MGMT 6064 - Assignment 2 (Team assignment worth 15%)

The tasks in this Module are related to topics that we explored in Module 3 (Culture) and Module 4 (Motivation). From Module 3, we learned that you can become a more effective leader if you are able to recognize the type of culture in your organization, and if you can shape culture on your project team so that everyone shares the same values, beliefs, behaviours, and expectations for the project. From Module 4, we learned that motivated team members will be more productive and satisfied. We explored various theories to help increase our understanding of what motivates people and how to motivate them.

In the first part of this assignment, you and your fellow team members will evaluate the organizational cultures for two business organizations by reviewing the videos/articles linked in the instructions.

Part 1: Identifying Organizational Culture (32 points)

Explore the following linked resources that describe organizational culture in two different workplaces: offshore oil platforms and Volkswagen (during 2006-2015).

• A Day in the Life of Skilled Workers Living Inside Billion $ Offshore Oil Rigs:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQB4Dv_p7SM
• Volkswagen:
  • Why Volkswagen Cheated:
  • https://www.newsweek.com/2015/12/25/why-volkswagen-cheated-404891.html
  • Volkswagen Executives Describe Authoritarian Culture Under Former CEO:
  • https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/10/volkswagen-executives-martin-winterkorn-company-culture
  • VW and dieselgate - what really happened (1:40 to 3:36, 7:16 to 11:20, 13:40 to 16:35, 27:05 to 28:45) : https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1uF411q7iF/
  • To turn on the Chinese closed captioning, go to the video menu bar and click on the icon to the immediate left of the volume control.Compare and contrast the cultures at these two organizations, referring to concepts and readings from Module 3. Do not do other external internet research - rely on information, clues, and examples from the resources linked above as the basis for your answers.

Tasks:

1) What types of goods and services do the offshore platform and Volkswagen provide to their customers?

2) What are some of the shared values and beliefs within each workplace? (List four for each business)

3) Describe five artifacts from each workplace that demonstrate the shared values and beliefs of the organization (one or two complete sentences per artifact description).

4) In this course, we learned that company founders/executives/top managers are 'key cultural architects', whose personal values and behaviours influence the overall organizational culture.

Describe how the behaviours/practices/attitudes of the CEO of Volkswagen (Martin Winterkorn) and the management on the offshore platform influence the workplace culture. Support your response with examples.

5) Using the Competing Values Framework (CVF), what type of culture does each organization have? Applying course concepts (i.e., the CVF model) and examples from the linked resources in these instructions, explain how you arrived at your conclusions. (You may wish to use the optional 'Quinn-and-Cameron-organizational-culture-assessment-instrument' in the supplemental material from Module 3 to help you define the culture type in each organization.) (Response length: comprehensive words)

Task 2: Motivation Problems in your Student Project Group (18 points)

Read the following scenario: You own a growing construction company. You employ Senior and Junior Project Managers. You would like some of your current Project Managers to obtain their PMP (Project Management Professional) designation. You are willing to pay the financial cost of the certification exam. However, they would need to invest significant personal time (dozens of hours of studying) outside of work hours to study and prepare for the exam. You aren't sure that your Project Managers would be willing to invest their personal time but are not able to excuse them from work to study - you need them to be actually working during their work time.

Tasks:

Answer each of the following questions. Each of your answers should be comprehensive words in length. Do not define the motivation theory in your answers. Assume that the Professor knows the theory. Focus on applying the theory, describing steps you would take to motivate your Project Managers to obtain their designation, and explaining why you would take those steps.

1) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory?

2) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Herzberg's Hygiene-Motivator theory?

3) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Expectancytheory?

4) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Goal Setting theory?

5) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Reinforcementtheory?

6) How would you motivate your Project Managers to obtain PMP designations by applying Equity theory?