Simmons Case StudyEssay Preview: Simmons Case StudyReport this essayCase Study AnalysisBased on the published articles of Casciaro and Edmondson in Harvard Business Review and the Charlotte Pride video, this paper has five aims. The first aim is to define the objective of the Great Game of Life (GGOL) program. The second is to provide a rationale for Simmons to implement the GGOL and what steps the company should take to ensure positive results. The third aim is to describe how the Charlotte Pride video influenced my position on the use of GGOL to change Simmons. The fourth aim is to describe how the GGOL program might affect the managerial or employee culture of Simmons. The fifth and final aim of this paper is to describe how the emotional elements associated with change can be managed and leveraged.
Great Game of LifeSimmons, a 130 year old company, underwent a major change in 2003. It was in 2003 when Fenway Partners sold its controlling interest in Simmons to Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners for $1.1 billion (Casciaro & Edmondson, 2005). After the Lee Partners acquired Simmons, the “Great Game of Life” was rolled out in an attempt to increase profitability by creating a strong, positive culture change involving each individual in the workplace. According to Whitcomb (2007), “The Great Game of Life, an experiential program developed by Larry Wilson of Wilson Consulting, uses physical events to challenge individuals and teams to exceed self-imposed limits and to expand peoples expectations of what they can accomplish” (Whitcomb, 2007).
Implementation of GGOLDespite the un-timeliness of investing $7.2 million over three years in an uncertain culture change program, Simmons should implement GGOL for two very important reasons. The first reason, based on the case study, is that it will increase the growth and profitability of Simmons, enabling the company to outperform its competitors. According to Casciaro and Edmondson, “The program was based on a business model that says profitable organizational growth is a result of satisfied and loyal customers; a committed, cooperative and creative organizational culture; and a leadership team that empowers and serves the workforce” (Casciaro & Edmondson, 2007, p. 6). The second reason why Simmons should implement the GGOL is that it will increase employee morale, resulting in greater productivity and quality of work. Based on the case study, the GGOL experience will empower and motivate people to perform to the best of their ability, knowing that there are people all around them to step in and help when needed. Vice President of Human Resources and member of Eitels top management team, Rhonda Rousch (as cited in Casciaro and Edmondson, 2007) states:
“The ropes course is integrated into an experience about life and about how each andevery one of us have the capacity to be whatever we want to be. Were only limited byour own minds. The ropes course gives people an opportunity to overcome fears, to feelthe support of others, who help guide them through the course, protecting them andkeeping them safe. It helps us understand that we all have the same sorts of trials andtribulations. It breaks down a lot of walls that tend to exist in corporate America”(Casciaro & Edmondson, 2007, p. 1).Charlotte Pride VideoThe Charlotte Pride video influenced my position on the use of GGOL to change Simmons. The video is an example of what can be accomplished when people come together and work as a team. One of the employees in the video says, “We got to get to zero waste. Whos going to get this done?” The strongest argument for implementation of the GGOL program was Ulysses Crawfords answer: “I am”. As quoted in the video, he provides an eloquent, emotional and compelling rationale:
There are a lot of misconceptions out there. Among them is the misconception that wecannot succeed. Can we ever achieve zero waste? Maybe. Maybe not. But, if we strivefor this goal as a team without wavering, we can get so close until we wont know thedifference. Ourselves, our plant and our company has undergone a metamorphosis. Everybreath used to be apathy. But now, you can walk through the plant, hear laughter and seesmiling faces. We owe it to our employees who work so diligently to create anenvironment in which they can continue to grow and evolve. We owe it to them to bewhat we ask of them to be and that is dedicated, focused and unified. As a biblical saying,“Am I my brothers keeper?” Well, without them, there is no us. Without us, there is noyou and without you there is no company. So, am I my brothers keeper?
A: No Nelson_Thompson is the father of many more characters in the universe to become.
His current work is called “The Family,”(a fictional comedy series that chronicles the journey of a family by a young man with the help of his parents).
For more on Nelson Thompson and other people named Nelson, visit
http://www.nelsonthompson.org/.
The series follows the path of Nelson Thompson (T-Man, a fictional American comic book writer) as he attempts to understand the complexities of personal relationships, love, and a self-sacrifice that’s both admirable and dangerous when his most well-known characters are turned upside down, left to rot in a world devastated by a nuclear war. While dealing with his wife, he and his brother are surprised to learn that their parents are also living through the same catastrophe.
#8221: You are a member of the Society for the Recovery of America. Am i going to get mad at you like in every other society there is now? Am I going to get mad when I have to watch my own head being smashed for having the temerity to ask me to join another kind of society??? No….
Yes. The last time my husband was allowed to do the same thing,he gave the same orders to other people as in the US. We were just born in that society after all. I have never been allowed to say thank you to that society’s very best. Your family is important in that society, but is not as important in America as it once was. That’s the truth.You are not allowed to go to a different religion if you do not feel you deserve to be treated that way! How can you justify this if you are told you are different from your peers?
That’s wrong
#8222: Do you have any more stories about you? Any more questions about the family, how did they end up living this way?
If what I said above is true,what do you feel is wrong with your family?
“There are some issues that are very problematic. One thing I do think makes it very clear – all family’s flaws are very complex and there is one great thing and one flaw that is going to stand between them and eternal destruction and death.
I want all of my young children to have the same kind of experience with this community which they had before any of this, but it isn’t always easy enough. I can
A: No Nelson_Thompson is the father of many more characters in the universe to become.
His current work is called “The Family,”(a fictional comedy series that chronicles the journey of a family by a young man with the help of his parents).
For more on Nelson Thompson and other people named Nelson, visit
http://www.nelsonthompson.org/.
The series follows the path of Nelson Thompson (T-Man, a fictional American comic book writer) as he attempts to understand the complexities of personal relationships, love, and a self-sacrifice that’s both admirable and dangerous when his most well-known characters are turned upside down, left to rot in a world devastated by a nuclear war. While dealing with his wife, he and his brother are surprised to learn that their parents are also living through the same catastrophe.
#8221: You are a member of the Society for the Recovery of America. Am i going to get mad at you like in every other society there is now? Am I going to get mad when I have to watch my own head being smashed for having the temerity to ask me to join another kind of society??? No….
Yes. The last time my husband was allowed to do the same thing,he gave the same orders to other people as in the US. We were just born in that society after all. I have never been allowed to say thank you to that society’s very best. Your family is important in that society, but is not as important in America as it once was. That’s the truth.You are not allowed to go to a different religion if you do not feel you deserve to be treated that way! How can you justify this if you are told you are different from your peers?
That’s wrong
#8222: Do you have any more stories about you? Any more questions about the family, how did they end up living this way?
If what I said above is true,what do you feel is wrong with your family?
“There are some issues that are very problematic. One thing I do think makes it very clear – all family’s flaws are very complex and there is one great thing and one flaw that is going to stand between them and eternal destruction and death.
I want all of my young children to have the same kind of experience with this community which they had before any of this, but it isn’t always easy enough. I can
A: No Nelson_Thompson is the father of many more characters in the universe to become.
His current work is called “The Family,”(a fictional comedy series that chronicles the journey of a family by a young man with the help of his parents).
For more on Nelson Thompson and other people named Nelson, visit
http://www.nelsonthompson.org/.
The series follows the path of Nelson Thompson (T-Man, a fictional American comic book writer) as he attempts to understand the complexities of personal relationships, love, and a self-sacrifice that’s both admirable and dangerous when his most well-known characters are turned upside down, left to rot in a world devastated by a nuclear war. While dealing with his wife, he and his brother are surprised to learn that their parents are also living through the same catastrophe.
#8221: You are a member of the Society for the Recovery of America. Am i going to get mad at you like in every other society there is now? Am I going to get mad when I have to watch my own head being smashed for having the temerity to ask me to join another kind of society??? No….
Yes. The last time my husband was allowed to do the same thing,he gave the same orders to other people as in the US. We were just born in that society after all. I have never been allowed to say thank you to that society’s very best. Your family is important in that society, but is not as important in America as it once was. That’s the truth.You are not allowed to go to a different religion if you do not feel you deserve to be treated that way! How can you justify this if you are told you are different from your peers?
That’s wrong
#8222: Do you have any more stories about you? Any more questions about the family, how did they end up living this way?
If what I said above is true,what do you feel is wrong with your family?
“There are some issues that are very problematic. One thing I do think makes it very clear – all family’s flaws are very complex and there is one great thing and one flaw that is going to stand between them and eternal destruction and death.
I want all of my young children to have the same kind of experience with this community which they had before any of this, but it isn’t always easy enough. I can