Managing Motivation in a Difficult Economy free essay sample

â€Å"Organizational Behaviorâ€Å" Case Study â€Å"Managing Motivation in a Difficult Economy† Question 1: Based on the five management systems introduced by Claussen, the dependent and independent variables are as follows: Independent Variable * Age * Tenure * Management style * Area * Job satisfaction Dependent Variable * Turnover rate * Sales Profit * Employees productivity| From above it can be noticed that there are different independent variables that affect the dependent variables.Age has an impact on the turnover rate, sales and productivity; it has been perceived that older employees are more experienced, can provide better feedback, have a strong work ethic, commitment to quality, lower rate of absence, and are generally more satisfied of their work. But at the same time they lack flexibility and resistance to new technology. Tenure is positively related to both productivity and job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover and absente eism; when age and tenure are treated separately, tenure is considered a more stable consistent predictor of job satisfaction than age. We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Motivation in a Difficult Economy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Management Style has also an impact on our dependent variables, the more the employees feel engaged, empowered, participate in decision making (even if it is an indirect participation), and the more management is open, fair, transparent, supportive, shares information and provides clear communication messages, interacts with staff; the more the employees are satisfied with their jobs which will eventually lead to less turnover and more productivity. In addition to above Area as an independent variable contributes to the dependent variables; urban areas are most likely to have a younger force on average, whereas rural areas the workforce is older in average. Job satisfaction, could be considered either a dependent or an independent variable depending on the hypothesis. In our case we are considering job satisfaction as an independent variable based on the statement â€Å"increases in job satisfaction lead to reduced turnover and increase in productivity†.Question 4: a. Although program V has been selected by the majority of stores (87) followed by program I (83 stores), but still this does not influence our conclusion on the effectiveness of the five introduced programs, the more important factors that need to be taken into consideration are the average turnover and profit. When looking at the average turnover rate, program IV scored the lowest turnover rate 17%, followed by program V (scored 21%).Whereas when comparing t he weekly profit per month, Program V scored the highest profit $14,000, followed by program IV $ 13,000. Despite the fact that the monthly staff time cost for program V ($2,750) was much higher than the one related to program I, II and III, still program V managed to retain the highest net profit as shown in the below chart . B. Enabling Mangers to select their specific program, makes them feel more involved, engaged and participating in decision making which are considered as important elements for any job satisfaction.On the other hand managers may have different objectives views (bias) that could affect the intended results. If only one program has been chosen a clearer analysis could have been conducted, as for the current case the different variables are causing different results. C. Randomly assigning different conditions to the stores will omit any bias caused by managers due to their way of thinking that sometimes is not in line with their employees’ perspectives, benefits, etc†¦Question 5: The changing nature of the workforce at Morgan-Moe’s drug stores is known as Workforce diversity which addresses differences among people within countries. To work effectively with employees from different cultures, management needs to understand how their culture, geography, and religion have shaped them and how to adopt management style to their differences.To capitalize on diversity, comprehensive workforce programs needs to be implemented; such programs teach managers the legal framework for equal employment opportunity, how a diversity workforce will be better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients, and they foster personal development practices that brings out the skills and abilities of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable ways to improve performance for everyone.Due to the Changing nature of the economy and the economic pressure management needs to focus more on issues like stress, decision making and coping. In the goods times understanding how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees was at a premium. The participation of a more experienced workforce helps these programs as it is associated with knowledge, better judgment, wisdom, lower rate of absence and a higher performance quality.The introduced programs might work differently in countries that are not doing so poorly, especially the programs related to meeting with employees and brainstorming as employees will have time to meet and discuss their performances and ways to improve, whereas if there is lack of staff they will be focusing more on keeping the stores running and leaving meetings and brainstorming sessions for management That’s what management is for as indicated by one of the store managers.