Cla2 BUS 300 Foundations Of Business

Mini-Case

[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Mini Case

Response to Question 1

Motivation is the fundamental driving force behind the behavior and actions of an individual. From the past few decades, managers have been using diverse motivational strategies and approaches to motivate their employees towards organizational goals. Owing to the booming need for motivation in the workplace, researchers have advanced several motivational theories. An analysis of the information outlined in the case reveals that the motivational approach used by Mr. Ferrell is Theory X. McGregor's theory X and Y is one of the popular approaches of employee motivation and it holds a high significance since it has some simple elements of employee motivation. According to theory X, employees who are not intrinsically motivated can be inspired to work employing the authoritarian style of management (Khan et al., 2015). On the other hand, some employees are motivated naturally and take pride in their work. In order to motivate these employees, theory Y suggests a participative style of management (Carson, 2005). This management style is best suited for experienced and internally motivated employees, and it promotes employee engagement and satisfaction as well.

Amy is a highly motivated employee, since the moment she has joined she works with great enthusiasm. She needs less supervision and can be motivated if she is empowered and is given the freedom to work on her own. Fred Ferrell is using the theory X system of motivation and uses authoritarian controlling management approach that is reflected in his words, “take care of it now” and “now get to those cases out back.” He strongly believes in employees using the policies to complete their job. His theory fails in the case of Amy because she does not dislike the work and is highly motivated to perform her duties, in an efficient way. Mr. Ferrell was not right in his approach of motivation he was using in the case of Amy since the theory X implies merely those employees who do not like work.

Response to Question 2

Amy needs to understand some key factors that come into play. Though she is highly motivated and is trying to bring efficiency in the way things happen at Right-Way Supermarket. However, she is just a high school graduate with little work experience in a similar retail store. She held just one job before this and it is been a week she is here at Right-Way Supermarket. It is too early for her to change the system and make proposals to Mr. Ferrell. The second factor she must comprehend is that she needs to get some experience working with the policies and rules at Right-Way Supermarket. Amy must not rush through everything as this can create an image that she is trying to take things in her hand as Mr. Ferrell said.

I would suggest Amy take some time and experience some add scenarios to have some practical learning before she takes some bigger initiative. In addition, the initiative must obtain some opinion and permission of the manager and must wait till the hour manager trusts her for some bigger initiative. She has a bigger responsibility as a receiving clerk must not make any mistake because it will affect other areas as well. She should have understood the management style of Mr. Ferrell during her training with him when he forced her to complete her training before thinking that she is efficient enough.

Furthermore, she met Mr. Ferrell at the door early in the morning and started sharing what she was up to. There is as a suitable time for everything and Amy should have waited until that time, most likely after her working hours. Sharing the ideas in writing and understanding the procedures and policies of her work is her first duty. She could have delivered her ideas in a better way without losing her respect. The substitute way she can adopt is to share her ideas in writing with the manager, when appropriate, and in case of no response or negative response, she can approach higher management.

Response to Question 3

Management training is an essential element of a job, especially for the managerial jobs. A manager is responsible for leading the group of people in many ways. Furthermore, it is the duty of a manager to keep the employees motivated and happy so that they can contribute to organizational aims and objectives. Therefore, managerial training must comprise the best motivational strategies that managers could use in accordance with employees and their job needs. Managers who fail to use the appropriate strategies for their employees also fail to modify their behaviors and overall organizational behavior (Smith, Farmer, & Yellowley, 2013).

The general manager must train store managers to develop an understanding of organizational behavior so that they must learn why some people behave in a certain way. This understanding must be developed among the managers through training so that they can develop better relationships between their employees and groups (Aragon & Valle, 2013). In addition, managers must be trained on new concepts such as employee empowerment, and the related motivational techniques to motivate employees who can make a major contribution to organizational success. Managers must also be trained in organizational communication that is key to motivating employees (Rajhans, 2012). For instance, employees now a day can be motivated by the implementation of theory Y. Employees like Amy could be a great source of efficiency in the business processes if they are dealt right. If Mr. Ferrell encourages her to do better, her ideas can improve the performance of all the chain stores and can save the cost of operations resulting in higher revenues for the company.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Aragon, I. B., & Valle, R. S. (2013). Does training managers pay off? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(8), 1671–1684.

Carson, C. M. (2005). A historical view of Douglas McGregor’s Theory Y. Management Decision, 43(3), 450–460.

Khan, M. S., Khan, I., Qureshi, Q. A., Ismail, H. M., Rauf, H., Latif, A., & Tahir, M. (2015). The styles of leadership: A critical review. Public Policy and Administration Research, 5(3), 87–92.

Rajhans, K. (2012). Effective organizational communication: A key to employee motivation and performance. Interscience Management Review, 2(2), 81–85.

Smith, P., Farmer, M., & Yellowley, W. (2013). Organizational behaviour. Routledge.