Hi there,

READ THIS VERY CAREFULLY: (you will be rated mostly by following the instructions below..

I answered the prompt in bold below.Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my answer to the prompt. Please also let me know how I can improve my answer with TWO-hundrend words or more. Please do more than just a reiteration of thoughts shared by my answer. It should either extend and/or respectfully critique the thoughts

Prompt: (AGAIN, DO NOT ANSWER THESE. SIMPLY READ WHAT I WROTE FOR THE ANSWERS FOR THE QUESTIONS AND LET ME KNOW HOW I DID AND IF YOU AGREE.)

• What options can you think of for SunDazz and Mark to mitigate the damage from unfilled expectations for the annual bonus?
• What specific steps would you take if you were a senior executive in this situation? Explain why for each step.
• Do you consider it motivational and equitable when a substantial part of an employee's pay is a bonus based on company results in a highly uncertain environment? Why?

My answer:

What options can you think of for SunDazz and Mark to mitigate the damage from unfilled expectations for the annual bonus?

The best option is for them to focus on employee empowerment by making employees aware of the situation. According to Daft, section 8-4a, improving employee empowerment the company can create culture where employees are involved in the company's outcomes and also improve employee morale as they are embedded in the processes of the organisation. They will then understand the bonus situation at the end of the year as they have been made aware of and contributed what they can for the outcomes of the work they're doing.

In addition to empowering employees, having a strong communication plan about the situation will help to alleviate concerns. According to Daft, section 9-4a, people will remain calmer if they're allowed to know what is going on.

What specific steps would you take if you were a senior executive in this situation? Explain why for each step.

I would start with a communication plan for sharing the current situation with the employees of the company. It sounds like Dazz and Mark are planning to wait until the quarterly meeting to discuss the upcoming shortage, but by communicating earlier then they can help employees to get a better understanding for the causes behind the downturn ahead of time. By creating plan to present the current situation earlier, it can also help to prevent any rumours or concerns from escalating, and creates an open communication climate in the company. According to Daft section 9-2b, open communication builds trust with everyone involved.

The first step would be to schedule a town hall, using a formal medium that allows people to ask questions. This creates the feedback necessary to close the communication cycle, with the richest method possible, as noted in Daft section 9-1.

The next part would be to maintain open communication with employees, possibly creating office hours to allow individuals the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback in a smaller setting. This would maintain the richer option for communication, but with less pressure.

Lastly, by employing "Management by Walking Around" as outlined in Daft, section 9-5, senior executives can make sure they are connected with the concerns of employees and can therefore address them as part of the communication strategy.

Do you consider it motivational and equitable when a substantial part of an employee's pay is a bonus based on company results in a highly uncertain environment? Why?

I don't believe it is very motivational for the bonus to be included as a substantial part of an employee's pay in this environment. The annual bonuses are a sort of extrinsic reward for employees, where they are provided a bonus for the overall financial performance of the company. Providing an extrinsic reward like this can be motivational to keep employees working hard up to a certain point, as they may see the results of their labor end up with a higher bonus at the end of the year. It also fits with expectancy theory that employees will not be as motivated if they recognise that working harder will not result in a larger bonus as noted in Daft, section 8-3b. However, as per Daft section 8-1a, finding ways to provide intrinsic rewards is more motivational than extrinsic rewards. Especially in a case where the hard labor will not directly result in a high bonus, it can be demotivational to continue working hard for less compensation overall. In this environment it is not likely to continue motivating employees.

I also don't think it's equitable for the bonus to make up so much of an employee's compensation based on the overall company results. Having part of the compensation be so volatile impacts employee's feelings of safety in the hierarchy of needs, preventing them from reaching self-actualization in their roles. It also may not be perceived as equitable by the employees, as those who work harder may feel they are putting in more effort than others who are receiving the same bonus; as per Daft, section 8-3c, this equity theory means that better employees will leave when they perceive compensation is not tied to effort. While it is great that the company is willing to share in the profits, it seems like more of the bonus should be added to part of the employee's base pay based on performance to be more equitable to employees.

Thanks for reading!