The Chicago Bulls: An Organizational Cultural Analysis
Steven Ellis, Hailey Maddix, Rachel Schlechter, Elizabeth Shevins,
Evan Valk, Lukas Varney, and Sam Zabawa
SM 332: Organizational Behavior
December 6, 2012
Ellis, Maddix, Schlechter, Shevins, Valk, Varney, Zabawa
Overview of Analysis
Background of Organization
The Chicago Bulls is a professional franchise in the Central Division in the Eastern
Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Structurally, the Bulls front office is
divided into two main categories. Jerry Reinsdorf sits at the top of the Executive Staff and has
owned the Chicago Bulls since 1985, demonstrating a sense of stability within the
organization. On the other side of things, Basketball Operations, Gar Forman has been the
General Manager since 2009, with an additional 11 years in other positions within the
organization. Therefore, the Bulls boast experienced leaders both on the court and in the
office. Aside from Executive Staff and Basketball Operations, Ticket Sales, Corporate Sales,
Branding & Communications, and Financial & Legal departments contribute to the overall
structure and function of the organization and create the organizational culture that the Chicago
Bulls understand as their own. (“Chicago Bulls Team Directory,” 2012).
The Bulls joined the NBA in 1966 and struggled to establish themselves as a competitive
organization for about the first 20 years of their existence. Their struggles ended when they
drafted Michael Jordan in 1984 and later complemented Jordan’s talent with the addition of
Scottie Pippen in 1987. (“Year-by-year history of the Chicago Bulls,” 2012). The Chicago Bulls
have an overall winning percentage of .518, 31 playoff appearances, and six championships
during their 46 seasons as an NBA franchise. They have had 21 coaches; Phil Jackson is the
winningest coach with a winning percentage of .738. The Bulls won all six championships under
his tenure as coach, with the last coming in 1998. Jordan retired in 1998, Phil Jackson took a
year off, many other big-name players who helped lead the Bulls to these titles left the team, and
the rebuilding phase began. The organization suffered six straight below .500 seasons, yet fans
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remained loyal to the Bulls, as “the team’s home sellout streak reached 567 games [in 1998]”
(“Year-by-year history of the Chicago Bulls,” 2012). The Bulls experienced several consecutive
mediocre seasons, but then drafted some new talent. As of late, the organization has put the team
in the hands of (currently injured) Derrick Rose. (“Chicago Bulls Franchise Index,” 2012).
It is no secret that Michael Jordan is the resounding hero of the Chicago Bulls, and more
recently, the franchise and fans look to Derrick Rose as the upcoming hero. Jordan led the team
to six NBA Finals titles, won six NBA Finals MVP awards, made All-NBA First Team ten
times, won Rookie of the Year in 1985, played in 11 NBA All-Star Games, and won three AllStar Game MVP awards, among many other honors, records, and awards. (“Michael Jordan,”
2001). As for the new star, Derrick Rose also won Rookie of the Year, was named to the All-Star
team in 2009, won MVP in 2010, but tore his ACL in 2011. This transition from Jordan as the
organization’s hero to Rose as the Bulls’ new hope is clearly visible in the front office of the
organization, as both players adorn every wall.
Before going into any analysis, it is important to recognize the Bulls’ mission statement
and core values, as these aspects act as the main drivers of the culture within the organization as
a whole. According to their website (2012), the Bulls are “dedicated to winning NBA
Championships, growing new basketball fans, and providing superior entertainment, value and
service” (“Chicago Bulls Mission Statement”). The website also lists nine statements that the
Bulls consider as their core values, which essentially come down to winning, integrity, engaging
guests, and community involvement. The final statement on the “Chicago Bulls Mission
Statement” (2012) leaves a lasting impression on the sport consumer as it reads, “Many people.
One attitude. To dazzle our fans and sponsors.” This attitude permeates the organization as a
whole, and is visible to a fan browsing the website, attending a game, or visiting the office for a
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job interview. Additionally, this quote proves to be the link between all organizational elements
throughout this analysis, demonstrating that the Chicago Bulls focuses its daily efforts around
this statement. From drafting the best players in an attempt to win championships, to making
sure corporate sponsors are satisfied with the return on investment, to engaging the local
community through Chicago Bulls charities, among other efforts, the Bulls use their mission
statement and core values as the drivers of their organizational culture.
Methods
In order to assess the extent to which the Bulls mission statement, core values, and
attitude impacts the culture of the organization, we searched the website for visible aspects of
organizational culture, visited the front office to better understand the environment in which the
employees create this organizational culture, and conducted a variety of interviews to discover
prominent themes within the daily activities of the organization. The rationale behind our data
collection in three parts was to gain an understanding from both an insider and outsider
perspective. Evaluating visible elements of culture on the website gave us a surface
understanding about the values, heroes, community involvement, and “fan-friendly” information
that the Bulls wish to be public. Visiting the office and conducting interviews made up the
internal information collection, as we were able to draw conclusions about employee
interactions, day-to-day responsibilities, and overall organizational themes. As a whole, four
main elements of organizational culture emerged from our data collection: job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, the importance of leadership, and team characteristics. Each group
member spent a half hour researching the website, and we collectively extracted the important
information together. One group member visited the office for an hour to collect observational
data, and finally various group members conducted four interviews, each of which lasted
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between twenty and thirty minutes. The protocol for these interviews can be seen in Appendix
A.
Major Themes
Job Satisfaction
In order for employees to feel a sense of job satisfaction and increase their task
performance, they must hold the same values as the company. The employees of the Chicago
Bulls exhibit the value-percept theory by perceiving that their job supplies what they value.
Throughout the office there is supervisor satisfaction as well as coworker satisfaction (Colquitt,
Lepine, and Wesson, 2013). Carla DeLio, the assistant to President Reinsdorf, strongly agrees
with this; she was asked by Mr. Reinsdorf to follow him to the Chicago Bulls from his previous
job. She willingly complied because she feels a sense of loyalty to him. In addition, Kristina
Kozica, a ticket sales intern, enjoys walking around with her coworkers for breaks and takes
advantage of her ability to meet up with her mentor and boss to learn and improve her sales
technique; this helps her feel confident and comfortable while engaging in ticket sales. The front
office is only on two floors allowing close proximity to the rest of the Chicago Bulls employees.
Around the office, everyone calls each other by first name demonstrating genuine interactions.
Employees generally eat together, signifying coworker satisfaction as they gather in the United
Center (U.C.) Café for lunch.
Furthermore, Ms. Kozica shed information on how pay satisfaction is highly valued and
can be easily achieved through hard work and perseverance. Pay incentives and prize bonuses
are offered with the aim to sell the most tickets. Promotion satisfaction is not easily achieved
because most workers within the front office stay for years leaving no positions open to move
up. Even though Mr. Reinsdorf thinks that they would be able to benefit with fresh faces and
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ideas from the younger generation, he realizes it is hard when employees have been working in
the organization for so long. Overall, the job satisfaction exhibited in the Chicago Bulls’
workplace leads to higher task performance (Colquitt et al., 2013) because all of the workers
hold the same values such as respect, integrity, and excellence, and all the employees “love what
they are doing and respect one another, the game, and the players,” (K. Kozica, Personal
Communication, November 15, 2012).
While working for the Chicago Bulls, there are many encounters with stress that can lead
to higher levels of task performance. Time pressure is a major challenge stressor that employees
encounter (Colquitt et al., 2013). However, there are many coping mechanisms to help relieve
the stress. Employees in the ticketing office are encouraged to engage in behavioral coping,
which involves physical activities (Colquitt et al., 2013). If sales are not going their way for a
time period, it is important to regroup and come up with a new plan. Bosses promote their teams
to take many breaks and go on walks with each other to escape the workplace. This is a relaxing
technique that is able to reduce strains and is used a calming technique and muscle relaxer.
Moreover, during the off-season when there is normally not a lot of stress, employees are
allowed to leave early on Fridays at three o’clock instead of five or six o’clock.
In addition, training interventions are staged to try to relieve stress before employees
enter the workplace. These interventions are aimed at increasing skills and competencies while
building confidence in the new employee’s ability (Colquitt et al., 2013). Employees all agree
that the “training is important to the foundation of sporting careers,” according to Ms. Kozica
(Personal Communication, November 15, 2012). Her department has two outside people come to
the organization to extensively work with the new trainees. In addition, mentors and bosses help
out with the training and are able to offer advice from their experiences and help answer
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questions. One of the most vital aspects of the daily routine for Senior Director of Sales, David
Dowd, is to recruit and manage ten recent college graduates for an eight month long ticket sales
program (D. Dowd, Personal Communication, November 29, 2012). The structured training
program really helps relieve stress and makes employees feel comfortable while coming to work
for the Chicago Bulls. Overall, task performance is higher because with all of these coping
mechanisms and preventative stress programs, employees feel that they are able to handle their
workload and feel self-assured that they can get their job done the correct way within their time
constraints.
Motivation is a determinant factor in any business to help increase task performance. For
the Chicago Bulls’ full time employees, major features are pension benefits and full health care.
But for all employees, motivating factors to work harder are recognition awards such as prize
bonuses and game tickets, free lunches, chances to work with players, and the ongoing
networking opportunities. All of these benefits are offered to keep employees coming back each
year, allowing the Bulls to have a lower turnover rate.
While looking at the ticket sales department, they compete in contests where three
employees are teamed up together to gather the most sales. When a team wins, it results in
respectable recognition and possibly an increase in pay with bonuses. This successful
performance represents instrumentality and expectancy because they believe exerting more effort
will result in a better feat and will result in some sort of better outcome, such as lump-sum
bonuses (Colquitt et al., 2013). In addition, the contests have a set time and set objective to
accomplish a difficult goal. This type of goal setting motivation can lead to employees putting in
their maximum effort and persistence leading to higher task performance.
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The success of any business or organization begins with the basic ethical principles of the
employees and how these values are projected to their coworkers and the consumers. From the
newest intern in the sales department to the owner of an organization, subscribing to the virtues
of trust, justice, and ethics will ultimately yield rewards that will have ramifications throughout
the company. When a greater sense of trust is created and established within the business
environment, employees exhibit increased task performance and a stronger commitment to the
organization. The Chicago Bulls recognize the benefits of these organizational values and work
specifically to encourage and develop trust between employees and supervisors within each
department.
The ticket sales department is one of the most competitive departments in an organization
because the results are easily quantifiable and employees are essentially selling the exact same
product to the same consumers. The actions of employees within the department can become
counterproductive, as the level of competition with coworkers can result in an emphasis that
focuses on individual output rather than team success. In an interview with Ms. Kozica, the
methods employed by the Chicago Bulls to counter the culture of competition was discussed,
with emphasis on maintaining a collegial working environment while still encouraging
productively in selling tickets. Within the organization, ticket sales representatives make
individual calls in which they interact with their customers, but unlike most organizations,
positive relationships throughout the team are emphasized with group exercises and activities.
Ms. Kozica took time to emphasize that making ethical decisions is a vital component in
addressing the type of consumer the organization pursues. While it certainly would be simpler to
sell a massive amount of tickets to a broker out of New York or Los Angeles, it is not the
direction the Bulls organization wishes to pursue. Even though sales are the most important part
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of her job, she recognizes that the Chicago Bulls need to nurture the relationship they have with
the customer and maintain the fan’s access to tickets, which translates into long run success for
the organization. Mr. Dowd stated that if a conflict arises, the company attempts to keep the
problem within the department and resolve it between the employee(s) and the immediate
supervisor (D. Dowd, Personal Communication, November 29, 2012). This leads to higher task
performance because employees believe in their authority figures. These policies encourage
loyalty within the departments and the organization, which in turn makes embracing the virtues
of respect, integrity, and excellence easy because the employees love the job they are doing.
Emphasizing trust and ethics from the bottom up creates an environment where
employees have a strong desire to stay with a company, expressing a very high degree of
organizational commitment. Michael stated that a majority of the front office employees have
been there for approximately 25 to 30 years, which is an unusually long tenure compared to
many other sports organizations that have a much higher turnover rate. While this can be a
negative attribute for other aspects of the organization due to the lack of new employees that
offer “fresh faces and ideas,” individuals working together for decades confirm a proven positive
commitment to each other in terms of trust, justice and ethics (M. Reinsdorf, personal
communication, October 5, 2012). Since the front office is tight-knit group, specific personality
traits and backgrounds are well known between the individuals, drastically limiting the negative
ethical behaviors between coworkers and the company that can ultimately prove so
counterproductive.
The ethical conduct that is encouraged and embraced throughout the entire Chicago Bulls
front office starts at the top with Mr. Reinsdorf, allowing him to have complete trust in his
employees and the decisions they make (D. Dowd, personal communication, November 29,
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2012). If Chicago Bulls’ personnel decide to pursue other career opportunities outside of the
organization, they are allowed to openly explore their options if there is no room for
advancement within the company. Mr. Reinsdorf himself cited an instance where an individual
working under the director of ticketing in the Bulls organization was offered the position of
director of ticketing for the Chicago Fire. He encouraged his employee to take the job that was
an opportunity to advance his career, and reassured the individual that a job with the Bulls
organization would be available if he ever decided to return (M. Reinsdorf, personal
communication, October 5, 2012). Having a president like Mr. Reinsdorf offers this degree of
support and trust to his employees is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to obtain a job
within the Chicago Bulls organization: individuals that are hired opt to stay for 20 years or more.
Decision-making comes from the owner through short meetings, emails, and most
importantly, personal contact. Mr. Reinsdorf feels that since their front office is much smaller
compared to other companies, this asset should be fully utilized to make the decision making
process more personal and effective. Physically meeting with coworkers is normal, not the
exception, which allows for a more efficient relay and discussion of information. The executive
committee meets once a month to discuss major business and basketball decisions, allowing
them to directly address any issues that require attention. Directors and managers attend weekly
meetings within each department, which serve to update the individuals within the department
about decisions pertaining to them and to ensure that everyone is on the same page. In addition
to the weekly meetings, there is a meeting held every game day, in which directors go over the
specific plan for that game and confirm each individual job assignment. The Chicago Bulls
maintain an orderly hierarchy process where each department has a manager that micro-manages
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and relays the information to Mr. Reinsdorf and the executive committee (M. Reinsdorf, personal
communication, October 5, 2012).
Organizational Commitment
Aside from task performance and job satisfaction, strong organizational commitment is
the most desired outcome of organizational behavior. Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson (2013)
define organizational commitment as “the desire on the part of an employee to remain a member
of the organization.” Highly committed employees usually exhibit more loyalty and a stronger
work ethic than those with low organizational commitment, but there are many factors that
contribute to a worker’s sense of attachment to their company. As it is, there are three main types
of organizational commitment: affective, continuance, and normative. Affective commitment
involves the emotional attachment an employee feels for his company. Workers stay employed
because they want to work for the company; for example, continuance commitment is the desire
to remain employed because of the costs one may suffer from leaving the company. In this case,
workers keep their job because they cannot afford to quit. Finally, normative commitment is the
sense of obligation one feels toward the company. Workers stay at their job because they feel as
though they owe something to the boss or organization. The following paragraphs will examine
the extent that these forms of commitment are felt within the Chicago Bulls organization.
Affective commitment is the form of commitment most associated with feelings of
loyalty and attachment. Employees that are high in affective commitment usually put forth extra
effort, get along better with their coworkers, and exhibit more interpersonal and organizational
citizenship behaviors (Colquitt et al., 2013). For this reason, companies strive to create an
atmosphere that promotes affective commitment. In interviewing members of the Chicago Bulls
organization, employees seem to have high levels of affective commitment. One way to promote
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affective commitment is to provide fun opportunities that bring employees together. The Chicago
Bulls do this by organizing numerous events for employees that are enjoyable and encourage
productive interpersonal relationships. For example, Ms. Kozica mentioned bowling parties, a
summer water park outing, and similar events for those in ticket sales to enjoy. She stressed how
much people in the organization loved working together and looked forward to these
opportunities. Mrs. DeLio, noted how friendly the work atmosphere was, and that many
employees become friends who go out together outside of work. She discussed the longevity of
the employees, pointing out that many had known and worked with each other since their college
days. Mr. Reinsdorf reinforced this point in discussing front office personnel. Though he desires
to hire new workers, he talked of how difficult it was since many people had been in the
organization for 25 to 30 years. With the many perks the organization provides, including full
health care, game tickets, life insurance, and a 401k on top of that, employees simply do not
want to leave. Their affective commitment is just that high.
Less pronounced but still present in the Chicago Bulls organization is examples of
continuance commitment. Recall that this commitment focuses on the costs associated with
quitting a job versus the profits one retains to stay employed. Ms. Kozica mentioned that many
people in her department were recent graduates who worked part-time. Their reasons for staying
in the company involve the need for experience. Jobs in the sport industry are not easy to come
by. For these workers to succeed, they need to accumulate work experience and develop
opportunities to network among prominent industry professionals. Without their job with the
Chicago Bulls, it would be difficult for many of these people to develop the necessary skills and
connections to work in the sport industry. Other forms of continuance commitment can be
gleaned from Mr. Reinsdorf’s discussion of company benefits. Employees may need the
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healthcare and insurance benefits (not to mention the money) to ensure a high quality of life for
their families. The price of finding a new job that accommodates these needs, and then the
physical and emotional costs of uprooting the family is more than many workers can afford to
endure. This “embeddedness” demonstrates the continuance commitment that many in the
Chicago Bulls organization likely feel.
Normative commitment is defined as a desire to remain a member of an organization due
to a feeling of obligation, or that you are staying because you ought to stay. This obligation to
stay may result from personal work philosophies or more general codes of right and wrong
developed over the course of their life (Colquitt, et al., 2013). This along with affective and
continuance commitment make up the overall organizational commitment. Each of the three
commitments usually deals with one of a variety of things, examples being the company, top
management, department, manager, work team, and specific coworkers.
An organization can build a sense of obligation-based commitment for the employees in
two ways. The first is that the company creates a feeling that the employee owes something to
the organization. A company does this by making an investment in the employee such as a
paying for continued education, providing training opportunities – as the Bulls have done,
particularly in the ticket department - and/or personally honing an employee’s skills in the field.
By creating this sense of commitment to the company, it increases the chances of staying
because the employee feels a debt to the company. Another way of creating normative
commitment is by becoming a charitable organization. This helps employees feel better about the
organization that they are working for, which in turns creates a deeper connection.
The Chicago Bulls organization has done a lot to create organizational commitment
among the employees. Some of this commitment is normative based, as they feel that they owe
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something back to the bulls for what they have done for them. An example of this is that they
engage in a large number of charities. The slogan for Chicago Bulls Charities is “Teach. Nurture.
Protect,” which put emphasis on youth education, health and wellness, and violence prevention.
Programs like the EnergizaBulls Fitness Program help to spread the message of healthy living
through Chicago’s youth. It promotes healthy eating habits as well as exercise to combat the
ever-growing problem of childhood obesity. Youth education charities like the United Center
Joint Venture Scholarships annually provide $20,000 in scholarships to students attending
Malcolm X College. The Bulls have also been key in the opening of community centers
throughout Chicago. They put in the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club and Chicago Bulls Family
Center as well as the Ray and Joan Croc Corps Community Center. Both of these centers help to
combat violence within the city of Chicago, giving the kids of the city a safe environment for
them to play in and protect them from the violence that occurs throughout the city. Engaging in
charitable activities helps to further create the connection to the company, which adds to the
normative commitment of an individual ("Chicago Bulls Charities," 2012).
In the internship program offered by the Bulls, Mr. Reinsdorf is trying to implement a
mentoring program as a part of the internship. He sees this as an important way to give young
people the ability to experience the sports industry. It also is a great way to find new Bulls’
employees. This mentorship program will also help to create a feeling of obligation to the Bulls.
It gives the intern valuable insight and knowledge into the sports world. It will also give them a
chance to prove themselves to the company and many of them will get their first job
opportunities as a result of this program (M. Reinsdorf, personal communication, October 5,
2012).
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Leadership and Team Characteristics
Through efforts demonstrated to instill a sense of commitment to the Bulls, Mr.
Reinsdorf promotes loyalty, while also bringing a unique dynamic to the front office leadership
style. Each person within the front office ensures that his or her responsibilities are upheld, in
addition to going above and beyond to help fellow coworkers. Given Jerry Reinsdorf’s history
working with professional sports teams, such as the Chicago White Sox, he was an excellent
candidate for buying the Bulls. His son, Michael Reinsdorf, recently joined the front office team
as the President and COO in 2010. As a leader in the front office, Mr. Reinsdorf has made it his
responsibility to give all of his 75 employees individual time and attention. Early on in his
career, Mr. Reinsdorf, found meeting with every employee equally a challenge, but reassured
himself that it was well worth it because he needed to know what was going on in every aspect
of the office. In addition, "I (Michael) told every single person that it was really important they
do one thing with me and that was to be honest, full disclosure," he said, "I know everyone
works hard, most average 10 to 15 years here. And what that means is if I ask them a question,
even if it makes them uncomfortable, that they give me an honest answer. If I come up with an
idea you're in total disagreement with, you have to tell me" (M. Reinsdorf, personal
communication, October 5, 2012).
Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, John Paxson, said that the above
statement was one of the smartest things Mr. Reinsdorf did. "He got the lay of the environment
and culture and really took the time, at least from my perspective, to understand everything and
not make a rush to judgment on anything or put his stamp on anything," Paxson said. "Any
changes he made came from very thoughtful discussions with people and he made decisions in
the best interest of the Bulls. He's been really good for the organization” (Isaacson, 2012). Based
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on Paxson’s above statement, the leadership style within the front office follows the rational
model. The rational model is defined as members sharing common goals, making decision in an
orderly and logical manner, and one where conflict is dysfunctional (Colquitt et al., 2013). Mr.
Reinsdorf explained that he finds it much more effective and efficient in completing tasks when
he works together with those in the front office rather than individually. He further explained that
individuals do have different goals within their specific jobs, although, in general, the front
office works as a team rather than as individuals (depending on the task at hand). The political
model deals with the situation in which people in an organization have different goals, make
choices in their own best interests, and engage in conflict (Phelan, 2012). The Bulls front office
has indicated they follow a combination of the rational and political model, in that they work
together as a unit with common goals and best interests of the team, however, each position
within the office has certain duties and goals they must meet.
Like most companies or firms, the Bulls front office has a hierarchy of power. Mr.
Reinsdorf being the President and COO under his father Jerry, has the most “power.” When
interviewing Mr. Reinsdorf, he was found to be very humble and respectful, as well as highly
respected by his employees. He heavily emphasized that the key to his success within the front
office is that he is fair and equal to all of his employees. This is a crucial skill one must possess
in running an organization. He briefly discussed that like any normal functioning office there are
times that are not as smooth as others; however, he feels that this is what makes his office
“normal.” He added, “If the office ran perfect and flawless every day it wouldn’t be successful.”
He believes that “we live in an imperfect world and that it is not possible to have a perfectly run
office with zero disagreements or flaws. That is just not normal nor human.” Based off of
interviews and speaking with Mr. Reinsdorf, it seemed he was against a “perfectly” functioning
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front office. This was interesting, because it is not the first time we have heard leaders of
organizations talk about being imperfect and making no bad or wrong decisions. He also made it
clear that he has been faced with criticisms due to a different management style than his father;
he told us (and it is also quoted in an ESPN article):
"One thing I do have to deal with in this organization is that a lot of times it's said to me,
'Well, that's not the way your father has approached it before. I'm very respectful because
obviously my father has been very successful, but there are times when I don't agree with
some of the decisions he's made in the past or maybe the philosophy. So I have to gently
push back and remind people, 'My dad didn't make me wear a seatbelt when I was driving
in the car with him. So not every decision that he made was the right decision'" (Isaacson,
2012). (M. Reinsdorf, personal communication, October 5, 2012).
Mr. Reinsdorf’s above comparison is both interesting and insightful. With the
advancements and changes in the world, it seems that his father’s ideas are outdated, as far as
knowing what is trending for the organization and industry as a whole. Mr. Reinsdorf said his
father, Jerry, trusts his decisions and knows that he will make good and right choices for the
team and organization. (M. Reinsdorf, personal communication, October 5, 2012).
In addition to leadership seen in the front office, networking maps and constructive
conflicts are other concepts Mr. Reinsdorf and his employees practice. Networking maps is the
idea that employees find a meeting place they go to when they come up with a new idea and
collectively decide who possesses certain types of expertise (Phelan 2012). This concept is
utilized at times within the Bulls front office. For example, Mr. Reinsdorf discussed how he likes
having his employees collectively discuss and know what is going on within the organization so
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that all or most employees are on the same page. This makes it much more efficient and
successful for the team to work the best it can in the offices.
Mr. Reinsdorf emphasized that constructive conflict is not always a bad thing. He
discussed that he needs to be aware of disagreements, which is not extremely rare in the front
office. With the array of generational differences and genders, conflict does come up. He uses
the constructive conflict approach to alleviate the conflict and disagreements seen within the
office. Mr. Reinsdorf mentioned that relationship conflict hardly exists within the front office,
which proves to be a good thing. It is difficult to work with people who have personal issues
with one another as it can disrupt flow and success within the organization. (M. Reinsdorf,
personal communication, October 5, 2012).
While Mr. Reinsdorf proves to be an excellent leader for the Bulls, the collaborative
efforts through teamwork between individual departments are instrumental in the organization’s
success. From the interviews conducted with the Chicago Bulls personnel, there were allusions
that made to different individuals and departments working together to increase effectiveness.
Mr. Reinsdorf explained that certain departments within the organization that engage in related
work often combine their resources and work together. For example, the Public Relations and
Corporate Relations departments often have daily communication and discussions as they have
tasks that are closely related (M. Reinsdorf, personal communication, October 5, 2012). In order
to be effective as an organization as a whole, Public Relations and Corporate Relations
departments’ overall goals must be in line with one another and their planned courses of action
must be communicated well. Members of each department must be aware of the timeline of
initiatives of the other department, as well as how the two departments will utilize combined
efforts in certain initiatives. In many ways, these two departments can act to reinforce one
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another through the Bulls’ public relations and corporate partnerships. For example, if a
partnership with a certain company reflects a certain value or stance, the public relations
department can communicate this with the sports community and help develop the Chicago
Bulls’ image. Mr. Reinsdorf also touched on the fact that if certain departments that are related
don’t engage in this type of effective communication and alignment of goals, it would be very
detrimental to the organization and could lead to larger problems that affect many departments
related (M. Reinsdorf, personal communication, October 5, 2012).
Michael’s assistant, Mrs. DeLio, also indirectly mentioned the concept of teamwork.
When she was asked to talk about whether any rituals occur within the organization, Mrs. DeLio
responded that there is always an organization-wide meeting before every game. In this pre-game
meeting, the operations department goes over the plan for the entire game as well as the halftime
show. Included in this information are each person’s individual tasks and responsibilities during
the entire game experience, from when gates open until the last fan leaves the venue (C. DeLio,
personal communication, November 12, 2012). Even though Mrs. DeLio did not refer to this pregame meeting as an example of teamwork, her description exhibited a perfect portrayal of an
action team. According to the textbook (2013), action teams perform tasks that are normally
limited in duration. However, these types of teams can work together for an extended period of
time, such as the duration of a sports season. During the Chicago Bulls’ season, these pre-game
meetings occur before every single game. Another defining characteristic of an action team is
that its tasks are complex and occur in environments that are highly exposed to an audience
(Colquitt et al., 2013). This description parallels the Chicago Bulls’ organization departments
coming together on every game day to put on a successful event for the fans in attendance. While
some of these departments might not work together often, especially during the offseason, they
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come together on game day to work as a team with a common goal. This example depicted by
Mrs. DeLio relates directly back to the analysis conducted on the Chicago Bulls’ website. As
mentioned above, the Mission Statement ends with an emphasis on “Many people. One attitude.
To dazzle our fans and sponsors” (Chicago Bulls Mission Statement, 2012). This statement in
itself portrays a team culture that permeates throughout the organization and is best displayed on
game days when all departments are working together.
This type of teamwork that is oriented towards the accomplishment of a common goal is
representative of goal interdependence. According to Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson (2013), goal
interdependence is when team members share an overlapping vision of the team’s goals. From
this shared vision, each individual department can align its smaller goals with the overall vision,
allowing desired results to be best accomplished. It seems one of the most important utilizations
of teamwork processes within the Chicago Bulls organization is through game day operations.
A final display of teamwork came from Ms. Kozica, who has worked in ticket sales for
about five months. When asked about any teamwork processes that may occur in her job with the
Chicago Bulls, she said that working in teams is not common. However, she explained that even
though formal teams are not created because each member of the staff makes their own sales
calls, an overall sales team atmosphere is promoted within the department (K. Kozica, Personal
communication, November 15, 2012). Additionally, within the department, there are teambuilding activities such as contests between employees measuring who can sell the most tickets
in a certain time frame. While the employees within the ticket office are not working on a onetime project as a team, they are still working towards a common goal of selling as many tickets
as possible. This is displayed through the department’s action processes. Action team processes
include the monitoring of progress toward the overarching goal, systems monitoring, and
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communication with the team (Colquitt, et al., 2013). In the interview, Ms. Kozica explained the
ticket office’s continuing education program. This program brings all employees together to
discuss what is working and what is not as effective, such as a new sales tactic. Additionally,
members go over old information and get everyone together in a room at one time to simply
discuss the state of the ticket office at that time. After this, for newer members such as Ms.
Kozica, employees split into groups with a more experienced mentor that can individually aid
them in their sales progress (K. Kozica, personal communication, November 15, 2012). In total,
teamwork processes were not explicitly described by any of the interviewees from the Chicago
Bulls as a key component to their organizational structure. However, through analysis of other
parts of the interviews, it was found that teamwork is often used within the organization,
specifically in game-day activities or in departments that share common goals.
Overall Description of Culture
The organizational culture of the Chicago Bulls franchise is centered on the belief of
“Many people. One attitude. To dazzle our fans and sponsors,” (Chicago Bulls Mission
Statement, 2012). The overwhelming theme observed was that employees are highly satisfied
and committed to their jobs. It can be inferred through employees’ long tenure and commitment
with the organization that the work environment lends itself to employee satisfaction. There is a
low turnover rate and the overall culture of the organization has remained the same throughout
the years with the same values. This has lead to the overall strength of the culture and shared
understanding of policies, goals, and work ethics throughout the organization. This process starts
with President Michael Reinsdorf and permeates down through the entire front office including
the newly hired ticket sales interns. Reinsdorf’s leadership provides an overall focus and drive
for all employees throughout the organization. Through interviews and observation, employees
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revealed an environment and culture that allows them to feel relaxed and maintain enthusiasm
toward their jobs.
Referring back to the Bulls’ overarching belief, we realize that the organization is
comprised of individuals within many departments that work separately in their everyday tasks.
This idea is manifested in the fact that the organization comes together each game day to go over
individual tasks during the pregame speech. However, all of their work is ultimately driven by
their desire to fulfill a common goal: “providing superior entertainment, value and service,”
(Chicago Bulls Mission Statement, 2012). Though each department has individual goals to
accomplish, the completion of these tasks create a product that is viewed from the outside as a
whole.
Conclusion
The Chicago Bulls have created a welcoming environment where employees work
hard and are satisfied with their job. Motivation, satisfaction with coworkers, supervisors, and
pay all lead to employees putting in the effort to accomplish their tasks. The trust, justice, and
ethics within the organization lead to higher task performance allowing the Bulls to excel as a
franchise. The employees feel the need and want to work for the organization because of the
extensive training program they participate in, the relationships created with coworkers, and the
satisfaction with pay. The strong leadership within the organization communicates the values and
principles throughout the workplace. With the effective leadership structure under President
Reinsdorf, employees understand their responsibilities to the organization. Therefore, teamwork
is not necessarily the primary way of getting work done, but the environment is conducive to
teamwork when necessary; otherwise, employees can work on their individual tasks. However,
everyone executes his or her responsibilities with one common goal in mind. Overall, the
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strength of our analysis and assessments come from the interactions and interviews we were able
to conduct. We were able to view the culture of the Chicago Bulls as an organization firsthand
and see how “many people” within the franchise with “one attitude,” allow for near-perfect
execution of their mission to “dazzle our fans and sponsors,” (Chicago Bulls Mission Statement,
2012).
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Work Cited
Chicago Bulls charities. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.nba.com/bulls/community/chicagobullscharities.html
Chicago Bulls franchise index. (2012). Basketball-Reference. Retrieved November 21, 2012,
from http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/
Chicago Bulls mission statement. (2012). The Official Site of the Chicago Bulls. Retrieved
October 15, 2012, from http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/mission_statement.html
Chicago Bulls team directory. (2012). The Official Site of the Chicago Bulls. Retrieved October
15, 2012, from http://www.nba.com/bulls/chicago-bulls-staff-directory.html
Colquitt, J., Lepine, J., Wesson, M. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance
and Commitment in the Workplace. NY, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Isaacson, M. (2012). A Reinsdorf for the next generation. ESPN Chicago. Retrieved November
20, 2012, from http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7562510/michael-reinsdorfmaking-own-name-chicago-bulls-president-coo
Michael Jordan. (2001). NBA.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012, from
http://www.nba.com/jordan/
Phelan, A. (2012, Nov. 13). Leadership: Power and Politics. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
ctools.umich.edu
Year-by-year history of the Chicago Bulls. (2012). The Official Site of the Chicago Bulls.
Retrieved November 21, 2012, from
http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/Chicago_Bulls_History-2439342.html?nav=ArticleList#2
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
1. What is your job title? Give an explanation of what your job entails.
2. How long have you been with the Bulls?
3. What do you feel are the beliefs and values within the company?
4. What is the main mode of communication within the organization?
5. What do you look for when hiring?*
6. Do you hold meetings on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis?
7. What are the relationships between coworkers? Are most people in the office friends
outside the office as well?
8. Are there coping mechanisms for stress?
9. How are conflicts dealt with? What role does the Human Resource Department play?
10. Do you work in teams?
11. How do workers get motivated? Are their perks and incentives to keep employees in the
company? What helps motivate employees?
12. With respect to trust, justice, and ethics, has your organization ever been confronted with
an issue where you had to think about what the moral thing was to do?
13. Are there any rituals that occur within the company?
14. What would you say are the perks of working with the Bulls?
15. Is there anything else about the organization that you think I should know?
* Question 5 was only asked to Michael Reinsdorf, President and COO
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