Essay Prompt

A case study is an examination of the problems of a given company situation and proposed recommendations in response to those problems from a leadership perspective, based on textbook
readings, video lectures, and personal experience. The specific data for each of the four case studies
can be downloaded from the Moodle site. They are posted with that weeks work. An adequate
response for each case study can usually be contained within 2 - 3 single-spaced typewritten pages,
executive summary style. Quality of the response is more critical than limiting the response to 3
pages. The outline of the case study summary is as follows:

I. Introduction. In three or four sentences give a brief description of the focus of the
case. What are the key facts?

II. Problems. Identify key issues that are present in the case and link those issues to at
least 10 concepts from the assigned chapter readings in the Greenberg textbook.
Use Bold print to highlight terms that are chapter theories and concepts. Use three
subheadings for Individual level, Departmental/Supervisor level, and Organizational
level processes or behaviors. Be sure to adequately describe how this concept fits
the case and show your understanding of the concept. While there is flexibility in
which concepts you choose, you should aim for the most relevant concepts to this
particular case.

III. Recommendations. Develop recommendations to solve the problems from a
person, department, and organization perspective. Use the same three subheadings
as for Problems. Link your recommendations to the problems, chapter theories, and
concepts that you have identified in the previous section. State the actions that
should be taken by each level to help remedy the situation. Bold chapter theories
and concepts. Problems identified in Section II related to person, department, and organization
must be correlated with recommendations presented in Section III. A minimum of 6 different
concepts is required.

Analysis must be easy to read and demonstrate good progression of thought. Response must be free
of grammar and spelling errors. Section headers (e.g., I. Introduction) are required and should
appear in bold.

Introduction
A summary of the case, problems and/or issues, characters and the setting.

Problems
Complete, yet succinct, diagnosis of problems.
Appropriate citation of chapter concepts, including demonstrating understanding of those
concepts.
Accurate evaluation of issues and limitations, including information that is unknown or not
included in the case description.

Recommended Leadership Intervention
Appropriate and thorough solution, from a leadership perspective, for each identified
problem.
Appropriate citation of chapter concepts, including demonstrating understanding of those
concepts.
Seamless correlation between problems identified and recommendations proposed.

Millers problem

The case study focuses on the change dynamics and the resistance to the introduced change within the organization. It also highlights the issue of lack of motivation among the employees that may potentially lead to work absenteeism or resignations.

Individual level: the couple in this case study lacked intrinsic motivation to continue working and this went further down with the introduction of the changes by the consultant....
...

Miller has worked in the organization for 27 years and there has been no vertical mobility and the pay has not significantly increased either, leading to a demoralized employee. The employee felt that his work was just fine as it was and there was no need for any changes to be made.
Departmental/Supervisor level: the department where Miller worked had the shortcoming of not bothering to know what exactly Miller was good in so as to post him to work at the appropriate place in the new restructuring. Instead, he was randomly picked and instructed on his new placement without due considerations. The department was also poor in communicating with the employees on the impending changes hence there could have been a misunderstanding by Miller that he will be doing three jobs at the same time.

Organizational level: the organization lacks a comprehensive process of involving the employees in decision making and change dynamics within the company. Miller and the wife were confronted by changes that were suggested by an external consultant without their consent. This resulted in a demoralized work force.

Recommendations

From the departmental perspective, there was need for Miller to be involved in the progressive discussions about his work changes and the benefits that would come from these changes needed to be made clear to him. At the organizational level also there was need to have a proper change implementation process and procedure that would see the organization meet minimum revolt through implementation of an engaging process. The department also needed to ensure that with the changes and an increase in workload, there would be a commensurate remuneration to act as an extrinsic motivation to the employees.

Joe Doss case study

This short case study highlights the challenges that the gifted Joe, on technical issues, has in ensuring is team of researchers works cohesively with him as the head of that research team. Though in the technical aspects Joe outperformed everyone, he still finds it hard to manage his colleagues.

At the individual level, Joe has serious problems with his interpersonal communication skills since he gives no attention to the opinions of other team members, not even his manager, instead he is preoccupied with the technical aspects. Joe also has challenges in balancing his work responsibilities between the human aspect and the technical side, with him concentrating on the technical aspect at the expense of the human side.

There was also a weakness at the departmental level where the promotion was given to Joe, on consideration of his technical ability and the level of education only. This was not enough to have a person that would be having other employees work under his directives hence the failure by Joe.

At the organizational level, there was a weakness in the selection process of heads of teams or departments and this excluded the suggestions of the employees. This resulted in overlooking the lack of leadership trait of being a team player which could have been detected had the other employees been involved in the entire process of head of team selection.

Recommendation

There is need to understand employee personality and behavior in order to know the different parts that can be played by the various employees. The process of promotion needs to take into consideration several aspects and not only the technical performance of an individual. As the team head, Joe also needs to develop a listening ear and interactive personality that accommodates views of different people he…