CaseStudy1AssignmentInstructions

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Dalhousie University *

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2303

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Communications

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Apr 3, 2024

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© Cloutier COMM 2303 Summer 2022 This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in COMM 2303 completing this assignment. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright and may also constitute a breach of Academic Integrity under the University Senate's Academic Integrity Policy Statement. Take-Home Case Study #1 (20%) Purpose. The purpose of this assignment is to assess students’ individual ability to observe, explain, and address OB -related issues addressed in Modules 1-4. You will take on the role of Managerial Consultant for AC&LB Firms. You are given three organizational cases that require your expertise to resolve. Each case will ask you multiple questions and you will be evaluated on your individual ability to (1) observe and describe the issue in each case, (2) critically connect these issues to potential causes and/or consequences, and (3) resolve the issues present in each case. You are expected to draw upon the theories and concepts learned in this course to respond to these questions. Ensure that you reference your sources (e.g., lecture slides, textbook chapters, class articles) using APA formatting. You will also be evaluated on your written communication. That is, I expect your answers to be written using professional and academic writing that follows all formatting guidelines detailed below. For each question that does meet this expectation, you will be deducted 1 point. Our ideas are only as good as our ability to communicate them, so take the time to re-read and edit your answers prior to submitting. Deliverable. Each question is worth 10 points and should span no longer than 1 single-spaced page (in 12-point, Times - New Roman font with a 1” margin around all sides). Taken together, you can write a max imum of three 3 single spaced pages ( one single-spaced page per question ). If part of an answer extends beyond the one-page limit (per question), that part of the answer will not be graded. Please indicate the question you are answering by indicating the case number and question number (e.g., Case 1, Q1). All assignments must be submitted as a .doc or docx. Do not submit this assignment as a pdf. Your file must be saved as “CaseStudy1_B00xxxx” (insert your B00 number). On a separate, fourth page, please list all of your references cited in text (across questions 1-3), using APA style formatting. A guide on how to use APA style is available on Brightspace [on our course webpage, select ‘content’ Take-Home Case Study Assignment Instructions Writing Tips and Tricks APA Formatting Guide]. References should include lecture slides, the textbook, assigned articles, and resources available via module resources. Resources outside of these sources are unnecessary to answer these questions and should not be included. Additional pages depicting figures/tables are not permitted. Title pages are not necessary. You should use a narrative format with complete sentences and paragraphs for this assignment (i.e., not bulleted points ). These assignments should be submitted via the course assignment Dropbox by no later than June 5 th , 11:59 PM. Late assignments will be deducted 10% (i.e., 3 points) for each day it is late, for up to three days. A 10% deduction will apply if the assignment is late between 1 min to 24 hours. Assignments will not be accepted after three days of being late. No resubmissions or alternative assignments will be accepted. This assignment must be completed individually and will be verified using Turnitin software. Failure to comply with academic integrity will result in an automatic 0 for all those involved.
© Cloutier COMM 2303 Summer 2022 This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in COMM 2303 completing this assignment. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright and may also constitute a breach of Academic Integrity under the University Senate's Academic Integrity Policy Statement. You are a managerial consultant for AC&LB Firms and have been personally selected by the board to provide consultation for Organics Field and Foods, an international food production cooperation who specialize in organic food products. This company is facing several issues, and it is your responsibility to help identify, explain, and direct resolutions to these issues. Case 1: The Ingredients Q1. Your first task is to meet with Amir, a mid-level manager responsible for food quality. His role involves ensuring that the ingredients imported into the factory are meeting all organic guidelines while also keeping costs down. He manages a group of 16 employees who select and verify these ingredients, though all final selections are approved by Amir. Pressures to order the highest quality ingredients in a very competitive market have been high, as Organics Fields and Foods have become quite popular products amongst a diverse customer base. Amir is skeptical of your visit and what you can do to help him. After some time, he eventually admits that he has been facing some challenges when it comes to managing his employees. He has noticed that some employees seem disinterested in their work, their morale is generally low, and they are not communicating with one another, or with him. He tells you that his gut tells him his employees need a team-building getaway, and he saw online that a manager for a tech company took all of his employees to a white-water rafting excursion, so he is going to try that. (a) Identify and explain at least one issue with Amir’s approach to management and resolving this management problem. Justify why his approach is problematic. [2 points] (b) How would you recommend Amir approach his management/the issue he is facing? Be specific in explaining your approach and provide at least one example. Make sure to justify your recommendations to help convince Amir to adopt your approach, given his skepticism. [4 points] Q2. During your visit, you meet with one of A mir’s employees, Jasmine. You mention that you’ve heard morale has been low, and you want to understand why. Jasmine takes you to the side and tells that she knows one employee, Tia, who has worked at the company for two years now, has not been honest in her ingredient import reports lately. In fact, Jasmine is confident that Tia has started ordering non-organic ingredients in order to keep costs down, while reporting they are organic on her order forms. Given the high demands of their products, the competition in the market for high quality organic ingredients, and the expectation to keep costs down, all team members have felt the pressure to quickly order ingredients as soon as they become available. However, no other employees seem to have resolved these issues by faking their ingredient orders. B ecause of Tia’s performance, she has received a lot of praise from Amir, and he is now considering promoting her because of her cost-effective ingredient imports. This has really hurt morale, as employees do not feel comfortable with Tia’s practices, but they also do not feel comfortable telling Amir about her choices given she is being praised so highly. Using evidence from this case, and drawing on what you learned about the un/ethical decision- making process, (a) consider and explain one individual factor and one situational factor that may be contributing to Tia’s ingredient orders [2 points] , and (b) make one feasible, actionable recommendation to Amir to help prevent/stop such practices [2 points].
© Cloutier COMM 2303 Summer 2022 This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in COMM 2303 completing this assignment. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright and may also constitute a breach of Academic Integrity under the University Senate's Academic Integrity Policy Statement. Case 2: The cooking After dealing with imports, the board asks you to visit the kitchen in one of their factories. The kitchen is where all of the organic ingredients are incorporated into various recipes to make the final product soups, pasta mixes, sauces, and other related products. Here you meet with the head chef, Gianna. Gianna is distressed and desperate for your help. In fact, one of the reasons the board called on you was because Gianna suggested the need for a consultant. You meet with Gianna, and she describes two problems she is facing. Q1. First, Gianna explains that she has been facing staffing issues. During the pandemic, many of her employees were asked to stay home, and eventually, she had to lay off 6 of her 24 cooks. Though the remaining 18 cooks were relieved to keep their job, seeing their friends and colleagues be laid off was emotionally difficult, and they started to wonder how secure their own positions are, and whether they themselves may lose their jobs. Now that most restrictions have been lifted, the workload is increasing, and many cooks are expected to work more efficiently than before. Gianna has noticed, however, that although her cooks are at work, they seem disengaged from completing their tasks. They tend to be on their phones chatting with friends and looking at social media. Gianna even noticed one employee updating their LinkedIn profile, and applying for jobs, while he was supposed to be cooking. Finally, one of Gianna’s most reliable employees, Erica, seems really emotionally down, and though she is at work, she seems mentally out of it, exhausted, and maybe even ill; she is unable to concentrate on her tasks and has been making several errors in the kitchen. (a) What behaviours are her employees exhibiting? Explain using terms and theory from course materials, and justify your answer with examples. [2 points] (b) Using evidence and theory from your OB course, provide Gianna with three managerial recommendations of how she can get her employees more committed to their roles. Be specific and provide examples of how Gianna could put these ideas into action. [3 points] Q2. Second, Gianna mentions one employee, David, who has been particularly challenging to manage. The tricky part is that in many ways, David is a good individual worker: he has excellent knife skills that contribute to his prep work, he’s skilled in the kitchen, and he makes great final products that are always delivered on time. However, David does not contribute to a very good team atmosphere, and he often ignores and disregards the other cooks’ opinions. David also loses his temper and has been known to break kitchen equipment when a co-worker makes a mistake. Working as a team is essential to working in the kitche n, and a key part of every cook’s job when the cooks work together, more gets accomplished. Gianna does not want to lose David as a cook, but she doesn’t know how to address these issues. (a) How would you evaluate David’s performance (be specific, where are his strengths, where are his weaknesses; justify your response). [2 points] (b) What recommendations would you make to Gianna, in order to manage David’s performance ? Provide specific examples. [3 points]
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© Cloutier COMM 2303 Summer 2022 This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in COMM 2303 completing this assignment. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright and may also constitute a breach of Academic Integrity under the University Senate's Academic Integrity Policy Statement. Case 3: Adding a dash of something new Finally, you meet with the human resources (HR) department at Organics Field and Foods. They are responsible for staffing all vacant positions in the company, as well as making recommendations for advancement opportunities. Three entry level positions in the marketing and sales department are currently open and require staffing. Based on a previous company assessment, Organics Field and Foods know that they can improve how they select for new employees. Q1. One particular limitation right now at Organics Field and Foods is a lack of diversity in their workforce. Most employees come from one local community that share similarities in their demographic characteristics and abilities. As such, the human resources department have decided that they want to diversify their workforce to better represent the many communities their products reach. However, the HR department does not really know where to begin, and what to do once new and diverse members are hired. Based on your understanding of diversity and inclusion, what recommendations would you give to HR? Be specific in your suggestions, ensure you draw on evidence, and consider the feasibility. [4 points] . Q2. Upon advertising for these three entry-level positions in marketing and sales, you receive 125 applications! Out of these applicants, 64 have met the minimum requirements (i.e., a marketing degree from a reputable institution, 1-2 years of industry experience, three reference letters). To help narrow down this pool to a list of top 10 candidates to interview, you can ask applicants to complete two additional assessments. You have the choice to assess (1) their personality, (2), their cognitive intelligence, (3) their emotional intelligence, or (4) their cultural values. Which two assessment tools would you recommend, why do you recommend these two, and what advice/caution would you provide to the HR department when using these tools? [6 points]