1 business case scenario – assessment 2 managing cul

1. 1
Business Case Scenario – Assessment 2
Managing Culture and Change 21926, SPRING 2021
Ozfone is an Australian telecommunications and technology
company, which markets voice,
mobile, internet access, pay television and other services. The
company has more than 5,000
employees and has been selling services to businesses,
households and individuals for over 45
years.
With COVID-19 vaccinations now underway, countries are
beginning to map out their roadmap
out of lockdown. For companies, it creates important challenges
and opportunities as to how
they choose to return to work. That presents an interesting new
dynamic for both the employer
and the employee. In 2020, Ozfone was forced to transition its
employees from being physically
present in their offices to working remotely. However, at the
beginning of 2021, the company
implemented the hybrid working model – allowing employees to
work both remotely and in the
office. This was supported by the CEO of the company who is
aware that even if a vaccine or
effective treatment will open the possibility of a safe return to

2. the traditional workplace, remote
work will take a permanent place in the employment mix.
Hybrid working models, done right,
(1) allow organisations to better achieve innovation and attract
talent, (2) lead to higher job
satisfaction and autonomy of employees, and (3) define a future
of work that is more flexible,
people-oriented and sustainable.
However, the way how the company approached the hybrid
working model has been causing
some serious problems. One of them is that the managers hold
an unconscious bias that because
remote workers are not seen in the office they work less as
those seen in the office. There is
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also the belief that showing up to work, having good attendance
and putting in long hours is
more important than the results. Managers feel that they cannot
trust that their working-from-
home employees are actually doing the work and as a result, the
employees are feeling
micromanaged. The management by results (supporting
employee autonomy on when, where
and how they do their work) in the company has been clearly
not embraced by the managers.
Moreover, the conditions in the office space are not designed
for a hybrid form of collaboration

4. due to insufficient technological support. Not all meeting rooms
are connected to the video
conferencing software which causes remote workers to miss out
on important information
because it was communicated in person. The other problem is
that the way how meetings are
run has not changed from the pre-Covid version. For example,
although most meetings are now
attended by both remote and in-person team members, activities
such as brainstorming are done
on a traditional flipchart with paper post-it notes. This leaves
remote workers feeling like they
are not part of the team. Apart from that, the physical separation
of staff in the implemented
hybrid model makes forming working relationships between
employees very difficult. Yet the
question of how staff may be supported and developed to face
current and future challenges
tends to be neglected since managers are busy coordinating the
work of remote employees and
those present in the office. As a result, lack of socialisation and
genuine support from managers
– an essential part of office life – deteriorated the firm’s culture
by creating a lack of trust and
disengagement.
In your role as the HR leadership team, you would like to
contribute to an increase in
productivity through a more engaged workforce as well as
making the company more attractive
to talent. To do this, it has become clear to you that the
company’s approach to hybrid work is
underdeveloped and what is more, the current way of how the
combination of remote and office
work is done is not effective. You are not alone in this view. In
conversations with frontline

5. managers and employees, you have established that their
feelings about the current way of
working range from resignation to downright hostility (‘toxic
working environment’,
‘demotivating’, ‘too stressful’ and ‘lack of support’).
The problem is, the senior executive team is nervous about
tinkering with a system that, in their
minds, has so far worked fairly well. There are a number of
views in the leadership team. The
CEO is fundamentally open to change as long as it aligns with
the company’s value statements
(see below) and helps increase the company’s competitive
market position. In particular, his
message on the company’s website is: “For the many challenges
this pandemic poses, it also
presents opportunities – new ways of thinking and working, new
approaches to business and a
greater emphasis on community-focused solutions.” He is joined
by the Marketing and Sales
Operating Officers who believe that the firm’s culture would
benefit from becoming more
collaborative and trusting. The Divisional Leaders tend to have
a more neutral position: they
are aware of frontline managers’ and staff’s disengagement with
the current way of hybrid
work across all divisions, but see it as a ‘necessary evil’ since
they believe there are no
alternative options and that employees just need to get used to
it. The Chief Operating Officer
and Chief Financial Officer believe that the company has a solid
system that everyone knows
how to use and that provides clear communication channels, so
why change it?
To make matters more complex, there is a degree of change

6. fatigue in the organisation. The
company’s approach to change has traditionally been to have
experts design the change and
then tell managers to implement it. But the workforce consists
predominantly of unionised,
long-time employees, so it is difficult to mandate changes if
they do not like them. As one of
the frontline managers has told you: “We’ve been through
different change management
programs, and the perception at the front lines is that if you
duck your head, they go away.
3
There is a certain amount of cynicism in the organisation.”
Knowing this, you are fully aware
that the senior executive team will likely have concerns and
queries around the proposed
change in regards to the hybrid working model, e.g.:
- What are the key benefits for the firm? Is it really worth the
effort?
- What will make this change initiative successful, as opposed
to other failed change
initiatives by external consultancies that they have endorsed in
the past?
- How does your proposed change initiative align with the
company’s current value
statements and external market drivers?

7. - What is the business case for it, compared to the status quo in
how hybrid work is
currently handled by the firm?
- How will staff and frontline managers be involved in the
process so that the initiative
does not end up being undermined, as has been the case with
previous (top-down)
driven change efforts?
Ozfone’s value statement
1. We strive for excellence in what we do. We are committed to
the continuous
improvement of our services, and we achieve this by
continuously developing and
deepening our knowledge of our people, our customers, and our
business.
2. We lead in ways that provide recognition, motivation, and
empowerment – by listening,
seeking feedback, and working with our staff on the attainment
of shared goals.
3. We encourage accountability and ownership across divisions
and roles, and we strive
for a culture of empowerment.
4. We treat each other with respect. We embrace diverse
communities, cultures and points
of view. We understand how we differ and how we are similar.
5. We work together as one team. To collaborate well, we trust
each other and work

8. together towards shared goals because we know that this is how
we can offer our
customers the best service.
Last Name 9
Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Research and Journal: Wage Discrimination
Wage discrimination refers to the situation where an employer
pays a certain person or group of people less than another for
the substantially equal amount of work measure. In other words,
it involves compensations including salary, overtime pay, profit
ratios, insurance opportunities, all expenses, and benefits in
different measures for the same amount of work. Additionally,
discrimination in wage payment may also occur in situations
that a woman holds a unique position with her employer that
cannot be compared to another employee but receives less
payment than male counterparts due to sex wage discrimination
(Schieder and Elise 78). The Paycheck Fairness Act covers the
issue of wage discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Gladwell as well gives strategies on how to defy one’s
disadvantages and be able to register success. Shakespeare, on
the other hand gives the results of unlawful acquisition of
power.
In the year 2008, it was revealed that the average annual
earnings of women was 77.5% of men’s earnings (Schieder and
Elise 78). The Paycheck Fairness act was meant to provide
punishment for employers for retaliating against their

9. employees who share salary information. Besides, it puts the
weight of justification on employers as to some of the reasons
why a person is paid less and allows workers to sue their bosses
for punitive damages of wage discrimination. Another provision
that the bill covers is that it proposes to start training women in
strategies that may make them have the skills to negotiate their
wages better and strongly (Institute for Women's Policy
Research 36).
On the issue of wage discrimination based on gender, Clinton,
one of the presidential candidates In the United States, called
for the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act other than
advocating for payment of family leaves. Clinton has also been
witnessed as a long proponent of gender equality in terms of
wage payments. She portrayed this proposition during her time
as a senator and she continues to call for the passage of the Act
times after her reign as a senator. She asserts that “failure to
ensure equal wages for women impacts families and the broad
economy” and additionally, she asserted that “that it’s the
whole state’s problem and not just a women’s problem”
(Leonhardt, 33).
Introduced in the year 2015, the paycheck fairness act was
established under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. It is
also referred to as the Equal pay Act which was aimed at
revising remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to
prohibitions against sex discrimination in the award of wages
(Leonhardt, 33). It was specifically meant to provide more
effective solutions to victims of discrimination in salary
payments due to their sex orientation and other purposes. The
Paycheck Fairness Act revises the exceptions to the restriction
for a salary rate differential based on any other factor apart
from sexual orientation. It limits aspects to bonafide l evels for
instance education, training as well as experience. In summary,
the Act was part of the efforts to deal with the gender pay gap
in the country (Library of Congress 78).
Paycheck Fairness Act apart from strongly aiming to end wage
discrimination in workplaces, it states that the bona fide factor

10. defense can apply on terms such as when the employer
demonstrates the difference in payment is not derived from a
sex-based differential in compensation. In the constitution on
page 56, the act states that “any action brought to enforce the
prohibition against sex discrimination may be maintained as a
class action in which individuals may be joined as party
plaintiffs without their consent.” Wage discrimination should
also be job-related with respect to the position that is in
question. To achieve chances to defense, the employer must also
prove that wage discrimination is consistent with business
necessities. There are also cases where the defense cannot apply
such as the existence of an alternative employment practice that
would sufficiently serve the said business purpose without
having to resolve to the said wage differential practice. Defense
is also inapplicable in a situation where the employer has
intentionally refused to adopt or ignored the existence of the
alternative practice (Library of Congress 79).
To address the issue of discrimination in wage payment, the
Paycheck Fairness Act seeks to defend employees and enable
them to have their rights served commonly. As portrayed from
research articles, women happen to be the most targeted victims
of wage discrimination by being awarded 77.5% of men’s salary
as stated (Schieder and Elise 78). The bill additionally prevents
employers from retaliating against workers who forward
complaints of wage discrimination. It, therefore, seeks to not
only ensure that employees are awarded equally for matching
efforts but to also protect them from their employers in case
they realize their participation in giving the information
(Schieder and Elise 78). Employees who violate sex
discrimination in wages are made liable to civil action by the
bill for either compensatory or punitive charges, except for the
federal government. It additionally authorizes the United States
Secretary of Labor to seek compensatory or punitive damages in
a situation of sex discrimination of wage payment. The
Paycheck Fairness Act states that the concerned bodies should
take up the responsibility to train an affected individual on

11. matters involving wage discrimination (Schieder and Elise 78).
The United States constitution limits the power of the
government as well as employers to discriminate. The
constitution it was stated that it holds the truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (The U.S.
National Archives and Records Administration).The
amendments required that every person be considered as
deserving an equal chance as the other. It further states that
when governments become destructive people should insist on
abolishing them and achieving their own happiness, satisfaction
and equality. The constitution additionally states that
governments should laying the foundations on principles such as
giving the right to life, liberty, happiness, safety and mainly
equity.
Gladwell in his book, ‘David and Goliath: underdogs, misfits,
and the art of battling giants’, portrays giants as things that
people battle with as the things that come into their lives and
not literally just giants. Gladwell in Chapter seven of his book
gives the story of a young mother, Rosemary, who survived
during the struggles and problems in Northern Ireland between
the Catholics and Protestants. Ireland called on the British army
to protect the citizens but they turned on the Ireland forcing the
citizens to become disobedient (Leonhardt, 33) As a result of
the reigning brutality among the government, a revolution
arose. Unlike Rosemary’s situation, Joanne, head of city’s
Housing Bureau in Brownsville reveals that treating juveniles
with love makes them choose better behavior in life. He showed
that authoritative figures do not necessarily have to be the
enemy. Gladwell finalized his argument by portraying that
authority need to show respect to the people to establish
legitimacy (Gladwell, 67).
In chapter eight, Gladwell gives an example of Reynolds, who
lost his daughter to a shooting several years back. Reynolds
gives his experiences to a family that is a victim of losing a

12. daughter to murder and advises them not to take the road he
took of dwelling in pain and revenge as the consequences were
too much. “I Was taught that there was an alternative way to
deal with injustice,” Derksen asserted” I was taught it in
school….We were taught the history of persecution”. Gladwell
makes Wilma Derksen, the girl’s mother the focus of his article.
After being advised by Reynolds to be careful not to let her
daughter’s death get into her and mentally eat her alive.
Derksen asserted that she could have started her version of three
strikes like Reynolds but decided not to as she stated that “it
would have gotten harder. I think I would have lost Cliff, I
think I would have lost my children. I would be doing to others
what he did to Candace”. She resolves to despise focusing on
revenge which was said by Reynolds to cause a lot of pain to
the victim. Wilma chooses to forgive her daughter’s killer
where she chooses to forgive and forget (Gladwell, 60).
In this expression, a man employs the full power of the state in
his grief and ends up plugging his government into a
meaningless and costly situation. A woman who finds the
strength to forgive walks away from power and saves her
marriage and sanity. Gladwell’s lessons are valid in the field of
discrimination in that, it does not always have to be the hard
way that leads to success. Wage discrimination specifically does
not have to be the only way that employers make more profits
by paying their workers differently for equal efforts. It also
gives the discriminated people the advice that they do not have
to dwell on revenge against their oppressors as it can lead to
more chaos (Lewis, 111).
King Richard III is used by Shakespeare to illustrate the effects
of malicious, power-hunger and bitter filled character. After a
long civil war between the royal families of York and
Lancaster, England enjoys peace under King Edward IV.
Edward’s younger brother Richard, however, resents Edward’s
power and the happiness of people and decides to kill anyone to
become the king. Richard uses his intelligence of deception and
wins his campaign for the throne. He has several people

13. murdered in order to achieve the throne and puts one of the
murders on his brother King Edward to accelerate his illness
and death. He finally takes over the throne from his brother but
has the people fearing him for his reign of terror. When
Richmond, a descendant of the Lancaster family rises up to
challenge Richard, the people welcome and support him.
Richmond kills Richard and becomes the ruler of England as
Edward VII (Shakespeare, 57).
Shakespeare’s aim in this context was to show that authority
does not have to be gained the wrong way as there will always
be consequences. At a point in the book, Ann, Edwards’s
daughter is aware of Richard’s deceit and tells him “Foul devil,
for God’s sake, hence and trouble us not, for thou has made the
happy earth thy hell…... if though delight to view thy heinous
deeds.” In the view of wage discrimination, it is clear that it is
neither right nor safe for employers to discriminate and
underpay some of their employees as the repercussions will
always follow their actions. These repercussions come to them
in form of lawsuits, having to lose more money to compensation
of their workers when they go to court, etc. It is, therefore, a
moral from Shakespeare’s story about King Richard III that
people should acquire everything rightfully and fairly (Craig,
57).
In conclusion, from the scripts, it is clear that obtaining power
does not have to involve the concept if depriving other people
of their rightful place in the society. Additionally, grabbing
power and exploiting other people to gain power always has its
own effects as the people are likely to retaliate at some point in
an effort to gain their rights and freedoms in the society. It is
therefore advisable as implied by Shakespeare to ensure that
one does not forcefully get into power as the world is always
watching and will at some point repay for the bad deeds they
were exposed to. According to the statement of the constitution
as well, it is not right to treat people differently under any basis
as it is likely to result to unpleasant situations .This has as well
been backed by Gladwell’s narration in his book. Therefore,

14. Power and greed can be argued to be a disease in the modern
day society hence, it is important for a community to establish
ways that will ensure that each and every member of the society
is treated with the respect they deserve in the society.
Works Cited
Craig, William James. "The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
- Online Library Of Liberty".
Oll.Libertyfund.Org, 2016,
http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/shakespeare-the-tragedy-of-
king-richard-the-third.
Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath: Underdogs, misfits and
the art of battling giants.
Penguin UK, 2013.
Hillary for America. "Hillary Clinton on Women's Rights and
Opportunity".
Hillaryclinton.Com, 2015,
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/womens-rights-and-
opportunity/.
Institute for Women's Policy Research. "Pay Equity &
Discrimination — IWPR". Iwpr.Org,
2016, http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-
discrimination.
Leonhardt, Megan. "Where Presidential Candidates Stand On
Equal Pay". MONEY.Com, 2016,
http://time.com/money/4291017/presidential-candidates-equal-
pay/.
Lewis, Tim. "Malcolm Gladwell Explains Himself". Esquire,
2016,
http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/news/a5033/malcolm-
gladwell-interview-profile-2013/.

15. Library of Congress. "H.R.1619 - Paycheck Fairness Act".
Congress.Gov, 2016,
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-
bill/1619?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22women%22%5D
%7D.
National Women's Law Center,. "How The Paycheck Fairness
Act Will Strengthen The Equal
Pay Act - NWLC". NWLC, 2016,
https://nwlc.org/resources/how-paycheck-fairness-act-
will-strengthen-equal-pay-act/.
Schieder, Jessica and Elise Gould. "“Women’s Work” And the
Gender Pay Gap: How
Discrimination, Societal Norms, And Other Forces Affect
Women’s Occupational
Choices—And Their Pay". Economic Policy Institute, 2016,
http://www.epi.org/publication/womens-work-and-the-gender-
pay-gap-how-
discrimination-societal-norms-and-other-forces-affect-womens-
occupational-choices-
and-their-pay/.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Richard III. Oxford
University Press, USA, 2000.
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
"America's Founding Documents".
National Archives. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.