Resuming operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing organizational complacency in a family business

• Main Author: Tejada, Peter Hans Z.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Branding (Marketing); Organizational behavior; Family-owned business enterprises; Marketing; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6170; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/13233/viewcontent/TEJADA__PETER_HANS__11671114__RESUMING_OPERATION_DURING_THE_COVID_19_PANDEMIC_AND_ADDRESSING_ORGANIZATIONAL_COMPLACENCY_IN_A_FAMILY_BUSINESS_Redacted.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This insider action research facilitated in identifying the need to establish the brand identity as well as address the organizational complacency within the members of the Tejada, Magante & Co. (TMC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Integral Human Development (IHD) is a Catholic social teaching which emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance within the eight dimensions namely: (1) Spiritual, (2) Bodily, (3) Cognitive, (4) Emotional, (5) Aesthetic, (6) Social, (7) Moral, and (8) Material in order to promote the common good thus making the person whole (Heinrich, Leege & Miller, 2008). Through methods of inquiries, it was recognized that majority of the members of TMC perceives Aesthetic and Material as the dimensions that need to be improved. Aesthetic refers to the lack of brand identity of the company. According to Zaba- Nieroda (2010): “A strong brand supports the main business strategy and increases efficiency of a company’s operations.” (p. 183); Furthermore, brand identity can help motivate employees (Melewar, 2003). Moreover, Material refers to the temporary closure of TMC during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) that affected the employees financially. Hence, the researchers decided during the first action research cycle that creating a company logo, uniform, and identification cards as the initial actions to take in order to address the issue. It was also noted that having a brand identity is vital during the ECQ and TMC will be allowed to operate once compliant with the guidelines set by the national government. However, during the second action research cycle, the researchers had to divert to the issue of organizational complacency. It manifested in the management of the employees that resulted to a loss of sales opportunity for TMC. The researchers used the Organizational Complacency Effect on Organizational Components by Harraf, Soltwisch and Talbott (2016) in order to identify the signs of complacency present among the four areas: (1) Process, (2) People, (3) Structure and (4) Culture. In order to resolve the issue, the Incremental Decision Model Framework (Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret, 1976) was used that resulted to the creation of an organizational structure reassigning certain responsibilities to employees. Its effectiveness was measured using Spector’s (1994) Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS); and results show a high satisfaction rating in terms of JSS’s components. In a broader context, similar organizations could use the results of this action research as reference in assimilating Integral Human Development and circumventing organizational complacency in the workplace.