Critical Analysis On The Organizational Behavior Case Study

Question

Task:
CASE STUDY ONE TOTAL: 16 MARKS
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS MALAYSIA
Because of the demographics of Malaysia and the shortage of highly skilled professional
workers, Texas Instruments Malaysia (TIM) needed to find a new way to recruit, reward and retain staff. The answer was to push job responsibility to the lowest level. The move to do so eliminated group leaders.

Since TIM was formed in 1972 to produce integrated circuits (it now produces more than 3 million a day), it has relied heavily on group and team structures. Early manifestations of this took the form of quality improvement teams as TIM adopted total quality management practices. By the late 1980s TIM managers began to put operator self-control into practice. They did this in two ways: first by teaching operators how to recognise problems and arrive at solutions; and second by giving them the responsibility, discretion, and authority to do something about a problem when they discovered one.

From there it became a logical progression to move toward eliminating group leaders. By 1992 nearly 90 percent of TIM workers were members of self-managed teams. Today that figure is virtually 100 percent. All day-to-day responsibility for business operating decisions such as stock control, quality, cost, delivery and service is in the hands of teams. Line managers have become a thing of the past. Indeed, the only formal leaders left at TIM are senior executives in control of strategy and finance. Such employee empowerment has been achieved by sharing information with workers and replacing a hierarchical management culture with one that is based on self-management.

Getting rid of the bosses has saved TIM $50 million in quality improvements over 10 years; productivity per employee has gone through the roof; production cycle time has been reduced by half; and absenteeism and tardiness records have dramatically improved. With increased productivity, increased profitability and decreased organisational bureaucracy, TIM seems to be both a worker’s and a management paradise.

Source: W. Alan Randolph and Marshall Sashkin, “Can Organizational Empowerment Work in Multinational Settings?” Academy of Management Executive 16, no.1 (2002), pp.102-15; and “Bosses Not Instrumental at Texas Instruments,” Journal of Management Development, September 1995, pp. 29-31.

As cited in Ivancevich, JM. Konopaske, R. Matteson, MT. (2011). Organizational Behaviour and Management, 9th ed. Global OB, p. 289. New York, McGraw Hill International Edition.

Case Study One Question (16 marks) 1 (a) With reference to organisational behavioural concepts on teams and decision making, evaluate the decision of TIM to move to self-managed teams.

CASE STUDY TWO
DAVIS & CO
Background
Davis & Co. is a Toyota car dealer based in Canterbury NZ. The company was set up by James Davis in the 1980s after taking over an existing car dealership, and has since expanded to three sites, one in central Christchurch, one in the northern suburbs (Belfast), and another in the southern suburbs (Halswell). James Davis has now retired from day-today management and has handed the company over to his three children, Andrew Davis, Jessica Davis and Peter Davis. The company has grown significantly over the years, and now employs 95 staff in the three sites, and is managed in a matrix structure. Administration, including HR, Finance, Property & Assets, and Marketing, is centralised, whereas Sales and Service is decentralised into the three sites, with local Site Managers and Team Leaders. The three Davis siblings all have an active role in the company. Andrew is currently CEO and overall Manager Sales, Jessica manages Administration, and Peter manages Service. Peter and Andrew’s roles primarily involve policy, planning and strategic direction, with day-to-day management in the hands of the Site Managers. The Site Managers are experienced management professionals, recruited for their management ability. There are a total of 15 car sales staff, 50 car service staff, and 30 support staff. The company employs three HR staff: a manager, a full-time recruiter, and a payroll administrator. The Davis siblings and the administration staff are all based in the central Christchurch site. As this is the smallest site for vehicle service, the Site Manager does not have his own Site Support Team, but relies on Jessica’s General Administration Team for routine administration and support. The largest site for vehicle service is Halswell, with five service teams; next is Belfast, with four service teams; and the central Christchurch site only has three service teams. There are two management committees, and both meet on a monthly basis. The first one, “The Board” just consists of the owners, the three Davis siblings with their father, James Davis. The siblings also meet informally to discuss issues and strategy. The full management committee, “The Management Team”, consists of the Davis siblings, the three Site Managers, and the Accounting and Finance Manager. The HR Manager, Marketing Manager, and Property and Assets Manager attend these meetings when invited by the CEO, or to give a presentation about a specific business item.

The Organisation Chart

Current issues facing the company Business strategy: The company has a very good reputation for quality car servicing, however in the last year, the service part of the business has not grown. The management team noted that a competitor was offering car servicing in the evenings, and had managed to pull market share away from Davis & Co. The management team is considering establishing an evening shift at the Belfast site, as a recent customer service survey showed a strong demand for afterhours service. However, union representatives have outlined a range of concerns, mostly arising from several staff vehemently indicating their reluctance to work evenings, and a general indication of happiness of the status quo by many of the employees. Ben, the Site Manager, thinks the evening shift is a great idea and is determined to pursue this strategy with the support of Peter Davis. Andrew Davis however, is worried about upsetting staff, with possible implications on retention.

Diversity: Diversity has always been an issue at Davis & Co. Currently, the workforce has a major gender imbalance, with no female car sales staff and only 5% female service staff, but 80% female support staff. Jessica Davis has been quite vocal at management meetings and has recently demanded affirmative action for women in the car sales and service areas. Recently, HR received an application from a qualified auto electrician with a severe hearing disability to work in the Halswell site. Paul, the Site Manager, is desperate for another auto electrician, but is really concerned how a hearing-impaired staff member can fit in and work safely in one of the service teams.

Management structure: There have been a few clashes between the Davis siblings and their Site Managers. The Site Managers believe that they should have more freedom to market and sell the Company’s services within their local community, but all marketing activity is undertaken by Jessica’s team. They are also concerned about intermittent interference from Andrew and Peter on various sales and service issues at their sites. Some team leaders in sales and service at various sites have worked for the family for more than twenty years, whereas the Site Managers have only a few years service. Some of the team leaders occasionally raise issues directly with the Davis family, rather than sort it out locally with their Site Manager. Chris Newman, the Site Manager at Christchurch, is most affected as the Davis siblings have offices at the central Christchurch site, and so are ‘in his face’ quite often.

Case Study Two Questions:
2 (a) Suggest two (2) options to improve the gender balance of the workforce over time. Justify your options. Approximately 200 words. (6 marks)

(b) What two (2) recommendations can you give Paul to ensure employment of a hearing-impaired staff member? Approximately 150 words. (4 marks)

(c) Explain the organisational chart of Davis & Co, with reference to structure, design and coordinating mechanisms. Approximately 250 words, (8 marks)

(d) Critically analyse how the change to an evening shift will influence the organisational structure, design and coordinating mechanisms of the Belfast site. Approximately 300 words. (9 marks)

(e) Describe two (2) strategies to align (refreeze) this company, the teams and individuals after the change in (d) occurs.

CASE STUDY THREE TOTAL: 44 MARKS THE HOVEY AND BEARD COMPANY CASE Introduction
The Hovey and Beard Company manufactured variety of wooden toys, including animals, pull toys and the like. The toys were manufactured by a transformation process that began in the wood room. There, the toys were cut, sanded, and partially assembled. Then the toys were dipped into shellac and sent to the painting room.

In years past, the painting had been done by hand, with each employee working with a given toy until it’s painting was completed. Most of the toys were only two colours, although a few required more than two. Now, in response to increased demand for the toys, the painting operation was changed so the painters sat in a line by an endless chain of hooks. These hooks moved continuously in front of the painters and passed into a long horizontal oven. Each painter sat in a booth designed to carry away fumes and to backstop excess paint. The painters would take a toy from a nearby tray, position it in a jig inside the painting cubicle, spray on the colour according to a pattern, then hang the toy on a passing hook. The rate at which the hooks moved was calculated by the engineers so that each painter, when fully trained, could hang a painted toy on each hook before it passed beyond reach. The painters were paid on a group bonus plan. Since the operation was new to them, they received a learning bonus that decreased by regular amounts each month. The learning bonus was scheduled to vanish on six months, by which time it was expected that they would be on their own – that is, able to meet the production standard and earn a group bonus when they exceeded it.

Trouble and Engagement By the second month of the training period, trouble developed. The painters learned more slowly than had been anticipated, and it began to look as though their production would stabilise far below what was planned. Many of the hooks were going by empty. The painters complained that the hooks moved too fast and that the engineer had set the rates wrong. A few painters quit and had to be replaced by new ones. This further aggravated the learning problem. The team spirit that the management had expected to develop through the group bonus was not in evidence except as an expression of what the engineers called ‘resistance’. One painter whom the group regarded as its leader (and management regarded as the ringleader), was outspoken in taking the complaints of the group to the supervisor. These complaints were that the job was too messy, the hooks moved too fast, the incentive pay was not correctly calculated, and it was too hot working too close to the drying oven. A consultant was hired to work with the supervisor. She recommended that the painters be brought together for a general discussion of the working conditions. Although hesitant, the supervisor agreed with the plan.

The first meeting was held immediately after the shift was over at 4pm. It was attended by all 8 painters. They voiced the same complaints again: the hooks went by too fast, the job was too dirty and the room was hot and poorly ventilated. For some reason, it was the last item that seemed to bother them the most. The supervisor promised to discuss the problems of ventilation and temperature with the engineers, and a second meeting was scheduled. In the next few days the supervisor had several talks with the engineers. They, along with the plant superintendent, felt that this was really a trumped up complaint and that the expense of corrective measures would be prohibitively high.

The supervisor came to the second meeting with some apprehension. The painters, however, did not seem to be much put out. Rather, they had a proposal of their own to make. They felt that if several large fans were set up to circulate the air around their feet, they would be much more comfortable. After some discussion, the supervisor agreed to pursue the idea. The supervisor and the consultant discussed the idea of fans with the superintendent. Three large fans were purchased and installed. The painters were jubilant. For several days the fans were moved about in various positions until they were placed to the satisfaction of the group. The painters seemed completely satisfied with the results, and the relations between them and the supervisor improved visibly.

The supervisor, after this encouraging episode decided that further meetings might also prove profitable. The painters were asked if they would like to meet and discuss other aspects of the work situation. They were eager to do this. Another meeting was held and the discussion quickly centred on the speed of the hooks. The painters maintained that the engineer had set them at an unreasonably fast speed and that they would never be able to fill enough of them to make a bonus.

The decision reached a turning point when the group’s leader explained that it ‘wasn’t that the painters couldn’t work fast enough to keep up with the hooks but that they wouldn’t work at that pace all day’. The supervisor explored the point. The painters were unanimous in their opinion that they could keep up with the belt for short period if they wanted to. But they didn’t want to because if they showed that they could do this for short periods then they would be expected to do it all day. The meeting ended with an unprecedented request by the painters: “Let us adjust the speed of the belt faster or slower depending on how we feel.” The supervisor agreed to discuss this with the superintendent and the engineers. The engineers reacted negatively to the suggestion. However, after several meetings it was granted that there was some latitude within which variations in the speed of the hooks would not affect the finished product. After considerable argument with the engineers, it was agreed to try the painters’ idea.

With misgivings, the supervisor had a control with a dial marked ‘low, medium, fast” installed at the booth of the group leader. The speed of the belt could now be adjusted anywhere between the lower and upper limits that the engineers had set.

Empowerment The painters were delighted and spent many lunch hours deciding how the speed of the belt should be varied from hour to hour throughout the day. Within a week the pattern had settled down to one in which the first half hour of the shift was run on medium speed (a dial setting slightly above the point marked ‘medium’). The next two and a half hours were run at high speed, and the half hour before lunch and the half hour after lunch were run at low speed. The rest of the afternoon was run at high speed with the exception of the last 45 minutes of the shift, which was run at medium.

The constant speed at which the engineers had originally set the belt was actually slightly below the “medium” mark on the control dial; the average speed at which the painters were running the belt was on the high side of the dial. Few, if any, empty hooks entered the oven, and inspection showed no increase of rejects from the paint room. Production increased, and within three weeks (some two months before the scheduled ending of the learning bonus) the painters were operating at 30% to 50% above the level that had been expected under the original arrangement. Naturally, their earnings were correspondingly higher than anticipated. They were collecting their base pay, earning a considerable piece-rate bonus, and still benefiting from the learning bonus. They were earning more now than many skilled workers in other parts of the plant.

Conflict Management was besieged by demands that the inequity between the earnings of the painters and those of other workers in the plant be taken care of. With growing irritation between the supervisor and the superintendent, the engineers and the supervisor, and the superintendent and the engineers, the situation came to ahead when the superintendent revoked the learning bonus and returned the painting operation to its original status: The hooks moved again at their constant, time-studied, designated speed. Production dropped again and within a month all but two of the eight painters had quit. The supervisor stayed on for several months, but, feeling aggrieved, left for another job.

Source: Ivancevich, JM. Konopaske, R. Matteson, MT. (2011). Organizational Behaviour and Management, 9th ed. Case 6.1, pp. 176 - 178. New York, McGraw Hill International Edition.

Case Study Three Questions: (44 marks) 3 (a) Link the concepts of empowerment, autonomy and delegation to discuss the relationship between the supervisor and the painters. Approximately 350 words. (12 marks)

(b) Analyse the conflict between the painters and the engineers. Approximately 300 words. (10 marks)

(c) Discuss the sources of power that the following persons/groups appear to have: (i) the engineers (ii) the painters (iii) the supervisor (iv) the superintendent Approximately 400 words. (12 marks)

(d) List at least two (2) influence tactics that have been used by any two (2) of the above groups. Explain the effectiveness for each influence tactic.

Answer

Case study 1: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS MALAYSIA
Part a
In the present organizational behavior case study of Texas Instruments Malaysia (TIM) the system of self-management was adopted in order to deal with the problem of demographics as well as lack of professional and skilled employees. By adopting the said system the company believed that it would be able to recruit and retain its work force more effectively. The practice of putting the operators at TIM has promoted the concept of self-control where the operators were allowed to identify the problems on their own and find the solutions to such problems on their own.

In the business world where proper management of an organization is necessary for its development and success, leaders are the individuals at top management who manages the large workforce’s functions under their supervision to achieve the common goals and targets of the organization. However, the new concept of self-managed team has evolved in the current era because it is generally found that the employees are well-educated and trained and hence they possess those skills which are required to manage and motivate themselves (Gerpott, Lehmann-Willenbrock, Voelpel, & van Vugt, 2019). The same was the incident with the organizational behavior case study of TIM and hence the adoption of such concept of self-management has not only eliminated the top leaders but also saved the significant cost of maintaining such top-management. Also, the employee productivity has been improved as the employees were empowered to manage their job-responsibilities on themselves. This has led to their increased confidence and loyalty towards the organization as they felt some associated and involved in the organization’s functioning. The absenteeism and employee turnover rate was also dramatically reduced. The productivity has also improved considerably which has resulted in enhanced profitability and decreased bureaucracy in the organization.

When leaders supervise their subordinates in an organization, it sometimes creates a rigid environment in such organization where employees feels restricted and hence they cannot function effectively and hence the productivity of such companies goes down. When employees works under the supervision of their top management they tend to lose their motivation and loyalty towards the organization success. The employees in such situations do not have any authority to use and apply their ideas even if such ideas are worth application for organization success. Rather, they merely have to follow the policies and strategies formulated by supervisors even when such policies are stringent enough to be followed and are opposed to organizational growth and success. On the other side, when employees are entrusted with the responsibilities of managing their tasks by their own, it makes them more comfortable and confident while performing their job-roles.

Self-management is how well the entire team understands their job roles and responsibilities and performs the same in order to achieve the individual and organizational goals (Weerheim, Van Rossum & Ten Have, 2019). Therefore, it would be correct to conclude analysis done on this organizational behavior case study the that the decision of Texas Instruments Malaysia the system of self-managed team is quite appropriate in the present case as it has actually resulted in huge cost savings and enhancing the productivity of the company. 

Case study 2: DAVIS & CO
Part a
Gender balance is an important aspect nowadays in context of organizational success. Gender balance is all about an equal representation by males and females in the organization and it does not literally means that the women in any company must get a priority over the men in such entity or that the females must have an equal contribution as that of men in the organization. Rather, the prime benefit of having a balanced gender workforce is that it provides diversity and when there is greater diversity there is more scope of innovation and organizational success.

In this organizational behavior case study of Davis & Co., Gender imbalance was one of the major concerns as there were less female employees in the company. In fact, there was no female staff in the care sales department and only 5% of the service staff was female. However, 80% of the support staff was female. This inappropriate proportion of women employees in different departments was affecting the overall performance of the company. Hence, it is necessary to maintain an adequate gender balance of workforce. Following are the two possible options which could be opted for the said purpose:

• Provision of safe and secure work place:

As Davis & Co. is involved in the business of engaged in car dealership it is important for the company to build a work place where it is easy for females to work. As the main work of the company is related to selling and servicing of cars, female employees must be given some assistance to undertake such work and also there must be adequate safety standards for women.

• Additional communication training:

As the support department is consisting of more females, there must a proper gender balance in such areas also. The males must also be given proper training to strengthen their communication skills to undertake support work.

Part b
The study used to prepare this organizational behavior case study mentions that Paul must allow the hiring of Auto electrician who has severe hearing disability as the nature of the work that the applicant will undertake is not related to ear functions. Hence, it can be undertaken by a person who has hearing disability. But for the sales and support function, hiring of such person will not be appropriate as these activities requires human interaction and hence person with hearing disability will not fit for such work.

Also, as the auto electrician is a qualified candidate, it will be beneficial for the company to hire him at Halswell site as the candidate must be holding required skills and knowledge in the relevant area. Therefore, the overall analysis done in this section of organizational behavior case study illustrates that Paul must provide the electrician certain facilities which enables him to work comfortably in the given business environment. Paul must ask the management team to communicate with the potential candidate by way of writing so that it would be easy for him to understand and express his ideas.

Part c
The management structure of Davis & Co. inter-linked. There is proper hierarchy maintained within the organization using a matrix structure. According to the readings utilized to prepare this organizational behavior case study it can be stated that under this type of organizational structure people who have similar skills are grouped together for their assigned tasks and hence there is more than one manager to report to. There are 3 sites and each of the sites have their individual and separate teams to undertake sales function, servicing function and the customer function as these functions are decentralized. However, the other administration functions like human resource management, accounts and finance, property and asset management and Marketing are all centralized in this organizational behavior case study. 

Peter and Andrew are involved in sales and servicing activities and Jessica is dealing with the administration work which includes an important aspect called marketing. The design of the management structure is little complex and hence there occurs some clashes between all the three Co-partners of the company and among their respective site managers. There is lack of coordination among different sites and their managers as well. The reporting entities are not clear and hence it creates confusion as to who to report in case of some problems. The absence of adequate integration causes clashes among individuals which hampers the overall business performance of the company.

All the site managers mentioned in the organizational behavior case study are focused of achieving their goals and hence they are not working collectively for the common goals of the company.

Part d
Due to high competition in the market where another companies working on the same platform of car dealings have started providing the car services in the evening and in such ways they have grabbed the market share of Davis & Co. Considering the demand of car services in the after office hours, the company has proposed to arrange for evening shifts at Belfast Site. This will certainly enhance the revenues of the company by maintaining a large market share. The arrangement of evening shifts will also reduce the internal clashes of the managers at the different sites and the Davis siblings.

However, there are some of the concerns which are associated with the proposal of establishing the evening shifts at the Belfast site. Such concerns were the resistance of the employees to work in the evening shifts which could ultimately lead to employee turnover. However, the proposed system of evening shifts might cause confusion of the job responsibilities among the managers and operators at the different site. Also, as the administration activities which were centralized it could become difficult to set up proper coordination among the functions of different sites as the working hours were different at the different sites. More, it was also difficult for the company as a whole to arrange the female staff evening shifts as females feel unsafe to work in late hours and at times it also become difficult to segregate employees in different shifts. Moreover, working in the evening shifts also demands extra compensation by the employees so working in two shifts could actually enhance the cost of operations to a considerable extent.

Part e
After the change of the working shift of the team working at Belfast site, it is necessary to make changes in the organizational structure and management style so as to maintain proper functioning of the company as a whole. Following are the strategies that could be adopted to re-align the company and the teams and the individuals working there under.

• Decentralization of administration activities:

Since the working of all the individuals and teams is to be changed in evening hours, it is easy for the activities like car sales and servicing to be managed as these were already decentralized for all the three different sites but not for the administration activities which were undertaken commonly at the centralized level for the company as a whole (Ljasenko, Ferreira, Justham & Lohse, 2009). Therefore, considering the reading used to prepare this organizational behavior case study it can be stated that it is necessary to set up a system of decentralization of activities like accounting and finance, marketing and human resource management.

• Team meetings at regular intervals:

As the working hours at different sites are going to be different after, it is necessary for the management of the company to arrange for meetings of managers and line level staff on the regular intervals so that proper communication could be made among then which will certainly enhance the coordination of the work undertaken in Davis & Co.

Case study 3: THE HOVEY AND BEARD COMPANY CASE
Part a
Employee empowerment is a concept under which the employers give their employees the authority, resources and the opportunity to achieve certain goals and targets and at the same time holds them accountable for the output of their activities.

The concept of delegation explored in the context of this organizational behavior case study relates to the practice where employers give certain authority to some other person i.e. his subordinate and in such case the person who delegates the task remains accountable for the results of such task.

Lastly, the concept of autonomy is applied where the employees are given a freedom to decide as to how the work shall be done (Fernández, 2019).

In the present case of Hovey and Beard Company, the supervisors had understood the points raised by the painters regarding the working condition in the company and hence agreed to make the required adjustments at the work station so as to achieve the desired results. Hence, it can be said that the painters where given the autonomy to decide as to how the speed of hook belt must be kept to achieve the desired productivity. However, with such empowerment to change the speed, the supervisor had kept the control of changing the speed of the belt in his own hands and got the work done by the painters as per their own convenience.

Thus, it can be concluded here in this segment of organizational behavior case study that looking at the initial resistance of painters towards the change in the painting system, the supervisor had managed to overcome the resistance by allowing the painters to decide what adjustments could be made to the new painting system so as to enhance the productivity in order to meet the increased demand of the toys. By empowering the painters to escalate the matters of the troubling working conditions in the regular meets, supervisor could attain the desired results because this has not only developed a sense of involvement among the painters in the important decision making of the workings of company but also made them confident and comfortable to work for the company and its overall objectives.

The empowerment resulted in positive outcomes and hence it can be said in this organizational behavior case study that it was the correct decision of supervisors to empower the painters to decide about the working conditions adjustments on their own.

Part b
The conflict between the engineers and painters discussed in this part of organizational behavior case study arose when the company had to switch to a new system of painting due to the increased demand of toys. As the system was new the painters resisted to work on the same. The new toy painting system involved a fast moving belt of hooks where prepared toys were to be hung for the further painting process. It was contended by the painters that the speed of the belt is too fact to cope up and hence most of hooks are left empty while the belt moves along. This used to reduce their bonus which was to be generated on the basis of performance. Also, it was maintained by the painters that it remains too hot to work need the over where the paint on toys dries down.

The study used to prepare this organizational behavior case study also mentions that it is not that the engineers had taken a decision of keeping the speed of belt at high to trouble the painters. Rather, it was done on account of managing with the increased demand of toys in the market. However, it was not practically possible for the painters to keep up with the belt speed for all the day long. Hence, they insisted to alter the speed and put the fans in the working areas to overcome the encountered problems. However, after the supervisor’s instructions, the working conditions were adjusted according to the demands of the painters and this had resulted in increased productivity. But with the increased productivity, another problem of unequal payments of new painters and other experienced workers at the plant arose which again led to changes in the working conditions as suggested by the engineers. This had again become the issue of conflict between the painters and engineers and hence few painters had to leave their jobs.

Part c
Power is something that enables a person to cause an action on his own discretion. In the present organizational behavior case study different individuals are there with different powers (Clegg, 2013).

Following is the discussion on the same

• Engineers:

Engineers were the persons who had to work on the machines that were being used at the toy manufacturing plant. They are the experts with relevant knowledge, special skills and experience. Hence their source of power is known as expert power. The engineers in the organizational behavior case study have derived their powers by way of possessing special knowledge regarding the machine operations that are being undertaken at the toy manufacturing plant.

• Painters:

These are the individuals who are working as the employees of the company in the organizational behavior case study who are assigned with the work of painting the toys. They also derive their power from their expertise and hence their power is generally termed as expert power (Kotter, 2010). The power to work in accordance with their capacities and suitability is derived by them from their supervisors who control them. Their opinion regarding the suitable working condition was accepted by the engineers and supervisors because they have expertise in the field of painting.

• Supervisors:

The power that they used while working with the company in this organizational behavior case study is generally known as legitimate power. These powers are entrusted to them due to their position in the company (Ramos, Franco-Crespo, González-Pérez, Guerra, Ramos-Galarza, Pazmiño & Tejera, 2019). Hence, such powers are more often called as positional powers. In this organizational behavior case study supervisor is the person who worked as the liaison between the painters and engineers who were separately assigned some specific job roles. The supervisor was the only person who could resolve the conflict between the engineers and the painters working on the plant by applying his own powers and on account of the position held by him in the company’s management structure. Supervisor was holding superior powers because of the top position and painters and engineers as well as the plant superintendent were his subordinates (Cosh, Fu & Hughes, 2012).).

• Superintendent:

Superintendent of the plant was the person who was entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the assets at the plant and also to overlook the functioning of entire toy manufacturing process. The superintendent was also enjoying the position at the top management of the company. The powers derived by him are generally known as formal powers and sourced from body working at the upper level from him i.e. the supervisor.

Part d
The two influential tactics that have been used in the present organizational behavior case study are as follows:

• Rational Persuasion (Applied by the painters)

This influential tactic is also known as logical persuasion (Kelly, 2019). Painters of the plant used this tactic by presenting before all the practical problems that were encountered by them while working with new system of toy painting. The said tactic was used by them to influence the supervisor of the company so that the working conditions at the plant could be made more suitable to work in. This influence could work by showing the pros of the proposed course of action. In this organizational behavior case study, the painters introduced the supervisors in the meetings the benefits of reducing the speed of the hook belt.

• Consultation (Applied by supervisors)

This is another tactic used in the present organizational behavior case study. The consultant was appointed by the supervisor in the current case to decide on altering the working conditions of the plant. The painters working at the plant demanded to install the fans at the work station and the consultants agreed to the suggestions of the painters and hence influenced the supervisors as well as the engineers working at the plant. Consultants were referred to because the supervisor had not sufficient knowledge of how machines work and how the speed of the hooks in the belt could be reduced. Also, the reading obtained from the organizational behavior case study signifies that it was difficult for the supervisor to decide on whether the reduction in the speed of the belt will hamper the production of finished goods.

References:
Clegg, S. (2013). Organizational behavior case study The Theory of Power and Organization (RLE: Organizations). Routledge. 1(3), 350-401

Cosh, A., Fu, X., & Hughes, A. (2012). Organisation structure and innovation performance in different environments. Small Business Economics, 39(2), 301-317.

Fernández, D. O. (2019). Two Forms of Indigenous Autonomy in Mexico. Ideas from IDS: Graduate Papers from 2017/18, 64.

Gerpott, F. H., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Voelpel, S. C., & van Vugt, M. (2019). Organizational behavior case study It’s Not Just What is Said, but When it’s Said: A Temporal Account of Verbal Behaviors and Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Teams. Academy of Management Journal, 62(3), 717-738.

Kelly, R. (2019). Leadership Development and Structure—From Egosystems to Ecosystems. In Constructing Leadership 4.0 (pp. 69-99). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Kotter, J. P. (2010). Power and influence. Simon and Schuster. 2(2), 10-12

Ljasenko, S., Ferreira, P., Justham, L., & Lohse, N. (2019). Decentralised vs partially centralised self-organisation model for mobile robots in large structure assembly. Organizational behavior case study Computers in Industry, 104, 141-154.

Ramos, V., Franco-Crespo, A., González-Pérez, L., Guerra, Y., Ramos-Galarza, C., Pazmiño, P., & Tejera, E. (2019). Analysis of organizational power networks through a holistic approach using consensus strategies. Heliyon, 5(2), e01172.

Weerheim, W., Van Rossum, L., & Ten Have, W. D. (2019). Successful implementation of self-managing teams. Organizational behavior case study Leadership in Health Services, 32(1), 113-128.