Rafael and the Sorela Vehicles Case: The Pandemic as an Enhancer of Job Crafting

Abstract

The current teaching case describes a story about how a manager of a car dealer company finds in job crafting practices the mechanisms to face the challenges imposed by a severe socio-economic crisis such as the one created by COVID-19. With the pandemic, the manager gains autonomy on his job, which allows him to implement changes of different dimensions: structural changes (in tasks and processes), relational changes (concerning work relationships), and cognitive changes (regarding perception of one’s work/role). Moreover, the case addresses generation Y as an antecedent of job crafting, as well as the consequences of such practices. At individual level, the case allows students to discuss engagement with the job and the positive impact to in-role performance. At the organizational level, the case discusses the bottom-up approach as an alternative to traditional job design approach. As so, the case was originally developed for disciplines such as Organizational Behavior or Human Resources as part of Business Management graduate courses.