Organizational Behavior Case Study: Fancy Footwear and Greenery Plus

This case study examines organizational behavior principles through the lens of two fictional companies: Fancy Footwear and Greenery Plus. The analysis addresses leadership styles, the impact of change management, and employee motivation. It explores how Sandra's leadership at Fancy Footwear inadvertently led to negative reactions due to a mismatch between her approach and the existing organizational culture. The case delves into Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to explain employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It investigates the organizational culture at Greenery Plus, categorizing it as a clan culture, and discusses the challenges of maintaining such a culture as the company grows. The case also examines events through the lens of perception and attitudes and concludes with a discussion of ethical considerations and decision-making in the context of employee misconduct.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 1
Organizational behavior
Student Name
Institution

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 2
According to our class theories and concepts, what factors should have alerted Johnson to the
problems that eventually came up at Fancy Footwear?
After instituting change in the business, employees in management relations committee
resigned as a sign that they were not comfortable in performing their roles. Contingency theory
states that there is no known single method of leading people. People perform differently
according to the prevailing situation. Sandra introduced participative leadership style in a
situation which did not require so and the employees were uncomfortable. The reluctance to
volunteer for any group and employees being surprised by the new policies should have alerted
Sandra that staffs in the organization were not interested in adopting the new changes (Badshah,
2012). Lack of adopting new policies is one of the signs of resistance to change and the leader
should try employing means which will face less resistance.
According to our class theories and concepts, could Johnson have instituted her changes without
eliciting a negative reaction from the workers? If so, how?
Sandra could have instituted change without facing negative reaction had she effectively
engaged employees in the process. This involves seeking their opinions as they are the one who
will be directly affected by the change. Engaging employees in the change process makes them
feel appreciated and this will eliminate any possibility of change resistance in the organization
and the company will be able to achieve its objectives effectively. Communicating the change
effectively will also help to minimize employee resistance as employees are aware of what needs
to be achieved by the new changes (García-Morales, Jiménez-Barrionuevo, & Gutiérrez-
Gutiérrez, 2012). The communication should be done by using both formal and informal means

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 3
of communication in the organization. Using such methods could have helped Sandra to steer
head change in the organization without much resistance.
According to our class theories and concepts, what need theories would explain why Gerome
Sampson was unhappy despite his high income?
Motivation is what pushes people to achieve different goals and objectives. Employees
require motivation so as to perform their roles effectively. Various theories have been proposed
to explain the motivation and one of them is Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory which has
two factors which are motivators and hygiene (Weiner, 2012). Sampson derives motivation from
the job itself as he was not satisfied even when he was paid handsomely. Sampson wanted
recognition which as he clearly stated that employees in the organization will no longer need him
as they can write reports on their own. Sampson derived satisfaction from doing what he loves
and that is offering English lessons.
Sampson seems to have drifted into being a teacher. According to our class theories and
concepts, given his needs and motivations, do you think teaching is an appropriate profession for
him?
Teaching is an appropriate profession for him as he seems to enjoy it very much as there
is adequate motivation for seeing improvement in productivity. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory,
Sampson is able to fulfill social, safety and self-esteem needs as he is given bonus which will
ensure economic protection (Reiss, 2012). Self-esteem needs will be fulfilled by having
achievements which could not have been achieved had he stuck to his previous job. Employee
turnover in the organization has dropped and people had started to apply for supervisory roles in
the firm because of the efforts Sampson had employed in teaching the employees. Sampson

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 4
wanted to fulfill needs which were not related to money or status in the organization. He wanted
to perform roles which he enjoys doing and that is a clear indication that he enjoys teaching and
that is the appropriate profession for him.
According to our class theories and concepts, how would you describe the organization culture at
Greenery Plus?
Greenery plus can be termed as clan culture because the working environment is friendly.
Employees feel at home and feel appreciated. Employees have a sense of belonging in the
organization and they are eager to come to work as work is enjoyable (Kim, 2014). Ying is
friendly and understands her employees so well and she has empathy towards her employees.
The company has a positive organization culture which enables employees to report to work
earlier than expected and this enables the organization to achieve its objectives effectively as a
shortage of labor is never a problem. The culture motivated the employees so much to the extent
they were willing to work without pay just to see the company pick up as they were sure it's hard
to find other organizations with such warm organizational culture.
According to our class theories and concepts, how large can such a company get before it needs
to change its culture and structure?
Change in any organization is inevitable because, without such change, the organization
will be eliminated from the business by competitors. The organization will become big to the
extent of requiring Ying to employ managers to help her manage the company. The employed
managers may not have the same traits as Ying as they may lack similar behavior which is
needed to sustain the clan culture in the organization. The clan culture can only be managed
where the number of people managing other people in the firm is few. This is due to the fact that

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 5
people have different characters and goals (Alvesson, 2012). The firm will need to change the
structure to mechanistic organizational structure so as to ensure that all the rules and regulations
in the firm are followed.
According to our class theories and concepts, explain the events in this case in terms of
perception and attitudes. Does personality play a role?
Perception is mainly concerned with senses and there is no actual proof that such senses
are right or wrong. On the other hand, is coming to a conclusion even before knowing the whole
story (Ryckman, 2012). Jack was suspected to have stolen the wallet as the people had the
perception that since Jack was an ex-convict, he is the only one capable of stealing the wallet.
The employees' attitude was that since he had gone to prison for committing crimes, stealing the
wallet was not an issue. Personality plays a critical role according to the trait approach to
personality theory; traits force someone to act in a certain manner depending on the situation.
The trait of taking other people's property may have enabled Jack to steal the money from the
petty cash box.
According to our class theories and concepts, what should Kelly do? Should she fire Jack or give
him another chance?
According to law, someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The available
evidence is circumstantial and there no proof that he had stolen the properties in contention. If
Jack was responsible for any of the stolen property, she should fire him because that is his
personality and he will keep on stealing (Gray, Young, & Waytz, 2012). If there is no evidence
to link him to the stolen properties, she should give him a second chance and that is a clear sign

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 6
he has changed. This will also help to prove that Jack does not have a stealing personality and
people should stop assuming that he is responsible for anything that gets lost in the organization.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 7
References
Alvesson, M. (2012). Understanding organizational culture. Sage.
Badshah, S. (2012). Historical study of leadership theories. Journal of Strategic Human
Resource Management, 1(1), 49.
García-Morales, V. J., Jiménez-Barrionuevo, M. M., & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, L. (2012).
Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through
organizational learning and innovation. Journal of business research, 65(7), 1040-1050.
Gray, K., Young, L., & Waytz, A. (2012). Mind perception is the essence of
morality. Psychological inquiry, 23(2), 101-124.
Kim, H. (2014). Transformational leadership, organizational clan culture, organizational
affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior: A case of South Korea's
public sector. Public Organization Review, 14(3), 397-417.
Reiss, S. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teaching of Psychology, 39(2), 152-156.
Ryckman, R. M. (2012). Theories of personality. Cengage Learning.
Weiner, B. (2012). Human motivation. Springer Science & Business Media.