1. John Tu, one of the founders of Kingston Technology, believes that building a relationship of respect and trust with employee is crucial to achieving business success. Indentify the management practices at Kingston that help in achieving this goal.
Kingston Technology maintains the family-style management and its founders John Tu and David Sun believe in building relationships with their employees. Their business is driven by relationships and not money. Their management approach is to provide ample respect, good financial remuneration and other benefits to their employees and maintains an egalitarian work environment. The employees get the motivation from the top management who are a part of the team like other employees. Employees receiving care and respect from the company’s founder works with complete commitment towards achieving organization goals.
2. Do you agree with Kingston’s policy of giving new employees profit-sharing bonuses even when they join the company just one week before profits are distributed? Support your position.
With profit-sharing bonus, the company links the performance of the employees with their performance. Moreover, it is also used as motivational strategy to improve the performance of the employees. The practice of profit-sharing bonus is adopted by several companies; however Kingston is unique in its practice of sharing profit with new employees also. The policy of sharing profit bonus with new employees also is acceptable considering the low attrition rate of the company. The employees of the company are highly satisfied with the working environment and the remuneration and the event of employee quitting the company is very low. In such circumstances, company providing bonus to new employees puts company in the favourable position with regard to employee and ensures best performance by the employee along with dedication and commitment to the company.
3. Kingston technology has been listed among fortune Magazine’s Top 100 best companies to work for. How has the company been able to maintain above average level of employee motivation and job satisfaction?
The top management of the company ensures that the employees of the company are amply rewarded and are satisfied with their remunerations and career growth. The company has the payscale highest among the industry and is known to pay its employees excellently along with the bonus. Though money being an important factor in maintaining high level of motivation among employees, there are other qualities also which are practiced by the top management of company which makes employee consider the company as their own company. The employees are highly satisfied and give their best performance due to the kindness and respect demonstrated by the two owners of the company towards the employees. The company is known to support its employees in terms of time, money or other resources in case of family or personal troubles of the employees. The founders of the company have harnessed the working environment of mutual trust and respect which commands commitment and best performance by the employees.
4. Would you characterize John Tu and David Sun as leaders or managers? Explain your answers.
John Tu and David Sun are the leaders which inspire their followers and their sub-ordinates to imitate the behaviour displayed by them. Contrary to other organizations, they place employees as the first priority in their organization and then vendors as the second. Customers, amazingly are the third priority and as stated by founders that when employees and the vendors of the company are satisfied, customers are satisfied by the first two. The treatment of employees with consideration, respect and care results in the satisfaction of the employees which consequently, propagates the phenomena of satisfying other employee or the customer of the company. The founders of Kingston technology have become the role models for their employees which is one of the most important qualities of a leader. The value driven leadership practiced by John Tu and David Sun places the company in the list of Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for .
1- Which of the following management practices at Kingston Technology best reflects the leadership style that Sally Helgesen call ‘’ the web’’?
a. Returning 10 percent of profits to employees every year.
2- Organizations often com to mirror their founder personalities. Going by this assumption, John Tu and David Sun are likely to be -----------------------
c. Participative
3. When Kingston Technology was sold to Softbank in 1944, John Tu and David Sun made one of the largest employee gifts in U.S. history. What was the amount of the gift?
c. $ 100 million
4. From the information available in the video, which of the following is not one of the ways that Kingston builds trust and respect with employees?
a. Following a clear chain of command when communicating across levels
5. Of the following functions of a leader in shaping organization culture, which function does this video Not talk about?
c. Hiring decision
Works Cited
CIO 1 March 1995.
"Company Awards and Notables." Kingston. 09 December 2011
Feeling Like Part of the Family: Kingston Technology.
"Kingston Technology Corporation." Funding Universe. 09 December 2011
R. Blainpain, L. Dickens & S.K. Andersen. Challenges of European employment relations: employment regulation, trade union organization, equality, flexicurity, training and new approaches to pay. Kluwer Law International, 2008.
