Case Study Analysis: Star Construction Company and Leadership

This case study analysis examines the leadership and ethical dilemmas within Star Construction Company, focusing on the conflict between the construction workers' union and the company's management. The analysis identifies key stakeholders, including construction workers, the construction company, and labor union officials. The student applies Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory to analyze the employees' demands for better pay and working conditions, and Expectancy theory to explain the company owner's actions. The case highlights the ethical issue of bribery and its impact on organizational integrity and transparency. The analysis provides insights into motivation, ethical decision-making, and the importance of stakeholder relationships in a business context, referencing relevant academic literature.

CASE STUDY
PRESENTED BY
NAME
COURSE
INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION

Question 1
 The key stakeholders in the case study include;
 The construction Workers-This is a labor union that represents the needs of
their members in case of a CBA specifically when there are poor working
conditions and the employees demand a better work pay.
 Star construction company-This is the organization responsible for paying
employees who are members of the Construction Worker Union.
 Employees (members of the labor Union)- these are the affected people due
to poor working conditions. In business, employees are the most important
assets of the company
 Officials of the labor union-these are the people who are responsible for
representing the employees at the negotiation

Question 2
 If I were Joe I would refused the offer that was being given by Mike. This
means that, being a representative of the labor union, the interest of
the members is a key factor to be considered.
 The best motivation theory to be used is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
theory. According to this theory, employees have needs which should
be satisfied to increase their job performance.
 Maslow identified that there are five levels of needs. They include;
physiological needs, security and safety, social needs, esteem needs
and self-actualization.

Continuation
 In the case study, the members of the union were having some work
related problem that were related to their work.
 Using the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs theory, it would be possible to
attend to the most basic needs before fulfilling any other needs.
 In this case employees were demanding better pay and better working
conditions which the organization they work for was not willing to pay.
 Joe ought to have attended to the financial needs followed by favorable
working conditions.
 The satisfaction of the basic wants/needs would prevent future
occurrences of labor strikes.

Question 3
 Mike Murphy is the owner of Star Construction Company where
employees were going on labor strikes.
 In the case study, Mike Murphy was bribing officials of the labor unions
with an objective of ending the strike because the company was losing
a lot of money.
 The theory that best supports Mike’s behavior is Expectancy theory.
 In this theory an employer will only be motivated based on the amount
of money that he/she wants informal of reward.
 The theory is based on self-interest where an individual will be
motivated to achieve maximum satisfaction .

Continuation
 The theory also focus on psychological extravagance where the final
objective of an individual is maximum pleasure and less gain.
 In regards to the case, the company was making losses and the owner
of the company was concerned.
 Therefore, he wanted to buy the loyalty and services of the labor union
representatives at the expense of the success of the organization.

Question 4
 Bribery means that someone gives another person something that they
want with an objective of changing the behavior of the recipient.
 For Star Construction Company, the major ethical issue that was
exhibited is the case study was the integrity and transparency.
 When the integrity of the organization is under siege, it will be difficult
for employees to trust the management in case of any inconveniences.
 Mike Murphy was willing to pay Joe close to $ 100,000 to ensure that
they came to an agreement where both parties will be benefiting.

References
 Barba-Sánchez, V., & Atienza-Sahuquillo, C. (2017). Entrepreneurial motivation and self-employment: evidence
from expectancy theory. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 13(4), 1097-1115.
 Baumann, M. R., & Bonner, B. L. (2017). An expectancy theory approach to group coordination: Expertise, task
features, and member behavior. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 30(2), 407-419.
 Chonko, L. B., & Hunt, S. D. (2018). Reflections on ethical issues in marketing management: An empirical
examination. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 28(1), 86-95.
 De Vito, L., Brown, A., Bannister, B., Cianci, M., & Mujtaba, B. G. (2018). Employee motivation based on the
hierarchy of needs, expectancy and the two-factor theories applied with higher education employees. IJAMEE.
 Gorsira, M., Steg, L., Denkers, A., & Huisman, W. (2018). Corruption in organizations: Ethical climate and
individual motives. Administrative Sciences, 8(1), 4.
 Güss, C. D., Burger, M. L., & Dörner, D. (2017). The role of motivation in complex problem solving. Frontiers in
psychology, 8, 851.
 Haider, S., Ahmed, M., de Pablos, C., & Latif, A. (2018). Household Characteristics and Saving Motives:
Application of Multinomial Logistic Regression to Examine Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory. International
Journal of Applied Behavioral Economics (IJABE), 7(1), 35-52.