Providing data breach notifications: The regulation requires the concerned companies to set up
technologies, which will be notifying the users of the data breach in order to keep the same
informed during a data theft.
Safe handling of data across borders: The regulation requires the organizations to undertake
safe handling of data while operating in diverse economies in order to minimize the risks relating
to data breaches.
Answer to question c
The e- business model of Facebook is based on the concept of utilizing internet in order
to conduct business. Facebook aims at generating revenue through the identification of the data
ranging from user account information to the personal behaviors and preferences. This strategy
of the organization has helped the same in undertaking a continuous growth process through
restricted selling of information to the different marketers (Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison
2018). The proposition of Facebook is mainly dependent on the creation of a communication
platform, which helps in the growth of different organizations. The organization is the source of
Big Data for ensuring the functioning of the targeted advertisements in order to generate
revenues. The revenue model that is followed by the organization is to generate revenue over the
information of different users. The benefits of the organization is dependent on the wide social
media platform that is proposed by the same which has helped in enhancing the communication
systems to support the sustainable functioning of the organizations. Moreover, the huge user base
of the organization has helped in the sustainable functioning of the same in the competitive

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markets. However, the major challenge that is faced by the organization sib assed on the data
breaches that are faced by the same while operating as per the objectives.
Answer to question d
The challenges that are faced by the social media platforms are due to the excess
competition in the markets. The development of the social media websites are restricted through
the radical expansion of different multinational organizations. Moreover, the data breaches that
occur create a situation of distrust among the users, which affects the goodwill of the business
(Veltsos 2012). The situation might be controlled by the organizations through maintenance of
unique selling proposition in order to gain a competitive edge over the propositions made by the
existing players or the new entrants. On the other hand, the organizations might also consider
different privacy policies under the guidance of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in
order to restrict data breaches.

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References
Boban, M., 2016. Digital single market and EU data protection reform with regard to the
processing of personal data as the challenge of the modern world. Economic and social
development: book of proceedings, p.191.
Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S. and Frey, D., 2013. Transformational leadership, job
satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The Leadership
Quarterly, 24(1), pp.270-283.
Cadwalladr, C. and Graham-Harrison, E., 2018. Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles
harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. The Guardian, 17.
Dries, N., 2013. The psychology of talent management: A review and research agenda. Human
Resource Management Review, 23(4), pp.272-285.
García-Morales, V.J., Jiménez-Barrionuevo, M.M. and Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, L., 2012.
Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through organizational
learning and innovation. Journal of business research, 65(7), pp.1040-1050.
Grant, A.M., 2012. Leading with meaning: Beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the
performance effects of transformational leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2),
pp.458-476.
Isaak, J. and Hanna, M.J., 2018. User Data Privacy: Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and
Privacy Protection. Computer, 51(8), pp.56-59.

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Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management
influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating
mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), pp.1264-1294.
Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices
on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), pp.366-391.
Mhatre, K.H. and Riggio, R.E., 2014. Charismatic and transformational leadership: Past, present,
and future. The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations, pp.221-240.
Pinchot, J.L. and Paullet, K.L., 2012. What’s in your profile? Mapping Facebook profile data to
personal security questions. Issues in Information Systems, 13(1), pp.284-293.
Spiekermann, S., Acquisti, A., Böhme, R. and Hui, K.L., 2015. The challenges of personal data
markets and privacy. Electronic Markets, 25(2), pp.161-167.
Tankard, C., 2016. What the GDPR means for businesses. Network Security, 2016(6), pp.5-8.
Van De Voorde, K., Paauwe, J. and Van Veldhoven, M., 2012. Employee well‐being and the
HRM–organizational performance relationship: a review of quantitative studies. International
Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), pp.391-407.
Veltsos, J.R., 2012. An analysis of data breach notifications as negative news. Business
Communication Quarterly, 75(2), pp.192-207.

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Appendix
Figure 1: Facebook’s revenue per user
(Source: Veltsos 2012)