Story and questions are attached. Don spent the rest of the day lobbying other members of the senior staff. He offeredDorothy the use of his beach cottage if she backed him and promised to support her on theacquisition of expensive new accounting software. She just laughed and said that she wasconvinced the senior management team would approve the new software. She alsoinformed Don that a member of her staff had seen one of his sales representatives enteringa strip joint the previous week at a time when the sales force had been engaged in a staffmeeting.Other problems had arisen in recent months. Ramesh Patel, the newly recruited head of e-business applications had, with help from a personal contact, developed a softwareprogram that would help hotels and restaurants source products and services over theInternet. It was beginning to generate useful revenue. His contact had now billed X-Streamfor $25,000 in consultancy fees and development costs. Ramesh claimed that his contacthad owed him a favor and that no mention of money had ever been made. X-Stream hadreferred the matter to its legal counsel.Les Kong, the research and development manager (hardware), had complained to Gil thathe could no longer work under Jason Paly. While he considered him a very pleasant man,and a very capable production manager, he could no longer tolerate his strict control style."You can't do creative work on command!" was his lament. He loved his job and had spenthours over several weekends developing and refining a new product.There was considerable resentment from Jason and Don about the resources that had beeninvested in the software division, partly because they did not see the need for the companyto diversify and partly because they claimed that money was being diverted from theirdepartments to fund the new ventures. Ramesh claimed that "a good e-business starts athome we should open up all our procurement via the Internet." His suggestion did not godown well with Jason and Don.Gil had been pondering the structure of X-Stream for some time. The old functionalstructure no longer seemed appropriate. "Silo" mentality and departmental interests seemedto predominate and turf wars took place. The company had grown to 64 staff in NewZealand and 8 in Australia. The ongoing development of new hardware and the introductionof the software side of the business had made management tasks somewhat complicated.He missed the old days when he knew every member of staff. The informal decision-makingthat was characteristic of the business might have to give way to more formal processes.Yet he did not want to lose the creativity that underpinned its success. Despite the openinvitation to attend the management meetings, many staff complained that they never knewwhat was going on. He expected all senior managers to keep their departmental staffinformed of developments. Some had done this admirably, while others had virtually ignoredhis wishes.A human resources manager, Alkina Bennelong, had been appointed a month previouslyand reported to Denise Commins. She had been reviewing the company's loosely wordedjob descriptions and person specifications and the recruitment and selection systems andhad suggested more professional but more elaborate approaches. She had also suggestedthe introduction of a performance management system, including feedback from peers,direct reports and outsiders, such as suppliers and customers. "Over my dead body!" wasthe retort of Don Head. "How can you allow subordinates to tell you how to do your job?"queried Jason Palu. "Can't see what the fuss is all about," said Heather Berkowitz."Everybody keeps telling me what to do anyway, even though they don't understand the firstthing about my job! But it doesn't worry me."Do a diagnosis of the situation in the company and the accounting department? Use 4theories from chapters 1-4 in the textbook to diagnose the situation. (OrganizationalBehavior: Emerging Knowledge. Global Reality by Steven McShane)Do an analysis on what interventions would you recommend and why?Develop an action plan. CASE 2: GOING TO THE X-STREAMBy Roy Smollan, Auckland University of Technology, New ZealandGil Reibana was the chief executive officer of X-Stream, a company he launched inAuckland, New Zealand, six years ago at the age of 25, after graduating with a bachelor'sdegree in information technology and management. He had inherited $300,000 and hadpersuaded various family members to invest additional money. X-Stream assembledpersonal computers for the New Zealand and Australian markets and sold them through anumber of chain stores and independent retailers. The company had soon established areputation for quality hardware, customized products, excellent delivery times and after-sales service. Six months ago it had started a software division, specializing in webpagedesign and consulting on various applications for the development of electronic business.Gil was driven by a desire to succeed. He had started working part-time at an electronicsretailer at age 16 and in his spare time took apart old computers in his garage to see howthey were made. He was extroverted, energetic, and enthusiastic, often arriving at work by5 a.m. and seldom leaving before 7 p.m. He felt that work should be challenging but fun too.He had initially picked a young senior management team that he thought shared hisoutlook. A casual, almost irreverent atmosphere developed. However, a poorly organizedaccounting department led to the replacement of the first accountant after two years. Gilbelieved that major decisions should be made by consensus and that individuals shouldthen be empowered to implement these decisions in their own way. In the beginning, hehad met with each staff member in January to discuss with them how happy they were intheir jobs, what their ambitions were, and what plans they would like to make for the comingyear in terms of their own professional development. These one-on-one meetings becamemore difficult as the company grew, so senior management team members have eventuallydelegated the task of conducting reviews with their own staff. However, Gil was unsurewhether every manager was actually performing the reviews or how well they were working.Now he tried to keep in touch with staff by having lunch with them in the cafeteriaoccasionally.Denise Commins (affectionately known to all staff as Dot Com) was the chief financialofficer. She and Gil could not be more different. Denise was quiet, methodical, and verypatient. Her superb interpersonal skills complemented a highly analytical mind. At 55, shewas considerably older than most of the employees and often showed a strong maternalside. Many of her team (and several from other departments as well) frequently consultedher on work issues and personal problems too. She enjoyed the informal relationships shehad built up but found that the technical aspects of her role were becoming less rewarding.Don Head, the marketing manager, was considered to be a rather ruthless operator, oftenundercutting the competition in terms of price, and, on more than one occasion_bycirculating false rumors of defects in their products. He deemed himself "a ladies' man" andwas known to flirt with a number of the staff. A case of sexual harassment had beendropped after a 22-year-old secretary had been paid a sizeable sum of money. Gil and themembers of the senior management team had been furious but Don had denied anywrongdoing, claiming that she had "led him on." Don had been at university with Gil andthey spent many hours after work at a pub around the corner from the factory. With salesrising year after year, his marketing expertise and cunning were regarded as essential tothe company's continuing growth. He had a department of eight whom he had carefullyscreened as ambitious self-starters. They were required to set and achieve their owntargets, as long as they were "big hairy ambitious goals," a phrase he had heard at aseminar.Jason Palu, the production manager, was a soft-spoken man who had started as asupervisor and who had quickly worked his way to the top position. He set extremely highstandards for the production staff and was considered to be a perfectionist. He was highlyregarded by his colleagues for his efficiency and reliability. There were very few occasionswhen an order could not be fulfilled on time and his goal was zero defects. He tended to beautocratic and some people complained that he never listened to them, allocated workhours that did not suit people, and often required staff to work (paid) overtime on very shortnotice. When one production worker complained, he tersely remarked that "we have a job todo and we just have to get on with it. The company depends on us.Heather Berkowitz was the chief webpage designer. She had blue hair, and a ring throughher nose, and she dressed in exotic clothes that had been sourced from a number.ofsecondhand stores. She seldom arrived at work much before 11 a.m. and often left before 4p.m. She said she did her best work at home, often at night, so why should she "punch theclock like the drones on the assembly line"? Gil and others had often received e-mails fromher that had been sent at all hours of the night. She had established a reputation as a topwebpage designer, and although her physical appearance did not go down too well withsome of the company's clients (or staff) the quality and quantity of her work was extremelyhigh.On Tuesdays, at 9 a.m. the senior staff met to discuss weekly plans and any significantissues that had arisen. All employees were invited to the meeting, and some accepted thisopportunity to attend. Gil trusted all staff to keep confidential matters within the company.He believed that if the organization shared information with employees they would be morelikely to support management decisions. The meetings lacked formality and usually startedwith some jokes, usually at the expense of some members of staff. By and large the jokeswere meant to be inoffensive, but were not always taken that way. Nicknames were oftenassigned to staff, mostly by Don Head, some quite derogatory. You were thought to be a"wet blanket" if you objected. Don seemed oblivious to the unflattering nickname he hadbeen given, preferring to call himself Braveheart, sometimes even signing memos in thisfashion.Although employment agreements referred to a 40-hour week there was an expectation thatstaff would put in substantially more than that. Only the assembly line workers had to clockin and out, but this, Jason had explained, was due to the overtime that assembly staff wererequired to work to meet deadlines. The overtime pay was welcomed by some productionstaff and resented by some employees in other departments who believed they should beentitled to the same benefits.Recently a conflict had arisen between Jason and Don. The company had been developingfor some time a top-of-the-range laptop which was scheduled for launching in two weeks'time. Jason had been urging senior management to delay the introduction of the new X-MHuntil some glitches had been sorted out. A batch of chips acquired from abroad had.contained some defective features. Jason wanted to postpone the new model until theseproblems had been completely sorted out, a process which he believed would take anothermonth. Don found this to be unacceptable. A former New Zealand rugby team (All Blacks)captain had been contracted to attend the launch and market the new model on a roadshowthat would travel to New Zealand and Australia's main cities. He would not be available atthe time Jason was prepared to release the X-MH. At a heated staff meeting, some of thesenior staff backed Don, while others agreed with Jason. Don had urged all of hisdepartment to attend the meeting, to present a united front and convey an image of power.Heather Berkowitz had arrived halfway through the meeting and with a mouthful of muffinproclaimed that there was no rush to get out the "new toy." The company had plenty ofother issues to which it could devote its energy. She said she had met the head ofinformation technology of a chain of fast-food restaurants that wanted to revitalize itswebsite. She maintained she needed three extra staff to get this up and running. She leftthe meeting five minutes later. Don was fuming at the interruption and demanded that Gilshould stick to the original launch date of the X-MH. Gil calmly replied that he understoodDon's frustration but that more consultation was necessary. He said that it would bediscussed by the parties concerned during the week and a final decision would be made atthe following Tuesday's staff meeting.

Question

Story and questions are attached. Don spent the rest of the day lobbying other members of the senior staff. He offeredDorothy the use of his beach cottage if she backed him and promised to support her on theacquisition of expensive new accounting software. She just laughed and said that she wasconvinced the senior management team would approve the new software. She alsoinformed Don that a member of her staff had seen one of his sales representatives enteringa strip joint the previous week at a time when the sales force had been engaged in a staffmeeting.Other problems had arisen in recent months. Ramesh Patel, the newly recruited head of e-business applications had, with help from a personal contact, developed a softwareprogram that would help hotels and restaurants source products and services over theInternet. It was beginning to generate useful revenue. His contact had now billed X-Streamfor $25,000 in consultancy fees and development costs. Ramesh claimed that his contacthad owed him a favor and that no mention of money had ever been made. X-Stream hadreferred the matter to its legal counsel.Les Kong, the research and development manager (hardware), had complained to Gil thathe could no longer work under Jason Paly. While he considered him a very pleasant man,and a very capable production manager, he could no longer tolerate his strict control style.&#34;You can't do creative work on command!&#34; was his lament. He loved his job and had spenthours over several weekends developing and refining a new product.There was considerable resentment from Jason and Don about the resources that had beeninvested in the software division, partly because they did not see the need for the companyto diversify and partly because they claimed that money was being diverted from theirdepartments to fund the new ventures. Ramesh claimed that &#34;a good e-business starts athome we should open up all our procurement via the Internet.&#34; His suggestion did not godown well with Jason and Don.Gil had been pondering the structure of X-Stream for some time. The old functionalstructure no longer seemed appropriate. &#34;Silo&#34; mentality and departmental interests seemedto predominate and turf wars took place. The company had grown to 64 staff in NewZealand and 8 in Australia. The ongoing development of new hardware and the introductionof the software side of the business had made management tasks somewhat complicated.He missed the old days when he knew every member of staff. The informal decision-makingthat was characteristic of the business might have to give way to more formal processes.Yet he did not want to lose the creativity that underpinned its success. Despite the openinvitation to attend the management meetings, many staff complained that they never knewwhat was going on. He expected all senior managers to keep their departmental staffinformed of developments. Some had done this admirably, while others had virtually ignoredhis wishes.A human resources manager, Alkina Bennelong, had been appointed a month previouslyand reported to Denise Commins. She had been reviewing the company's loosely wordedjob descriptions and person specifications and the recruitment and selection systems andhad suggested more professional but more elaborate approaches. She had also suggestedthe introduction of a performance management system, including feedback from peers,direct reports and outsiders, such as suppliers and customers. &#34;Over my dead body!&#34; wasthe retort of Don Head. &#34;How can you allow subordinates to tell you how to do your job?&#34;queried Jason Palu. &#34;Can't see what the fuss is all about,&#34; said Heather Berkowitz.&#34;Everybody keeps telling me what to do anyway, even though they don't understand the firstthing about my job! But it doesn't worry me.&#34;Do a diagnosis of the situation in the company and the accounting department? Use 4theories from chapters 1-4 in the textbook to diagnose the situation. (OrganizationalBehavior: Emerging Knowledge. Global Reality by Steven McShane)Do an analysis on what interventions would you recommend and why?Develop an action plan. CASE 2: GOING TO THE X-STREAMBy Roy Smollan, Auckland University of Technology, New ZealandGil Reibana was the chief executive officer of X-Stream, a company he launched inAuckland, New Zealand, six years ago at the age of 25, after graduating with a bachelor'sdegree in information technology and management. He had inherited $300,000 and hadpersuaded various family members to invest additional money. X-Stream assembledpersonal computers for the New Zealand and Australian markets and sold them through anumber of chain stores and independent retailers. The company had soon established areputation for quality hardware, customized products, excellent delivery times and after-sales service. Six months ago it had started a software division, specializing in webpagedesign and consulting on various applications for the development of electronic business.Gil was driven by a desire to succeed. He had started working part-time at an electronicsretailer at age 16 and in his spare time took apart old computers in his garage to see howthey were made. He was extroverted, energetic, and enthusiastic, often arriving at work by5 a.m. and seldom leaving before 7 p.m. He felt that work should be challenging but fun too.He had initially picked a young senior management team that he thought shared hisoutlook. A casual, almost irreverent atmosphere developed. However, a poorly organizedaccounting department led to the replacement of the first accountant after two years. Gilbelieved that major decisions should be made by consensus and that individuals shouldthen be empowered to implement these decisions in their own way. In the beginning, hehad met with each staff member in January to discuss with them how happy they were intheir jobs, what their ambitions were, and what plans they would like to make for the comingyear in terms of their own professional development. These one-on-one meetings becamemore difficult as the company grew, so senior management team members have eventuallydelegated the task of conducting reviews with their own staff. However, Gil was unsurewhether every manager was actually performing the reviews or how well they were working.Now he tried to keep in touch with staff by having lunch with them in the cafeteriaoccasionally.Denise Commins (affectionately known to all staff as Dot Com) was the chief financialofficer. She and Gil could not be more different. Denise was quiet, methodical, and verypatient. Her superb interpersonal skills complemented a highly analytical mind. At 55, shewas considerably older than most of the employees and often showed a strong maternalside. Many of her team (and several from other departments as well) frequently consultedher on work issues and personal problems too. She enjoyed the informal relationships shehad built up but found that the technical aspects of her role were becoming less rewarding.Don Head, the marketing manager, was considered to be a rather ruthless operator, oftenundercutting the competition in terms of price, and, on more than one occasion_bycirculating false rumors of defects in their products. He deemed himself &#34;a ladies' man&#34; andwas known to flirt with a number of the staff. A case of sexual harassment had beendropped after a 22-year-old secretary had been paid a sizeable sum of money. Gil and themembers of the senior management team had been furious but Don had denied anywrongdoing, claiming that she had &#34;led him on.&#34; Don had been at university with Gil andthey spent many hours after work at a pub around the corner from the factory. With salesrising year after year, his marketing expertise and cunning were regarded as essential tothe company's continuing growth. He had a department of eight whom he had carefullyscreened as ambitious self-starters. They were required to set and achieve their owntargets, as long as they were &#34;big hairy ambitious goals,&#34; a phrase he had heard at aseminar.Jason Palu, the production manager, was a soft-spoken man who had started as asupervisor and who had quickly worked his way to the top position. He set extremely highstandards for the production staff and was considered to be a perfectionist. He was highlyregarded by his colleagues for his efficiency and reliability. There were very few occasionswhen an order could not be fulfilled on time and his goal was zero defects. He tended to beautocratic and some people complained that he never listened to them, allocated workhours that did not suit people, and often required staff to work (paid) overtime on very shortnotice. When one production worker complained, he tersely remarked that &#34;we have a job todo and we just have to get on with it. The company depends on us.Heather Berkowitz was the chief webpage designer. She had blue hair, and a ring throughher nose, and she dressed in exotic clothes that had been sourced from a number.ofsecondhand stores. She seldom arrived at work much before 11 a.m. and often left before 4p.m. She said she did her best work at home, often at night, so why should she &#34;punch theclock like the drones on the assembly line&#34;? Gil and others had often received e-mails fromher that had been sent at all hours of the night. She had established a reputation as a topwebpage designer, and although her physical appearance did not go down too well withsome of the company's clients (or staff) the quality and quantity of her work was extremelyhigh.On Tuesdays, at 9 a.m. the senior staff met to discuss weekly plans and any significantissues that had arisen. All employees were invited to the meeting, and some accepted thisopportunity to attend. Gil trusted all staff to keep confidential matters within the company.He believed that if the organization shared information with employees they would be morelikely to support management decisions. The meetings lacked formality and usually startedwith some jokes, usually at the expense of some members of staff. By and large the jokeswere meant to be inoffensive, but were not always taken that way. Nicknames were oftenassigned to staff, mostly by Don Head, some quite derogatory. You were thought to be a&#34;wet blanket&#34; if you objected. Don seemed oblivious to the unflattering nickname he hadbeen given, preferring to call himself Braveheart, sometimes even signing memos in thisfashion.Although employment agreements referred to a 40-hour week there was an expectation thatstaff would put in substantially more than that. Only the assembly line workers had to clockin and out, but this, Jason had explained, was due to the overtime that assembly staff wererequired to work to meet deadlines. The overtime pay was welcomed by some productionstaff and resented by some employees in other departments who believed they should beentitled to the same benefits.Recently a conflict had arisen between Jason and Don. The company had been developingfor some time a top-of-the-range laptop which was scheduled for launching in two weeks'time. Jason had been urging senior management to delay the introduction of the new X-MHuntil some glitches had been sorted out. A batch of chips acquired from abroad had.contained some defective features. Jason wanted to postpone the new model until theseproblems had been completely sorted out, a process which he believed would take anothermonth. Don found this to be unacceptable. A former New Zealand rugby team (All Blacks)captain had been contracted to attend the launch and market the new model on a roadshowthat would travel to New Zealand and Australia's main cities. He would not be available atthe time Jason was prepared to release the X-MH. At a heated staff meeting, some of thesenior staff backed Don, while others agreed with Jason. Don had urged all of hisdepartment to attend the meeting, to present a united front and convey an image of power.Heather Berkowitz had arrived halfway through the meeting and with a mouthful of muffinproclaimed that there was no rush to get out the &#34;new toy.&#34; The company had plenty ofother issues to which it could devote its energy. She said she had met the head ofinformation technology of a chain of fast-food restaurants that wanted to revitalize itswebsite. She maintained she needed three extra staff to get this up and running. She leftthe meeting five minutes later. Don was fuming at the interruption and demanded that Gilshould stick to the original launch date of the X-MH. Gil calmly replied that he understoodDon's frustration but that more consultation was necessary. He said that it would bediscussed by the parties concerned during the week and a final decision would be made atthe following Tuesday's staff meeting.

Accepted Answer

Introduction: 
X-Stream is a company that is facing various issues such as a silo mentality,…