(a) What are the major issues in this case? (e.g., why do you think it was assigned to you?)
The major issue in this case is the dishonesty that was seen among the employees in the Plating dept, which lead to abusing the punch out system for logging in the work hours. It also outlines the working conditions, lower wages, which are present in the company that ultimately lead to the low moral among the employees.
The reason the case has been assigned is to study the group behavior and the common activities that are present in the group and to identify how that affects the productivity and satisfaction.
(b) What group norms are present in the Plating room? How and why have these norms developed?
There are two different behaviors that can be seen in the plating dept. One is a group behavior that is present in Sarto's group, where all the members were culturally bonded got together after work to have social activities. This is mainly because of the shared interests they had
On the other hand there were also individual behaviors attributed by Pearson's and Herman', who were deviant and did not like to work as a group.
The group norms and the individual characters developed because of the shared working conditions, same level, pay and the working location
(c) What roles do Sarto, Pearson, Herman and Clark play?
Sarto is a formal leader of a large group, who likes to keep his group together.
Pearson is a hardworking individual, does not like to involve with any group. All other has a liking for Pearson for his hard work.
Herman also like to work as an individual, but was considered as an outcast, because of his attitude. He has been with the company for a long time and thinks that he does not have to listen to others.
Clark acts like an informal leader. He wants to follow Sarto's path of becoming a leader. He is not an innovative leader but aspiring to become one.
(b) Why did the punch-out system develop?
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