Organizational
Behavior
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) 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.
