BUS 815/MGMT715 Case Study: Analyzing Lem's Job Attitude and Behavior

This case study analysis examines Lem's changing job attitude and work behavior within the context of organizational behavior. Initially, Lem demonstrated strong organizational commitment and positive work behavior, aligning with the values of his family-owned company. However, a shift in the reward system, moving from individual team-based bonuses to a customer-centric approach, significantly impacted Lem's job satisfaction and engagement. The analysis explores the reasons behind Lem's negative attitude, including feelings of unfairness and a lack of recognition for his team's efforts. It also provides recommendations for Lem's manager, emphasizing the importance of communication, employee involvement, and adjustments to the reward system to address the situation and foster a more positive work environment. The study concludes by highlighting the dynamic nature of work behaviors and attitudes within organizations and the impact of various factors such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job involvement.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Attitude refers to that behaviour which lies between the thought process and the
emotions, it can be wither negative or positive (Schleicher et al., 2015). Sometimes people
have many attitudes however the organization is basically concerned with only some attitude
that has an impact on the work. There are basically there main types of attitudes: job
satisfaction, job commitment and job involvement. Work behaviour on the other hand refers
to the employment behaviour used by the people, and it is basically more formal than other
behaviours (Shuck, Nimon & Zigarmi, 2017). However, the degree of work behaviour
depends upon the nature of the profession. For instance the work behaviour of a doctor is
much more professional than that of a computer programmer. The main aim of the paper is to
discuss about Lem’s level of job attribute, his types of work behaviour he has now and he had
in the past. The paper will also discuss about why Lem feels this way, thinks this way and
behaves this way and also make recommendations to improve the present scenario.
LEM’S LEVEL OF SPECIFIC JOB ATTITUDE AND TYPES OF WORK
BEAHVIOUR HE PERFPORMS- Lem used to have an attitude of organization commitment
to the company Smith linings and seals that was a family owned business when it was started.
Sometimes Lem even acted as the model employee, because of his strong ethical values- the
attitude of never giving up, the willingness to give suggestions to the organization for looking
after safety issues and to improve the process of manufacturing. He could do all this because
he felt committed to the organization. He was even ready to punish the organization as a
whole or only his managers whenever he felt that either his team or he is being treated
unfairly. Lem believes in open communication and that is why whenever he is sad he informs
his manager of the same directly (Neff, 2017). Organizational commitment refers to the
situation when a person connects himself with the organization and feels proud to be a part of
the same. They wish to continue their membership and therefore start has a positive job
attitude. This is what could be seen in Lem. Lem’s work behaviour was related to positive

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work behaviour that is he had that never give up attitude. This behaviour was easily
understood from his job satisfaction. However, situations started changing in Lem’s life when
he saw that the reward system that was followed earlier was no longer going to be followed.
In fact the new reward system made it difficult for Lem to earn the rewards because only top
two people would be getting the same. Presently he is behaving in negative attitude and he
prefers absenteeism and coming late to work and these days he hardly speaks in meeting and
others. This shows that he started having a negative attitude towards the company since the
rewards system has changed (Steers & Sánchez‐Runde, 2017).
THE REASONS FOR LEM’S BEAHVIOUR, FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS is that
he used to bonuses equivalent to 20% of his compensation and more over the previous reward
system brought much prestige to his team as a whole and the bonuses also had a role in
making him feel that he was a respected employee. However his manger decided to change
the previous reward system with a more customer centric approach, he decided to reward
only the top 2 teams out 15 teams as against the previous rule of rewarding each team based
on their production and wastage. Lem understood that it was almost impossible to earn
rewards anymore because he was a part of that department which handled the most complex
activities of the company it was customization activities. Therefore the work of his ream was
much more challenging than the work of most other teams. Their work took much more time
for completion that others work, and moreover the nature of his work required lot of trial and
error which meant wastages was common or their team and all these scenarios had put their
teams in a disadvantageous position. Therefore Lem was very frustrated and he also decided
to talk to his manager regarding the same but he was never heard and always was dismissed
saying that the new reward system was in accordance with the organizations strategy and
therefore it does not require any consultation with any employees. This was the main reason

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for his unhappiness, his disappointment, his decision of leaving the job, his changed
behaviours and other activities.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY LEM’S MANAGER is that he should first of all listen
to the complaints of Lem and give him a chance to be heard. Communication is the most
important way to solve any conflicts in the organization. Even if a new reward system was
established, the employees should have been consulted at least once especially those who
perform well that would have created a sense of participation in the employees. They would
have felt that their feedback and decision was also important. The manager should properly
talk to Lem about his changing behaviour and should try to explain him how the new reward
system will not put their team in a disadvantageous positions. The manager can also bring a
few changes in the new reward system as reducing the criteria of material waste as Lem’s
groups is going to have a lot of material waste because it is part of their work. Further the
manger should try to motivate Lem using different methods such that it does not affect his
production.
From the above discussion it can be concluded that the work behaviours in the
organization any change during different situations. Attitudes may also change and there can
be mainly three main types of attitudes such as- job satisfaction, organizational commitment
and job involvement. The paper basically discusses about the job attitude and the types of
work behaviour adopted by Lem for his work. The paper also discusses about why Lem was
behaving, feeling and thinking differently as compared to how he used to behave previously.
Recommendations are also going to be made for Lem’s behaviour.

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References
Neff, W. (2017). Work and human behavior. Routledge.
Schleicher, D. J., Smith, T. A., Casper, W. J., Watt, J. D., & Greguras, G. J. (2015). It’s all in
the attitude: The role of job attitude strength in job attitude–outcome
relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(4), 1259.
Shuck, B., Nimon, K., & Zigarmi, D. (2017). Untangling the predictive nomological validity
of employee engagement: Partitioning variance in employee engagement using job
attitude measures. Group & Organization Management, 42(1), 79-112.
Steers, R. M., & Sánchez‐Runde, C. J. (2017). Culture, motivation, and work behavior. The
Blackwell Handbook of Cross
‐Cultural Management, 190-216.