Instructions Purpose The purpose of this project is to demonstrate knowledge of management practices that increase efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace through behavior. Step 1:  Carefully read the case study below. Step 2:  Comprise a 12-16 slide presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi or other presentation software (excluding the title page and reference list page) that includes ALL of the following points: Examine effectiveness issues that affect decision-making in HOC's management. Provide your reasoning for the selection; ensure that your reasoning is supported with course material, case study facts, and research. Examine efficiency issues that affect decision- making in HOC's management. Provide your reasoning for the selection; ensure that your reasoning is supported with course material, case study facts, and research. Analyze the idea that HOC's management promotes organizational diversity in an effective way . You must take a position; ensure that you support that position with course material, case study facts, and research. Analyze and explain the key components of relationship building for managers.  Specifically, identify the components of relationship building that HOC needs to improve. Identify those case study facts that show how future decisions and their implementation might be affected if change does not take place; be sure to explain why those future decisions and their implementation might be affected if change does not take place.   Develop at least four recommendations/strategies that Areama might make to RLI and HOC that would improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency using culture, structure, and behavior as the focus of each recommendation. Be sure to be specific in the discussion by justifying each recommendation using examples from the case study, course materials, and research. INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE THE SUBMISSION: Read the grading rubric for the assignment. Check the instructions to make sure ALL elements of the assignment have been covered Students are expected to use a variety as well as multiple course readings and research to support ideas, reasoning, and conclusions. This assignment requires the use of, at minimum, 7 scholarly references/sources Follow APA style guidelines to ensure that your final submission includes a Title Page , In-Text Citations, and a Reference List . IMPORTANT NOTE:  In-text citations should be included in the slides and notes, as appropriate, to support your key points and takeaways.  ALL in-text citations MUST be included in the reference list Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks . This means you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, put a passage from a source document into your own words, and attribute the passage to the source document. Provide the page or paragraph number. Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an ...

1. Instructions
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate knowledge of
management practices that increase efficiency and effectiveness
in the workplace through behavior.
Step 1:
Carefully read the case study below.
Step 2:
Comprise a 12-16 slide presentation using PowerPoint, Prezi or
other presentation software (excluding the title page and
reference list page) that includes ALL of the following points:
Examine
effectiveness issues that affect decision-making
in HOC's management. Provide your reasoning for the
selection; ensure that your reasoning is supported with course
material, case study facts, and research.
Examine
efficiency issues that affect decision-
making in HOC's management. Provide your reasoning for the
selection; ensure that your reasoning is supported with course
material, case study facts, and research.
Analyze
the idea that HOC's management
promotes organizational diversity in an effective way

2. . You
must
take a position; ensure that you support that position with
course material, case study facts, and research.
Analyze and explain
the
key components of relationship building
for managers. Specifically, identify the components of
relationship building that HOC needs to improve.
Identify those case study facts that show
how future decisions and their implementation might be affected
if change does not take place; be sure to explain
why
those future decisions and their implementation might be
affected if change does not take place.
Develop at least
four
recommendations/strategies that Areama might make to RLI
and HOC that would
improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency
using culture, structure, and behavior as the focus of each
recommendation. Be sure to be specific in the discussion by
justifying each recommendation using examples from the case
study, course materials, and research.
INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE THE SUBMISSION:
Read the
grading rubric
for the assignment.

3. Check the instructions to make sure ALL elements of the
assignment have been covered
Students are expected to use a
variety as well as multiple course readings and research
to support ideas, reasoning, and conclusions.
This assignment
requires
the use of, at minimum,
7 scholarly references/sources
Follow APA style guidelines to ensure that your final
submission includes a
Title Page
,
In-Text Citations,
and a
Reference List
.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In-text citations should be included in
the slides and notes, as appropriate, to support your key points
and takeaways. ALL in-text citations MUST be included in the
reference list
Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks
. This means you do not use more than four consecutive words
from a source document, put a passage from a source document

4. into your own words, and attribute the passage to the source
document. Provide the page or paragraph number. Note that a
reference within a reference list cannot exist without an
associated in-text citation and vice versa.
The presentation must be professional in appearance and include
visuals such as tables, graphs, and clipart
The slides should flow and transition in an organized manner
with one idea/concept leading to the next
The presentation should begin with an introductory slide that
clearly and succinctly explains what you intend to cover in the
body of the presentation.
The presentation should end with a conclusion/summary slide
that clearly and succinctly explains what you covered in the
body of the presentation.
Each slide of the presentation must include a note page
The note page is the accompanying text for each page of the
presentation and will be used by the reader in lieu of you
verbally presenting the slide presentation – be sure that the
content on the note pages is clear, focused and succinct
Third-person writing is required.
Third-person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my,

5. we, or us” (first-person writing), nor is there use of “you or
your” (second-person writing). If uncertain how to write in the
third person, view this link:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-
second-and-third-person
.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so the expectation
is that students do NOT use contractions in the assignment.
The paper must be double-spaced with 1-inch margins with 12
pt. font.
Submit the final project into the appropriate assignment
submission folder by the due date.
NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You
may not use any work from another student, the Internet, or an
online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy and know that it is
your responsibility to learn about instructor and general
academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources
as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed. (Students
are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated
reference list only).
CASE STUDY
Ralph Lorean International (RLI) owner of several house décor
and furniture manufacturers recently purchased a controlling
interest in a medium size firm, House of Cloth (HOC), which
employs 6,644 people
worldwide. HOC has been considered a premier manufacturer of
cloth since 1964. Revenues over the last four years have been

6. flat and costs are rising steadily. RLI purchased an interest in
the company despite the flat sales because of its reputation and
loyal customer base. RLI has a history of turning troubled
companies around and they think they can do the same with
HOC.
RLI has to date allowed HOC to operate independently while
they examine closely the causes of the recent poor performance
of the company. Areama Cantros, was recently promoted to
senior management analyst because of her superb work with
Izzy’s Bed Emporium. RLI has decided to send Areama to HOC
on a fact-finding mission. She is to discover the challenges
facing the management at HOC and make recommendations that
will improve and significantly improve HOC’s financial
performance.
Areama’s first meeting with HOC’s management team after
arriving at their headquarters seemed to go well. The first thing
Areama noticed about the team was that while they seemed to
be personally different in obvious ways, beneath the surface
they were quite alike. Of the seven members who compose the
team, three have been with the company since its inception. The
remaining four are much younger and came to the company after
its international expansion in 2010. Two of the team members
had worked with HOC in India and came to headquarters as part
of a promotion plan. The other two team members came from
Guatemala and Romania where they were employed in local
branches of HOC. The team membership is predominately male
with only two women. Despite the differences in age, gender,
company tenure, and their functional and industry background,
the members seem like they are cut from the same cloth in that
each is very businesslike, analytical, competitive, and results-
driven.
In the discussion regarding the company’s expansion five years
ago, Henry Smythe, one of the founders, remarked, “The

7. expansion was tough for us because of all the pressure and
uncertainty, and to be honest, we really didn’t jell together at
first-I thought it was a big mistake to bring new people on
board to manage the ship-but now we’re past all that, we’re
very cohesive, and we share the same vision of how we do
business. This is a good thing because when I retire in a few
years, I’ll know the company is in good hands.” Everyone in the
room nodded in agreement. Another founder, Russell “Rusty”
Gee, then looked squarely into Areama’s eyes and added, “I’m
not exactly sure what you are doing here, but we have
weathered storms together and while I admit the last years
haven’t been stellar, I know we can handle things ourselves.
This was part of the deal, wasn’t it? We know this place better
than anyone, so I can’t imagine we’ll seriously consider any
recommendations that will upset the apple cart.” Rusty made the
statement in a friendly way with a smile on his face, yet Areama
knew he was serious.
Although the meeting told Areama many things two things stood
out to her as real problems. First, turnover among the creative
team associates is high: thirty-five percent each year for the last
two years, and thirty percent the year before that. The industry
average is twenty percent. HOC’s creative team is integral to its
competitive edge in the industry. New patterns, cloth fabrics
and uses are essential to the firm’s livelihood. Although the top
management team is aware of the problem, they seem to
rationalize it. As Jamie Wagner, VP of human resources noted,
“We hire the best and the brightest, so it’s only natural that they
occasionally get poached by other firms. We try our best to
keep them, but we haven’t been able to match salaries with our
competitors in recent years. Once things turn around, the
numbers will go down.”
Besides the turnover issue, Areama also learned that the
company had been sued three times recently. The cases all
involved associates who were passed over for promotion and

8. who claimed the work environment was so filled with stress that
it made them ill and unable to work. Areama was aware of the
first case because it was highly publicized and HOC was forced
to settle the case to get out of the public eye. Afraid of the
similar problems with the first case HOC settled the other two
suits out of court quickly and managed to keep them out of the
eye of the press. Senior management seemed to be proud of this
fact. Before Areama had a chance to ask Jamie if she thought
the suits and turnover may be related, Jamie volunteers the
following. “We were really unlucky during this period. We
hired three associates who didn’t possess the right capabilities
for the job, and each had trouble coping in their own way. Most
everyone that comes to our design team at HOC is drawn to our
reputation for quality and success. We just have to find a better
way of finding people who fit.”
Areama’s conversation with the design team members revealed
nothing too far out of the industry norm. Workload and time
pressure are high, but not atypical. The design teams are put
together by fabric use and usually their members are led by a
senior client manager, who has the final design approval. Jamie
told Areama that the teams were self-managed but that appeared
not to be the case. The senior lead assigned tasks to each
associate member during the projects. Because the support staff
is reduced team members had to assume a lot of administrative
duties.
Creative teams have the autonomy to work wherever and
whenever they need to. This arrangement gives employees a lot
of flexibility and working odd hours in strange locations is not
unusual. Areama heard one story about a creative dinner was
held in the private room of a local restaurant. The team paid the
owner $1,000 to keep the room available to them for as long as
they needed. The team stayed overnight and left just before
lunch the next day. While all the members were on board with
the idea, one of the female designers had to leave early because

9. of a family obligation. The team produced a successful product
for a big client. Bursting with pride over the story the senior
manager who revealed the story remarked,” fantastic team-
building experience for those that chose to tough it out and it
perfectly reflects the company’s ‘work-hard, play-hard’
mentality’.” Areama, had to wonder if the young woman who
had to leave early was now considered “not the right fit”.
From Areama’s inquiry as to how the design team’s job
performance is managed, she learned that towards the end of the
calendar year, senior client managers get together and spend an
entire day on the evaluation process. The evaluations focus on
the extent to which the member contributed to the designs of the
team they worked on the previous year. All members are given
scores and listed. Using the member’s job performance score,
their names are placed in one of three categories. The top ten
percent will receive a bonus up to fifty percent of their base pay
and are fast-tracked for senior client managers. The next thirty
percent will receive a twenty-five percent bonus and are
consider on track for promotion. The last group gets 2-3 percent
of their salary as a bonus. The bonus checks are mailed to the
members home before the winter holidays to “avoid bad feelings
and conflict, that can naturally come about among teams” Jamie
remarks.
Lunch with the senior client managers told Areama that the
subject of turnover and the lawsuits is touchy. One manager
said “Around here, you’re rewarded for paying your dues, for
doing whatever is thrown your way. Yes, it is demanding, and
requires sacrifice, but how else can we find out if people have
what it takes? Those of us sitting at this table have been through
it and we know it works look how successful we have been.
Hires who claim they can’t take it or that it’s abusive just can’t
be tolerated.” Areama seemed to notice that all the senior
managers are male, American, and considerably older than the
associates.

10. After lunch, Areama met with a group of associates who seem to
shed yet another perspective about life in the design
department. As an example, the young associate who left the
work dinner early said, “I learned a lot from dealing with the
pressure at the beginning, but the work is non-stop. They say
it’s ‘work-hard, play-hard’, but even the play feels like work.
The projects are great, but I never really feel like I’m fully
involved. I’m always trying to get a chance to be heard.”
Another member agreed and added “It’s okay I guess if you get
plugged into the right manager from the outset, but I’ve never
seemed to gain favor no matter how many hours I work. To top
it off, the crazy hours are creating a lot of conflict at home and
the strains are adding up.”
Source: Adapted from a Case titled “Managing Commitment in
Demanding Jobs” found in “
Organizing Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment
in the Workplace
” by Jason A. Colquitt, Jeffery A. Lepine, Michael J. Wesson
McGraw-Hill/Irwin New York NY 10020, 2013. Page 551
Additional Requirements and How to Prepare the Submission
Follow the instructions carefully.
APA formatting with in-text citations and a Reference list is
required.
Read and conform to the requirements of the grading rubric for
the assignment.
Check the instructions to make sure all elements of
the assignment have been covered.

11. Third-person writing is required. Third-person means that there
are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first-person
writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second-person
writing). If uncertain how to write in the third person, view this
link:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-
second-and-third-person
.
Contractions are not used in business writing, so the expectation
is that students do not use contractions in assignments.
Paraphrase and do not use direct quotation marks. This means
you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source
document, put a passage from a source document into your own
words, and attribute the passage to the source document.
Provide the page or paragraph number. Note that a reference
within a Reference list cannot exist without an associated in-
text citation and vice versa.
Students are expected to use a variety as well as multiple course
readings and research to support ideas, reasoning, and
conclusions.
Submit the final project into the appropriate assignment
submission folder. Once submitted, the project is eligible for
grading and students will not be permitted to make changes or
make another submission.
NOTE: All submitted work is to be your original work. You
may not use any work from another student, the Internet or an
online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy and know that it is
your responsibility to learn about instructor and general
academic expectations with regard to proper citation of sources

12. as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed. (Students
are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated
reference list only).