Case Study

KERZNER OFFICE EQUIPMENT

Amber Briggs looked nervously at her watch as she sat at the front of a large table in the cafeteria at Kerzner Office Equipment. It was now $10$ minutes after $3$:$00$ and only $10$ of the $14$ members had arrived for the first meeting of the Kerzner anniversary task force. Just then two more members hurriedly sat down and mumbled apologies for being late. Briggs cleared her throat and started the meeting.

KERZNER OFFICE EQUIPMENT

Keramer Office Equipment is located in Charleston, South Carolina. It specializes in them and sales of high end office furniture and equipment. KERZNER enjoyed with during in first is years if existence with a high water employment mark of more than $1,400$ workers. Then a national recession struck, forcing Kerner off $25\%$ of its employers. This was a traumatic period for the company. Justin Tubbs was brought in as the new CEO, and things began to slowly turn around Tubbs was committed to employer participation and redesigned operations around the concept of self$-$managing teams. The company soon introduced an innovative line of epic furniture designed to reduce hack strain and carpal tunnel. This line of equipment proved to be a resounding success, and Kerzner became known a leader in the industry. The company currently employs $1,100$ workers and has jus been selected for the second straight time by the Charleston Post and Courier as one of the $10$ best local firms to work for in South Carolina,

AMBER BRIGGS

Amber Briggs a $42-$year$-$old human resource specialist who has worked for Kerzner for the past five years. During this time, she has performed a variety of activities involving recruitment, training, compensation, and team building. David Brown, vice president of human resources, assigned Briggs the responsibility for organizing Kerzner $10$th anniversary celebration. She was excited about the project because she would report directly to top management.

CEO Tubbs briefed her as to the purpose and objectives of the celebration. Tubbs strewed that this should be a memorable event and that it was important to celebrate Kerzner success since the dark days of the layoffs. Moreover, he confided that he had Just read a book on corporate cultures and believed that such events were important for conveying the values at Kerzner. He went on to say that he wanted this to be an employee celebration$-$not a celebration conjured up by top management. As such, she would be assigned a task force of $14$ employees from of the major department to organize and plan the event. Her team was to present a preliminary plan and budget for the event to top management within three months. When discussing budgets. Tubbs revealed that he felt the total cost should be somewhere in the $$150,000$ range. He concluded the meeting by offering to help Briggs in any way he could to make the event a success.

Soon thereafter Briggs received the list of the names of the task force member and she contacted them by either phone or e$-$mail to arrange today's meeting. She had to scramble to find a meeting place. Her cubicle in Human Resources was too small to accommodate such a group, and all the meeting rooms at Kerzner were booked it being refurbished. She settled on the cafeteria because it was usually deserted in the late afternoon. Prior to the meeting she posted the agenda on a flipchart adjacent to the table. Given everyone's busy schedules, the meeting was limited to just one hour.

THE FIRST MEETING

Briggs began the meeting by saying. "Greetings. For those who don't know me$.$ I$\text{'}$m Amber Briggs from Human Resources and I've been assigned to manage the $10$th anniversary celebration at Kerzner. Top management wants this to be a special event$-$at the same time, they want it to be our event. This is why you are here. Each of you represents one of the so departments, and together our job is plan and organize the celebration. She then revised agenda and asked member to introduce him$/$herself$.$ The tall, red$-$haired woman to the right of Higgs bike the momentary silence by saying, $"$Hi I am Cara Miller from Plastics. I guess my boss picked me for this task force became have a reputation for throwing great parties. In an each member followed suit. Following is a sampling of their introduction.

$"$Hi$.$ I$\text{'}$m Mike Wales from Maintenance. I$\text{'}$m not sure why I$\text{'}$m here. Things have been a little slow in department, so my boss told me to come to this meeting. I$\text{'}$m Megan Pinks from Domestic Sales actually volunteered for this assignment. I think it will be a lot of fun to plan a big party"

Yo$,$ my name is Nick Paias from Accounting. My boss said one of us had join this task force, and $1$ pod it was my turn.

$"$Hi$,$ I$\text{'}$m Rick Fennah. I$\text{'}$m the only one from Purchasing who has been here since the beginning. We've been through some rough times, and I think it is important to sake and celebrate what we've accomplished."

$"$Hi$,$ I$\text{'}$m Ingrid Hedstrom from International Sales. I think this is a great idea, but I should warn you that I