1. For Hunter Harrison, retired from a long and successful career at Canadian National Railway, and undoubtedly with a secure pension, how can the needs theory explain his motivation to come out of retirement to take the CEO role at troubled Canadian Pacific?

2. How could Harrison utilize the application of expectancy theory to achieve organizational goals while implementing his plan for staff reductions and restructuring at CP?

3. What impact on employee engagement could result from Harrison’s approach to reduce bureaucracy and “produce a passion about service with everybody on the ground and recognize the commitments we got to do”? Likewise, what might be the impact on employee engagement due to his plan to move headquarters from downtown to the railyard in order to “take those people out of headquarters and kind of let them be out there and see what the business is all about”?

4. Harrison used a cost-cutting strategy that focused heavily on employee accountability. What management systems would you need to be in place before you could initiate a performance based program such as the one Harrison used?