case1study

Introduction

Suppose you have been carefully chosen based on your OB learning to be a candidate manager (leader) of the Human Resources Department at University of Oman (default), replacing the former manager who quit his job due to his inability to control a specific problematic situation worsening to more complex levels and continues to do so.

Overview

The University of Oman is a private institution established in 2010 to serve the country by including more graduates from basic education and seeking to enrich creativity and innovation .Additionally to achieving the invest typically on intellectual capital by building qualified and knowledgeable graduates who participate in leading the country as a way to a more prosperous future. During the first five years the university stepped confidently in a very promising manner towards its ultimate goals , however the recent five years the situation has negatively changed.

History of the case

The university chancellor was badly surprised by the reports he had seen regards the past five years about the university general performance, which were radically different in all its indicators for the first five years since the university started.

The reports indicated the following negative indications:

· Low international university rankings

· Low number of registered students

· It is difficult to attract and recruit qualified employees to work in the university.

· Number of social and academic researches decreased by 30%

· Learning outcomes and academic achievements are below expectations.

Analysis of the case

After figuring out the situation, the chancellor attributed the failure in successfully proceeding towards the set objectives to the following circumstances:

Many employees keep resisting to the required change according the modern technological revolution, they are comfortable to stay in a comfortable zone, which has taken the university's steps back.

Moreover, many employees belong to informal groups and less likely to join the formal groups at work, their attitudes in many times contradicts the university objectives.

Additionally ,the previous HR manager was unable to unify all staff in one stream and there was a conflict among them as they are coming from different cultures and nationalities, they were inactive and their loyalty to the university is questionable.

Besides, the chancellor discovered that some employees have the ability to make the job better but they claim (when they are interviewed) that they have been completely ignored by the former manager and that much of their potential is not taken into account, others complain of difficult handling and their psychological and social needs are neglected completely.

The university needs such a creative and inspiring leader who can round up the situation again, utilizes all resources, and guide them all skillfully towards the set objectives of the university.

Requirement

You are requested to address the problem and theoretically suggest solution then send the report to the chancellor. Describe, analyze, interpret the situation and report how to solve the problem.

The following questions will help you address the most important points

1. What is the problem of the university? (Use the terms, expressions and concepts you learned in OB)

2. How can you analyze employee resistance to change and what actions might you take to let the employees engage in the change process. (Refer to Chapter 9)

3. What actions should be taken to penetrate informal groups and how can you solve the problem by making use of all resources? (Refer to Chapter 8)

4. How can you restore employee loyalty towards the university in view of the human social and psychological nature and needs? (See Motivation Models, Chapter 4).

5. How do you avoid conflict between university employees? (See Chapter 7 Interpersonal Behavior).

6. What kind of leaders requires the situation and why? (See Chapter 5 Leadership

Following terms \concepts are strongly recommended to be included in the report:

1. For employees: introvert vs extrovert, willingness vs ability , attitudes.

2. For leaders: task oriented vs relation oriented leader , types of leaders,

3. For motivations: Models of motivations, intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation , physical needs vs psychological needs , , job satisfaction ,morale

4. Use as many OB concepts as possible in the report (at least four).

5. Refer to chapter 6 if you need to conduct a surveys