NAME: IHEKANANDU KINGSLEY N.
COURSE: MGMT 292 / F12 N01
TITLE: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY (LAFARGE S.A.)
SUBMITTED: October 5, 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2. INTRODUCTION 3
3. DESCRIPTION OF CASE 4
4. VALUES 4 4.1. Types of values 4
5. TEAMWORK 7
6. MOTIVATION 8
7. CREATIVITY 9 7.1. Components of creativity 9
8. CONCLUSION 12
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 13

INTRODUCTION
This report aims to provide an in-depth analysis of initiatives pursued by Lafarge as presented in the case study. The analysis is centered on four Organizational behaviour concepts which include Values, Teamwork, Motivation and Creativity.
The initiatives entail different strategies deployed by Lafarge in handling challenges encountered in either cases of business expansion or continuity at different plant locations. Care is taken to outline the activities and results associated with these initiatives and to show how these align with the OB concepts listed above.
Also, a research of the Lafarge’s website including the organization’s principles, values, codes of conduct and mission statement are also utilized in providing clarity of concepts in this report.

DESCRIPTION OF CASE
The case-study discusses Lafarge, a global leader in the manufacturing of building materials. Due to its global network and the need to break new grounds, their activities involves setting up plants in different parts of the world which means interacting with different cultures and dealing with challenges peculiar to these cultures.
Different initiatives bordering on corporate social responsibility have to be established to ensure a good rapport between the firm and their host communities including all stakeholders. The aim is to ensure business continuity and to constantly provide value thereby keeping them ahead of the competition.
VALUES
Values represent basic convictions that “ a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally and socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.” They contain a judgemental element in that they carry an individuals ideas as to what is right, good or desirable. Values generally influence attitude and behaviour (Langton, Robbins & Judge, 2010).
Types of values
Applying the above definition of values to Lafarge as a case study, one can deduce the following values : a. Social Recognition (Respect , Admiration) - Social recognition transforms recognition into a business asset. It changes how your organization can achieve a unique strategic competitive advantage, one driven by your culture, your people, and their stories. Social recognition brings your company values to life. It delivers more and costs less than an expensive rewards program (Tembosocial, 2012).
Social recognition is a terminal value and as explained above, Lafarge through its many innovative corporate social responsibility programs has cultivated a reputation as a responsible organization. Lafarge (2012) in its principles of action states that “ We will succeed in creating sustainable value by contributing to economic, social and environmental progress. Wherever present, we operate with the utmost respect for the common interest of present and future generations”.
Their activities have produced a brand that is adored by their employees and all stakeholders alike. This provides a positive reputation which enhances smooth operations, business continuity and an edge over the competition. Laszlo & Myers (2006) elucidate the results of this value in their explanation of business results for Lafarge in the Chhatak community as thus “For its investment of 1.5 million USD in rehabilitation assistance (including setting up the Community Development Center and expenses towards continued education, health care and vocational training), Lafarge benefited from a relatively smooth installation and launch process involving the local workforce”.

b. Family Security (Taking care of loved ones) – This is a terminal value that describes the need to take care of stakeholders in an organization. In my opinion, stakeholders are the closest set of people associated with the term “ loved ones”. These include the employees, shareholders and the host community to a larger extent.
The group’s employees are its most valuable resource. Bettering the working and living conditions of these men and women while improving their health, safety and know-how is therefore a top priority (Lafarge, 2012).
Lafarge strives not only to develop effective policies for protecting the environment and employee health and safety, but also to be the leader in terms of social responsibility towards the local communities affected by its installations (Lafarge, 2012).
The above comments culled from the organization’s website support the forenamed value as they espouse the ideals of the organization in terms of stakeholder engagement at every level.

c. Helpful (Working for the welfare of others) – This is an instrumental value that explains the tendency to provide for the needs of others. Welfare is also somewhat linked to family security too. Helpful as a value also manifests in corporate social responsibility.
In support of these values, Laszlo & Myers(2006) in reference to Lafarge stated in their article as thus “ it approved an HIV/AIDS policy with the help of ZHABS, the comments of employees and partner organizations and Integrated Healthcare Consulting (IHC). Chilanga’s prevention relies on 44 workplace and 24 community peer educators as its primary method. Employees and their families have access to screening for tuberculosis and treatment of opportunistic infections”.
The scenario reported above indicates a powerful statement for the welfare of others. By creating a policy that caters to the health needs, provides health education for the employees and the host community; a lot is done by the Lafarge in terms of welfare. The quality of knowledge and effective free treatment gained by the community would ensure their welfare health-wise can only improve continuously as far as posterity is concerned.

d. Ambitious (Hardworking, aspiring) – Lafarge (2012) states in its principles of action that “The measure of success will be our ability to be better than our competitors at creating value”.
This is a powerful statement of ambition and aspiration. It can be deduced from the above statement that there is a continuous pursuit of excellence underlined by the desire to consistently be ahead of the competition. This is meant to be achieved through the best possible means by creating and providing optimum value to the stakeholders.

e. True Friendship (Close companionship) – I would describe true friendship as a value that elicits empathy and a sense of fellowship towards others.
After transfers and early retirements, Lafarge helped to find employment solutions for the remaining 121 laid-off workers and ultimately created 266 new jobs through 111 micro-enterprises (Laszlo & Myers, 2012).
By securing the future of their former members of staff in a move which i find extra-ordinary and heartwarming, Lafarge has exhibited a high-level of companionship. Most firms pay just gratuities or other remunerations to their staff when they are laid off but Lafarge went all the way to ensure the creation of a means of livelihood and sustenance for these laid off staff.
This explains the forenamed value and ensures business continuity and a very high marketability of products bearing the brand.
TEAMWORK
Team work can be defined as the process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. Teamwork means that people will try to cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite any personal conflict between individuals (Business dictionary, 2012).
Teamwork is a cardinal principle in Lafarge. A lot of emphasis is placed on teamwork considering activities and processes local to Lafarge can only be carried out in teams. From the quarry process right down to the bagging of the finished cement, nothing can be achieved without consistent interaction between people in teams. Lafarge (2012) further enthused in their principle of action that “Effective teamwork creates an environment of trust and confidence.This is built daily through professionalism, personal commitment, shared goals and respect for common rules”.
In view of the case-study, Laszlo & Myers (2006) provided a case of teamwork in the redeployment of employees at the Tetouan plant in Morocco by saying “To deal with the challenge, Lafarge Morocco setup a permanent four-man support team, including the plant manager, to facilitate personnel redeployment once the plant closure became official”. This enabled the proper implementation of the redeployment plan by ensuring the development of an approach that eased the transition of the laid-off employees from their jobs into self employment. Laszlo & Myers (2006) in throwing more light to the approach deployed by the team explained that “To deal with demand for redeployment services, the support team took things step by step, meeting each person for a number of interviews.
One of the most important part of the setting up of the team was that this was done well before the closure of the old plant which would have provided the team ample time required to study the issues and proffer solutions with great amounts of success.
Another case of teamwork was also mentioned in the HIV/AIDS prevention program in Zambia. Lafarge now partners with ZHABS (Zambia HIV/AIDS business sector project) to provide a program on HIV prevention and care in both the workplace and the community. It approved an HIV/AIDS policy with the help of ZHABS, the comments of employees partner organizations and Integrated Healthcare Consulting (IHC) (Laszlo & Myers, 2006). The commonness of purpose exhibited by this partnership through the pooling together of abilities and specialized resources helped make the entire program a success.
Chilanga provides condoms, rent-free office space and training facilities, while ZHABS provides peer educators’ allowances and uniforms, a salary for the community coordinator, training and frequent monitoring and supervisory visits (Laszlo & Myers, 2006).
There is no doubt that the synergy between both parties produced an effective team whose activities produced very good results as seen in the business results section for this initiative.
MOTIVATION
Motivation can be defined as the intensity, direction, and persistence of effort a person shows in reaching a goal (Langton, Robbins & Judge, 2010).
As is standard practice in such situations, Lafarge began by offering to compensate the villagers with funds for land and housing. However Lafarge went well beyond financial compensation by developing a program to provide non-formal primary level education to the children and to provide continuous basic healthcare facilities for all. It also provided vocational training for the adults, particularly women, on different trades to create income-generating opportunities (Laszlo & Myers, 2006).
The scenario above can be best described by the expectancy theory of motivation. The performance – reward relationship (instrumentality) explains Lafarge’s desire to go beyond the organizational modus operandi in the relocalization of the village at Chahtak. It is a well known that green-field installations can end up being a failure if the host community does not provide the required support for it. Therefore, Lafarge’s extra effort in resettling the families and providing infrastructure including schools and free tuition was done with a view to obtain the ultimate reward of a successful installation project with the support of the locals.
According to Chairman Bertrand Collomb, the impact of Lafarge’s relocalization initiative is widely perceived as positive by the local inhabitants and contrasts markedly with installations where little or no social investments were made (Laszlo & Myers, 2006).
For the chairman, it provides a reward in terms of positive publicity and enhances the value of the Lafarge brand. This also provides massive evidence that supports their values in terms of corporate social responsibility.

CREATIVITY
Creativity in an organization is the creation of a valuable, useful new product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working together in a complex social system (Woodman, Sawyer & Griffin, 1993) .
Creativity is necessary in providing solutions to problems. It is becoming a very important tool in organizational decision making.

Components of creativity
Langton, Robbins & Judge (2010) lists three components of creativity as follows: i. Expertise ii. Creative-thinking skills iii. Intrinsic task motivation This sequence is not rigid; the sub-processes can occur in any sequence and will often recur iteratively until a creative outcome has been attained (Amabile, 2012).
The initiative exhibited in the redeployment of employees at the Tetouan plant in Morocco is a very good case for the illustration of these components of creativity. These components as related to this initiative are explained as follows a. Expertise: These include knowledge, expertise, technical skills, intelligence, and talent in the particular domain where the problem-solver is working . These skills comprise the raw materials upon which the individual can draw throughout the creative process – the elements that can combine to create possible responses, and the expertise against which the individual will judge the viability of response possibilities (Amabile, 2012).
As explained above and in relation to the initiative considered, Lafarge based on its principles of action aims at an all inclusive policy. Everyone is considered in terms of benefits and welfare. This can be described as the basis of the expertise illustrated in the processes utilized by Lafarge in the redeployment of the laid-off employees. One would have to assume (although not stated in the case-study) that scenarios like this would not be novel to Lafarge, and based on their principles of action they would have also deployed same employee-centered personnel policy in handling similar challenges in the past. In addition to this, Lafarge also deployed their knowledge of the area, affected employees,their families and redundancy package to design the redeployment approach. Such a wealth of knowledge can also be referred to as expertise. b. Creative-thinking Skills: These include a cognitive style and personality characteristics that are conducive to independence, risk-taking, and taking new perspectives on problems, as well as a disciplined work style and skills in generating ideas (Amabile, 2012).
Lafarge used an out of the box strategy considering the peculiarities of the socio-economic climate at Tetouan. The team saddled with the task of redeployment deployed a hands-on , personal approach by interviewing affected employees in addition to the market research survey to identify business niches. This approach can best be surmised as creative thinking deployed in providing a wholesome and effective solution to the challenge. c. Intrinsic task Motivation: This is passion: the motivation to undertake a task or solve a problem because it is interesting, involving, personally challenging, or satisfying – rather than undertaking it out of the extrinsic motivation arising from contracted-for rewards, surveillance, competition, evaluation, or requirements to do something in a certain way (Amabile, 2012).
The easier option for Lafarge would have been to sever ties with these employees after providing their redundancy packages and then move on to their business thereby saving themselves the extra costs of providing redeployment programs for the laid-off employees. But pursuant to their values as elucidated earlier in this text(in the values sub-section), Lafarge proved their willingness to illustrate corporate social responsibility frequently espoused in their principle of action. This was achieved by instituting a program that ensured the long-term comfort and happiness of the affected employees through a meticulous and well-planned approach. The intrinsic motivation identified in this case would be the inherent desire by the corporation to uphold their values despite the possibility of circumventing the costs of setting up such a program as described in the case. Furthermore, its a classic case of corporate goodwill for a firm to embark on a CSR program in a scale as that done by Lafarge at the Tetouan plant in Morocco.

CONCLUSION
Based on the analysis outlined in this report, it suffice to say Lafarge is a firm that walks the talk. The number of initiatives mentioned in the case-study and the beautifully designed approach deployed in actualizing the objectives of the said initiatives highlights Lafarge as a firm with a passion for highly effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. It is also pertinent to note that these initiatives were designed with the aim of alignment with the peculiarities of the environment in which they were to be implemented.
The report provided a real life application of the concepts of organizational behaviour as taught in class and sure improved one’s understanding of these concepts. Also, the benefits of proper implementation of concepts like teamwork, communication, creativity and ethics can be seen from the results of the various initiatives as shown in the case-study.
Overall, it was an insightful journey into the world of organizational behaviour with brilliant examples as seen in the case-study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amabile, T. (2012) Componential Theory of Creativity [Internet], Available from: < www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-096.pdf > [Accessed 03 October 2012].

Business dictionary (2012) Teamwork [Internet], Available from: < http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/teamwork.html > [Accessed 02 October 2012].

Lafarge (2012) Leader in a sustainable world [Internet], Available from: < http://www.lafarge.com/05192009-group-corporate_Brochure_2009-uk.pdf?xtmc=leaderinasustainableworld&xtcr=1 > [Accessed 02 October 2012].

* Lafarge (2012) Principles of Action [Internet], Available from: < http://www.lafarge.com/wps/portal/1_2_3-Principes_d_action > [Accessed 02 October 2012].

Langton, N., Robbin, S., Judge, T. (2010) Organizational Behaviour. 5th Canadian ed. Toronto, Pearson Canada Inc. Laszlo, C., Myers, M. (2006) Lafarge S.A. [Internet], Available from: < http://www.caseplace.org/s.asp?kw=LAFARGE&Image5.x=20&Image5.y=25 > [Accessed 02 October 2012]. * Tembosocial (2012) Introduce Social Recognition [Internet], Available from: < http://tembosocial.com/solutions/internal/introduce-social-recognition/ > [Accessed 03 October 2012]. * Woodman, R., Sawyer, J., Griffin, R. (1993) Toward a Theory of Organizational Creativity [Internet], Available from: < http://www2.sa.unibo.it/summer/testi/19_detoni/Toward-Theory.pdf > [Accessed 03 October 2012]. * * *