Reference no: EM132904903

ManagingSport, Inc. Case Study

• Nathan Hamel has been an employee of ManagingSport, Inc., since its inception. His career began as a paid intern helping with marketing the new company. Hamel impressed the executives at ManagingSport with his organizational skills, creativity, reliability, work ethic, and ability to work closely and effectively with individual staff members as well as clients. Upon completion of his internship and graduation from college, ManagingSport hired him fulltime as assistant director of marketing. During his tenure at ManagingSport, Hamel has worked in many departments within the organization: sales, marketing, public relations, and programming. His goal was to obtain an executive position in the company, so, he sought to learn how the entire organization operated. He always received good performance evaluations, which led to his being appointed vice president of ManagingSport, Inc. this past year.
• ManagingSport has 23 employees who work in various capacities toward the accomplishment of the company's mission: to assist organizations within the sport industry with their business operations. ManagingSport's aim is to work jointly with clients in the development of business plans and the accomplishment of organizational goals. Its employees work with clients to design and implement activity programs to meet the client's general and specific goals.
• As vice president, Hamel works directly with groups of people within and outside the organization. This is in contrast to his previous roles within the organization, in which he worked with individuals as opposed to groups. Therefore, his strategies of motivating staff members and clients will need to change.
• Recently, Hamel has noticed that many company employees are less productive than they used to be. Employee performance evaluation ratings are lower, and overall morale seems to be down. Staff members are arriving late for staff meetings, and some have even missed the meetings. Clients have reported that phone calls and emails have not been returned in a timely manner. Client reports and programs are submitted late, and many times they need corrections before being sent out. These behavior patterns are of great concern to Hamel as it is a poor reflection on ManagingSport and on him.
• In order to get the situation under control, Hamel met informally with a number of employees to discuss the situation. He learned that many employees feel overworked and underpaid. The number of ManagingSport employees has decreased during the past three years from 28 to 23, with no new employees being hired. Some employees have taken on more responsibilities with no reward-"not even a thank you," in their words. Other employees noted that ManagingSport, Inc. is falling behind in technology. Computers are old and often use outdated software, or they are unable to operate software programs used by their clients. Employees feel embarrassed about this situation. Some have even purchased personal laptops and tablets that they use for work projects.
• Hamel made an appointment to discuss the situation with the president of ManagingSport, Inc., Mr. Frey. Frey did not seem too concerned and said, "This behavior is nothing new. It has been going on for at least two years. That is why I appointed you as vice president. I figured that you work well with people and that you would be able to motivate our employees. Therefore, I am charging you with developing a conceptual framework on how to improve employee motivation at ManagingSport. Please have a draft of your proposal on my desk next week."
• Hamel was stunned by this conversation. As he walked back to his office, Hamel wondered why this problem had just surfaced and why Frey had not mentioned it earlier. As he pondered the situation, Hamel was also thinking of strategies he could develop to motivate ManagingSport employees.

Problem 1. How do you think Hamel's experiences at ManagingSport influence how other employees perceive him?

Problem 2. What do you think are some of Hamel's motivations for joining ManagingSport in the first place? How did Hamel's motivation change when ManagingSport hired him fulltime? Which motivational theories do you think could be applied to Hamel's motivation(s)? Explain.

Problem 3. What role has Frey played in the motivation of Managing Sport employees? Do Hamel and Frey have the same or different motivations in their respective roles of vice president and president? Explain.

Problem 4. As vice president of Managing Sport, what strategies might Hamel develop to motivate employees to return phone calls and emails in a timely manner, attend meetings, and submit professional reports? Which motivational theories could Hamel use? What actual practices could Hamel implement to cause changes to employees' negative behaviors?

Problem 5. If you were in Hamel's shoes, what other changes would you make to fix any of the issues listed? Because resources are limited, prioritize your list of potential changes and discuss the costs and benefits associated with each.