Mr John Batten was working as a change consultant in a department of an international organization (Costa Company Ltd) involved in the marketing of cruise package to tourists all over the world. The managers were recruited from different countries thus bringing a mix of cultures in the company.
For a variety of reasons, one of these managers was very much a Theory X manager who believed that his subordinates were lazy and unprepared to be creative. One of the change initiatives that Mr Batten was trying to introduce was that staff should be treated in a Theory Y manner, because at the time the department was hiring adults and then treating them like children who could not be trusted, resulting in a high staff turnover of 60% per year. This theory X manager introduced the changes requested of him, where staff were invited to be creative and responsible, and were told that they would not be as heavily supervised and audited as they had been up to that point.
The subordinates were deeply suspicious of the change, as they believed that their manager did not trust them. For them to change their behaviour, as a result of changing their beliefs about their manager, they needed to see that the new policy was adopted in the long term. Sure enough, the manager was soon peering over their shoulders and remonstrating with them for not changing their behaviour.
There was a collective sigh from the staff, „„We knew he wouldn?t change??, and the manager said, „„You see, I knew they wouldn?t change!??
Question:
(a) On the basis of the organizational situation mentioned above, you are required to write on the different components of culture, including beliefs, that need to be considered so that the new policy can be introduced with success at the level of the company.
(b) Explain the steps involved in the introduction of a culture change programme?
(c) Applied to a change management situation, compare and contrast the assumptions on which Douglas Mc Gregor (1960) has put forward Theory X and Theory Y.
(d) List and explain the factors affecting motivation and the accompanying Human Resource polices that could contribute towards motivating employees at Costa Company Ltd.