Assessment Summary and Purpose
The case study analysis report is a group assignment intended to assess students' ability to identify, understand and apply key management and organisation behaviour concepts in the context of a realistic business case. Students are expected to identify the problems/issues in the case, analyse the case using the concepts and models discussed in class and recommend relevant and theory-supported solutions.
Format Requirements:
A well written Report should have the following sample report format:
- Cover Page (Title of the case study and student names)
- Executive summary (must indicate the important points of entire report - approximately half a page in length)
- Table of contents
- Introduction (summary of key facts of the case)
- Problem identification (Start with list of symptoms then discuss root causes)
- Analysis /evaluation (Support your arguments with relevant theories from the lectures. Use discussion questions as guide)
- Recommendations - (Theoretically supported solutions to the case problems)
- Reference List - (Harvard Referencing Style)
Assessment Details
The analysis should be guided by the discussion questions in the case study and should be appropriately answered within your report analysis. You must support your discussion with relevant theories from textbooks and the lecture.The report should be in proper report format as shown in the sample report format (see above). The Report should be the outcome of a proper group discussion, analysis and research.
You must:
- Research using the prescribed textbook and at least 2 academic journal articles(refer to ProQuest /Ebsco/ ebrary that are accessible via Moodle)
- Carefully select appropriate theories and concepts
- Construct an in-depth and analytical discussion
- Use evidence and examples to support your work
- Write in a clear and logical manner.
- Use in-text citations and referencing using the Harvard referencing system
- Ensure that aside from your group partner, your work is NOT shared among other classmates or groups
Other important reminders:
- Sharing or borrowing report submissions is considered serious academic misconduct which can lead to failure of the assignment or the entire unit.
- Lecturersmay require students to explain their case study report in a separate meeting
- All submissions are coursed through Turnitin, a service that checks for originality of assignments. Students are encouraged to submit their work before the deadline in order to check for and avoid similarities.
Reducing Employee Turnover at APL
Paul Bolton hung up the telephone and sighed. The vice president of software engineering at Advanced Programming Limited (APL) had just spoken to Vivian Sullivan who called to arrange a meeting with Bolton later that day. She didn't say what the meeting was about, but Bolton almost instinctively knew that Vivian was going to quit after working at APL for the past four years. Sullivan is a software engineer in Internet Protocol (IP), the software that directs fibre-optic light through APL's routers. It is very specialized work, and Vivian is one of APL's top talents in that area. Paul Bolton had been through this before. A valued employee would arrange a private meeting. The meeting would begin with a few pleasantries; then the employee announces that he or she wants to quit. Some employees say they are leaving because of the long hours and stressful deadlines. They say they need to decompress, get to know the kids again, or whatever. But that's not usually the real reason. Almost every organization in this industry is scrambling to keep up with technological advances and the competition. They would just leave one stressful job for another one. Also, many of the people who leave APL join a start-up company a few months later. These start-up firms can be pressure cookers where everyone works 16 hours each day and has to perform a variety of tasks. For example, engineers in these small firms might have to meet customers or work on venture capital proposals rather than focus on specialized tasks related to their knowledge. APL has over 1,000 employees, so it is easier to assign people to work that matches their technical competencies. No, the problem isn't the stress or long hours, Bolton thought. The problem is money- too much money. Most of the people who leave are millionaires. Vivian Sullivan is one of them. Thanks to generous stock options that have skyrocketed on the stock markets, may employees at APL have more money than they can use. Most are under 40 years old, so they are too young to retire. But their financial independence gives them less reason to remain with APL. The meeting with Vivian Sullivan took place a few hours after the telephone call. It began like the others, with the initial pleasantries and brief discussion about the progress on the latest fibre-optic router project. Then, Vivian made her well-rehearsed statement: "Paul, I've really enjoyed working here, but I'm going to leave Advanced Programming." Vivian took a breath, and then looked at Bolton. When he didn't reply after a few minutes, she continued: "I need to take time off. You know, get away to recharge my batteries. The project's nearly done and the team can complete it without me. Well, anyway, I'm thinking of leaving."
Bolton spoke in a calm voice. He suggested that Vivian should take an unpaid leave for two or three months, complete with paid benefits, then return refreshed. Vivian politely rejected that offer, saying that she needs to get away from work for a while. Paul then asked Vivian whether there were problems with co-workers. The workplace was fine, Vivian replied. The job was getting a bit routine, but she had a comfortable workplace with excellent co-workers. Bolton then apologized for the cramped workspace, due mainly to the rapid increase in the number of people hired over the past year. He suggested that if Vivian took a couple of months off, APL would give her special treatment with a larger work space with a better view of the park behind the campus like building when she returned. She politely thanked Bolton for that offer, but it wasn't what she needed. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to have a large work space when other team members work in a smaller quarters. Bolton was running out of tactics, so he tried his last hope: money. He asked whether Vivian had higher offer. Vivian replied that she regularly received calls from other companies, and some of them offered more money. Most were start-up firms that offered a lower salary but higher potential gains in stock options. Bolton knew from market surveys that Vivian was already paid well in the industry. He also knew that APL couldn't compete on stock option potential. Employees working in start-up firms sometimes saw their shares increase by five or ten time their initial value, whereas shares at APL and other large firms increased more slowly. However; Bolton promised Vivian that he would recommend that she receive a significant raise- maybe 25percent more - and more stock options. Bolton added that Sullivan was one of the APL's most valuable employees and that the company would suffer if she left the firm. The meeting ended with Sullivan promising to consider Bolton's offer of higher pay and share options. Two days later, Bolton received her resignation in writing. Five months later, Bolton learned that after few months traveling with her husband, Sullivan joined a start-up software firm in the area.
Discussion Guide Questions for Analysis:
1. Why didn't money motivate Vivian Sullivan to stay with APL?
2. Does money have any value as a reward in situations such as this, where employees are relatively wealthy?
3. How would you analyse this case using four-drive theory and McClelland's Learned Needs Theory?
4. What kind of organisational commitment did Vivian Sullivan have for APL? Was it affective, continuance or normative? Why?
5. What is the importance of job design in this case?
6. If you were Bolton, what strategy would you have used to motivate Sullivan to stay? (your answers to this question should form part of your case study recommendations).
Adapted from a case written by Steven L. McShane, University of Western Australia
McShane, S., Olekalns, M. &Travaglione, T. (2010) Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim, 3rd Edition, McGraw Hill, Sydney