The paper discusses the business failure by Chrysler upon its merger with Daimler. In the paper the failure is discussed by looking at the management and leadership aspects in the organization linking them to behavior reinforcement theory. The eminent business failure following the merger is associated to the cultural differences and the employee dissatisfaction and the failure to attend to them.
Chrysler Business Failure
Examining a Business Failure
Differences in perception and contributions in the merger between Daimler and Chrysler can remarkably easily explain the failure of Chrysler. The two parties in the merger came in as equal partners where their financial and economic information was not sufficient to hold the mergers together. According to Badrtalei J. And Bates D. (2007)
, the cultural incompatibility between the two failed to provide the meshing and cohesive attributes of organizational success.
Reasons for business failure
The two organizations, lacked understanding in personalities, technological systems, nationality and cultures contributing to the realized failure. In less than two years of the merger, top executives from America had either retired, fired, left, or replaced by German employees. The level of employee job satisfaction was lowest bringing about low productivity and unwarranted anxiety in the management and staff relation. On the overall, lack of motivation from the employees and the loose cultural ties in the organization contributed to the business failure Badrtalei J. & Bates D., 2007()
Individual expectations and commitment towards an organization are elaborate depending on the system of trust within the organization. In driving an expectations and commitment, there is a need to present a unified course of action. The course of action needs to be one that the employees and the management team own up to and upholds. The course of action needs to be intertwined with the overall goals of the company. There should be no neglect to the uniqueness of the company and employees' attributes Badrtalei J. & Bates D., 2007()
The development of a company's strategic plan needs to reflect the overall objectives and goals of the company. This will require incorporation of a feedback and evaluation platform to help employees recognize their role and purposes in managing and improving their own careers. The culture of the organization and its communication will serve to ensure that the individual employees and the management team shares a unified measure to achieve the organization's goals.
Failure to ensure the company's goals are uniquely linked to the employees' career objectives and the failure to ensure the organization did not conflict with the individual, contributed to business downfall. Culture shock and conflict demote a cohesive working environment that is a prerequisite for good communication and implementation of a company's objective Badrtalei J. & Bates D., 2007.
Presences of intercultural communication set an ideal platform for the organization's success especially so where two different entities come together for a common goal.
In undertaking the merger, the company came short of evaluating how the team would be impacted. The impact of an individual on the team performance is not of relevance as their contribution. The individuals' contribution is influenced by how they fit in the team and work as a unified front towards the overall goals. The organization was destined to failure owing to the inadequacy of unity among the team players.
Behavior Reinforcement Theory
Use of behavior modeling advocated for in reinforcement theory tends to increase employees' commitment to a job and ensure job satisfaction Robbins S.P. & Judge T.A., 2011.
In the organization, this level of behavior modeling was disregarded thereby, failing to encourage team members and managers to participate meaningfully. The theory of reinforcement sees the behavior of employees as one that is conditioned by the immediate environment. A tendency to reinforce behavior will resort in its recurrence. The performance of the employees immediately following the merger was reduced productivity. The behavior was reinforced by the management team taking no appropriate action to discourage the tendency of even encourage the contrary.
According to the reinforcement theory, people will avoid getting something they do not want as well as feel motivated to work in order to get what they want Robbins S.P. & Judge T.A., 2011.
The failure by Chrysler is model behavior of the employees given the environment surrounding the merger to accommodate higher productivity. The company also failed to ensure commitment to job by reassuring employees of their job security despite the merger.
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