Genentech Inc.’s Workplace Stress Management Case Study

Organisational theories and behaviour are the most important tools in an organization and are in most cases used to determine how it performs in a particular industry. It is the management personnel who determine how to apply these theories within the organisation’s premises. Most organisational theories and behaviours in most companies related to its culture, decision-making procedures and communication techniques (Nelson & Quick, 2011). This paper analyses the application of the theories and behaviours in relation to how they have made Genentech successful.

1. Genentech’s employees could be characterised as people who suffer eustress and not distress. Eustress is a condition that motivates employees to continue doing positive things within the organisation. Due to the feelings of eustress, the employees are able to enjoy their duties and the company’s events they engage in, even if they require much of their time and effort. Those actions and events provide a great sense of satisfaction to the employees (Singh, 2010). Genentech’s management also promotes the concept of eustress by showing the employees how much they are important to the company; this makes them feel valued by the organisation. The relationship between the management and the employees also encourages the latter to contribute tirelessly towards the organisation’s mission and goals.
2. The impact of Yerkes-Dodson law can be felt in the way Genentech’s programs are developed and used to enhance the employees’ well-being. The law implies that an employee’s performance within an organisation can be enhanced by arousing them in some way. Genentech improves the performance of its employees in a number of ways. Genentech’s management has created an environment that promotes creativity and innovation, emotional health, and problem-solving abilities among the company’s employees (Nelson & Quick, 2011).
3. Genentech’s basic management philosophy and the culture of the organisation play a major role in ensuring that the employees’ well-being is taken care of. The organisation’s philosophy and culture regard customers and employees as the two major priorities of the organisation. The philosophy ensures that the organisation is focused on helping people with life-threatening diseases. To achieve this objective, the company has developed a culture that ensures that its employees are valued and rewarded for every contribution they make (Martin, 2005).
4. Through its successful programs that enable employees to deal with stress and other negative consequences that are associated with work, Genentech is capable of achieving its goal, which is to provide the best services to people with terminal diseases. If the employees are taught how to manage stress at the workplace, they can become highly motivated to conduct research studies that are related to the organisation’s goal (Nelson & Quick, 2011).
5. An organisational culture, which creates an environment that fosters creativity and innovation, is the most effective program within any company as it directly determines how it performs. Every organisation requires creative and innovative employees to enable it to come up with new products regularly. An organisation’s prosperity depends on its ability to come up with new and unique products in the market it targets (Nelson & Quick, 2011).
6. The four programs that Genentech uses to influence the performance of its employees have various individual and organisational consequences for the employees and the company respectively. For instance, creative and innovative programs are important in enhancing the productivity of Genentech. The other programs, which include organisational culture, work/life balance, and tuition assistance, significantly influence how every employee performs in the organisation (Miner, 2007).