Thevidsoft Triangle

A Case Analysis for "TheVidSoft Triangle (A)"

A Case Analysis for "The Vidsoft Triangle (A)"

Mid-term Examination, Organizational Behavior

Robert Kennedy College

I. Summary

In what could prove to be his defining moment, Alaji Babatunde, senior technical support manager of a medium-sized & multicultural software company, is facing a crucible in the form of an interpersonal conflict in one of his teams which necessitates his quick but calculated decision that would impact the employees' harmonious & effective interaction in his department and that could question the integrity of a procedurally correct business decision he made. Discerning the conflict's apparent origins & consequences and considering probable answers will lead Alaji to an evenhanded resolution to this intense trial and secure against a potential repeat.

II. Analysis

When VidSoft Technologies, an internet company, opened in 1996 it was developing enterprise software focusing on procurement for its customers. Both its revenues and employee base increased after going public in 1999. The rapid growth of the company could be mainly attributed to the customer-centric corporate strategy and team-oriented work culture that was introduced and implemented by the organization's mild-mannered and charismatic CEO, Keith Nash.

Teams are highly treasured in the company. They satisfy most employees' need for affiliation as McClelland's theory of needs explains (Robbins & Judge, 2009:180). Teams in the company can be classified as self-managed as they ‘can not only solve problems but implement solutions and take responsibility for the outcomes' (Robbins & Judge, 2009:324). Teams receive the support of the organization in terms of adequate staffing and encouragement. Managers follow a strict policy to only hire candidates who were extroverts and better than them, which also supports the staffing needs of teams. Managers play the role of facilitator to make sure that teams are coordinating their efforts so that they work together rather than against one another. In addition, there is a climate of trust in the company due to a high degree of autonomy and feedback that management has delegated to all employees evidenced by the CEO's approbation for all employees to speak their minds and to handle their own work schedules as long as they finish their assigned projects – an evident application of Douglas McGregor's Theory Y which assumes ‘that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction' (Robbins & Judge, 2009:177). Trust is extended by the CEO-supported culture of promoting from within which is a useful motivation tool for employees. Furthermore, the company uses group-based appraisals and small-group incentives in the form of bonuses to reinforce team effort and commitment. All these factors, adequate resources, effective leadership, a climate of trust, and group performance evaluation and reward systems, contribute to the success of teams at VidSoft Technologies.

Employees in the company give their maximum effort because they know that it will help their team and more importantly it will be recognized in individual and team performance appraisals. When they receive a good performance appraisal they understand that it will lead to organizational rewards. These rewards can be extrinsic like monetary incentives or intrinsic like rapid promotion and recognition. This scene supports Victor Vroom's ‘expectancy theory, which

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A Case Analysis for "TheVidSoft Triangle (A)"

says that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual' (Robbins & Judge, 2009:197).

When they went public, the company had to relax their employee selection criteria due to the scarcity of talented individuals in the job market and the growing number of technology companies competing for talented candidates. They were forced to rely on training average talents to face the frenzied pace within VidSoft.

The cultural diversity of teams in the company is substantiated by the different cultural backgrounds of the characters in the case. The protagonist grew up in Nigeria and later immigrated to the US to receive higher education. Two supporting characters are of Chinese descent but one grew up and studied in the US while the other grew up and studied in Hong Kong before immigrating to the US. Two more characters are of American descent and