Case No.

1 Case Title: The Patterson Operation (Case on Motivation)

Group No. 4 Section: MGT 131 - X

BONIFACIO, Marvin Donnel _________________________

CIMACIO, Blessie _________________________
FELICIANO II, Norman Aeronn _________________________
MALABANAN, Scanner _________________________
NATIVIDAD, Perry _________________________

Date Submitted: September 26, 2019

I. Point of View
In this case, the view of May Allison, Patterson Operation’s current First-line
Supervisor will be considered. As the present supervisor, she is liable for the programs
and activities held in the company. She has been able to earn the respect and admiration
of the employees and has developed effective work relationships with them even with the
little time. And all the while, she continued to get the employees in participating in
decision-making.

II. Synopsis of the Case

Carrington, Inc. is an international company that employs over 15,000 people and
produces and distributes pharmaceuticals, proprietary drugs, cosmetics, and toiletries.
The employees at the manufacturing and assembly operations are unionized and uses a
time-saved bonus plan called the Halsey 50-50 Incentive Plan.
Carrington, Inc. has a midsouth plant known as Section 10. This midsouth plant
has a problem with low productivity, low employee morale, and high unit costs. Section
10 uses roller-type conveyor belts for the assembly of its products. The working condition
in Section 10 is great – very clean, well-lighted, and air conditioned. An attractive cafeteria
is also available in the building. Despite having good working conditions, several
problems are observed in Section 10. Low productivity, increased unit costs, and poor
discipline are encountered. The employees in Section 10 eventually became young
inexperienced workers because of a bidding system used by the company and because
Section 10 had a negative reputation to the other workers.
Severe space problem was faced by the company due to the manufacturing and
assembly operations expansion. After brainstorming and considering some alternatives,
the management decided to transfer the operation of Section 10 to facility in Patterson
Street, called the Patterson Operation. Compared to that of Section 10, the facility in
Patterson Operation had bad working conditions – the building was dark, poorly
ventilated, not air-conditioned, and inadequately heated. No cafeteria or food service
existed, and restrooms and break areas were poor.
The assembly component of the Patterson Operation was headed by Fred
Hammond, an African American first-line supervisor. The operation has approximately 40
employees that were transferred from the main plant and are mostly African American
with low seniority. Fred Hammond introduced innovations or having a less strict
management of the assembly concerning working hours, environment, and attire. Notable
changes were evident during the time of Fred Hammond. Job satisfaction is evident,
feeling of mutual cooperation prevailed, and productivity increased. Specifically, the
assembly experienced a 32.8% increase in productivity during this time.
Fred Hammond was replaced by May Allison who handled the assembly the same
way and was received just as well. May Allison allowed the workers at the assembly to
change the working hours during summer because of the heat even if it is against
company policy. In spite of the notable changes, absenteeism, tardiness and turnover are
not better than in the main plant, although it is considered insignificant by the
management since there are very low grievance rate, high level of worker morale, and
better productivity.

III. Areas of Consideration

 Development of an assembly line which facilitates work speed

 Completing air-conditioned rooms
 Low grievance rate
 Renovating the warehouse into a better working space
 Building a comfortable cafeteria for the employees for better food consumption
 Formation of the so-called “Patterson Warriors”, in line with the reference of
company personnel policy
 Making other teams or doing team buildings for recreation and camaraderie of the
employees
 Betterment of work records concerning absenteeism, tardiness and turnovers
 Old brick structures of the warehouses
 Poorly ventilated and heated working condition
 Illnesses caused by the varied temperatures inside and outside the workplace
 Change of management, in particular with the supervisors
 Increase of the productivity over the past workplace

IV. Problem/Decision Analysis

Section 10
Assembly in Section 10 used roller-type conveyor belts
These conveyor belts provide employees with prepaks that supplies each worker
with the products to be included in a package. This required manual labor and was
perceived as relatively hard work in comparison to automated lines in other working
areas.
Section 10 was below the break-even point during the last three years
Operation had encountered a market trend of increase in unit cost and decrease
in output per labor. In fact, a lot of problems arose that caused this deteriorating situation.
Poor Discipline
In Section 10, discipline was poor. In fact, supervisors were constantly
having problems. A number of grievances had been generated. Having grievances
means that employees do not have a good relationship with each other or the
employees do not have a good relationship with the management.
Frequent Employee Transfer to Different Assembly Lines
An employee quite often moved from one assembly line to another. They
could work on as many as three different assemblies during a day's time. This
 action resulted to increase production costs because the employees had little
chance of moving down a particular learning curve before moving to another
operation. Transferring from one assembly line to another will lessen the chance
for an employee to master one assembly.

No Spirit of Mutual Cooperation

One factor indicative of low morale was employees' attitudes. There was no
spirit of mutual cooperation and the attitude of "that's not my job" was prevalent,
employees in Section 10 do not help one another in achieving their goals,they had
low productivity. Thus, they were not able to get bonuses from their incentive plans.
Figure 1. Problem Flow Diagram experienced in Section 10

Patterson Operation
The facility is located on Patterson Street
The building is located in an entirely separate area 3 miles from the main plant. It
has been thought to be available only for warehouse use - it has a large open bay for
shipping and receiving.

Poor working conditions

The building is dark, poorly ventilated, not air-conditioned and inadequately
heated. Temperatures averaged approximately 50 degrees during winter and 90 degrees
during summer, it is poorly suited for use of workers in the assembly line.
 Food and Poor worker facilities
No cafeteria or service food existed, employees had to bring their own lunch
or go to a nearby neighborhood grocery to buy food. Rest rooms and break rooms
are also poorly built that employees had to construct their own which was later air
conditioned and is planned to be painted on.

Absenteeism, Tardiness, Turnover and Poor Working Condition in Patterson

Excessive Employee Freedom

Patterson is still part of Carrington, Inc., hence, its employees should
conform to the rules and regulations of the organization. Absenteeism, tardiness
and turnover might be caused by the employees thinking that it is acceptable for
them to do so since they are even given an opportunity to change work schedules.

Management too Focused on Employee Productivity

The management should also consider the effects of these conditions
especially the poor working condition of Patterson to the welfare of its employees.
Proper measures should be done in order to avoid the possible long-term effects
of these factors.

Figure 2. Problem Flow Diagram experienced in Patterson Operations

V. Alternative Causes of the Problem

Section 10
Assembly in Section 10 used roller-type conveyor belts
Manual labor may not only be the cause of low productivity of employees, perhaps
they lack training and seminars that can help them effectively and efficiently do their work.
Management should first assess their employees’ skills and then provide them with proper
and long-term solution rather than employ them and let them figure out how things work.

Section 10 was below the break-even point during the last three years
The employee’s actions cannot be the only cause of this result. Other factors also
affect a sections’ decreasing performance like unmotivating managers, incoherent
decisions, improper handling of money, supplies coordination, etc. To properly solve this
problem, managers should look at the bigger picture and overlook other fields that may
not work coherently with each other.

Poor Discipline
Organizational culture is one of the major things to be considered by Human
resources. They must identify how the section works, what are their employee’s
behavior, values and attitudes, and identify who and which will have a proper
relationship with each other because not everybody will work well with everyone
thus resulting to bad relationship with other employees or even their supervisors
and resulting to low morale and productivity.

Frequent Employee Transfer to Different Assembly Lines

Each employee has their own strengths and weaknesses that should be
considered by the manager. This is why “comfort zones” exist, wherein an
employee might work well with this but not the other tasks. While getting out of
your comfort zone is a must, proper guidance and support is needed in order to
not negatively affect the operations of the company.

No Spirit of Mutual Cooperation

Mutual cooperation does not exist in an environment where there is a lack
of respect to each other, misdirected motivation, personal problems and even lack
of inspiration. Sometimes, work can become just a routine that does not give a
challenge anymore and does not inspire an employee to push their limits.

Patterson Operation

The facility is located on Patterson Street

Lack of space in the area near the main building caused a far move from Section
10, also the new facility might cause less money since it’s far and poorly built.

Poor working conditions

Even though the problem is very visible and the solution is obviously renovating,
management might have budget problems that disables them to provide proper and
complete working facilities to their employees.
Absenteeism, Tardiness, Turnover and Poor Working Condition in Patterson

Excessive Employee Freedom

Perhaps the supervisor might be more System based rather than Autocratic,
they all have different ways to discipline and know in which way their employees
can be more effective and efficient. Sometimes, relationship with employees
weighs more than relationship with management.

Management too Focused on Employee Productivity

Management is taking Patterson Operations for granted because even
though they provide less for them, they receive more and they will exhaust this
until it no longer works and that is when they will provide proper help and support
to them.

VI. Decision Criteria

a. Job Satisfaction (30%)

Studies have shown that Job Satisfaction is affected by different biographical
characteristics like age, gender, marital status and tenure. An employee not satisfied with
his/her job might provide low quality work, less productivity and in the long run, might quit.
b. Employee Motivation (25%)
Motivation greatly affects the result of an employees’ job, without it, they will feel
to be in a constant loop with work and might turn in absenteeism. A great manager should
know how to effectively motivate employees – vacations, raise, educational benefits, etc.
c. Low Cost (10%)
If employees can provide high productivity even if the management does not spend
high cost, it’s a sign of efficiency for them. However, this might not work consistently in
the long run so they must provide them with adequate pay and support.
d. Efficiency (20%)
Efficiency is a key factor in having a great operation. Using less resources but
providing the best results are what makes the dream team.
e. Ease of Implementation (15%)
A good motivation or management will not matter if it’s complicated and hard to
implement to the operations. It must be in line with the goals and objectives and coherent
with the employee’s skills and willingness.
Alternative Solutions
a. Setting up the assembly line
This is a drastic change brought up by Fred Hammond. He did this so individual
workers could work on the same job until that particular order was completed.
b. Nonstandard conditions
It includes playing of radios in a production area, tuned in popular music and
usually played at a high-volume level. It also comprises of not observing dress codes,
wear bonnets, or refrain of wearing jewel in the job.
c. Employees participating in decision-making
An example of this was changing the working hours during summer months from
5:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., rather than 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. as in other plant areas for the
benefit of the employees.
d. Formation of a sports team
Another development at Patterson is the formation of the workers’ own softball
team, called the Patterson Warriors. It is a decision without the reference to overall
company personnel policy.

Using Decision Criteria

Alternative Alternative Alternative Alternative
Decision Criteria Percentage
Solution A Solution B Solution C Solution D
Job Satisfaction 30% 20% 26% 23% 26%
Employee
25% 18% 23% 21% 22%
Motivation
Low Cost 10% 9% 9% 6% 6%
Efficiency 20% 15% 19% 15% 15%
Ease of
15% 13% 14% 13% 13%
Implementation
Total 100% 75% 91% 78% 82%
Table 1. Decision Criteria for Carrington Inc., Patterson Operation

As what we had observed, Alternative Solution B, Nonstandard conditions, is found

to be the best alternative among the rest.
VII. Identified Cause of the Problem
Increase in Unit Costs and Decrease in Output per Labor Hour in Section 10
Poor Discipline
In Section 10, discipline was poor. In fact, supervisors were constantly having
problems. A number of grievances had been generated. Having grievances means that
employees do not have good relationship with each other or the employees do not have
good relationship with the management. This is very opposite to the case of the Patterson
operation, in which only one grievance was filed since it started its operation. The
supervisors have good relationship with the employees as well as the employees with
one another other. Thus, they can work together smoothly in achieving their
organizational goals. In fact, it has given them positive results since they have recorded
32.8 percent increase in productivity. As for the case of Section 10, having poor discipline
in their workplace may have resulted to low morale and low productivity of the employees.
Frequent Employee Transfer to Different Assembly Lines
An employee quite often moved from one assembly line to another. They could
work on as many as three different assemblies during a day's time. This action resulted
to increase production costs because the employees had little chance of moving down a
particular learning curve before moving to another operation. Transferring from one
assembly line to another will lessen the chance for an employee to master one assembly.
Moving down a particular learning curve is important since it means that an employee can
do the job more efficiently and effectively. They can do it in a faster way; hence, they have
lower labor costs. Also, they can assemble better quality packages, hence, no need for
additional costs for rework or penalties for substandard packages. Thus, in the case of
Section 10, these could have contributed to the high unit cost of the packages.
No Spirit of Mutual Cooperation
One factor indicative of low morale was employees' attitudes. There was no spirit
of mutual cooperation and the attitude of "that's not my job" was prevalent. Unlike with
the Patterson operation, employees in Section 10 do not help one another in achieving
their goals. Thus, they were not able to get bonuses from their incentive plans. Mutual
cooperation is important for the employees to deliver what is expected of them as a team.
It will also create better relationship among them. With the spirit of mutual cooperation,
the employees of the Patterson operation were able to achieve the bonus from the
incentive plans which is deemed unachievable by the employees in Section 10.

Absenteeism, Tardiness, Turnover and Poor Working Condition in Patterson

Excessive Employee Freedom
It is good to know that the employees in Patterson are given opportunity to
participate in decision making. However, this should be regulated so that they can still
follow the organizational rules of the company. Patterson is still part of Carrington, Inc.,
hence, its employees should conform to the rules and regulations of the organization.
Absenteeism, tardiness and turnover might be caused by the employees thinking that it
is acceptable for them to do so since they are even given opportunity to change work
schedules. Although the effects of absenteeism, tardiness and turnover are not yet
evident, they might result to undesirable effects in the long run. As early as now, these
factors should be properly regulated to prevent the inconvenience it will get them in the
near future.
Management too Focused on Employee Productivity
It is interesting to know how Patterson was able to keep up its good performance
even with high absenteeism, tardiness and turnover and even with poor working
condition. However, the management should also consider the effects of these conditions
especially the poor working condition of Patterson to the welfare of its employees. As
mentioned earlier, the effects of these factors are not readily felt. However, as early as
now, proper measures should be done in order to avoid the possible long-term effects of
these factors. As for the case of Patterson, the management is just after the output of the
employees even saying that absenteeism, tardiness and turnover are not significant.

VIII. Organizational Behavior Concepts/ Theories Manifested and/or applicable

to the Resolution of the Case

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Two Factor Theory) can be seen in this

particular case. It leads to motivation factors that deal with job content and job satisfaction,
and hygiene factors that deal with job context and lead to job dissatisfaction. This states
that we need to have growth for the advancement of a particular skill and a good working
area for the control of his or her own work. It includes personal satisfaction of completing
a job and having an actual change of status of the company. Also, this includes company
policies and administration, supervision, interpersonal relations, status, working
conditions, job security and salary of the employees, which are inhibited in this particular
case. This theory states that we must maintain the best combination, high hygiene and
high motivation, around the workplace, for the employees and the company, to have the
best satisfaction.
 For the resolution of the case, Hierarchy of Needs Theory, by Abraham Maslow, is
one of the theories manifested and applicable to the resolution of the case. This theory
states that the employees have physical, security/safety, social, esteem, and self-
actualization needs. In the case of Carrington, Inc., the employees need water, food, rest,
a reasonably comfortable temperature in the working place. These factors serve as the
physical need of the employees. For the safety needs, the employees must be at their
best health, by controlling the temperature of the facility and not to be immersed in a dark,
poorly ventilated warehouse facility. Their social needs are in line with their camaraderie
and being in group of people which they can talk to, be fund of, and willing to work with.
In this way, proper communication will be evident in the workplace. Rewards and bonuses
are also important to recognize employees that have exemplary performance within a
period of time. This belongs to their esteem needs. And if they reached all these needs,
they can goal aim for higher needs, which is the self -actualization needs.
We can say that the company may use or used the ERG (Existence-Relatedness-
Growth) Theory by Dr. Clayton Paul Alderfer. It is divided in three parts, named as,
Existence, that refers to physiological and safety needs, Relatedness, which are Social
and external esteem needs, and Growth, that refers to self-actualization and internal
esteem needs. However, in this theory, it states that the order of the needs may differ
from one person to another. We can also say that more than one need may motivate an
individual employee and if they can’t attain a higher order need, the employee may make
the fulfilment for lower need higher, for them to attain their satisfaction easier.
Either ways, we must think always of our employee’s welfare.