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Employee Goal Case Study
Abstract
On-Ramps is a New York City-based search firm that believes that the success of their
organization is greatly dependent on the support leadership gives to employees especially top
performers. On-Ramps invests in their employees by encouraging their employees to continue to
further their education while working. Amy Werner, an employee, who was considered as a top
performer with On-Ramps, was supported and encouraged to complete her degree. Sarah the
manager, considered that supporting and motivating employee growth would set them apart from
competitors. She favor’s Amy by giving her a flexible work schedule due to her work
performance. Based on the case study review, On-Ramps was operating under two organizational
perspectives: open-natural and open-rational perspectives. On-Ramps also is applying
contingency theory and resource dependency Theory, that helped it make the most optimal
decision that added the most value to the company. This case study will be discussed further on
how these perspectives and theories make for successful organizational structure.
Keywords: Contingency theory, Resource dependency theory and Organizational perspective
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Employee Goal Case Study
Summary
On-Ramp firm has been supporting and encouraging a high performing employee
throughout her education and seems like they will continue to do this when they come across
similar employees. On-Ramps hired and supported Amy Werner through her career at the firm
and her educational goals. Amy Werner, who is considered a top performer, worked as a search
associate for the company for over three years. Amy not only worked full time but also took
night and weekend classes during the first year and a half she worked at the firm. However, her
schooling ramped up and required her to have a more complex schedule meeting the internship
requirements.
Sarah, the On-Ramps’ managers supported Amy’s educational and work goals by
allowing her to have a flexible work schedule to manage both school and work efficiently. Amy
was allowed to remain a full-time employee but worked mostly during the nights and weekends
with two days in the office during the week. During the firm’s semi-annual review, Amy’s
manager spoke to her about other ways the firm can support her, such as integrating what she
learned from her studies into work. The case study clearly shows the existence how and why On-
Ramps supported its employee’s goals as well as the company’s goals based on the organization
perspective and theoretical perspective.
Organizational Boundary Perspective
The boundaries of an organization can be developed based on the principles of
collectivity. Scott and Davis (2016) state that collectivity is a specific instance of social
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Employee Goal Case Study
organization, or an identifiable chunk of the social order. When looking at perspectives, open-
natural system perspective focuses on using internal and external environment to benefit the
company, and the open-rational perspective focuses on increasing value of its participants by
increasing the actors’ skills and knowledge to achieve its goals. Both organizational perspectives
emphasize the importance of using human assets to aid in success for an organization. On-Ramps
shows both of these perspectives and realize their focus should be on top human assets.
Overviewing the case study review, On-Ramps is using an open-natural system
perspective by using Amy as internal identity and her knowledge that she gained from school as
an external identity to benefit the company. On-Ramps also uses an open-rational perspective
focused on increasing value of its employees by supporting Amy to go to school which benefits
On-Ramps and Amy’s goals.
Theoretical Perspective
Childs et al., (2022) states, that contingency theory addresses how leadership and
management’s decisions, and actions are contingent on the internal and external determinants
based on situations that are present. Contingencies include a variety of environmental forces
internal and external to the organization such as management structure and employee relations.
Contingency theory relates with both open-natural perspective and open-rational perspective
approach, due to agreeing that decisions should be made in response to both internal and external
influences. Chaudry (2020) states they are not restricted to a few variables which can guide to
make an optional decision for an organization.
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Employee Goal Case Study
When examining the On-Ramps case, contingency theory can be seen in how Amy's
manager encourages Amy to pursue her educational goals. Sarah, Amy’s manager, utilizes Amy
as an internal variable in combination of external variable. Supporting Amy's rise in knowledge
and education. Sarah, Amy’s manager, made the decision to provide a flexible work arrangement
for Amy valuing her skills and showing how important Amy is to the company. Merida (2015)
states, a person with intelligence can perceive a given situation and make the best decision. Sarah
understands the type of employee they have in Amy and is making the best decisions for On-
Ramps and Amy herself.
Resource Dependency Theory is based on the idea that organization should be parallelly
transited in various stakeholders and organizations in which they interact to obtain resources,
such as human asset (Agbebi & Virtanen, 2017). For example, an organization hiring a new
employee based on their knowledge and experience as resources’ value. This choice results in a
dependency for the organization. Most organizations value employees’ performance on their
knowledge, skill, and experience. Organization’s goals, strategies, and performance are
dependent on resource management and are vital for smooth operations. Duppati et al., (2019)
states that to increase the value of their resources, companies frequently undertake diverse
strategies, such as developing resources, training, and building alliances. On-Ramps firm utilizes
resource dependency theory when they decided on supporting Amy's educational goals and
adjusting her schedule to do so. On-Ramps is smart by doing this because not only are they
supporting their employee and her goals, they are also adding value to their organization in
multiple ways.
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Employee Goal Case Study
Personal perspective
On-Ramps support of their employee adds a sense of profitability for both the
organization and its employee. It seems like On-Ramps will continue doing this with top
performers which will make them an organization that potential employees would want to work
for. On-Ramps focused on employee’s performance to support and promote. This could cause
some issues within in the organization especially by employees who might not be seen as top
performers. According to Scott and Davis (2016), equally workers might also separate from the
various processes of production. This sense of inequality can cause tension throughout the
organization and can be seen as favoritism. Sarah, Amy’s manager stated that “We wouldn’t
have done this for a low performer...”. This brings up and argument on why an organization
wouldn’t they push low performer employees with the opportunity for career development which
could lead to increase performance. All the employees should be given equal rights and
opportunities for improvement, this could be used to develop low performers into high
performers. On-Ramps management is showing bias and favoritism towards Amy because she is
a high performer for the organization. On-Ramps should support high and low performing
employees with equal levels of attention and eliminate bias.
Biblical Perspective & Concluding Thoughts
The bible offers principles that are relatable to everyday situations and can specifically
can relate to this employee goals case study. In the bible it states, take care lest you forget the
LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I
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Employee Goal Case Study
command you today (English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Deuteronomy. 8:11). On-Ramp’s
management appeared true leadership and care for its employees when they were able to commit
to its employee personal growth while continuing employee career with them. On-Ramp needs to
continue having faith in their employees and not limit it to just the top performers. We are all
God’s children no matter how well we perform in life. He loves us all regardless and would
promote growth in all.
To gain an overall success, On-Ramps as a small firm, needs to be advantageous in
motivation and improvement its employees that would boost the company’s productivities. On-
Ramp should also remember their faith and remember all should be treating equally and with
love. If not, the employees would leave the company when they feel due to favoritism and
individualism. On-Ramps needs to give this opportunity for growth to all and support their
employees to empower themselves educationally and spiritually.
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Employee Goal Case Study
References
Agbebi, M., & Virtanen, P. (2017). Dependency Theory – A Conceptual Lens to Understand
China’s Presence in Africa? Forum for Development Studies, 44(3), 429–451.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2017.1281161
Chaudhry, S. (2020). Understanding change enablers in service organizations: A contingency
theory perspective. South Asian Journal of Management, 27(2), 54-83.
https://www.proquest.com/openview
Childs. M, Turner, T, Sneed. C & Berry. A. (2022). A Contingency Theory Approach to
Understanding Small Retail Business Continuity During COVID-19. 50(3). https://doi-
org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1111/fcsr.12434
Duppati, G. R., Scrimgeour, F., & Sune, A. (2019). Relevance of corporate boards in driving
performance in the period that covers financial crisis. Corporate Governance: The International
Journal of Business in Society, 19(2), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-11-2016-0204
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Merida, T (2015). Christ-centered exposition: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings. B&H Publishing
Group.
