Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

How Open Offices Can Discourage Employee Communication

October 25, 2019

In recent years, many companies have gotten rid of cubicles in favor of open office plans that place everyone in sight. The idea is that employees will be more available for communication when they aren’t constricted by barriers. According to a recent study published by Harvard Business Review, however, open office plans could actually be having the opposite effect. Researchers tracked the physical and digital interactions of employees at two Fortune 500 companies that were in the process of Continue reading →

Motivation, Human Resources, Open Offices, Office Culture, Office infrastructure

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management

WeWork Withdraws IPO after CEO Scrutiny

October 3, 2019

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This past summer, the startup WeWork heavily promoted what it promised would be a historic initial public offering (IPO). Analysts seemed to agree: Goldman Sachs estimated the office space leasing company could reach a valuation of $96 billion upon its stock market debut. When WeWork submitted the first documents for its IPO, though, the company settled on a potential valuation of $47 billion as it promised to change the world as well as the office leasing industry. Co-founder and CEO Continue reading →

Management, Ethics, Compensation, Startups, CEO, Leadership, Turnover, Office Culture, IPO, Stock Market, WeWork

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 19: Securities Markets

[VIDEO] How the Campbell Soup Company Fell Off Its Perch

August 3, 2018

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A few months ago, we looked at why our subject for the Chapter 8 profile in Understanding Business was leaving her position as CEO of the Campbell Soup Company. As the video below shows, however, Campbell’s problems began long before Denise Morrison took the top job.

Questions:

Why has Campbell’s struggled to grow steadily in recent years?
What do you think Campbell’s should do to start winning over young consumers who don’t like canned soup?

Management, Marketing, Food, Product Development, Leadership structure, Packaging, Product Distribution, Campbell’s, Mergers and Acquisitions

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Uncategorized

Robocalls Frustrate Telecom Companies and Consumers

July 20, 2018

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Back in the pre-Internet days, companies would pay a fortune to set up services that allowed them to limit the number of phone lines used in the office. This meant that a company with 100 employees could use a single number with extensions rather than set up 100 seperate lines. Once caller ID came on the scene, these systems would display the same name to the receiver whether the call was coming from the mailroom or the C-suite.

This pricey Continue reading →

Marketing, Ethics, Promotions, Regulation, Security, Mobile, Robocalls, Telecommunications, Office infrastructure

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Chapter 8 Profile Update: Denise Morrison Retires as Campbell’s CEO

May 29, 2018

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In the Understanding Business profile for Chapter 8, we looked at how Denise Morrison brought a lifetime of business experience to her role as CEO of the Campbell Soup Company. She landed the job in 2011 just as the company was ready to undergo some major changes. Rather than continuing to use unhealthy, processed ingredients, under Morrison’s leadership Campbell’s began to focus on developing more organic options. “We believe we need to participate in this, so you can either lead Continue reading →

Management, Food, Product Development, Leadership structure, Campbell’s

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Uncategorized

[VIDEO] Starbucks Will Temporarily Close 8,000 U.S. Stores For Racial-Bias Training

April 19, 2018

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Last week, a manager at a Philadelphia Starbucks called the police on two African-American men who were waiting for a friend to arrive. Their subsequent arrest was caught on video and quickly went viral as thousands of social media users directed their outrage towards the coffee chain. Starbucks then took the drastic step of announcing that it would close all stores on May 29th for racial sensitivity training. Along with showing clips of the offending video, this short report also Continue reading →

Study Shows that Working from Home Boosts Productivity

April 12, 2018

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The concept of working from home has been a controversial issue among some employers for years. On the one hand, proponents claim that remote working can reduce costs while improving morale among staff. For its critics, though, the idea of working from home brings to mind images of employees who would rather lounge on a couch than do their job.

But according to a new study from Stanford, the former group’s assessment is likely the more accurate one. It all Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Global, Human Resources, China, Work Environment, Office Culture, Telecommuting

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Workplace Idleness Costs Companies $100 Billion Annually

February 16, 2018

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Although Americans are known for spending a lot of time at their jobs, they’re not always working during those long hours behind a desk. In fact, a recent Harvard study found that 78 percent of surveyed employees experienced some type of idleness at work. This isn’t referring to laziness or procrastination: “We are talking about time at work when employees are supposed to be working, and available to work, but they are unable to,” said Andrew Brodsky, co-author of the Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Human Resources, Idleness, Stress, Office Culture

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management

Silicon Valley’s Culture Has a Big Influence on Chinese Companies

April 25, 2017

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For years tech giants like Facebook and Google have tried to set up shop in China only to see their efforts blocked by the country’s restrictive government. In place of these global brands, domestic companies like the search engine Baidu and the social network Weibo have flourished among China’s enormous Internet community. And in an ironic twist, this growing tech sector owes much of its success to the structure and culture of Silicon Valley’s biggest names.

Many Chinese companies are Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Global, Silicon Valley, Google, Innovation, China, Facebook, Company Culture

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

The Swedish Software Company That Thrives with No CEO

March 9, 2017

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Three years ago, the staff of the Swedish software consulting firm Crisp felt it was time for a change in leadership. The company had been recently experimenting with its upper management structure, going from a standard CEO model to one that replaced the top executive annually through a staff vote. Then, a radical idea took root in the minds of Crisp’s employees. “We said, ‘what if we had nobody as our next CEO – what would that look like?’” said Continue reading →

Management, Motivation, Global, Human Resources, Leadership structure, Crisp, Sweden

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management