Reference no: EM133333809

Case Study: Extreme Adventures is a small adventure travel company that employs approximately 50 employees in its Hamilton-based operations. The company specializes in adventurous travel experiences throughout the world that include climbing expeditions, trekking tours, flying experiences and wild safaris. The company began its operations in 2015 and seen steady growth over the past five years.

Extreme Adventures takes pride in providing unique travel experiences for all types of adventurers. Stepping into the main lobby visitors are welcomed with large signage "LIVE THE EXTREME". Not far from the reception is the company's Wall of Adventure, a gallery of pictures from all the locations the company travelled. It is custom for every tour operator to take photos of excursions and place them on the Wall of Adventure! Company President, Simon Everest's motto is that "No adventure is too small."

Extreme Adventures treats employees like family and has given them a great amount of autonomy in their work. Everyone in the company believes that leaders and supervisors of the organization should rise through the ranks based on their seniority and experience within the company. Few people have been hired from the outside in recent supervisor positions. Those who were recently hired learned from casual conversations with colleagues. The general rule among the team is that employees should learn their job, maintain a good work record, and wait their turn for the promotion. The office atmosphere is quite casual as many employees make up their own hours. Workspaces have been designed to foster collaboration. The majority of the office is open layout and employees enjoy working in cozy office pods.

Since its inception, Extreme Adventures has rapidly grown. The company's workforce has grown dramatically to keep up with the increasing demand for unique travel services. This meant that employees were promoted quickly, and new hires were assured employment. Few costs have been controlled because of the rapid growth in the business placed more emphasis on keeping up with clientele requests. As a result, employees were left to make their own decisions to suit client needs. Mangers rarely called meetings and typically made announcements as needed. It was not uncommon for employees to receive updates through text messaging.

The employees worked in teams of six according to travel specialty (there is a safari team, climbing team, trekking team, etc.). The members of each group worked closely together, helping one another create custom travel experiences for clients based on requests. They were also responsible for troubleshooting and correcting any problems that may arise for clients. Each team reports to one manager who reports to the company president.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Extreme Adventures has faced a number of challenges. With travel restrictions in place, the majority of clients cancelled all plans for adventures. Sales declined and many customers were demanding refunds. Luckily, the company was able to avoid closing its doors. Simon Everest recently announced to the Extreme Adventure staff that the company was bought by a global agency. Not all employees were thrilled about this announcement.

Manuel: "I'm disappointed that Simon made the decision to sell. What's going to happen now to our jobs?"

Nina: "I heard this new company uses the most elite travel software system. I'm not sure it's the best solution for our customers. After all, customers want to deal with people, not computers."

Kristy: "With a new big company means big changes. It's like shopping in a big box store. Suddenly the experience becomes less personal."

Question: 1 Does Extreme Adventuress have a mechanistic structure or an organic structure? Explain.

Question: 2 Identify and describe one of the driving forces for change that occurred in the case.