What should managers do when old habits and customs interfere with progress? Magasco Paper Mill was once a state-of-the-art operation. But changes such as new equipment and the advent of unions have strained employee relations and inhibited productivity. The case ends with a labor dispute, a strike, and a period of enormous tension and conflict. This case should be accompanied by the B case (UVA-OB-0411).

While mayor of Izumo, Japan, Tetsundo Iwakuni, a former investment banker for Merrill Lynch, was voted the most popular mayor in Japan. Having lived abroad (in England, France, and the United States) as an investment banker, Iwakuni had left his corporate career to pursue public service. After a productive term as mayor of Izumo, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Tokyo. This case describes his personal life and career and ends with his election ...

This note discusses organizational culture, distinguishing among surface-level artifacts, formal and informal practices and norms, and deep-seated assumptions and values. The typology can be used to perform a cultural audit of a group or organization.

While reading the Wall Street Journal, Edward Rogers notices an advertisement for a knowledge management architect at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Rogers is an academic whose scholarship centers on developing models of how and why people cooperate intellectually. After submitting his résumé and completing the interview process, Rogers is offered the position for a term appointment of three years. After one month on the ...

This disguised case provides a strategic plan devised and used on a military base. Senior officers clarified their strategy, outlined capabilities needed, and designed measures to assess. The organization’s mission statement/charter, goals, and metrics are available for evaluation. Is the vision clear and could the goals be successfully translated into action? Does the plan lend itself to become part of the culture and daily business life on the...

Culture is a powerful determinant in how human performance problems are perceived and how their solutions in the form of employee development interventions are created, implemented and evaluated. As a lens, cultural frames color both the role and importance of human resource development (HRD) as a field of scholarly endeavor and as a professional area of practice. This book addresses the most critical cultural bonds that influence today's workfor...

This case is appropriate for teaching in the areas of entrepreneurship and managing the growth of smaller enterprises. It illustrates how an entrepreneur builds a premier service company by aligning culture, hiring practices, training, rewards, leadership, and business model.

This case is suitable for classes in business ethics, leadership and organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, and managing small enterprises. It focuses on the conflict between the personal values of the entrepreneur and the risk of losing a major customer. It deals with the issue of whether the entrepreneur should prosecute a CFO for stealing corporate money. And the decision is complicated because the CFO's husband is, in effect, the company'...

Jan Gronski, managing director of the Cisco China Research and Development Center (CRDC), and Ivo Raznjevic, engineering director, set out to establish a new R&D facility in Shanghai, China. This case focuses on the building of a culture through human-resource practices while describing such steps as securing an appropriate building, assembling a work force, seeking appropriate projects, developing managers, building teams, evaluating performance...

This updated version of the popular FMC Aberdeen case (UVA-OB-0385) describes the unique history and management of a startup plant, now owned by BAE Systems, that manufactures guided-missile canisters for the U.S. Navy. Management is minimized; most of the work is done by self-directed work teams. Suitable for courses or modules on organizational behavior, self-directed work-teams, manufacturing, organization design, high-performance workplaces, ...