obhr comparative case study

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When you’re performing research as part of your job or for a school assignment, you’ll probably come across case studies that help you to learn more about the topic at hand. But what is a case study and why are they helpful? Read on to learn all about case studies.

Deep Dive into a Topic

At face value, a case study is a deep dive into a topic. Case studies can be found in many fields, particularly across the social sciences and medicine. When you conduct a case study, you create a body of research based on an inquiry and related data from analysis of a group, individual or controlled research environment.

As a researcher, you can benefit from the analysis of case studies similar to inquiries you’re currently studying. Researchers often rely on case studies to answer questions that basic information and standard diagnostics cannot address.

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One of the main objectives of a case study is to find a pattern that answers whatever the initial inquiry seeks to find. This might be a question about why college students are prone to certain eating habits or what mental health problems afflict house fire survivors. The researcher then collects data, either through observation or data research, and starts connecting the dots to find underlying behaviors or impacts of the sample group’s behavior.

Gather Evidence

During the study period, the researcher gathers evidence to back the observed patterns and future claims that’ll be derived from the data. Since case studies are usually presented in the professional environment, it’s not enough to simply have a theory and observational notes to back up a claim. Instead, the researcher must provide evidence to support the body of study and the resulting conclusions.

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As the study progresses, the researcher develops a solid case to present to peers or a governing body. Case study presentation is important because it legitimizes the body of research and opens the findings to a broader analysis that may end up drawing a conclusion that’s more true to the data than what one or two researchers might establish. The presentation might be formal or casual, depending on the case study itself.

Draw Conclusions

Once the body of research is established, it’s time to draw conclusions from the case study. As with all social sciences studies, conclusions from one researcher shouldn’t necessarily be taken as gospel, but they’re helpful for advancing the body of knowledge in a given field. For that purpose, they’re an invaluable way of gathering new material and presenting ideas that others in the field can learn from and expand upon.

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OBHR Comparative Case Study

Executive summary.

In this paper, we consider the analysis of two companies: Netflix and Blockbuster. It was a complicated issue, but that’s to be expected. Netflix’s rapid expansion can be attributed to poor decisions, technology advancements, and other causes. In contrast to Blockbuster’s spectacular demise (Netflix’s yearly net income was $161 million when Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010). This piece aims to provide marketers with a few takeaways from what I’ve learned about these two companies, similar to this one on Zoom’s narrative of success.

Introduction

You may be surprised to learn, but there is no particular reason why Netflix overcame Blockbuster and became a household name. Netflix is one of the world’s most innovative and forward-thinking corporations, developing new business concepts and solutions via constant research and development. Blockbuster was a successful company from its beginning to its demise due to a lack of innovation and keeping up with new business methods and the shifting environment of technology.

Researching and analyzing the company’s organizational structure and culture

Organizational culture is a critical factor regarding how well individuals are integrated into an organization. Understanding the relevance of organizational behavior (OB) gives the organization a sense of direction and purpose. It’s a topic that’s pertinent to today’s economy. Promoting employees and cultivating business partnerships are critical components of any company’s success. “Promote independent decision-making by employees” and “present information honestly, broadly, and thoughtfully” are only two of Netflix’s five core values, but they’re not the only ones. It’s also possible for companies to illustrate how their principles, behaviors, and results are connected (MURA, 2019. Netflix encourages its employees to be open and honest with one another since it believes this helps us improve our technological abilities. The company’s philosophy of occasionally defying the laws is critical to its ability to remain adaptable in rapidly changing market conditions. Since its inception, Netflix has experienced explosive growth thanks to its adherence to these seven cultural tenets. Netflix does not make general announcements about their “integrity” or “respect,” as Hastings claims; instead, they demonstrate principles through the reward and promotion or even the dismissal of staff.

Blockbuster

The Blockbuster culture, on the other hand, was quite conservative. In addition, male employees were not allowed to grow their hair long, and they were not allowed to speak to the media without permission from their employer. Organizational transformation necessitates input from internal stakeholders, such as management and employees when making a strategic decision to reposition the firm. For this study, I have come across stories in which Blockbuster’s senior executives were replaced multiple times in a short period, which indicates that the company lacked a clear business structure and plan.

The communication methods used by businesses

Netflix employs a combination of communication modes that work well within the company. Individuals at Netflix were encouraged to make their own decisions, share knowledge honestly and consciously, be truthful with one another, retain high-performing employees, and people’s participation was highly valued at all times and in all places. In some vast corporations, top-level management may have difficulty communicating internally. When it comes to internal control, Netflix has kept things simple, despite its well-deserved reputation for creativity. When it comes to bringing issues to management’s attention, Netflix has implemented an open-door approach.

Employees at Blockbuster were known to have been trained to welcome clients and lead customers to printed recommendations rather than their video recommendations. As with many other businesses, Blockbuster also ran into difficulties due to a lack of clear communication channels within the company (Widia et al., 2021). Inability to build flexible relationships with staff and execute effective channels of communication. Inconsistent communication from the leadership to the team resulted in people believing that their ideas and contributions were less critical than others. Overall, there was a lack of established communication channels or processes.

The management and leadership style

Founder and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings, who once observed that if you want to build a large boat, you shouldn’t gather people together to gather wood, divide the duties, and give orders. Instead, the goal should be to inspire a desire for the vast and infinite ocean. The values of Netflix’s leadership and the entire organization are well-known (Akingbola et al., 2019). They will stop at nothing to keep their work free of inconsistencies. A role model is required for every member of Netflix’s senior leadership team. Netflix’s idealistic process is never-ending.

Poor management and an unwillingness to adapt to change are often to blame for the failure of businesses. When Blockbuster began selling movies and video games in its brick-and-mortar stores, they lost track of the industry they were competing in. Others believe that Blockbuster’s leadership team was to blame, which is why the company’s leadership was replaced. Businesses need to remain innovative and up to date at all times. Creating an environment that fosters innovation and creativity is a top priority for any CEO. To be successful in today’s world, CEOs must make their organizations adaptable to various external factors. To preserve a competitive advantage and increase innovation, employees should share their knowledge and assist.

Effects of organizational culture, structure, and management style on an organization

As a result of Netflix’s seven cultural elements, the company has grown tremendously since its inception. There are several things that we hold dear. By rewarding, promoting, or even letting someone go, they show their worthiness to the organization. On the other hand, ‘High performance’ refers to an organization’s desire to employ individuals capable of learning from and teaching others. They need also be self-motivated, alert, disciplined, and act as leaders to meet the “freedom and responsibility” requirement. Another responds, “Context, not control.” Instead of imposing their will on their employees, management aims to get the best results possible by establishing the proper framework. Netflix’s organizational style can also be described as “strongly affiliated but freely connected,” which refers to the company’s well-defined goals and strategies. It’s also important to note that they “pay top of the market,” which means they choose to pay one great employee over two adequate ones. The seventh and final pillar of Netflix culture is “promotion and development.” There is no room for error when staying on top and avoiding relegation.

Employees at Blockbuster’s local units were not allowed to make their judgments because corporate management controlled everything from the top down. As a result, employees and store managers had little influence on the long-term success of the company or its connections with its customers and prospects. When it comes to a company’s strategy, the management team relies on employees to make it happen. To be successful in their endeavors, employees must be included in the company’s problem-solving process. Blockbuster had a difficult time competing in this market.

The overall HR strategy

For the most part, a company’s overall success is used to gauge the effectiveness of an HR strategy. Recruiting from the world’s best universities is done with great incentive packages and a flat organizational culture that encourages people to improve and grow at Netflix (Zetlin, 2019). The company also distributes money for research and development, and services. In contrast to most companies, they do not have the compliance departments and procedures to enforce their policies. In the words of their vacation policy: “Go on vacation.” There are no set guidelines for how long to take a break or when to take it. According to the website: “You would think that such freedom would lead to a state of utter chaos. Nobody has ever come to work naked, but we don’t have a clothing code. It turns out that policies aren’t required for every action, as we’ve discovered. When it comes to hiring and selecting new employees, Netflix believes that the best way to ensure a productive workplace is to pick only those candidates whose goals are in line with those of the corporation.

Blockbuster does not have a sound HR strategy, which results in a more specialized hiring process and more minor employee advancement prospects.

Strategic plan for performance and management

First, Netflix was one of the first firms to entirely do away with the traditional performance evaluation process. As a result of Netflix’s remarkable success, many people pay close attention to how they manage their employees. Netflix’s overarching strategy appears to be demanding performance but allows individuals and teams to make their own decisions about how to get there (Suárez et al., 2019). Netflix’s policy for travel, entertainment, gifts, and other expenses is just five words long: “Do what’s best for Netflix.” On the other hand, Blockbuster lacked a solid strategy for managing performance and talent. This is a significant factor in its demise.

Recommendations

They could have restructured their organization to allow all of their employees to grow equally in the face of change and technology. When it came time to make promotions, they should have done so based on employee qualifications and the availability of fundamental necessities. Developing new products and services would have been easier if Blockbuster’s R&D department had been provided adequate funding and other support resources. Blockbuster’s pay performance and talent management plan should have considered employee complaints. Netflix needs to increase its research and development team to produce new products and services. Despite Netflix’s reputation as a top employer and recruiter, the company is always looking for new ways to attract the most outstanding employees.

The previous studies show that a company’s performance is significantly influenced by its management and overall culture and strategy. It is also vital for the leadership to have systems that can be implemented to help reach the goals and objectives that they have set for themselves. When new technology upsets the market, or your competitor introduces new business practices, it is even more critical to innovate to maintain a competitive advantage constantly. Businesses can fail even if their CEOs and senior management are not creative.

Akingbola, K., Rogers, S. E., & Baluch, A. (2019). Organizational Change. In  Change Management in Nonprofit Organizations  (pp. 1-35). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

MURA, C. (2019). Il cambiamento del mercato digitale: l’evoluzione dell’home entertainment da Blockbuster a Netflix.

Suárez-Cousillas, T., Martínez-Fernández, V. A., & Sánchez-Amboage, E. (2019, June). SVOD platform audience. The case of Netflix, Blockbuster, Hulu and HBO. In  2019 14th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI)  (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Widia, F., Rosanensi, M., & Rahmawati, L. (2021). Netflix’s Strategy to Dominate the World’s Entertainment Media Market After the Death of Blockbuster.  JBTI: Jurnal Bisnis: Teori dan Implementasi ,  12 (3), 155-171.

Zetlin, M. (2019). Blockbuster Could Have Bought Netflix for $50 Million, but the CEO Thought It Was a Joke.  Inc. Com .

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OBHR Comparative Case Study

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View attached explanation and answer. Let me know if you have any questions. 1 OBHR Comparative Case Study Student’s Name Course Instructor’s Name Date 2 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 Communication ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 4 3.0 Leadership and Management .............................................................................................................. 4 3.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 5 4.0 Organizational Culture, Structure, and Management ...................................................................... 6 4.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 6 4.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 7 5.0 HR Strategic Planning (Recruitment, Selection, Performance, Talent) .......................................... 8 5.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 8 5.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 9 6.0 Recommendations and Suggestions ................................................................................................... 10 6.1 Recommendation 1: Employee participation and communication ................................................. 10 6.2 Recommendation 2.......................................................................................................................... 11 6.3 Recommendation 3: Employee motivation culture ......................................................................... 11 6.4 Recommendation 4: Less hierarchical organizational structures .................................................... 11 6.5 Recommendation 5: Situational leadership .................................................................................. 12 6.6 Recommendation 6: Employee development.................................................................................. 12 References .................................................................................................................................................. 13 3 OBHR Comparative Case Study 1.0 Introduction This comparative OBHR focuses on two companies, where one is successful and another one failed. The failed company chosen for this cases study is Nokia whereas the successful company is Apple. Nokia was founded in 1865 in Espoo, Finland. It has been one of the most popular manufacturers of mobile phones in the world till the 2000s when it started losing market (Bhalodiya & Sagotia, 2018). The core factors associated with its failure include poor leadership and management, ineffective organizational culture and structure, among others. On the other hand, Apple company has dominated the mobile phone market since its inception in 1976 by Steve Job, and two colleagues (Narayan & Ramu, 2018). Through innovation, appropriate organizational culture, good leadership, and employee development, the company has retained its top most position in the hind-end smartphone market. The comparative case study attempts to show organizational behavior and human resource factors that led to the failure of Nokia and the success of Apple. Significantly, the case study suggests six main recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to avoid such business failure and sustain success. 2.0 Communication 2.1 Nokia The matrix organizational structure at Nokia company hindered effective communication between managers and employees due to a long and unclear chain of command in a highly hierarchical organizational structure. Communication in the Nokia company was very chaotic, slowing decision-making due to a lack of instant or timely feedback. This hindered informal communication because employees could hardly meet with managers casually or physically. On 4 the other hand, it facilitated formal communication since employees would communicate to top managers virtually over the phone or via emails. Such challenges in communication at the Nokia company frustrated employees and made them feel like they are less valued or important to the organizational growth (Lamberg et al., 2019). This was a significant blunder considering that employees are so close to customers and they know customers' need more than managers and top leaders who were sole decision-makers in the organization. 2.2 Apple Apple company has a strong communication network within the organization, enabling employees to share information and solve problems quickly. There is less or no communication restriction between management levels or among employees. Apple believes that supporting interpersonal communication within the company is crucial in developing relationships among the employees enabling them to team up and come up with the best innovative strategies. Effective communication in Apple company encourages teamwork and consultative decisionmaking, improving the company's overall productivity (Kao, 2018). Employees get feedback almost immediately when tackling difficult issues within the company, enabling them to determine and create an appropriate strategy to solve the problem or overcome the challenge. 3.0 Leadership and Management The failure of the Nokia company could be associated with poor leadership and management styles that discouraged employee participation. The company had employed top professors and prominent management professionals to steer the organization forward under the 'agile model' but then failed to involve employees (Lamberg et al., 2018). As a result, top leaders such as Stephen Elop failed to make viable decisions and ended up making faulty acquisition 5 decisions. For example, buying Symbian Ltd in 2008 and continuing to use the Symbian operating system which was deemed as the 'iPhone killer' was a big fault. Secondly, the company management and leadership failed by allowing Nokia to form a collaboration with Microsoft to make smartphones (Sulphey, 2019). There is no way, windows operating system could work better on a smartphone. Windows always work better on gadgets with bigger screens, processing power, and memory. The company had an aristocratic management and leadership style where employees were expected to obey what the leaders instructed them to do without question. The leaders and managers perceived themselves as all-knowing and took sole responsibility for making decisions. In most cases, failure to involve employees makes it difficult to communicate organizational mission and objectives to them since they feel alienated and marginalized from the company (Sulphey, 2019). This negatively impacted decision-making and innovation since only a few individuals made decisions in such a huge and complex organization. Managers at Apple company are former employees thus they have both technical competence and leadership experiences. 3.2 Apple Apple company adopted a participative and transformative leadership style. Employees are allowed to actively participate in the decision-making process. This allows employees to share diverse ideas from different experiences, points of view, and qualifications (Narayan & Ramu, 2018). Allowing employees to participate in decision-making has been one of the key factors that have enabled Apple company to perform well in the smartphone industry since it comes up with innovative strategies that enable it to produce smartphones that appeal to customers' needs (Trivedi, 2019). Again, the company relies on a transformative leadership style where top 6 managers train and mentor employees to enable them to assume leadership roles in the future. This justifies why almost all top managers in Apple are engineers who understand the company very well and have intensive customer and market knowledge. One generation of leadership coaches and prepares a younger generation for leadership so that upon retirement, there will be adequate candidates from the organization who would perfectly fill leadership and management positions left by their mentors. 4.0 Organizational Culture, Structure, and Management 4.1 Nokia Nokia has a rigid management system that is resistant to changes due to a risk-avoidance culture. Unfortunately, change is inevitable and organizations have to find a way of embracing it when it occurs. Failure to implement changes affected Nokia’s organizational success significantly (Kaur et al. 2021). Nokia’s dormant organizational management contributed to its failure because it was too slow to act to the changes in mobile technology amidst competition from different brands that had quickly embraced the change. The introduction of iOS and Android phones that had powerful computational power, attractive and classic user interface, camera, and storage was a great threat to Nokia (Lamberg et al., 2019). However, the riskavoidance culture at the Nokia company prevented it from moving out of the old ways of production and producing phones that could offer almost similar features and functionality as the ones produced by the competitors. Nokia adopted a dormant organizational culture (strategic agility) which caused its downfall because it discouraged organizational change. The company was conservative and invested heavily in its own Symbian software system and ignored the fact that Android and iOS were the next biggest operating systems in the world. Again, Symbian development was too 7 expensive and difficult to the extent that the Nokia company could not offer the customers exactly what they needed or something close to what the competitors who hand embraced Android (Samsung) and iOS (Apple) were offering (Lamberg et al., 2019). The Nokia company's conservative culture that compelled it to cling to its old and outdated operating system without acknowledging the changes in the Operating Systems contributed to a significant loss in market share. Finally, the Nokia company had a chaotic and rigid agile organizational structure which hindered effective planning and proper technology choices. It also introduced a tightly wired organizational matrix structure that hindered effective and faster implementation of changes. Some several departments and ranks had to be involved in the decision-making and approval of plans (Lamberg et al., 2019). For that reason, Nokia embraced changes such as dropping Symbian and Windows operating systems to jump on the broad bandwagon of the Android operating system when it was too late. This can be associated with the hierarchical nature of the organizational structure at Nokia which slow development and innovation processes. 4.2 Apple Apple’s organizational culture prioritizes innovation and teamwork. All employees work together to find innovative solutions to organizational problems and come up with products that meet the needs of the customers in the immediate market. The innovation culture is one of the core strengths of Apple's organizational competitiveness because it enables the company to come up with ideal products that outshine those of its competitors (Kim et al., 2021). Innovation is the core driving force of Apple’s operations. Therefore, innovation through teamwork culture at Apple company has greatly contributed to its success in the global tech market. 8 Additionally, Apple company has a strong vibrant market and completive organizational culture that focuses on being the best in the market. Innovation and products are primarily driven by consumer or market demand (Narayan & Ramu, 2018). Apple invests heavily in research and development projects to study the market, analyze what the competitors are doing or offering, compare what customers need, identify pain points, and then use its innovation and production capacity to create products that solve the identified pain points. The company produces what the customers want or prefer to ensure that it sells more than its competitors who focus on developing products without having the core interests and needs of the target customers in mind. This enables Apple company to be the best in every product it delivers because customers and market are the central focus of all innovation and production practices. Apple adopts a hierarchical organizational structure with product-based divisions and matrixes. The hierarchical organizational structure operates well because it is based more on product line rather than seniority. This ensures that employees can share information across various levels faster and quickly (Kao, 2018). Although this structure does not affect the performance of Apple's company significantly, it should be changed to a less complicated structure like that of Google which allows both senior managers, junior managers, and employees to interact freely and share innovative ideas. 5.0 HR Strategic Planning (Recruitment, Selection, Performance, Talent) 5.1 Nokia Nokia company lacks adequate strategic planning because of the conflict of interests among the leaders. Top and middle-level managers were frightened that if they recruited the best 9 quality employees or engaged in serious talent development, such employees would outshine them and take their position. In this case, recruitment and retention were not effective since managers wanted to employ people who can follow instructions and commit to the orders given by the top management without compromise. The top management suffered an inferiority complex because they lacked technical competence (Sulphey, 2019). This negatively impacted their performance and decision making but they were not assessed or appraised. In the Nokia company, only performance from junior employees and middle managers was appraised and assessed. Unfortunately, they lacked an appropriate employee development system and those who failed to meet the expected performance targets were dismissed (Alibage & Weber, 2018). Lack of effective strategic recruitment, selection, performance assessment, and talent development contributed negatively towards the competitiveness of Nokia’s human resources. 5.2 Apple Apple has strategic human resource practices that focus on boosting overall organizational performance. It recruits high-quality engineers who are likely to transform the organization greatly by constantly creating new concepts that can help the company outshine its competitors in the tech market (Trivedi, 2019). After recruiting the most competent candidates, they are developed through mentorship and training programs. New employees are continuously trained and mentored by old employees to enable them to fit into Apple's organizational culture perfectly. This justifies why Apple remains the most innovative company in the mobile phone and tech industry due to its innovative culture. Employees at Apple company are continuously appraised to assess their performance and provide relevant training and mentorship programs to manage their weaknesses and elevate their performance even more (Trivedi, 2019). They are regularly equipped with technical and 10 leadership skills to enable them to unleash their best while at junior ranks at senior ranks when they get a promotion. Allowing them to participate directly in decision making, equips them with relevant hands-on experience that enables them to perform better when making decisions or coming up with innovations to improve the company’s products and services. During mentorship and training programs, talents are identified and developed appropriately. Apple company believes that developing talents is an essential way of improving the quality of human resources in the company and general competitiveness (Trivedi, 2019). A company with the best talents and the most competent employees is expected to stand taller than its competitors (Adel et al., 2021). This is exactly what is happening at Apple because it focuses more on developing talents. Employee development has been one of the core strengths of Apple company that has enabled it to recruit and retain the best talents. 6.0 Recommendations and Suggestions 6.1 Recommendation 1: Employee participation and communication Nokia should have adopted an effective employee communication strategy to ensure that all employees and engaged well in decision making. Employee participation in decision-making is crucial in promoting organizational growth since they know the market and customers better than top management leaders. Employees are the ones interacting with customers every day and know much about what customers need because they receive numerous suggestions, complaints, and queries. Allowing employees to participate in decision-making is one of the most important strategic and organization can make. This can be facilitated through the creation of a less hierarchical organization that allows smooth and faster communication between employees and managers. 11 6.2 Recommendation 2: Effective change management Nokia should have adopted Kotter's change management model to avoid the catastrophic impacts of resisting change. These steps include creating urgency, forming a coalition, creating a vision, communicating the vision, removing obstacles, creating short-term goals, implementing change, and incorporating change in the organizational culture (Kaur et al., 2021). Adopting this would have made Nokia drop the Symbian operating system and adopt Android which was selling so fast since 2010 (Lambert et al., 2019). The ‘iPhone Killer’ operating system had failed as early as 2009 and the company had to find a way forward. On the other end, Apple needs to sustain its effective change management capability. 6.3 Recommendation 3: Employee motivation culture Nokia employees were demotivated because they were treated as though they are not part of the company. Communicating vision to such employees and allowing them to make decisions in the organization would motivate them. On the other hand, Apple needs a perfect monetary and nonmonetary motivation system to ensure employees can pursue organizational goals even to the extreme ends. Both companies should adopt and apply Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation to ensure they are satisfied emotionally, physically, financially, socially, and psychologically (Suyono & Mudjanarko, 2017). Both Nokia and Apple should develop appropriate employee motivation programs that focus on raising their morale and desire to pursue organizational goals. 6.4 Recommendation 4: Less hierarchical organizational structures Nokia should adopt a functional organizational structure because it was less hierarchical and more flexible to changes. Functional organizational would also allow free flow of communication across all levels and departments. It also fosters increased interaction and teamwork among employees across different units (San Cristobal et al., 2018). Likewise, Apple 12 should adopt a less hierarchical organizational structure to ensure that junior employees can interact with senior employees both on a casual and official basis. Such model work 6.5 Recommendation 5: Situational leadership Nokia should adopt a situational leadership style to reduce the conservativism culture developed by its rigid aristocratic leadership. Situational leadership is essential due to its flexibility that allows leaders and managers to adopt the most appropriate leadership styles depending on the prevailing situation. 6.6 Recommendation 6: Employee development Employee development programs are essential in promoting talent and skill growth among employees. Human resource management at Nokia should create employee development programs such as training and mentorship to equip employees with the most relevant skills and aptitudes which could improve their performance (Khan et al., 2021). It should emulate Apple’s talent development and mentorship programs that improve employees’ technical and management skills. 13 References Adel, A. F. S., Omar, A., & Abdulammeer, H. D. (2021). Employees ‘performance on Apple company. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 18(4), 1405-1413. Alibage, A., & Weber, C. (2018, August). Nokia phones: From a total success to a total fiasco: A study on why Nokia eventually failed to connect people, and an analysis of what the new home of Nokia Phones must do to succeed. In 2018 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) (pp. 1-15). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.23919/PICMET.2018.8481753. Bhalodiya, N., & Sagotia, N. (2018). Reasons behind the failure of Nokia: A case study of Telecom sector. International Journal of Management and Humanities, 5(03), 14-18. Kaur, J., Agrawal, S., Devi, B. P., & Chaudhari, N. (2021). Impact of effective and non-effective change management on organizational performance, a comparative study between Nokia and Samsung. SPAST Abstracts, 1(01). Danko, T. P., Vyazovikova, A. S., Kiselev, V. M., Rauskiene, O., Klimenko, O. I., Semenova, G. N., & Sekerin, V. D. (2019). Impact of intangible assets on competitive positions of the Apple company. Journal of Advanced Research. L. & Econ., 10, 1850. Kao, R. (2018). Disruptive leadership: Apple and the technology of caring deeply—Nine keys to organizational excellence and global impact. Productivity Press. Kim, J., Jeong, B., & Kim, D. (2021). Who Drives Innovation? Apple. In Patent Analytics (pp. 139-148). Springer, Singapore. Khan, S., Mishra, S., & Ansari, S. A. (2021). Role of organizational culture in promoting employee development: a review of literature. Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(S3), 585-595. Lamberg, J. A., Lubinaitė, S., Ojala, J., & Tikkanen, H. (2019). The curse of agility: The Nokia 14 Corporation and the loss of market dominance in mobile phones. Panigrahi, C. M. A. (2020). Failure of Nokia–Lessons from Losers. Published in the book'Emerging Issues in Business Management'Published By: National Press Associates, New Delhi, ISBN, (978-81), 944303-9. Narayan, S., & Ramu, D. (2018). A study on the organisation culture of Apple company. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 120(5), 3797-3808. San Cristóbal, J. R., Fernández, V., & Diaz, E. (2018). An analysis of the main project organizational structures: Advantages, disadvantages, and factors affecting their selection. Procedia computer science, 138, 791-798. Schoemaker, P. J., Heaton, S., & Teece, D. (2018). Innovation, dynamic capabilities, and leadership. California Management Review, 61(1), 15-42. Sulphey, M. M. (2019). Could the Adoption of Organizational Ambidexterity Have Changed the History of Nokia?. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 8(2), 167181. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277977919833752. Suyono, J., & Mudjanarko, S. (2017). Motivation engineering to employee by employees Abraham Maslow's theory. Journal of Education, Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 27-33. Trivedi, S. (2019). A Study on Development of Personal and Management Skills in Apple Inc. International Journal of Human Resource Development and Management, 9(1), 1-9. Outline for OBHR Case Study 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.0 Communication ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 Nokia ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2 Apple ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.0 Leadership and Management ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Apple ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.0 Organizational Culture, Structure, and Management ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 Nokia ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2 Apple ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.0 HR Strategic Planning (Recruitment, Selection, Performance, Talent) .......... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.1 Nokia ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.2 Apple ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.0 Recommendations and Suggestions ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.1 Recommendation 1: Employee participation and communication .... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.2 Recommendation 2............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.3 Recommendation 3: Employee motivation culture ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.4 Recommendation 4: Less hierarchical organizational structures ....... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.5 Recommendation 5: Situational leadership ..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.6 Recommendation 6: Employee development..................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. References ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. View attached explanation and answer. Let me know if you have any questions. 1 OBHR Comparative Case Study Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor’s Name Date 2 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2.0 Communication ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 4 3.0 Leadership and Management .............................................................................................................. 4 3.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 6 4.0 Organizational Culture, Structure, and Management ...................................................................... 6 4.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 6 4.2 Apple .................................................................................................................................................. 8 5.0 HR Strategic Planning (Recruitment, Selection, Performance, Talent) .......................................... 9 5.1 Nokia .................................................................................................................................................. 9 5.2 Apple ................................................................................................................................................ 10 6.0 Recommendations and Suggestions ................................................................................................... 11 6.1 Recommendation 1: Employee participation and supportive behavior........................................... 11 6.2 Recommendation 2.......................................................................................................................... 12 6.3 Recommendation 3: Employee motivation culture ......................................................................... 12 6.4 Recommendation 4: Less hierarchical organizational structures .................................................... 13 6.5 Recommendation 5: Transformational leadership .......................................................................... 13 6.6 Recommendation 6: Employee development.................................................................................. 13 References .................................................................................................................................................. 14 3 OBHR Comparative Case Study 1.0 Introduction This comparative OBHR focuses on two companies, where one is successful and another one failed. The failed company chosen for this cases study is Nokia whereas the successful company is Apple. Nokia was founded in 1865 in Espoo, Finland. It has been one of the most popular manufacturers of mobile phones in the world till the 2000s when it started losing market (Bhalodiya & Sagotia, 2018). The core factors associated with its failure include poor leadership and management, ineffective organizational culture and structure, among others. On the other hand, Apple company has dominated the mobile phone market since its inception in 1976 by Steve Job, and two colleagues (Narayan & Ramu, 2018). Through innovation, appropriate organizational culture, good leadership, and employee development, the company has retained its topmost position in the hind-end smartphone market. The comparative case study attempts to show organizational behavior and human resource factors that led to the failure of Nokia and the success of Apple. Significantly, the case study suggests six main recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to avoid such business failure and sustain success. 2.0 Communication 2.1 Nokia The matrix organizational structure at Nokia company hindered effective communication between managers and employees due to a long and unclear chain of command in a highly hierarchical organizational structure. Communication in the Nokia company was very chaotic, slowing decision-making due to a lack of instant or timely feedback. This hindered informal communication because employees could hardly meet with managers casually or physically. On 4 the other hand, it facilitated formal communication since employees would communicate to top managers virtually over the phone or via emails. Such challenges in communication at the Nokia company frustrated employees and made them feel like they are less valued or important to the organizational growth (Lamberg et al., 2019). This was a significant blunder considering that employees are so close to customers and they know customers' need more than managers and top leaders who were sole decision-makers in the organization. 2.2 Apple Apple company has a strong communication network within the organization, enabling employees to share information and solve problems quickly. There is less or no communication restriction between management levels or among employees. Frequent communication enables employees to understand each other better and bond appropriately, reducing the incidence of attribution errors in the perceived organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) between employees and managers, or amongst employees (Botone, 2020). This prevents misunderstanding and prejudice that could cause conflict at work. Besides, Apple believes that supporting interpersonal communication within the company is crucial in developing relationships among the employees enabling them to team up and come up with the best i...

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