Additional Case 1.1 Managers at Caplin Company Are Having a Strategic Planning Session

question 95

Multiple Choice

Additional Case 1.1
Managers at Caplin Company are having a strategic planning session with the director of HR. They are discussing the fit between the company's overall management philosophy, organizational structure, organizational culture, and the firm's current HR strategies. During the meeting, the management team asks the HR Director for a profile of the current workforce. The HR Director reports that the workforce used to be 85% white, 50% male. Now it is 50% white, 50% minority with twice as many women as men. Supervisors still tend to be white males.
The management team discusses how to control costs, improve quality, and create distinctive capabilities. Several ideas are raised, discussed, and tabled; some topics are assigned to an individual for further exploration. Managers comment that some workers arrive at start time, take 30 minutes before initiating any work, and begin to pack up for the day 30 minutes before quitting time. Managers also indicate that employees do not seem concerned about working hard or about building quality products.
As the meeting draws to a close, the team briefly discusses the firm's commitment to the surrounding community. As a cost-cutting measure, the firm eliminated its support of an adult literacy program last year. Company facilities were used for conducting reading classes. The management team decides that the firm should reinstate the program and appoints the HR Director to notify the local literacy council.
-Refer to Additional Case 1.1.Which of the following would most likely improve employee work habits at Caplin?

• A) Offering telecommuting opportunities to all employees
• B) Making adjustments to the firm's organizational culture
• C) Outsourcing most clerical jobs to overseas firms
• D) Implementing a focus strategy

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Definitions:

Henry Murray

An American psychologist who developed the theory of needs, which identified personality in terms of motives and needs.

Self-Efficacy

A person's confidence in their ability to carry out actions required to achieve particular outcomes.

External Locus of Control

The belief that one's successes or failures result from external factors beyond their control, rather than one's own efforts.

High Self-Acceptance

A person’s positive evaluation of oneself and one's past actions, leading to a healthy sense of self-worth.