Organizational Leadership and Supervision

Raasel Cooper

3/14/15

TELS 3340

Pamela Harlan

Case 2: 8-A

When the company was going through tough times a good number of layoffs were given in order to keep the company afloat. For those who remained employed, pay levels either stayed constant or cuts were given. With all the pay cuts the supervisor knew this would make people unhappy, but would be less harmful instead of the loss of several jobs. After this, employees did not change their behavior but instead began to steal.  

1a.         

When it comes to the employee’s needs, levels of physiological, safety, and social all take a hit that leads to stealing. First off since employees are no longer making the money they once were, their well-being will go down. They may not be able to afford the food and water they once had a plenty of. They may need to downsize and move to a low end neighborhood that is not safe for their family. And finally they may not be able to participate in social events that they once were a part of. So in order to make up for this loss of income, employees began to steal to feel like they were back to a point they were once comfortable with (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Wolter, 2013, p. 204)

1b.

The hygiene factor can be used to describe the organizations effect on their motivations. The company believed that they could satisfy their kept employees by making sure that they have a job instead of losing it. However, this did not satisfy them completely and so they began to steal. Because employees were not satisfied with that was going on with the company’s layoffs, they got the satisfaction they needed by stealing from their company (page 206).

1c.

The equity theory explains their stealing in terms of their inputs and outputs. Because their salaries are cut, they feel that they are doing more work that they are getting paid for. In response to this theory they steal so that they their inputs to the company match the outputs that they believe that they deserve (page 208).

1d.

The expectancy theory describes what employees expect from their employees. The theory states that “individuals analyze effort-performance, performance-reward, and reward-personal goals relations” (209). So since there was pay cuts, the employees are still giving maximum effort but are not getting recognized by their efforts when it comes to their salary. Because there is no money extra for the company, employees do not get rewarded for their hard work because there aren’t any raises being given. And finally, it is tough to find the rewards personally attractive because the supervisors are limited in what they can offer.

2.

 The supervisors could have implemented stricter rules and punishment for company theft. They should have forecasted that the loss in salaries might lead to other ways that employees would recoup their lost salary. Although money was scarce, they could have upped the security by adding cameras or watching the books a bit closer.

Work Cited

Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., Wolter, R. (2013). Supervision Today! Boston:Pearson.

(Robbins, DeCenzo, & Wolter, 2013, p. 68)