NoJax is finally ready for you to start in-depth evaluations of organizational behavior at the micro level. Start by viewing the NoJax Company Background document and cross referencing the employee profiles with the organizational structure provided. This will give you an idea of what managers are working together. Pay particular attention to the given personality trait scores, education, and experience for each manager. From there, start to form an opinion about how these managers will be working together, both positively and negatively. The section on policy will also provide some context on working conditions and employee interaction. Senior management would like you to write a report providing analysis of your observations.

Address the following in your report:

• Taking into consideration industry, job, and organizational fit, explain which Big Five personality trait you believe is the most important for NoJax management to seek out during an interview process. Support your choice with observations from the case document.
• Taking into consideration industry, job, and organizational fit, explain which Big Five personality trait you believe is the least important for NoJax management to seek out during an interview process. Support your choice with observations from the case document.
• Provide an in-depth analysis of a minimum of four of the management pairs working together utilizing personality scores and employee background information. For example, you might choose Design Manager Alice Bloom and Lifting Shoes Manager Anam Basra. For each pair, identify potential strengths of them working together and two potential weaknesses of them working together. This does require some hypothesizing based on employee personality traits scores and background information. Considering job tasks and job design helps here too.
• NoJax Inc. Company Background NoJax Inc. is a small American company that designs and manufactures specialized athletic shoes, clothing, and accessories. The business was first started in 2010 when two cousins, Noah and Jaxson Williams, recognized that very few quality options were available for people that led an active lifestyle, specifically regular gym goers. This realization led the Williams cousins to create a shoe prototype designed with weight lifters in mind. The first shoe, dubbed the NJ Elite, emphasized comfort and support that wouldn’t interfere with weight lifting form while exercising. As the NJ Elite gained popularity with local retailers, NoJax expanded their offerings into sports apparel. Since then growth has been tremendous, and NoJax has grown from those small local stores carrying their products to over 200 retailers nationwide. Currently, NoJax has four main areas of focus: shoes for running, apparel for running, shoes for weight lifting, and apparel for weight lifting. The NoJax brand is targeted at the fitness lifestyle. This psychographic segmentation strategy goes beyond typical demographic boundaries and has allowed them to position themselves as a high quality option for people serious about exercise. While this is currently a niche market, it’s a market that continues to grow as cultural trends shift more towards health and wellness. Much of NoJax’s marketing involves online advertising with fitness websites and sponsoring fitness competitions, such as the CrossFit Games and the Chicago Marathon. Revenue for the business has grown consistently as their market and the consumer base has expanded. Last year, NoJax earned $6 million in sales with a 15% profit margin, which is above industry average. The brand is moderately priced when compared to the competition. Shoes sell for around $80, shirts go for $50, and pants average a sales price of $60. NoJax is currently considering expansion into other markets. However, they have decided to bring in an outside consultant to analyze the company’s design for its impact on organizational behavior. Other than the addition of new product lines, very little about the company has been updated or changed since their operation began. NoJax senior management is concerned that the outdated company design and the new employees that they’ve hired may be negatively impacting the business’ effectiveness. Below is data for the consultant on the company structure, policy, and key employees. NoJax Inc. Company Structure NoJax Inc. currently uses the matrix structure pictured below. Product managers each oversee a single specific product line. There are currently four product managers that oversee four different types of products. Those products are running shoes, running apparel, weight lifting shoes, and weight lifting apparel. There are also three different departments with their own expertise. Those departments are Design, Marketing, and Research and Development (R&D). The Senior Management team currently consists of the two company founders, Noah and Jaxson Williams. There are a total of 50 employees working at NoJax in the positions shown below. Senior Management Alice Bloom Design Manager Carrie Durant Running Shoes Manager Jesse Mercado Running Apparel Manager Lynn Bryant Lifting Apparel Manager Anam Basra Lifting Shoes Manager Janet Johnson Marketing Manager Orlando Grant R&D Manager NoJax Inc. Policy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • NoJax currently adheres to a very centralized power and decision making structure. Employees are heavily monitored in order to make them as efficient as possible at their positions. This includes weekly status meetings with managers and daily activity reports that must be filled out by each employee. When decisions do have to be made it generally requires multiple approvals from both direct managers and someone from the senior management team. Routine decisions regularly take 48 hours to be made. Disagreements between the product and department managers happen frequently and a clear mediation process for these instances has yet to be developed. Roles and members of teams stay consistent. Employees do not rotate through positions at the company and are restricted from changing teams. Job tasks and design is very clearly defined with little variation between roles. Yearly evaluations of employees include ranking all of the employees in the company. Raises are handed out based on each employee’s ranking. The top workers can receive up to a 6% raise and the bottom employees receive no raise. All employees are paid a base salary. Pay is slightly above industry average, and employees average 50 hours of work in a week. NoJax does offer health and dental to employees but nothing in the form of investments or retirement plans. The hiring process at NoJax Inc. includes individual interviews with a product manager, a department manager, and then senior management. Typical time from receiving a resume to being hired is three months. Employees are allocated ten days off a year. Those days are meant to cover everything. This includes sick days, vacation, and personal days. Any days missed past that must be emergencies with some form of proof, such as a doctor’s note. Human Resource responsibilities are handled by the senior management team, as an actual HR department has never been created. All manufacturing and distribution of NoJax products are outsourced to third-party partner businesses. Discipline at NoJax works on a point system. Infractions, such as being late or acting out, cause employees to accumulate points. After an employee reaches 10 points they are written up. An additional 10 points can lead to a suspension. Points reset every calendar year and there is no carry over from the previous year. Employee: Alice Bloom • • • • • • • Position: Design Department Manager Sex: Female Age: 62 Race: Caucasian Work Experience: 40 years Education: High School Diploma Personality: o Extraversion–High o Emotional Stability–Medium o Openness–Low o Conscientiousness–Medium o Agreeableness–Low Employee: Janet Johnson • • • • • • • Position: Marketing Department Manager Sex: Female Age: 27 Race: African American Work Experience: 5 years Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Personality: o Extraversion–High o Emotional Stability–Low o Openness–High o Conscientiousness–Medium o Agreeableness–Medium Employee: Orlando Grant • • • • • • • Position: Research and Development Department Manager Sex: Male Age: 29 Race: African American Work Experience: 4 years Education: Associate’s Degree in Marketing Personality: o Extraversion–High o Emotional Stability–High o Openness–High o Conscientiousness–Low o Agreeableness–Medium Employee: Carrie Durant • • • • • • • Position: Running Shoes Product Manager Sex: Female Age: 41 Race: Caucasian Work Experience: 12 years Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Personality: o Extraversion–Medium o Emotional Stability–Medium o Openness–Medium o Conscientiousness–Medium o Agreeableness–High Employee: Jessie Mercado • • • • • • • Position: Running Apparel Product Manager Sex: Female Age: 34 Race: Hispanic Work Experience: 10 years Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management Personality: o Extraversion–Low o Emotional Stability–Medium o Openness–Medium o Conscientiousness–High o Agreeableness–High Employee: Lynn Bryant • • • • • • • Position: Lifting Shoes Product Manager Sex: Female Age: 52 Race: Caucasian Work Experience: 20 years Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology Personality: o Extraversion–Medium o Emotional Stability–High o Openness–Medium o Conscientiousness–High o Agreeableness–Medium Employee: Anam Basra • • • • • • • Position: Lifting Apparel Product Manager Sex: Female Age: 38 Race: Pakistani Work Experience: 10 years Education: Master’s Degree in Sports Management Personality: o Extraversion–Medium o Emotional Stability–Medium o Openness–Low o Conscientiousness–High o Agreeableness–High The Big Five Personality Traits Each person has a unique makeup. This simple statement impacts the dynamic interactions that people have with each other. A core aspect of each person’s individuality is their personality. There are a lot of different definitions for personality, but try to think of personality as the traits within a person that influence their behaviors, emotions, and reactions. As one can imagine, this topic is very important to organizational behavior. A person’s personality influences the culture and successes of the business. Understanding the personality of employees better allows a company to influence outcomes. This will be covered in more detail later on. For now, understand that there are many different theories about personalities. One of the most popular is the Big Five Model. This model seeks to measure a person on five traits that are at the core of our personalities. Those traits are extraversion, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. It’s important to realize that people can be high in a personality trait, low, or anywhere in between. Think of each trait as more of a sliding scale that a person can be rated on. It’s not an all-or-nothing measurement. Extraversion: The extraversion dimension measures a person’s ability and willingness to develop relationships and be outgoing. A person with a high extraversion score is sociable and outgoing. These employees typically know many of their co-workers and have established a dynamic relationship with them. They’re strong communicators. People with low extraversion skills, called introverts, tend to keep to themselves and prefer low-touch communication methods such as email. Neuroticism Emotional stability addresses a person’s ability to keep control of their own emotions and manage stress. Employees with high scores in this category are cool, collected, and under control. Those with a low score in this category, called neuroticism, are typically insecure, nervous, and easily rattled. Managers have to be careful in how to handle these types of employees. Openness Openness focuses on how willing a person is to try new things and accept challenges that may be out of their comfort zone. A person with a high score in this category generally loves taking on new projects, has a wide range of interests, and is willing to train toward new areas of expertise. Those with low scores in openness prefer being comfortable with what they know and are more likely to be very skilled in a single area of expertise. Conscientiousness A person with a high score in the conscientiousness category tends to be dependable and thoughtful. Employees that demonstrate this trait can be relied upon to hit deadlines and work to the best of their ability. Low scorers in this personality trait tend to be disorganized and easily distracted. Extra management intervention may be essential for these types of employees. Agreeableness Agreeableness as a personality trait refers to a person’s willingness to put their own thoughts and goals aside in order to better get along with others. These types of employees are cooperative with others in a group setting while also more likely to defer to other’s opinions. Employees with a low score in this category are likely to be cold and quick to argue with others. …