Mgt305 Organizational Behavior | Case Assessment Answers

1. a. Identify the reasons for employees resisting the change to an open-plan office approach.

b. Explain what the partners might have done better to have minimised the resistance.

2. a. Analyse the barriers to communication (‘noise’) that appear to exist in the law firm.

b. Discuss how they could be overcome.

3. a. Discuss the sources of power the partners and others appear to have and the impact this may have on other employees.

b. What influence tactics have been used by some of the partners and employees and how effective might they have been?

Answer:

Introduction

The purpose of the following paper is to discuss upon the underpinnings from the provided case study. This case study has been on the relevance of the partnership in the business and its definite impact on the employees. The partnership business in the New Zealand based law firm will be discussed in this paper. The various issues will be discussed relating to the topic since it will be very much important for the understanding of the impact of this partnership business in this competitive business environment (Smollan 2013). The employees might have felt either positive or negative at some point of time and this will be very important for the environment of the organization.

1 (a)The first question deals with the response of the people or the employees in the plan for the new open plan office for the law firm had been expanding and the number of staffs had been increasing. Some of the members had been very much serious about this new structure of the open plan office. According to some of the employees, the status they had as the seniors has been hampered very badly. The senior founder of the law firm Jack Wynne had been very much enraged about the fact that the ‘playpen’ system to be used in the office had not been the proper way the business should be conducted within the offices. This plan for the opne plan office had received the mixed response from a group of the employees. It can be said in this context that some of the female employees would be deprived of talking to their boyfriends in the working hours within the office premises (Smollan 2013). This is completely against the ethics of the organization. This is supportive of the fact of implementing the open plan office and making the employees concentrate on the work most importantly.  

According to the case study, the senior associates had been cracking the jokes on the Maori lawyers, Indian lawyers and Jewish lawyers but no one cared to laugh on that joke. This proves the insignificance of those people within the culture. This is the most important reason that those senior people had been feeling that they had been deprived of the various facilities they should have got in their law firm. Some employees also complained about the fact that they had to go outside if the premises to talk about the persons (Gilson et al. 2012). Their complain was they were deprived of their privacy and they believed that it was quite hard to imagine that everyone would get to know what they are doing and they could not even talk freely as well. These reasons had led to the resistance of some of the employees to show resistance against the open plan stuff.

1 (b)It is the responsibility of the partners of business to minimize the resistance from the employees. Or else this would lead to the loud protests from the end of the employees in big ways. This fact should be stopped since the employees would have to abide by the rules and regulations of the company. The various new plans that were thought by Cathy and Mark had also begun to implement some techniques to run the organization through the modern techniques. It was on the shoulders of Cathy and Mark to make the employees understand that their main concern was to build up a team from different educational and cultural backgrounds. The team members would be compatible with each other and cater to achieve the objectives of the organization in the best ways indeed (Gilson et al. 2012).

They should be more approachable in case the employees would facr any difficulties in understanding of the changes that would come in the one-plan office. Thus it will be better to cut down the costs as well. In this manner the employees would be highly benefitted as their payments could increase if the company could be able to cut down their costs in the best ways. The new online system for the better communication will make the operations smooth as well. The beautiful décor colors would also make the rooms bright and it would be a visual satisfaction for the employees to work in these environments (Alvesson 2012). This team work will surely yield good results as well. These are steps that Mark and Catherine could take up to pacify those employees who were not at all agreed to the facts.

2 (a)The barrier to communication that has arisen in this law firm is that of the loud noise across the office premises. This was not at all a problem before the employees had their own rooms and desks. This seemed to be a trouble issue since Catherine had designed the open plan office to accommodate all the people within the office premises. As all the employees will sit together it will create a huge noise. Problems will be created as they will not be able to work properly indeed. According to the experts, any disturbance in the office will surely impact in the negative ways on the employees.

However, other communication issues have been relevant in this case as well. Some of the employees have also confessed that they are not at all happy with the pay hike that the organization (Alvesson 2012). The payment for the educational courses had also been very much important for the financial satisfaction of the employees (Alvesson 2012). Other than that, some of the employees are also accused of having no sense of humor. Catherine has been stressing on the pay hikes for working on the Sundays and the annual picnic party with the employees. When the seniors made the jokes about the foods of the employees, this will surely have a negative impact on their minds.

The changes in the structure of the organization were still to be brought in. The pay hikes had to be managed properly so the organizational employees could be benefitted. The issues were not being communicated to the higher authorities and this is why the issues could not be managed within time (Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin 2013). 

2(b)It is very important indeed to overcome the communication issues within the organizational structure and culture. According to the critics, it will be very much relevant to issue a proper salary and wages structure for the organization. This will be highly beneficial for the employees of all the categories. The salary structure should be made according to the economic condition of the market. The communication issues of noise can be overcome as well. The managers can use the written communication system through emails. This will be a great method as no one will have to shout to call each other.

The performance of the employees will have to be critically reviewed by the higher authorities (Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin 2013). The senior associates of the company should be given the proper respect by the organization. It is because they have the proper insight into the matters. On the other hand, no discrimination should be made between the employees. It is only to provide the senior employees with the unfair advantage. The organizational structure of the law firm should be redesigned. This should be for the benefit of the organization itself.

The employees should be given the opportunity so they can adjust with the new offices. The development of the team work should be their main priority. The employees should be given the proper training on the maintaining the organizational culture. They must be informed that the office premise is not the proper place for the personal phone calls (Jones 2012).

3 (a)The power of the partners has been very important to be discussed in this section. The two partners Cathy and Mark have been the influential people in this company because they are the people who have been working in this organization with their modern mindset. The impact will be great on the employees since they have to shift from one kind of work culture to another one (Bolman & Deal 2017). It will be very much problematic for many people to adjust because some of the employees have been associated with the company for a long time now. This will surely hamper on their integrity and team work. The two new partners Mark and Cathy had been very much supportive in various ways and their intent was to make the teams feel that they are working as a family.  Both Mark and Cathy always supported the lawyers of the firm in the best ways.

They had even supported Anand when he was working on the case of the toxic fertilizers that were used on a farm. Both the partners went to the court to support him. This had created a positive image in the mind of Anand regarding Mark and Cathy. These are the positive influences that both the partners had carried for themselves. The fact that the two new partners had even agreed to pay the student loan of an employee was very beneficial. This also had helped her and she showed her gratefulness for this. She had also accused one fact and that was regarding the ratio of the male and female employees (Bolman & Deal 2017). The work culture that has been implemented by the two partners is not suitable for some of the employees as well. Anand was not at all interested in going to the club and stay late there. However, the open plan office policies were not liked by the people as well. They accused of the hampering of their privacy because of this new plan. Thus the mixed response could be recorded from the sources of power practiced by the partners (Choo 2013).

3 (b)Various tactics have been used by the partners to influence the employees. It has been heard that the employees have made many accusations because of the implementation of the open plan policies by the partners in this context. However it has been heard that the two new partners Jack and Cathy will do their best to attract the new employees by their modern thoughts. As some of the employees have not been that much happy with the working culture pervading in the organization, some of them might leave the company. This was the fear of the partners and they wanted to build a sustainable organizational culture for the company so they could retain the employees (Conchie 2013). 

The contrasting reactions could be felt in this discourse as well since some preferred the new modernized office premises while some others were in favor of the old office premises. Some of the old people in the organization opined that the things have not been in the way that it was few years ago (Miner 2015). Amidst these problems, Mark and Cathy began to make some plans how they could redesign the organization in new ways. Keeping this mind, they began to use the more comfortable and expensive furniture within the office premises. These things will have good impact on the brand image onf the company. The employees will love to work with more comfortable décor of the organization. The motivation they provided by encouraging the employees has also been regarded as one of the most important things for the influence on the employees.

Conclusion

The conclusion to this paper can be provided by saying that the main points of the case study have been discussed over in the paper. The problems faced by the employees will have to be reviewed by the partners Mark and Cathy since they have been tackling with the several issues and implementing the open plan policies. Some of the employees have not liked this plan and some new ways have been suggested by the partners on how they could manage the operations properly. The matter of influencing the employees has been discussed over here as well. The stress on making the team work better could be a very motivating factor for the innovation.

References

Alvesson, M., 2012. Understanding organizational culture. Sage.

Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Büschgens, T., Bausch, A. & Balkin, D.B., 2013. Organizational culture and innovation: A meta?analytic review. Journal of product innovation management, 30(4), pp.763-781.

Choo, C.W., 2013. Information culture and organizational effectiveness. International Journal of Information Management, 33(5), pp.775-779.

Conchie, S.M., 2013. Transformational leadership, intrinsic motivation, and trust: A moderated-mediated model of workplace safety. Journal of occupational health psychology, 18(2), p.198.

Gilson, N.D., Suppini, A., Ryde, G.C., Brown, H.E. & Brown, W.J., 2012. Does the use of standing ‘hot’desks change sedentary work time in an open plan office?. Preventive medicine, 54(1), pp.65-67.

Jones, G.R., 2012. Organizational theory, design, and change: Texts and cases. Pearson Higher Ed.

Miner, J.B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Routledge.

Smollan, R.K., 2013. Trust in change managers: the role of affect. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 26(4), pp.725-747.