THE NIGHT AMARILLO WENT RED

Abstract

Management of people, their motivation, and evaluation has always been critical in organizational success; however, the introduction of new organizational policy, labor law, and societal norms has created new challenges between management and labor. How we decide to hire employees, motivate them, and in some cases terminate them has increased in complexity. It has evolved to include strict adherence to procedure, laws, and company policies. This case revolves around an owner of a huge farm and one specific employee. The owner had to determine different ways of trying to motivate and discipline this and other employees. After a catastrophe the owner had to determine if an employee should be let go and if he has been given enough chances to meet organizational expectations. The primary focus of the case is designed to encourage a discussion of the appropriateness of the motivational techniques used in the case. The case also targets other areas of organizational behavior. These areas include administering effective punishment and communication. Readers are provided supporting information prior culmination of events. This information, along with what is presented in the final event, must be analyzed to determine responses to several discussion questions. The topics of discussion include effective communication, motivating others, administering effective punishment, and managing employee performance. This case is an excellent example of the influence that communication, motivation, and performance have in the workplace. The case is targeted toward upper-level undergraduate business majors