CH 10 Writing Assignment

 Activity Objectives

This activity is designed to support the following Learning Objectives:

1. What are mechanistic versus organic organizational structures?
2. What are the fundamental dimensions of change?
3. How do managers deal with change?

 Instructions: Writing Assignment

COMPLETE PART I AND PART II BELOW...

PART I

When people talk of climbing the corporate ladder, they are referring to moving vertically upward through the organizational structure. Many employees plot career paths that will take them to increasingly higher levels of management. Do you think you would be more interested in climbing higher in an organization, or being a middle-management bridge between the employees who do the work and the executives who set the strategy? Explain the reasons for your choice.

PART II

Danny Meyer Leads His Company through the Challenges of Eliminating Tips

What happens when your CEO wants to remove the tip structure from your restaurant? Do you complain about the new prices as a customer? Do you worry about your paychecks as a server?

Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality (home to some of the most successful New York restaurants), discovered these answers when he began eliminating the tip structure in most of his restaurants. He had seen firsthand the largest negative impact of a tipping culture: employees stuck in front-line positions with no chance to advance to management without taking significant pay cuts.

Meyer began by first involving the affected employees in town-hall talks. These town halls happened months before any publicity was released. Meyer then hosted town halls with customers to explain the importance of fair wages for all his employees at the restaurant, not just the few who served the food. The transition period for each restaurant to eliminate tips was usually three to six months.

As a result of eliminating the tip structure in most of his restaurants, Meyer has been able to increase the pay structure for cooks at those locations, which enables him to fill more cook positions and address a common industry shortage. Meyer has also been able to hire employees with a purpose to deliver exceptional hospitality. Meyer encourages his employees to take care of each other first, and to then take care of the customer, which creates a virtuous cycle of hospitality.

Meyer constantly uses feedback from his employees even after the tip structure was eliminated. He wants to ensure that each employee feels their voice is heard and understood. Employees continue to have access to town-hall meetings and internal feedback channels to offer honest feedback.

1. What type of change is this: transformational or incremental? Why?
2. What level(s) of change is Meyer aiming for in this case?
3. What models are consistent with Meyer’s process for designing and implementing change?

Instructions: Read the questions carefully and provide thorough, well thought out answers. Provide justification for ALL your answers, even if the questions do not ask “Why?”. If you make assumptions, state and explain the assumptions made. Use the textbook and/or any research tool to support EACH answer. Please disclose names, titles, links, etc. of sources used. Use full sentences and paragraphs.

Length: The combined answers should be a minimum of 450 words in length. Note that your name, date, class, headings, and works cited page do NOT count towards the minimum length requirement. You may exceed the minimum length requirement.

Formatting: Size 12, Courier New font; 1.5 space per line; Standard margins. At least two points will be deducted from your score if you fail to follow formatting guidelines.

 Grading 

This assignment is worth 20 points.

Please see the grading rubric.

Note, plagiarized assignments will receive a score of 0.

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