Eric Peterson Case Overview This is a case about a manager who does his job competently, but is in trouble and doesn’t know it. The problem is, he has neglected managing his bosses. Situation • Since Peterson had no experience in the field, second-guessing of his decisions was to be expected, especially when there were problems • Peterson’s boss also has no expertise in the relevant areas, and is relatively disengaged in thinking through the big issues. Disengaged boss is very dangerous situation. • Multiple management challenges among subordinates, all of which Peterson was handling well, but which required some decisions that required local knowledge to understand why they were good (e.g., moving Stevana in charge of construction) • Little contact with superiors/headquarters since taking job • Early on, Peterson antagonized some higher-ups (e.g., Cantor & Green) • A review from on high will come in two weeks What Peterson Should Have Done • Found ways to educate Hardy on the operation and engage him in decisions.
Eric Peterson Case Overview This is a case about a manager who does his job competently, but is in trouble and doesn’t know it. The problem is, he has neglected managing his bosses. Situation • Since Peterson had no experience in the field, second-guessing of his decisions was to be expected, especially when there were problems • Peterson’s boss also has no expertise in the relevant areas, and is relatively disengaged in thinking through the big issues. Disengaged boss is very dangerous situation. • Multiple management challenges among subordinates, all of which Peterson was handling well, but which required some decisions that required local knowledge to understand why they were good (e.g., moving Stevana in charge of construction) • Little contact with superiors/headquarters since taking job • Early on, Peterson antagonized some higher-ups (e.g., Cantor & Green) • A review from on high will come in two weeks What Peterson Should Have Done • Found ways to educate Hardy on the operation and engage him in decisions.
When he found out that the chief engineer, Curt Andrews, lacked administrative skills which are a necessary component for managers starting up new operations, Erik Peterson made every effort to address this issue even to the point of replacing him with someone more capable in this position. This became an immense problem with Curt because he definitely lacked the required technical skills for starting up this brand new operation. However, Peterson could not be very open with the people in upper management because he too did not have these required skills either. So, at the very start of his job he was in a predicament that he attempted to fight in the October visit to Los Angeles by asking management to reassign and replace Curt to somewhere else so that a person with the required technical skills and emotional intelligence can be hired in his place. This was not an option for management and Peterson decided to make do with what he had by implementing three solutions to this dilemma.
But the truth was he didn’t know how to get the faltering P&G back on track but then he manages to turn P&G into an operations and innovation powerhouse. Lafley helped guide P&G out of what we consider to be the firm's darkest hour in mid-2000, when the company was caught in an organizational transformation that had gone off the rails. He helped refocus the firm on what it knows best--the consumer--and on what it does best: build great brands and innovative products. Determined to create a more outwardly focused and flexible company, Lafley broke down the walls between management and the employees, and made drastic changes in the organizational structure and workforce of the company. He identified a serious slump in baby-care product sales as evidence of failure to delight consumers.
The acquisition of NeXT brought back Steve Jobs and his operating system he developed at NeXT step. This operating system was to become the basis for the new operating system for Apple computers. The resignation of Gil Amelio was where the change at Apple really begins. The empty CEO seat helped Jobs obtain an expanded role and eventually become the latest CEO of Apple Inc. Jobs dove in head first and immediately the changes were felt throughout the company. Decisions needed to be made quickly and Steve Jobs was the man to make them in order to turn the company he started around.
Motivation and Team Case Study In the first case study, Two Men and a Truck, the motivation theories used by Mary Ellen Sheets is the Marlow’s Needs Hierarchy, job enrichment, and expectancy theory. The Marlow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory came into play when her sons needed to make money and Mary Ellen created a simple logo, for her sons’ part time moving business, and ran it in a local publication to attract more customers. Orders kept coming in after her sons went off to college and once they graduated Mary Ellen realized she had a service that was in high demand. She realized that she could grow the business through franchising which is how the job enrichment theory was used. Developing the franchise and allowing others to buy a part of the business to own and run them gave people control over how they ran and grew their portion of the business.
In addition, he brought on board another GE exec, Dennis Donovan as executive vice president of human resources. Together they rolled out the daunting task of putting HR managers in each of Home Depot’s 1300 locations. (Griffith) These moves have changed the tasks and responsibilities of store managers extensively. First with centralizing purchasing, it took away the authority of store managers to choose which products to sell in their stores. Doing this allowed Home Depot to attract new customers because of the new, innovative products they now stocked.
In Seattle, no systematic hiring process was used. Bill Sparks handled the whole process alone, leading to ineffective recruitment, and an undocumented selection process. 4. The immediate problem is dealing with the rash of phone calls regarding a position at the Seattle office, in light of Bill's desire to downsize. Solutions 1.
Mrs. Fields’ Cookies Case Analysis Critical Issues In Mrs. Fields case the critical issues are: 1) ISS Triangle The principle of the ISS Triangle was not applied. The IT- part was too dominant and there was no balance and no holistic approach in using business, organizational and IT strategic elements. The Fields didn’t consider the impact of the interaction between the 3 elements of the ISS Triangle. 2) Moral disengagement Due to the paternalism of the system the program dictated the managers what is to do. This leaded to a displacement and diffusion of responsibility.
Case study: Club Chaos The main organizational problem affecting Club Chaos was the poor management and leadership. The senior managers failed to implement policies and procedures for good work environment to encourage hard work and efficiency. Cathy displayed exceptional management potential for well run department, but she resigned without attempts to retain her or understand the reasons. There were lack of organizational goals, improper recruiting system based on nepotism especially with management appointments, No formal training/education, no performance evaluation/appraisal system, no customer service/satisfaction, poor management tactics to run business and no promotion, loyalty or sense of worth or value of employees. The managers didn’t follow any organizational behaviour.