Yakkatech Ltd

Assignment 2 – Yakkatech Ltd., McShane, 2009

1. What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

The symptom in this case that suggest that something has gone wrong is when efforts were made to

increase employee motivation and morale by raising their pay and also offering a vested profit-sharing plan; the end result being that both morale and motivation were decreased rather than increased. This can be seen in the following quote:

“Instead, customer complaints and productivity remain below expectations and, in some cases have worsened. “ (McShane, 2009, p.158)

The efforts made only increased the symptom of employee dissatisfaction but also caused the symptom of discouraging poor performers from leaving the company.

“Furthermore, a few executives have recently overheard employees say that they would like to work elsewhere but can’t afford to leave Yakkatech.” (McShane, 2009, p.158)

2. What are the main causes of these symptoms?

There are multiple causes to these symptoms and perhaps the cause that I think many of the symptoms stem from is directly linked to the employee survey that was completed 2 years earlier.

“According to the results of an employee survey two years ago (as well as informal comments since then) many employees felt that their work is monotonous. Some also said that they felt disconnected from the consequences of their work.” (McShane, 2009, p.158)

What the employees have voiced their concern regarding is some of the major drawbacks with job specialization as can be seen in the following information:

“Job specialization also undermines work quality by disassociating job incumbents from their overall product or service. By performing a small part of the overall work, employees have difficulty striving for better quality or even noticing flaws with that overall output.” (COB e.9, 2015, p.149)

Even with the employees voicing their concerns regarding the current structure of positions...