Reference no: EM132859768

Case - Canadian Milk & Dairy products

Canadian milk and dairy products are recognized around the world for their variety and high-quality. Enforcement of strict quality standards on dairy farms and in processing plants enhances this international reputation. Woodstock Dairy, established over 45 years ago, is a small Canadian dairy products company that has been a top performer in the dairy industry. Recently, although the company has remained profitable and product quality is high, employee motivation is at an all time low and employee turnover has increased considerably.

Woodstock's distribution unit is run by a vice president, Jacqueline Conlon, who manages 12 people: Arjan Malik, the supervisor; Vincent Lee, the shipping manager; and ten delivery drivers. Jacqueline's unit is responsible for supplying various outlets with dairy products, from milk to cheese to yogurt to ice cream. Each driver has a specific route and customers (retail outlets and restaurants), and customer satisfaction is their personal responsibility. Each driver is also responsible for maintaining their own vehicle and arranging for all necessary maintenance work, which is performed by a local garage. Each driver manages the inventory on their own vehicle and is required to provide an account of the dairy products received and sold each day. Some of the customers have credit arrangements with the company, while others pay on a cash basis. The drivers must provide invoices and/or cash to match the amount of inventory that has been delivered each day.

The shipping manager, Vincent, is responsible for the stock in the refrigerators and freezers and is the one who supplies the milk and other dairy products to the drivers. Most of the employees call Vincent "Mr. Giggles" because he is always happy and making jokes no matter what situation he's in. Vincent is famous for saying "it's up to you" because he believes that how people react is controlled by themselves rather than their circumstances. He has been with the firm for 35 years and always arrives at work early to load the dairy products onto the trucks. He is in charge of creating the systems to keep track of what has come from the production department and what has been shipped out through the drivers. He keeps track of the requirement patterns of the drivers and he loads enough milk and other dairy products onto each truck for that driver's rounds, without too much left over. He willingly remains on the premises throughout the day to distribute additional stock should the drivers require it.

Vincent and the drivers report to the supervisor, Arjan, who is responsible for the daily local operations. Arjan fills in if one of the drivers is absent. He loves filling in because he enjoys socializing with the customers and trying new things. Arjan aims to support his employees and works hard to understand what his drivers need and to seek their input. Even though he doesn't have a lot of decision-making power, everyone sees Arjan as the real manager and they like going to him for help because he never tries to take more credit than he deserves or blame others when things go wrong, and they trust he won't judge them based on their mistakes.

Jacqueline, the VP of distribution, is the niece of Dylan Woodstock, the company president. Her job means everything to her. She has worked at Woodstock for 20 years but has only held this management role for the last 7 years. She is the only female vice president at the company and she prides herself on running the most efficient operation she possibly can with minimal focus on "touchy feely people issues". At a recent meeting with the company president, Jacqueline made the following general comments about the problems now facing the company with regard to the motivation of the drivers:

"I find this a difficult area, as we pay our drivers by the week. At one time we did have them on a commission basis but there was a problem in that some drivers' routes always had higher sales than others. If a driver's sales are down and it is due to poor performance, I'll tell them straight out what the problem is. I feel this is a much more effective way to motivate them rather than making indirect hints. By using this method, I let the driver know exactly where they stand. If this proves to be ineffective, then I'll come down harder than is actually needed. This is a good motivating technique as they now know they are being watched very closely.

To make sure they are doing what is expected, I constantly check up on them. This means going around at night after they have gone and making sure the truck is gassed up and the oil level is fine. If one of these particular things has not been done, I'll either phone that particular person to come in and do it right away or I'll keep it in mind and if something else comes up, I'll use it as an example of their poor performance.

As regards to priorities, the customer is number one in this business and if they have any complaints I'll go directly to their store and find out what the problem is. I'll then go back to the driver to discuss the problem and try and clear up any static that has been created. I'll warn the driver that if we lose that customer I'll give them three more accounts in place of the one that might be lost. I control inventories by charging the drivers for everything that goes on their truck. They add up their bills on a cash-in sheet every night. At the end of every week, they take an inventory count of their truck and I compare that with the cash-in sheets. If they are short, I may decide that the shortage is to be made up from their pay cheques. So far I haven't found it necessary to do, as I feel that I'm able to trust my drivers. It would be very hard for them to try and beat our inventory control system."

A former driver recently expressed his feelings about working for Jacqueline at his old job:

"You couldn't anything around there without Jacqueline breathing down your neck. No matter what you did, it was always wrong. If you gave her the impression that you had messed up even once, she would think you were an idiot forever. Whenever there was a customer complaint, Jacqueline always assumed that the driver was at fault and never gave us the opportunity to tell our side of the story. She also assumed that no one was capable of making a decision without having her tell us what and how to do it. Some of the drivers had been around for 15 years and Jacqueline was still telling them what to do. As a result, there was no incentive to do better. She loved pointing out people's mistakes and didn't believe in praise or recognition. I once asked her about this and she responded, 'If you've done something wrong, you'll hear about it; if you need praise go run to your mommy.' Of course, there was one exception - Jaqueline loves the women drivers. Rumour has it she even pays them more.

Arjan, on the other hand, was everyone's favourite guy. He used to give us credit or replacement stock if we told him that something went bad and had to be disposed of. He totally trusted us and always did what he could to support us. It always felt like he could sense what we were feeling and even when he was frustrated, he treated us fairly. The job itself wasn't horrible but working for Jacqueline made it hard to come to work. I think in the end we just stayed to get a pay check and because there weren't a lot of other jobs in our little town. "

Describe how Jaqueline's behaviour could impact two types of organizational justice. Be sure to explain your answers and provide examples for the types of justice (fairness) you choose. (4 marks)

Use self-determination theory to assess whether the motivation of drivers at Woodstock is more autonomous or controlled. In your answer, be sure to describe how autonomy, relatedness and competence needs are being met. Finally, what is one thing Jacqueline could do to increase autonomy support?

Apply the Job Characteristics Model to assess the job characteristic of autonomy for:

1) the drivers and;

2) Vincent, the shipping manager.

Be sure to explain whether the autonomy is high or low and to provide an example that supports your answer.

4.The former driver notes: "If you gave her the impression that you had messed up even once, she would think you were an idiot forever."

What attributional bias does Jacqueline demonstrate here? Name the bias and provide an explanation for why that bias is applicable here.

5.Based on this information provided in the case, which type of organizational commitment is low and making the drivers want to quit? Which type of organizational commitment is high and making the drivers want to stay? Explain your answers.

6.Jaqueline is the only female executive at Woodstock Dairy. Explain. Provide an example for how gender stereotypes and stereotype threat may result in perceptions that Jaqueline is particularly strict, controlling, and solely performance-oriented.

7.Arjan is a beloved manager who was able to recognize what his employees were feeling. What concept/skill does this refer to?

8.Provide and explain 1 example of how Jacqueline uses negative reinforcement and 1 example of how she uses punishment to manage the drivers' behaviour at work.