Chapter 11



Case Study Assignment 3: Chapters 11-15

Group 5

Stephanie Gambuzza, Cathy Guthrie, Lyndey Hlavaty, Jessica Saenz

Texas A&M University

Introduction to Human Resource Development

Dr. Dooley

November 24, 2013

Chapter 11

Lovelace Health Systems is a managed care organization with facilities including hospitals, specialty clinics and primary care clinics throughout New Mexico.  The state of New Mexico struggles with alcoholism and the executives at Lovelace wanted to reduce alcohol consumption among their employees.  The health system has two voluntary programs in place, an employee assistance program and an employee wellness program.  They are looking to increase their current initiatives and implement a new program, Project WISE (Workplace Initiative in Substance Education).  The ultimate goal of Project WISE is to decrease “risky” drinking (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).

If you were an HRD professional involved in setting up Project WISE, what issues would you emphasize as you designed and implemented this new program?

If we were involved in setting up Project WISE, we would focus on reducing alcohol consumption by employees within Lovelace Health Systems.  Since we serve over 190,000 people in New Mexico and 70 percent of our 5,000 employees use our health coverage, we can make a significant impact on the fight against alcohol abuse.  The reality becomes significant with understanding New Mexico’s death rate from cirrhosis of the liver as nearly twice the national average.  We know this is a worldwide issue and can make a positive impact if our employees reduce their alcohol consumption.  We would focus on two main issues related to alcoholism.  Our first focus would be on the negative side effects alcohol has on the human body.  Our second focus would address the issue of the lack of knowledge when identifying an alcohol problem, increase awareness to the signs as well as inform employees on the available channels of help.

In an effort to reduce alcohol consumption with our employees, we would focus on educating our employees on the physical and mental side effects alcohol has on the body. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “heavy drinking may have extensive and far–reaching effects on the brain, ranging from simple ‘slips’ in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions requiring lifetime custodial care. And even moderate drinking leads to short–term impairment” (2003).  The effects of alcoholism on the brain are less understood in comparison to the more commonly known liver implications, dehydration and increased aging.  By educating our employees on these side-effects, we hope to help them realize the implications of their behavior and how they may affect the lives of their families and themselves.  

The second portion of our Project WISE training would focus on how to identify alcohol problems.  Since our employees make up such a vast portion of the population in New Mexico, we can have a significant impact on lowering the state’s alcohol consumption.  Even though we are requiring all employees to complete the health risk appraisal, we speculate some employees will be in denial and reject the results of their appraisal.  Some of the more commonly known side effects of alcohol are dehydration, hangovers and legal repercussions including DWI and DUI.  Research from Doyle and Nowinski (2012) shows, there are many less obvious symptoms including drinking as a way to de-stress, and repeatedly neglecting personal responsibilities.

What ideas do you have for ways to increase awareness of the dangers of risky drinking?

The easiest way to increase awareness of risky drinking is to increase information on the subject.  We can increase employees’ education on the matter by requiring a mandatory training, adding information on the internal website, and getting employees involved.  All employees will complete a health risk appraisal.  If their results indicate they are in the moderate or high-risk categories, we will have them attend a mandatory, progressive training.  This will include attending a seminar from an outsourced guest speaker and monthly support group meetings.

We will use an outsourced speaker instead of an internal senior leader for three main reasons.  Firstly, we hope this will create a more open and confidential environment, promoting greater participation from the employees.  This welcoming environment should allow employees to fully engage while ensuring confidentiality.  We assume the employees will feel more comfortable speaking candidly with someone who is not directly linked with the organization.  The second benefit we identified is confidentiality, as we believe the third party facilitator will be able to ensure no negative repercussions take place.  We want our employees to feel completely confident anything they say during the presentation will remain confidential.  We are emphasizing this issue so much because we want our employees to be healthy.  Lastly, outsourcing the counseling allows senior leaders to focus on their workload.  Even though we want to decrease alcohol consumption with our employees, our overall goal is to be a profitable organization and we need to make the right business decisions.  Having too many of our own employees leading these training programs could cause distraction from our core business focus of meeting the needs of our patients.  We can still get senior leader’s support, but outsourcing the speaker will allow us to focus more on production.

The guest speaker will illustrate relatable, local statistics to engage and educate employees about alcohol abuse side-effects.  They will talk about the short-term and long-term physical side effects alcohol has on the human body.  The speaker will also present about how alcohol negatively impacts people.  A study from Alcohol and Mental Health found “our brains rely on a delicate balance of chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it can disrupt balance, affecting our thoughts, feelings and actions – and sometimes our long-term mental health” ( 2013).  Alcohol affects our mood, which influences our personalities towards our coworkers and families.  We will stress this point to our employees to imply our reasoning for taking an interest in their well-being.  

We will also post a different tag line/banner on the company intranet each week in an effort to continue to educate our employees.  This will consist of one interesting, local statistic with a short and eye-catching graphic.  We anticipate this being the most viewed initiative because every employee accesses the internet at some point throughout the day.  We will also physically post information of alcohol related side effects in the break area. This will consist of eye-catching informative posters and a plastic anatomical model comparing the liver of a non-alcohol consumer to someone who consumes alcohol.  Our hope is this visual aid will have a significant first impression on our employees and engage interest throughout the office.  By getting people talking to one another about the information presented, it will add a social element to help enforce the changes we hope to make in our employees lives.

How about concerning ways to change employee drinking behaviors?

In addition to the efforts to increase awareness, we can positively influence employee drinking behaviors by having a senior leader facilitate monthly support groups for employees and family members who need help.  This can be someone who is passionate about substance education or has personally struggled with it and wants to help others overcome this serious issue.  This person will be a means for support in addition to the formal Employee Assistance Program and outsourced speaker who will present at the seminars.

We can also implement negative repercussions if an employee deliberately neglects the positive initiative to decrease alcohol consumption.  We can do so by creating a structured discipline plan in the employee handbook which outlines the results if employees are found drinking on the job and/or do not improve their wellbeing as indicated in their initial health risk appraisal.  Our hope is the disciplinary actions would be used minimally and are only implemented to encourage employees to take the issue of alcoholism seriously.

How might you evaluate the success of Project WISE?

We would evaluate Project WISE’s success by implementing a testing and tracking system with before and after surveys.  We would use the health risk appraisal as a before survey to assess the foundation of employee’s knowledge on alcohol consumption.  We would then use three follow-up surveys to track and monitor the program’s results.  Each survey will be distributed 30, 60, and 90 days after Project WISE to monitor the employee’s progress.  We would track results by using employee’s identification numbers instead of names.  This will allow us to anonymously quantify the program’s results.

Are there any potential concerns in regards to collecting employee data that will be used to evaluate whether changes have occurred as a result of the new intervention?

There are two major concerns in regards to the compilation of employee data.  Firstly, maintaining confidentiality with employee results is always a high concern.  We hope to decrease this risk by outsourcing our employee counseling service.  We can ensure no names are given and all follow-up is based on employee numbers instead of being tied to an employee’s name.  Secondly, we are concerned with false positive results.  Since employees know alcohol consumption is discouraged and Lovelace Health Systems is being proactive with decreasing alcohol consumption, some employees might lie on their follow-up survey.  In efforts to decrease the false positive results, we will have a “not applicable” choice for each question.  This will allow participants to be as honest as possible and prevent guessing.

Chapter 12

The opening case study found in chapter 12 of Human Resource Development 6e (2012) centers around Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  This institution offers predominantly liberal arts education for women and has, for the past four decades, utilized what they call an “ability-based curriculum” (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  This curriculum is focused on developing skills in the areas of “communication, analysis, problem solving, social interaction, developing a global perspective and effective citizenship” (Werner & DeSimone, 2012, p. 392).  Rather than using the traditional assessment method of testing, this university ensures learning has taken place by instead requiring every student, regardless of major, to produce and deliver a Diagnostic Digital Portfolio.  Using this somewhat unusual forum, the student, faculty and trained volunteers are afforded a unique opportunity to understand what and how the student has learned through her own self-analysis and review (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).

What do you think of the notion of using a portfolio to evaluate student learning?

        Before attempting to offer an opinion on the idea of using a portfolio to evaluate learning, we believe it is important to first understand the definition of this type of educational portfolio.  Jan Van Tartwijk, Erik Driessen, Cees Van der Vleuten, and Karel Stokking suggest, “a portfolio is a purposeful collection of all kinds of documents and other artifacts that together give an impression of how tasks were fulfilled and how competence has developed” (2007, p. 69).

The use of such portfolios in classrooms is considered a form of self-regulated learning.  Scott Paris and Linda Ayres stated in their book entitled, Becoming Reflective Students and Teachers with Portfolios and Authentic Assessment, “Self-regulated students know how to use the resources available to them; they have control of their own learning.  They know how to plan, allocate resources, seek help, evaluate their own performance, and revise and correct their own work” (1994, p. 28).  They went on to say, “when students are provided choice, challenge, control and collaboration in their classrooms, they are motivated intrinsically to learn” (Paris & Ayersl, 1994, p. 28).  As a result of these findings, we can certainly see where significant benefits become available through the usage of this type of learning tool.  Therefore, we are in favor of using a portfolio to evaluate student learning much as is referenced in the text regarding Alverno.

What is your response to using work products, or samples of learning outcomes, to measure performance, rather than examinations?

        We concur with Van Tartwijk et al., who found a significant benefit of “competence-oriented” education to exist because of the flexibility for offering individual variations for each student in their learning goals, activities, and environment (2007).  We appreciate the flexibility of this tool as a measurement of learning as it allows each student to show not only the end result of their understanding of whatever material is being assessed, but also how they absorbed the material, their reflections of what it has meant to them as they developed a broader understanding, and the steps they may have taken to improve their performance with a particular subject (Van Tartwijk et al., 2007).  As HRD professionals, we can see how this type of learning can only serve to promote the kind of continual and independent learning in future employees required for them to be leveraged as a competitive advantage to our business.

What might be some of the pros and cons of using an online or electronic portfolio to collect this information?

        As with all methods of assessments, we have found both pros and cons with regard to using an online or electronic portfolio to collect the results of this type of self-regulated learning.  One of the cons we have considered is the reality of some students who were previously immersed in traditional educational strategies may find the idea of this type of portfolio to be intimidating which may incite fear and a barrier to learning (Van Tartwijk et al., 2007).  Other drawbacks might include the lack of clear, timely, and/or meaningful feedback by the review team, resulting in a disengaged student.  Yet another negative point of this type of electronic portfolio might result if the students and teachers challenged with using this format lack the “sufficient skills in handling the software and hardware, and […] the potential for significant demands on the technical infrastructure” of the learning institution (Van Tartwijk et al, 2007, p. 76).  Lacking the necessary skills in this area could potentially require unexpected capital investments.  .

        We also agree with Van Targwijk et al. (2007) who found the benefit of using electronic portfolios to be in the ease of use of such a tool when assessing the level of a student’s learning.  This benefit is compounded by the use of hyperlinks, making it much easier to make connections between evidence, overviews, and reflections (2007).  As today’s students and teachers are far more technology savvy or at least, computer friendly than ever before, using this type of tool can also serve to make it much more accessible to revisit.  The technology offers the opportunity to reinforce the learning soon after the time of the submission or, as in the case of Alverno College, even long after the student graduates and leaves the institution.

Finally, how well do you think the idea of a “learning portfolio” or “professional portfolio” would work for students in your particular major?

        We have come to understand there are many different types of learning or professional portfolios, yet “common to all portfolios is that they fulfill a role in learning environments that challenge and stimulate students to act as active and self-directed learners in a (dynamic) learning context that requires authentic and complex professional tasks” (Van Targwijk et al., 2007, p.77).  Portfolios are tools which can promote successful learning for students in a way that will remain with them long after the more traditional methods of memorization and classroom testing have faded into the recesses of their minds.   Additionally, we recognize this type of assessment to require a component of explanation regarding what knowledge the student has obtained, what they still want to learn, and where they need further improvement and/or deeper understanding (Martin-Kniep, 1999).     

        Further, we agree with Paris and Ayer’s assessment when they said “self-regulated learners are aware of what strategies are available to help them. They understand how the strategies operate. They understand when they should be applied; and they understand why they are necessary” (1994, p. 30).   This type of learning is essential in today’s new career landscape, as it will serve to promote the successful implementation of Jones and DeFillippi’s six competencies which they have found in individuals who are able to independently navigate their careers.  The six competencies are very closely aligned to the benefits of self-regulated learners referenced above as they include:  knowing what opportunities and threats exist; knowing why things are as they are, including motives and strong reasoning for pursuing a particular career; knowing where the boundaries or barriers to entry might be for upward mobility within a career system; knowing with whom to form relationships to help them gain access to opportunities and resources; knowing when the appropriate timing for a particular choice or event might be necessary within their career and finally; knowing how to get the skills and talents needed to successfully achieve specific assignments (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  

Finally, as HRD professionals, we understand the requirement for our peers and colleagues to be able to effectively express themselves through both written and verbal communications.  Additionally, if they are to continue growing their skills, ultimately becoming the continual learners required for success in today’s workforce, they must be capable of career planning (personal) and prepared for the career development (corporate) opportunities they may face.  They need to embrace the practice of self-evaluation, creative thinking, independent drive, and motivation for learning with an ability to accept feedback and evaluation by others which are learned through the development and subsequent review of a portfolio.  As such, we believe utilizing a tool such as the type as used at Alverno College could be extremely beneficial to those who are studying the practice of Human Resource Development.

Chapter 13

The managers and executives of a large, private, nonprofit hospital are in a predicament when deciding if management training is necessary for their company during a relocation to a new facility and an economic downturn. The long-standing mission of the hospital has been to provide quality service to the community, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.  However, changes and turmoil in the healthcare industry have raised concerns about the hospital’s ability to remain viable and financially solvent (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).

If you are part of this top management team, do you think it is a good idea to offer management training at this time?

The first step in determining if management training is necessary for our hospital would be to conduct a needs assessment analysis.  We will conduct a needs assessment of the managerial staff and the emerging new market we are entering with the office move and advances with our new technology system.   During the needs assessment, we will research what specific skills our managers may need to perform more effectively and efficiently.  This will allow us to determine if there is a need for managerial training, and if so, it will help us create clear ideas of the skills and issues to address.

After conducting the needs assessment, our organization would determine if even during this economic downturn, managerial training is needed.  Even though the economy is not doing well, we still need to strive to be strategic, thinking with a long-term perspective.  Therefore, we will be proactive and train our management before there is an imminent need for it.  This will allow us to be one step ahead of our competition and better serve our clients.  We will use the needs assessment to emphasize the importance of managerial training and justify why we are doing it.

We will provide our management with essential skills which will aid in their growth and development both personally and professionally.  The three skill sets we will focus on are marketing, leadership and technical.  According to Werner and DeSimone, “management development can be described as having three main components:  management education, management training, and on-the job experiences” (2012, p. 460).  We plan on using management training to educate our leadership team with references and emphasis on on-the job experiences.  This is significant as we understand we cannot continue to grow internally if we do not support and grow our management team.

If so, where would you start?  What would be your focus?

All employees within our hospital will gain most of their knowledge of the industry and role through on-the job training.  In addition to the on-the job training, we would internally create management specific training for our management team.  This training will focus on developing one hard skill, working with new technology; and two soft skills, marketing and leadership.  According to the National Careers Service website, soft skills are “transferable skills, so they can be used in many different types of jobs. They are personal qualities and attitudes that can help you to work well with others and make a positive contribution to organizations you work for” (2013, p. 1).  Hard skills are the more tangible, quantifiable, technological skills.  Hard skills are easier to identify and measure; whereas, soft skills are more related to how people interact with each other.

When we move to our new facility, we are also implementing a new computer system.  This computer system is designed to improve the overall efficiency of our hospital, so we will use it as a basis to emphasize the importance of developing our experience with technology.  During the training, we will encourage our managers to become as experienced with the computer system as possible.  As our client base expands, our knowledge and experience with technology will also need to increase.  In order to exceed the performance of our competitors, we need to be as proactive as possible.  If we have a more efficient computer system, it will allow us to better serve our patients by hopefully shortening their wait time and exceeding their expectations.  

The goal of the marketing section of the management training is to train our management team on how we can become the preferred healthcare provider for our new population of clients.  During this marketing focus, our intent would be to train management on effectively targeting the new client base.  With the new facility, we will have to convince our current clients to stay with us as well as identifying and engaging new clients.  Once we have identified our new client base, we can discuss strategies to market this new audience.  We will do so by having open discussions to increase participation with the management committee.  We will ask the participants questions to capture their interest such as:  Who do you think we should target?  What are some local emerging markets?  How can we better market to these new clients?  Once interest is gained, we will have the managers divide into focus groups to discuss the questions at hand.  This will allow them to hear each other’s perspectives as well as network internally.

During our leadership focus of the management training session, we will use a Leaders Teaching Leaders method.  This will allow the top leaders of our hospital to share their personal experiences, including their biggest challenges, words of wisdom, and general advice.  Our leaders who are facilitating this section of the training will also use open discussion during their training.  They will ask the audience questions to engage their interest while fostering an environment for them to think about what being a leader means to them.  They will ask questions to the audience such as: What makes someone a leader?  Who do you think of as a strong leader?  What do you admire about them?  Why?  The selected leaders will share their leadership styles and focus on transformational leadership.  John Miner best defines transformational leadership as, “a leader of the transformational kind motivates people to do more than they had previously expected to do” (2005, p. 363).  The speakers will use personal experiences to validate the subject matter.  We want to encourage our management to adapt the transformational leadership style in efforts to motivate our hospital staff to function at their optimal efficiency rate.  The underlying goal of the leadership section of the training is to emphasize the idea of which all employees can be leaders.

What particular challenges would you expect to face as you moved into this new facility?

With the move to the new facility happening during the economic downturn, we anticipate some negative feedback from employees.  There is a possibility some employees will see the relocation to the new facility as a poor business choice.  We know there will be increased costs with the physical move and adding the new computer system, but we see these as a tremendous long-term asset and only short-term additional expense.  The move will allow us to potentially receive more revenue in both the short and long term.  Additionally, the computer system will be a costly fee initially, but the efficiency it will provide to our hospital is priceless.  Over a very short time, the additional benefits will outweigh the expense, ultimately paying for itself.

We also expect two significant external challenges with current and potential clients associated with the communication of the move.  In regards to our current client base, we will try to be proactive with communicating the move to them via our website, phone messaging system, and signature lines on email.  We will also directly reach out to our major clients to inform them of the move, reiterate the value they bring to our company, and how we would like to continue serving them.  The final proactive communication to our current clients would be to send a letter to their home notifying them of the office move.

We expect to face several challenges with our new client pool because we will be the new hospital with whom no one is familiar.  In efforts to increase our presence in the new market, we will also be proactive with the communication in the new community.  Before we move to the new facility, we will reach out to the local markets.  We will send informational flyers to the surrounding neighborhoods informing them of our hospital’s culture, the services we offer, and inviting them to our grand opening.  We will strive to have an appealing demeanor in efforts to create positive first impressions and attract new clients.

Chapter 14

        A Norwegian company named Extrusion (a pseudonym) is seeking to flatten its organizational structure and in the process increase employee participation (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  In this case study presented in Chapter 14, we are asked to be consultants during this change project to aid the organization in their restructuring.  For this project, our role will be to serve as the change agents to help the new CEO and other members of the management team effectively navigate this organization-wide change process.  As change agents, it is our job to “assist[] the change manager in designing and implementing change strategy” (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  In order to successfully navigate this change, we will advise management of the potential issues needing to be addressed prior to and during the implementation of the interventions.  As this is a major, organization-wide change, there are many factors to be considered before moving forward with the implementation of an organizational restructure.

What issues would you raise before the organization switched to a flatter, more participative organizational structure?

        As consultants coming in from outside the organization, we will first need to identify the expectations the change manager has for our role as change agents.  Ideally, we would be presented with a contract outlining “the exact nature of the work to be performed, the timetable for the work, length of service, method and amount of payment, and some way of evaluating [our] performance” (Werner & DeSimone, 2012, p. 487).  This contract will give us clarity into exactly what we will be doing in our time with Extrusion.

        In addition to the contract, we will need for the CEO to explain the goals and strategies of the company and how this restructuring will help the organization reach those goals.  Often times, organizations bring in Organization Development (OD) consultants because they have identified the problem they see within the organization and want the consultant to come in and fix the specific problem.  However, the problem presented to the consultant is more a symptom than an actual problem (McLean, 2006).  It is the job of the OD practitioner to identify the cause of the problems, address them with interventions, and also meet the need of the company’s executive management.  Organization development is intended to be a tool used to help organizations achieve their goals and objectives, so it will be imperative to know what the company wants to be the outcome of this change process (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  This will also give us an idea of what will need to be measured during and after the intervention is implemented to establish if we were successful.

        Once these details were identified, we would emphasize the need for the company to diagnose the environment to see if Extrusion’s employees are ready for such a large change.  As the change process we are about to undertake is a large-scale organizational change, we will need to identify the readiness for change.  Conducting a needs assessment to identify the current issues present within the organization and if employees will be responsive to the change will be the difference between success and failure.  If we find the employees unreceptive to change, the restructuring will be difficult and the increased employee engagement we seek will be near impossible.  The concern of employee skepticism of change is a likely.  When it comes to company restructures, specifically flattening of organizations, employees often worry whether their job will be eliminated.  This is something we will need to strongly account for when measuring the readiness of the company for change.

        As part of the change management team, we will conduct a force field analysis advocated by Kurt Lewin (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  A force field analysis will allow us to identify possible forces driving change in the company as well as possible forces resisting the change (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  In this case, the force field analysis we conduct for Extrusion will identify the company’s readiness for change.  In the event the forces against the change are greater than the forces for change, we will implement incremental interventions to combat the negative forces.  Once the forces against our initiative have been addressed, we can move forward with the restructuring with full confidence of the company’s readiness for change.  We have identified potential forces working against change to be: employees not being ready for change, employees fearing their job will be eliminated, and management implementing the change based on inaccurate information.  All of these issues working against the change will need to be weighed against the positive forces for change identified through further exploration into the company.

        Diagnosing the environment of the company before attempting to switch to a flatter, more participative organizational structure will be extremely crucial to the success of the change process.  This will give us and management an idea of how well and how quickly this change can be made.  Restructuring an entire organization is a large undertaking, so identifying the issues potentially affecting the change early will be extremely important.

What issues or problems might this organization face as it seeks to make such a change?  What types of things can it do to try to minimize these problems?

        Once we have addressed all of the necessary preliminary areas, we are ready to move forward with the change.   However, several other issues or problems may arise as we begin the implementation.  When we come across these issues, we will need to address them immediately as to not allow them to kill the project.  

One major issue we could find as we begin to implement the changes is finding the culture of the organization as not conducive to being flattened out or participative.  Combating the culture of an organization will make this organizational change extremely difficult.  We will need to immediately address the concerns of the employees before proceeding with any part of the change.  Employees being unresponsive to the restructure will not be quite as big of an issue as employees being unwilling to increase their participation within the organization.  If we find the employees to be hesitant to increase their participation, we will need to implement some team level interventions to help build relationships within the organization.  We recommend implementing a team building intervention to increase trust and communication between employees, which in term, we hope will help increase their participation in the organization as a whole (McLean, 2006).  

Another issue we have identified is the potential for the restructure to cause employees to feel insecure in their position with the company.  During an organizational restructure, jobs get shuffled around which may cause a lot of job ambiguity.  As we restructure the organization, we will encourage Extrusion to consider modifying job designs.  Conducting a job design intervention will allow us the opportunity to add value and satisfaction to employee’s jobs which will help combat any negative feelings associated with a restructure (McLean, 2006).  In order to conduct a job design we will need to assess the current work practices at Extrusion, do a task analysis, design the ob, implement the new job design gradually, and re-evaluate job design on a continual basis (McLean, 2006).  Giving employees a specific job design will help employees understand their specific role in the new, flatter organization.

        Many of the issues addressed in this document have been focused on the employees’ reactions to the changes being made within the organization.  Even though the changes are being made at the organizational level, they must address changes and concerns at the individual level as well.  As Extrusion is changing their entire organizational structure and expecting employees to increase participation, we will need to implement interventions to help strengthen and adapt the culture to the new environment.  In the interventions listed above, we took a human process-based intervention approach.  Team building is an extremely common intervention, and has been found to be “the most effective human process-based intervention for modifying satisfaction and other attitudes” (Werner & DeSimone, 2012, p. 494).  By targeting employee satisfaction, we can combat the possible negative effects of an organizational restructure at Extrusion.  The intervention of modifying job descriptions to give employees a better understanding of their new role in the company will also be used as a means of addressing employee attitudes.  

The two interventions we propose to use as a tool to aid in the process of Extrusion’s restructure will potentially be the difference in whether the CEO’s goal works or fails.  We understand the importance of changing the structure of the organization, but we also acknowledge how difficult it can be to implement a change of this magnitude.  We hope to be a resource for the company as they begin to implement these changes.  If we are able to keep management and employees enthusiastic and positive about the changes being made, then Extrusion can look forward to much success as a flatter, more participative organization.    

Chapter 15

        The International Business Machines Corporation, also known as IBM, is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation. IBM has committed itself to promote and implement diversity within its practices. IBM can consider itself one of the world’s leading global integrated enterprises (IBM, 2013).   IBM uses an inclusion approach, which includes hiring practices and protection for all employees. IBM’s diversity mission focuses on creating an innovative and integrated whole (IBM, 2013).   IBM employees are used to diversity within their corporation. Even though they are collectively diverse as a corporation, they remain central on their goals. These employees work in an environment of diversity, which is a norm at IBM. Although they consider themselves diverse, they are still being stereotyped in having predominantly white males at the top of their organization. On another note, they are committed to creating client innovation in every aspect of their corporation. IBM has made diversity a market based issue. Their corporation is focused on understanding their markets and complying with their markets’ needs.  IBM sees diversity as the connection between the workplace and the marketplace.  This corporation sees diversity as the link in creating connections and future clients (IBM, 2013).  Diversity should also be a topic addressed internally. Promoting internal diversity at IBM may increase their capacity to respond to diversity in their customer base and their labor pool (IBM, 2013).  It is crucial for IBM to focus on potential ways to link talented individuals to IBM for future employment.

What forms of diversity do you think IBM should emphasize? Why?

        IBM’s diversity strategy is comprehensive and congruent with their overall business strategy (IBM, 2013).   IBM’s diversity strategy and business imperatives set it apart from their competition.  Overall, promoting corporate diversity in the technology sector creates a more competitive and robust technology sector; it would also bring the added benefit of fostering a more diverse economy more generally, in both corporate and geographic terms (Michie, 2011).   As mentioned in the Discrimination Claims and Diversity Initiatives, “skills needed in today’s increasingly marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints” (McMillian & Baker, 2008).  This is why it is imperative for IBM to promote internal and external diversity, especially in its market. In a diverse market, it is key to reflect diversity within its customers. IBM is increasingly becoming aware of broader approaches in regards to workplace diversity.  IBM should focus on internal diversity by valuing differences, promoting awareness based diversity training, implementing cross-cultural education, and managing diversity. We would also like to include opportunities such as internal mentorship opportunities for IBM employees to help diverse employees advance to their highest potential. A mentorship program within IBM will also help the company identify key talent and potential future leaders. Implementing a mentorship programs for high school and college student, or their equivalent grade levels depending on the country will allow IBM to start the development of key potential leaders much earlier. In order to attract a diverse pool of students to the field of technology, these activities should be taken into consideration.

        As previously mentioned, awareness-based training, cross-cultural training, and managing diversity are three methods of implementing diversity training beneficial to IBM.  Awareness-based training helps cultivate a multicultural organization. This type of training can be customized to address IBM’s internal diversity concern.

Cross-cultural training serves as a type of training to prepare employees for expatriate work assignments. Although this is not considered a weak point for IBM, we believe it is still equally important to continue with these types of trainings. Exercises in these trainings could consist of social learning and behavior modeling. In regards to the managing diversity method, it would be ideal to create a comprehensive managerial process for developing an organizational culture suitable for all employees (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  The managing diversity method values diversity because it focuses on building a positive environment for everyone with the full utilization of the workforce (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  This method focuses on internal diversity, which is an area of concern for IBM.   

IBM should also focus on the following diversity practices within the methods of training: recruiting diverse talent, internal diversity, career development for diverse talent, diversity education and training, and retaining diverse talent. IBM already has a program focused on external diversity practices. IBM is lacking in the areas previously mentioned. IBM does not attract as many diverse employees as they would like. They also need to focus on promoting its market through internships and mentorship programs.  

In terms of minorities, research has supported mentorship opportunity as being an essential aspect of the employee. Mentoring younger adults and employees could help facilitate the retention and attraction of minority and diverse backgrounds.  Even though IBM executives have a long history of pioneering various forms of diversity, the stereotype of the IBM culture is one of white shirts and predominantly white males at top of the organization (Thomas, 2004).  With this being said, IBM is struggling with diverse upward mobility as well.  Diverse upward mobility could also be tied in with diverse career development.  Due to IBM’s congruent business and diversity strategy, it is quite challenging in respect to promote both of these areas.  They may have to reconsider integrating these two areas or at least find a solution in regards to satisfying the diversity needs.

Who should be involved in leading and promoting this effort?

        In order to promote awareness-based training, cross-cultural training, and managing diversity it is recommended for IBM’s top management to be fully commitment not only to make these programs work, but to also conduct the follow up activities to reinforce the changes (Werner & DeSimone, 2012).  This initiative should have visible support from top-management in order to run as efficient as possible. Long-term organizational sustainability and viability are two vital concepts to be kept in mind when promoting this initiative. Success within these programs will be associated with the involvement and support of top management, the high strategic priority on their behalf, the presence of positive management beliefs, and the presence of a diversity manager.  IBM as a whole should promote this effort.  To achieve IBM’s objectives, managers and employees should be totally committed to promote and development diversity practices.  Commitment from key organizational leaders and member is essential for managing diversity.   Employees are to be fully commitment to these efforts. Without full commitment, IBM will not achieve its overall goal which is to successfully establish diversity practices.

Do you think IBM’s diversity initiatives in one country should be the same as those in other countries?

Each culture is distinguished by a unique set of attributes. These attributes help distinguish people from one culture from another. As previously mentioned, IBM should maintain its overall mission and commitment towards its diversity practices. Each country will have its own individual differences and similarities. For example, Japan and other Asian countries may have difficulty assimilating with the aggressiveness common in many U.S. workplaces (Werner & DeSimone, 2012). This issue will not only rise in Asian countries, it will rise in all other countries where IBM is located. The programs should focus on the various attitudes to help understand stereotypes and their various cultural differences. There is also a differentiation between how different countries define race and ethnicity. This is why it is imperative to tailor our diversity initiatives to each country. The one-size-fits-all approach will not be beneficial for all backgrounds. The same diversity approach should not be presented to all countries, because it may not be understood by all of those cultures equally.

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