Elmdale College Case Study
This case study discusses problems that arise with the employees of an Elmdale College Residence Hall. Each residence hall on campus has the organizational structure of: two Residence Managers who are full-time staff or faculty employees, two Head Residence Assistants who are senior undergraduate students, and 16 Residence Assistants who are also usually seniors. The main organizational behavior topics that are illustrated in this case through the dynamic interactions of the above listed residence hall employees are: Leadership, Employee Training, Discipline, Communication, Organizational Structure, and Human Resource Management. All of these topics are directly related to the leadership that is present in the organization.
About.com defines leadership as “a critical management skill, the ability to motivate a group of people toward a common goal.” (http://management.about.com/od/leadership/Leadership.htm) Each of the Residence Managers, Heather and Matt, seem to have a different leadership philosophy. Heather attempts to “please everyone” and therefore relies heavily on the consensus of her subordinates when making decision. Matt on the other hand states that he defines his practices by “integrity”, and claims this means that he “walks the talk”. However, both seem to have one leadership trait in common, which is that due to their busy schedules, both tend to have a hands-off approach to managing their employees and are not visible managers. One of the 6 traits of effective leaders listed by Christian Nevell BoveeIn is: “Stay close to the action. Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire." ...