Download the case study - Human Synergistics

C A S E S T U DY I N F O R M AT I O N S H E E T N O. 8
The relationship between management
practices and employee behaviours
Industry
Finance
Diagnostic tool
LSI
Introduction
This case study emerges from a project involving the post acquisition
merger/integration of customer service and sales operations in a large ‘retail’
type business.
Management Practices
The management practices within each
business group were quite different. These are
listed over the page.
In essence, where one had concentrated
on developing a constructive culture of
personal responsibility, reinforcing the
behaviours of Achievement, Self-Actualising,
Humanistic-Encouraging and Affiliative,
the other organisation had focused on a
more ‘control’ paradigm of management.
Organisation A
Organisation B
Organisation A took over Organisation B
C a s e S t u d y I n f o r m a t i o n S h e e t
w w w. h s n z . c o . n z | w w w. h u m a n - s y n e r g i s t i c s . c o m . a u

C A S E S T U DY I N F O R M AT I O N S H E E T
w w w. h s n z . c o . n z | w w w. h u m a n - s y n e r g i s t i c s . c o m . a u
The relationship between management practices and employee behaviours
Key differences in managerial practices
between these two organisations were:
Acquiring Organisation
• A management style that promoted
individual responsibility
• Focus on developing the ‘whole person’
• Team goals and targets
• Flat management structure
• Performance focused at the team level,
with Team Leaders being the key level of
management
• Emphasis on culture - in particular, one
that reinforces constructive behaviours
• Encourages self-set goals
• Rewards outputs (sales etc)
• Celebrates success
As a result, the profiles (see page 1) show
that staff behave in the following ways:
Acquiring Organisation
• Goal oriented
• Analytical - examining options before acting
• Prepared to learn
• Supportive of each other
• Prepared to take responsibility
• Striving for standards of ‘excellence’
• Creative
• Friendly
• Encourage each other
• Use own initiative
• Be fairly critical
• See that your own personal effort makes
a difference
Acquired Organisation
• A management style that emphasised
control and procedure
• Focus on developing job skills
• Individual goals and targets
• Hierarchical management structure
• Performance focused at the total business
unit level, with all power invested in
managers
• Emphasis on tasks, with managers
responsible for control and workers
responsible for outputs
• Managers set goals for individuals
• Rewards inputs (time etc)
• Stoical about success
Acquired Organisation
• Low goal orientation
• Follow procedures only
• Avoid unfamiliar circumstances
• Supportive of each other
• Avoid responsibility
• Do what is expected
• Non creative
• Superficial relationships
• Focus on individual effort
• Seek decisions from superiors
• Be fairly critical
• Personal effort does not make
much difference
Auckland
10 York Street
PO Box 37-483
Telephone 09 309 9010
Facsimile 09 379 2263
Wellington
1 Willeston Street
PO Box 27-327
Telephone 04 470 7700
Facsimile 04 470 7711
Sydney
8 Windmill Street
Millers Point NSW 2000
Telephone 02 9271 5900
Facsimile 02 9247 6310
Melbourne
470 Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Telephone 03 9675 0100
Facsimile 03 9629 3095
Copyright Policy All publications of Human Synergistics International and Human Synergistics NZ Ltd, and its associated authors are copyrighted. Their reproduction, in
whole or in part, by any process, is a violation of copyright law. This policy applies, but is not limited to, any learning instrument or section thereof, as well as answer sheets, scoring
devices, profiles, report forms, tables, charts, norms or other quoted material found in instruments.