Scenario: Cameron Mechanical & Automation, Inc. (CMA)
Cameron Mechanical & Automation, Inc. (CMA) is a fictional company that has been in business and
operating in the Silicon Valley since 1998. The company began as a successful Internet-based company
(dot-com) and experienced great success with the introduction of high technology. The company also
experienced decline with other dot-coms in 2001. As a result, CMA restructured and focused on its
primary products; that is, computer components. The early changes in the company were done quickly
to downsize. Although many other companies failed during this time, CMA managed to move forward.
CMA rebounded and continued to manufacture and sell its components to computer manufacturers
worldwide. The company structure was divided into product divisions, with each division focused on
specific components. For the company, this structure was meant to streamline sales and delivery
worldwide.
In 2008, the economy had an effect on company profits, but the chief executive officer (CEO), Jared
Smith, was in a position to focus on several internal strategic areas, including structure, work design,
motivation, conflict, and company culture as a whole. To stay profitable, the company had to eliminate
several management positions in an effort to flatten the organizational chart. Many of the
responsibilities fell to the employees, and many people resisted the change.
As the economy recovers, CMA continues to rebuild. Since 2012, the company has been divided into a
functional structure that includes four departments: Research and development (R&D), marketing,
production, and finance. Each department is headed by a vice president who has responsibility over
each of the functional areas. The company currently sells components to computer manufacturers. As
technology continues to advance, the CMA R&D department and its vice president, Kevin Adams, are
feeling pressure to keep up with the competition. However, because of the differentiation and
separation between the departments, the CEO is concerned that communication is hampered.
In the last employee satisfaction survey, the CEO became aware of growing feelings of mistrust between
employees and managers. Hiring practices are also under scrutiny and criticism, because allegations of
nepotism have been leveled at the company. For these reasons and others, employee turnover and
absenteeism is on the rise in all four divisions. Staffing problems have made it difficult to meet customer
expectations as the demand for company products grows.
Because of the current structure and culture, the vice presidents who run each division of the company
have autonomy and are able to use different leadership styles. For example, the vice president of
marketing, Jim Stevens, uses a more democratic leadership style, while the vice president of production,
Melissa Simons, is adamant that her autocratic or transactional style is the only way to get results. Each
leadership style has advantages, but the lack of consistency between divisions may be causing problems
for the company as a whole. Further, the CEO is concerned that the workforce may not be as diverse as
it should be, but he is not sure how to address the issue.
The CEO has hired you as an external organizational development consultant to help him identify
problem areas and to understand where changes should be made within the company. Over the next
few weeks, you will also be working with the CEO and managers in all four divisions of the company to
help establish these changes. Your various responsibilities will also include talking with employees at
each level of the company to get a better understanding about underlying problems.
So far, you are seeing inconsistencies in leadership practices in each of the departments, and you are
concerned that while the company is trying to improve its communication protocol, the different
leadership styles may be creating confusion. For example, when you talked to one of the production
employees, Sonja Diaz, she explained that she had many ideas for helping to streamline the production
process, but feels she cannot share them because of the transactional leadership. In the marketing
department, one sales rep, Jerry McVie, felt that he was not being challenged with his current goals and
is even considering leaving the company to join one of the competitors. Lack of communication between
the divisional leaders might also be the cause of conflict between the departments because they
operate in silos. This separation between divisions may also be having a negative effect on middle
management staffing issues.
As you continue to work with the chief executive officer (CEO) to identify underlying problems and look
for solutions, one area of concern rises to the top; that is, employee motivation. Surveys and interviews
indicate that motivational levels are low in all departments. You note that teams in each of the
departments tend to be homogenous and lack diversity. As the company continues to expand globally,
you are concerned that the company may not be preparing expatriates properly for overseas
assignments, which could be one of the reasons why many of the expatriates are returning home early.
During your meeting with the vice presidents, everyone acknowledges the problems they are
experiencing with employees who are not motivated at work. Halfway through the meeting, Jim
Stevens, vice president (VP) of marketing, turns to you and voices something that is especially pertinent
to the situation.
"This discussion is good," he says. "We need to talk about common issues more often. I don't know
about everyone else, but I am running out of ideas for motivating my staff."
"I agree," says Elaine Johns, VP of finance. Everyone nods their head in agreement.
"Excellent," you say. "Would it be useful to talk about some theories of motivation? Sometimes it helps
to step back and look at situations from a scholarly perspective. Once we have the knowledge, we can
apply it to our current circumstance."
"Yes," says Kevin Adams, VP of research and development. "But it's been a while since I thought about
theories on motivation."
"Right," says Melissa Simons, VP of production. "Would you give us a short description of at least three
theories of motivation to help us understand the problems at CMA?"
"I'd be glad to," you say. "I can get something to you this week. I'll keep it short."
"Great," says Jim. "Once I get that, I'll be able to deal with this with a fresh point of view."
"I've been reading a good book about motivation in the workplace," says Jared. "I'll send the link so you
can get a copy to put on your digital book reader."
Everyone smiles and nods enthusiastically, and the meeting is adjourned. Back in your office, you do
some research to make sure your knowledge about theories of motivation is current. Then you begin the
process of distilling the information to provide your busy audience with clear, concise reading. You also
decide to apply the theories to the company to help the managers determine which theories apply.
The vice presidents (VPs) are reading the information about theories of motivation that you sent them.
You know, because they have been asking questions, most of which revolve around expatriates. These
questions from the VPs tell you that they are now ready to address cultural differences and how they
relate to preparing staff for cross-cultural work environments. You are at work on Monday morning
when the phone rings.
"Hello?" you say.
"Hello, this is Della Lane calling for Jared Smith. Please hold while I connect you."
"Good morning," he says. "I'm glad I caught you in the office."
"Hi, Jared," you say. "How are things going with staff motivation?"
"Good," he says. "That's actually why I'm calling. I'm getting the VPs and managers together next week
to talk about expatriates. Can you join us?
"Sure," you say. "I can have that PowerPoint presentation about culture and diversity ready by then.
Want me to present it?"
"That would be great," he says. "Just do it the same way you did last time—8 to 10 PowerPoint slides
including title and reference slides, with a minimum of 250 words of speaker notes per slide."
"Okay," you say. "The presentation will explain cultural differences, intercultural differences, and culture
and diversity. I'll include a slide about steps that managers at CMA should take to prepare expatriates
for assignments overseas, too."
"Good," he says. "I can use that as a springboard for further discussion."
"Very good," you say. "Are you meeting at the usual time and place?"
"Yes," he says. "Plan to get here about 20 minutes beforehand so we can go over everything."
"It's on my calendar," you say. "I'll see you then."
PLEASE READ ATTACHED SCENARIO FOR ASSIGNMENT DETAIL AND
INFORMATION!!!
Deliverable Length: PowerPoint presentation: 8–10 slides (minimum 100 – 150 words per slide
of speaker notes)
Description:
In the course scenario, the following was stated: The CEO has hired you as an external
organizational development consultant to help him identify problem areas and to understand
where changes should be made within the company. Over the next few weeks, you will also be
working with the CEO and managers in all four divisions of the company to help establish these
changes. Your various responsibilities will also include talking with employees at each level of
the company to get a better understanding about underlying problems.
So far, you are seeing inconsistencies in leadership practices in each of the departments, and you
are concerned that while the company is trying to improve its communication protocol, the
different leadership styles may be creating confusion. For example, when you talked to one of
the production employees, Sonja Diaz, she explained that she had many ideas for helping to
streamline the production process, but feels she cannot share them because of the transactional
leadership. In the marketing department, one sales rep, Jerry McVie, felt that he was not being
challenged with his current goals and is even considering leaving the company to join one of the
competitors. Lack of communication between the divisional leaders might also be the cause of
conflict between the departments because they operate in silos. This separation between
divisions may also be having a negative effect on middle management staffing issues.
Your meetings with managers on conflict resolution are going well. You and Jared the CEO meet
after he gets back from his business trip to finish your discussion about leadership styles.
Your CEO Jared says, "Maybe we should talk to the vice presidents and managers about
leadership styles. "I was hoping you'd say that," you say. "I'll have a presentation that defines a
minimum of 4 leadership styles, and then compares and contrasts a minimum of 4 leadership
styles in order to discuss strengths/weaknesses and pros/cons of one leadership style over
another. Please have this ready for meetings next week. Thanks."
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