Brazil Insights | Management Case Study 01

Case Type: Hypothetical Organizational Analysis
Organization: Company with 120 employees
Author: Affonso Henriques

1. Organizational Diagnosis: The Business Challenge

An organization employing 120 people faces three interconnected challenges:

• A continuing loss of customers.
• Declining employee motivation.
• A management team that attributes organizational difficulties primarily to external market conditions.

These circumstances require a structured organizational diagnosis before corrective measures can be recommended.

The central objective is to identify the underlying causes of organizational problems rather than immediately accepting management’s interpretation of events.

2. Investigating Customer Loss

The first step involves identifying why customers have abandoned the company.

An independent research firm should conduct a survey among former customers to investigate the reasons behind their departure.

External researchers would help reduce potential internal bias and provide greater credibility to the findings.

3. Assessing Employee Motivation

A second independent investigation should examine the causes of employee dissatisfaction and declining motivation.

Both investigations should be conducted simultaneously.

Together, their findings would provide evidence about possible connections between organizational practices, employee behavior, and customer dissatisfaction.

4. Evaluating Management and Organizational Myopia

The findings should be presented to senior management through verifiable facts and data.

An off-site executive meeting would provide an opportunity to examine whether organizational myopia is influencing managerial perceptions and decisions.

The discussion should encourage executives to recognize their possible contribution to the problems identified.

5. Organizational Intervention

The initial approach should prioritize helping executives understand the findings and recognize the need for organizational change.

Management should receive support in addressing the identified weaknesses.

However, if corrective efforts prove unsuccessful, replacing executives directly associated with persistent organizational problems may become necessary, subject to established decision-making authority.

6. Performance Monitoring

The effectiveness of the intervention should be evaluated using two categories of indicators.

Financial indicators would assess the organization’s economic and business performance.

Behavioral indicators would examine changes in employee motivation and leadership behavior.

Both perspectives are necessary to determine whether the organization is experiencing meaningful improvement.

7. Initial Evaluation: 30 Days

The first evaluation should occur 30 days after the intervention begins.

This initial assessment would identify early signs of change and determine whether further adjustments are necessary.

Thirty days should be regarded as an initial monitoring period rather than a deadline for complete organizational recovery.

8. Conclusion

This organizational diagnosis emphasizes the importance of understanding problems before implementing corrective actions.

Its approach combines independent research, evidence-based management discussions, leadership support, and performance monitoring.

Above all, the case illustrates a fundamental principle of organizational management:

Effective decisions begin with an accurate understanding of reality, not with assumptions about its causes.

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Affonso Henriques
Brazil Insights — Independent Thinking for a Changing World

Hypothetical case study based on the author’s proposed managerial decisions.

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Affonso Henriques
PhD by ESADE Business School & Law – Barcelona – Spain