B Construction Llc - Organizational Management

B. Construction: A Look Inside

Introduction

B Construction LLC is a general contractor in the United States. It specializes in public works systems for city, counties and for other public agencies. B Construction LLC is mostly known for its' work in building and replacing water and sewer systems. It employs 20-40 employees depending on how many projects it is awarded. B Construction LLC was started by W. B. in 1975 and was called D Construction LLC at that time. In 2002, W. B sold the company to his two sons and two daughters. The company was renamed to B Construction LLC. In March 2011, one of the partners was bought out of the company leaving three CEOs to take care of the bidding, payroll and project management.

I worked as a Safety Traffic Controller and Supervisor for B Construction LLC. My duties included set-up and take-down of all safety equipment, making sure traffic, pedestrians and the crew was safe, working with the public to solve problems and/or answer questions, as well as serve as a liaison between the public, city/county and B Construction LLC.

B Construction LLC is contracted work only if they are the lowest bidder. Because of the economy in the last few years, it has been difficult for them to be awarded work because most of their competitors would underbid just to keep their company from going under. Therefore, many employees were laid off and the employees with more seniority and experience were kept on payroll. Also, workdays were cut short, making their weekly pay less than normal. Holiday bonuses took a hit for salary-making managers and the holiday party location went from being held at a nice reception hall with catered food and live band to in a boat shed with potluck food.

Problem

In the past, B Construction LLC has been successful in producing quality work and has been easy to work with. Employees I have talked to in the past appreciate their time working for the company because it pays well and gives them the opportunity to find an insurance company that works best for their situation. Construction is hard exhausting labor. In the article titled "Performance and Leadership Outcome Correlates of Leadership Styles and Subordinate Commitment", the authors (Lismila & Ogunlana, 2008, 166) explain "construction work by nature is a daily operation where unpredictable problems occur regularly...and [the main goals of these companies require] completion on time, completion within a budget and completion at the desired level of quality..."

B Construction LLC is now picking up more work and more employees have been rehired and are picking up full-time workweeks. Though things are starting to turn around for the company, the management technique has not changed. Project managers seem to only care about the job to be done and less about their subordinates. In the same article previously cited, it is said "effective leadership is essential for every construction project and leadership behavior is an important variable having significant impact on the success of project management". (Lismila & Ogunlana, 2008, 164)

In Merriam-Webster's dictionary, the term "neutralizer" means to "counteract the activity or effect of: make ineffective". In a peer-reviewed article titled "Ineffective Leadership", (Toor & Ogunlana, 2009) the authors discuss the concept that even if a manager isn't doing anything to bring down their employees, such as belittling them, they can still act in making leadership ineffective by not doing anything to improve their leadership style. These types of managers are called organizational neutralizers. This can be a problem for upper-management, the foremen, and employees in the field. If the company is not improving internally, employees will not be happy with their work, and it is probable that performance will not increase. "Factors such as bureaucratic controls, external political influence and limited positive reward power are factors that neutralize the effectiveness of leadership." (Toor & Ogunlana, 2009, 258)

This problem will probably not destroy the company, nor make others unwilling to work for B Construction LLC because there are a lot of advantages to working there. However, in order for the company to grow, it would be in the company's best interest to move forward with a more-positive managing style in mind. In the article "Ineffective Leadership", the author states that low motivation of project managers could lead to withdrawal, which results in lack of communication. "The working environment in the industry hinders project managers in performing well on construction projects." (Toor & Ogunlana, 2009, P. 257) This can also hinder overall growth of the company. B Construction LLC.'s leadership approach identifies to employees that the product is the most important aspect of the company. B Construction LLC. Still enacts a transformational style at times but it is not consistent from job to job and from project manager to project manager. "A Transformational leader encourages subordinates to put in extra effort and to go beyond what they expected before..." (Toor & Ogunlana, 2009, 165)

Related problems include showing the employees that the company cares about the hard work they put in everyday and rewarding them according to their work. Company manager, D. B. says, "B Construction wants to show the employees that they are appreciated and that they do work hard. That is why we throw them a Christmas party every year." While management recognizes that it is important to reward employees, once a year may not be enough. Employees need to feel important and when they do, they will be more likely to perform higher.

Through this project, I will evaluate B. Construction LLC.'s reward systems as well as project managers' influence on their employees and how the company as a whole can be successful in organizational change.

Literature Review

The scholarly sources used to support this argument were obtained from Proquest, through DeVry's library system. Most of these sources use primary research to explain how employees in the construction industry feel about their managers. The following articles explain what managers in the construction industry can do to increase employee interest, motivation in performance in their work, thus helping the company progress.

Ineffective Leadership

The article titled "Ineffective Leadership" introduces a study that was conducted to measure what negative personal attributes make a project manager's leadership

...