University of the Virgin Islands
School of Business Administration
MGT 429 – ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Semester: Spring 2019
Date:
February 4, 2019
Instructor: Dr. Barbara Flemming
ASSIGNMENT 1
Submit written assignments with correct formats, proper grammar, syntax, spelling, sentence
structure, and punctuation as specified by Standard American English. All assignments are to be
completed at a scholarly level. This means that if you are submitting a paper, a standard APA
format is required. Submit your individual report via the ‘Assignment’ tab on February
10, 2019 at 11:59 pm.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Select a topic related to organizational behavior in a local organization and analyze
critically its problems.
2. Identify how the problem affects individual and group behavior in the organization.
3. Describe the rationale for your selected topic, including the reasons why the topic is
important to the organization.
4. Analyze your position of the organizational behavior problem you selected.
5. Analyze potential arguments against your position.
6. Explain how you would refute arguments against your position and further define and
support your reasoning and rationale.
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
A case study analysis requires you to investigate a business problem, examine the alternative
solutions, and propose the most effective solution using supporting evidence.
Preparing the Case
Before you begin writing, follow these guidelines to help you prepare and understand the case
study:
1. Read and examine the case thoroughly
•Take notes, highlight relevant facts, underline key problems.
2. Focus your analysis
•Identify two to five key problems
•Why do they exist?
•How do they impact the organization?
•Who is responsible for them?
3. Uncover possible solutions
•Review course readings, discussions, outside research, your experience.
4. Select the best solution
•Consider strong supporting evidence, pros, and cons: is this solution realistic?
Drafting the Case
Once you have gathered the necessary information, a draft of your analysis should include these
sections:
1. Introduction
•Identify the key problems and issues in the case study.
•Formulate and include a thesis statement, summarizing the outcome of your analysis in 1
–2 sentences.
2. Background
•Set the scene: background information, relevant facts, and the most important issues.
•Demonstrate that you have researched the problems in this case study.
3. Alternatives
•Outline possible alternatives (not necessarily all of them)
•Explain why alternatives were rejected
•Constraints/reasons
•Why are alternatives not possible at this time?
4. Proposed Solution
•Provide one specific and realistic solution
•Explain why this solution was chosen
•Support this solution with solid evidence
•Concepts from class (text readings, discussions, lectures)
•Outside research
•Personal experience (anecdotes)
5. Recommendations
•Determine and discuss specific strategies for accomplishing the proposed solution.
•If applicable, recommend further action to resolve some of the issues
•What should be done and who should do it?
Finalizing the Case
After you have composed the first draft of your case study analysis, read through it to check for
any gaps or inconsistencies in content or structure: Is your thesis statement clear and direct? Have
you provided solid evidence? Is any component from the analysis missing?
When you make the necessary revisions, proofread and edit your analysis before submitting
the final draft.
University of the Virgin Islands
School of Business Administration
MGT 429 – ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Semester: Spring 2019
Date:
February 4, 2019
Instructor: Dr. Barbara Flemming
CASE STUDY 1 - PATAGONIA
Submit with correct formats, proper grammar, syntax, spelling, sentence structure, and
punctuation as specified by Standard American English. All assignments are to be completed
at a scholarly level. This means that if you are submitting a paper, a standard APA format
is required. Submit your individual report via the ‘Assignment’ tab on February 10,
2019 at 11:59 pm.
Let’s say your company makes fleece jackets and other forms of outerwear. Why should someone
buy your jackets and not someone else’s? Well, maybe you could become a cost leader in the
manufacturing and logistics behind the jackets, allowing you to sell them at a cheaper price. But
what if your competitors just copy those strategies? Another approach might be to differentiate
your jackets from everyone else’s. Maybe they’re more comfortable or durable, maybe they’re
more cutting edge in terms of look and features, or maybe they represent a brand that people
admire. But how could you attain such sources of differentiation and—just as importantly—how
could you stay “one step ahead” of other firms?
Patagonia, the Ventura, California-based maker of outdoor clothing and equipment, has a clear set
of answers to those questions. When its founder and owner, Yvon Chouinard, transitioned from
making climbing tools to launching an apparel company, he created his own vision for how
business should be run. One pillar of that vision was work being enjoyable on a daily basis, with
Chouinard noting, “We all had to come to work on the balls of our feet and go up the stairs two
steps at a time.” Today’s employees benefit from that vision in several ways, including flextime
based on a “let my people go surfing” mantra. A whiteboard in the lobby of the beachside corporate
headquarters gives the surfing conditions, with employees encouraged to gain first-hand
experience with Patagonia’s clothing and equipment whenever the waves are breaking. Employees
also enjoy on-site childcare, profit sharing, free yoga and aerobics classes, and an outdoor organic
café. Another pillar of that vision was the company doing what it could to support environmental
causes and maximize its own sustainability. Today the company donates one-percent of its sales
to environmental charities and makes much of its clothing with recycled wool, cotton, and
polyester.
What do such initiatives do for Patagonia? Well, for starters, the company receives an average of
900 resumes per job opening, allowing them to select the cream of the crop for open positions.
They also routinely attract top executives from rival firms. Having better people, in turn, helps
Patagonia push the envelope when it comes to the quality, innovativeness, and sustainability of its
products. Indeed, the initiatives have created a “brand” embraced by employees and customers
alike, allowing Patagonia to differentiate itself from competitors.
In his recent book The Responsible Company, Patagonia founder and owner Yvon Chouinard
argued that meaningful work depends on what one does, in terms of daily tasks, but also on the
larger issues that a company stands for. He writes, “Regardless of our talent or education; our
preference for working with words, numbers, or our hands…we have meaningful work at
Patagonia because our company does its best to be responsible to nature and people. Our daily
gestures—on the one hand, mundane and often tedious—are, on the other hand, infused with the
effort to give something useful and enjoyable to society without bringing undue harm to nature,
the commons, or other workers. Tedium is easier to take when it has meaning.” To encourage other
companies to be more “responsible to nature and people,” Chouinard includes a responsible
company checklist in the book, and as a download on Patagonia’s website
(http://www.patagonia.com/pdf/en_US/checklist.zip). The checklist includes sections on being
responsible to: (a) the financial health of the company, (b) its employees, (c) its customers, (d) the
local community, and (e) nature. The employee checklist is excerpted below:
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Determine whether your company pays above-market, at-market, or below-market rates.
Paying below market means your competitors will attract the best talent, including your
own.
Calculate the multiple by which the company’s highest paid employee compares to its
lowest-paid full-time worker. Set a goal over a specific period of time to narrow the gap
to a specific multiple, appropriate to your industry.
Calculate your average annual attrition rate and compare with that of other employers in
your business. If your number doesn’t look good, figure out why. Set a benchmark for
improvement.
Calculate the internal hire rate for open positions. If you have to hire outside too often,
are you training properly and allowing people to grow in their jobs?
Include as many employees as possible in the company’s bonus plan to secure broadbased support for company goals.
Diversity and gender balance, at all levels of the workforce, are strong virtues in a
workforce; discourage both management myopia and provincialism.
Provide stock options or equivalent forms of company ownership to as broad a base of
employees as possible.
Allow part-time and flextime and telecommuting opportunities as appropriate.
Install showers so employees can exercise at lunch or bike to work.
Provide a company café or kitchen or, if not practical, a dedicated space to let employees
eat and/or rest.
Provide on-site day care if possible (or establish a relationship with a local provider).
Share financial information with all employees; no one should be innumerate.
Incorporate into the mission statement a commitment to reducing social and
environmental harm.
Provide employee training to reduce social and environmental harm.
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Provide paid sabbatical leave for long-term managerial and creative staff to help prevent
burnout.
Get rid of dehumanizing cubicles; let there be natural light.
On an annual basis, conduct a job-satisfaction survey of all employees; quantify and
share the results.
Require that supervisors write an annual performance appraisal for their staff.
Supervisors should consult employees’ co-workers and key contacts within the company,
set goals (including social and environmental performance goals) for the coming year,
and determine training needs.
References
Chouinard, Y. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman. New
York: Penguin Books, 2006;
Hanel, M. “Surf’s up at Patagonia.” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, September 5, 2011, pp. 88-89;
Hamm, S. “A Passion for the Planet.” BusinessWeek, August 21, 2006, pp. 92-94;
Foster, T. “No such thing as sustainability.” Fast Company, July 2009, pp. 46-48.
Questions:
1. Which checklist ingredients would you value most as an employee? Which would you
value least? Do some suggestions seem debatable?
2. Which checklist ingredients do you think are most uncommon in organizations? Do those
ingredients seem to be promising avenues for creating sustained competitive advantage?
3. Chouinard argues that “tedium is easier to take when it has meaning.” Which checklist
ingredients seem most promising for creating meaning? Would you add any additional
suggestions to increase meaning further?
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