MHR case study:

Apple Land Station (ALS) is a small family-run fruit orchard in London, ON. For a long time, Rahul - the owner - ran the farm by himself, supervising the planting and harvesting of the crops, building relationships with potential customers, fixing equipment, and taking responsibility for employee safety, including the maintenance and repair of equipment. Although it was sometimes difficult to juggle all these different demands, Rahul found the work quite satisfying despite decreasing revenues. As it became increasingly difficult to be profitable as a farmer, Rahul knew he had to pivot the business model in order to stay in business. Rahul has come to the realization that ALS needs to change but he's unsure of what to do.

Rahul wants the business to provide a stable and prosperous future for his family. Rahul's adult children, Samir and Priya, work at the farm. One day, Rahul decides to ask his children for input. Yet, when he tries to speak to them, they are barely listening.

"Why are you always on your phone when I'm trying to talk to you? No one else on the farm treats me like this. No matter what situation we're in, you guys always act disrespectfully," yelled Rahul. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"OK Boomer, relax. It's called Instagram and we were actually brainstorming ideas for how to help the farm. Never mind, you wouldn't get it," Samir replied under his breath.

"What is Instagram?" Rahul asked, so surprised that his children were thinking about the family business that he didn't mind their disrespectful tone.

As Samir and Priya began to explain the world of social media to their 68-year-old father, they described a vision of the farm as a place where families come to pick fruit, take pictures, and spend time as if the orchard were a tourist destination with multiple streams of revenue instead of just a fruit orchard. At first, Rahul just kept criticizing their suggestions. But, as he listened more, he could see value in this idea.

The New and Improved Apple Land Station

In just three years, ALS has expanded from a farm producing apples and pears for wholesale into a family destination where people can pick apples, pears and pumpkins, and take pictures amidst the scenic backdrops of the farm. Families can bake pies, roast corn, ride tractors, and feed farm animals like goats and pigs. Just three years ago, the farm had only 6 employees; now it has 31.

Rahul's employees feel fortunate to work for Apple Land Station, as it is a more desirable place to work than other fruit orchards they know. Rahul ensures that all employees get certain perks, regardless of their relationship to himself. He pays all of his employees an above-average wage and ALS offers generous pension and insurance plans. Employees are given plenty of opportunity to interact with each other and they enjoy spending time together even after their work shift has ended. As a result, ALS has dedicated, motivated employees.

Rahul Restructures

On a cold April morning, just as Apple Land Station is preparing for the new season, Rahul calls a meeting with Priya, Samir, and Tapur, a long-time friend of Rahul's and one of ALS's oldest employees. Since Rahul has not given any notice of the meeting, Priya, Samir, and Tapur don't know what to expect.

Rahul lets them know that he no longer feels like he can lead the company given its new direction and proceeds to hand out promotions. Priya is appointed to oversee the operations, and Samir to oversee the marketing and social media strategy. Rahul promotes Tapur to the position of animal manager, which means Tapur will oversee the well-being and care of all of ALS's animals. Tapur is disappointed because he considers himself a marketing expert but he is quiet and disinclined to assert himself. Given that they now have more work and responsibilities, each is given a pay raise. In addition, each is promised that they will receive a bonus at the end of the season if they demonstrate excellent performance in their new roles. However, Rahul does not bother to explain these changes to his other employees. Samir, Tapur, and Priya worry how their coworkers will react when they find out about the unexpected promotions and pay raises.

Although everyone is worried about these quick and significant changes, no one voices their concerns. Rahul can be difficult to cooperate with and tends to get angry easily, so no one dares to challenge these sudden promotions.

Tapur is uncomfortable being the animal manager. Even though he would love to receive a bonus at the end of the season, he is unsure whether he has the knowledge and skills to take care of ALS's animals. Moreover, it is unclear to him how Rahul will decide whether his performance is good enough to warrant a bonus. However, Tapur decides not to say anything.

The Fallout

Shortly after the meeting, Priya overhears some of the employees gossiping. "I can't believe Rahul promoted all of his kids and favourite employee over us. Now we work just as hard but they make more money? This feels so unfair."

Meanwhile, Priya begins to assign tasks to employees to prepare to open the farm for the season, but she doesn't not quite know what to do with Daniel, a new employee for the summer. Daniel was hired because he graduated from Guelph's agricultural program, which is also where Rahul, Samir and Priya went to school, but he always seems irritated and Priya is worried he will offend the customers. She asks Daniel to put on a happy face for the customers, explaining that she's worried that Daniel's negativity will cause the customers to feel badly.

Samir and Priya feel overwhelmed. Rahul notices and offers a last piece of advice: "Just help your employees believe in their ability to be successful at their jobs and they will be great."

Samir and Priya nod. "Thanks Dad, that's good advice."

Question 6 (4 points)

Tapur is uncomfortable being the animal manager. Use expectancy theory to predict the level of Tapur's motivation. In your answer, be sure to refer to effort, expectancy(E-P), instrumentality(P-O), and valence.

Question 7 (4 points)

Priya decides to use principles from Operant Learning Theory to teach Daniel, the new employee, to offer customers more pleasant service. Explain and give an example for each, of how Priya can use positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement to train Daniel.