Ali Emmott September 29,2013

Inside Mars Inc

Fortune Magazine

1.The main purpose of this article is: The purpose of the article Inside Mars by

David A. Kaplan was to go inside the company to see what they are all about. The

article notes the company is family-owned and privately held which has allowed

them to adopt policies with a view to long-run business health as opposed to short-

term stock market reaction. Kaplan states “Mars boasts employees who love not

only the products they make but also the office culture and the company’s long

standing principles” which I found to be the most significant part of the article

2.Introduce the article title, author(s), year published, brief description of the

study. Inside Mars by David A. Kaplan and Marilyn Adamo published in Fortune

magazine on February 4, 2013. The study of the article profiles candy and food

products company Mars, that was ranked number 95 in the publications 2013 “100

Best Companies to Work For” list.

3. The key question(s) that the author is addressing ..(figure out the key

question(s) in the mind of the authors) when he/she wrote the article. Mars

being a really secret organization the authors were addressing several questions but

the most obvious question being addressed is what is the Mars organization and

who are the people behind the organization.

Ali Emmott September 29,2013

4. The most important information or key points in this article is.. (figure out

the facts, experiences, data the author is using to support his/her conclusions)

Kaplan and Adamo had the opportunity to first hand experience what Mars was all

about when they got to take a peek inside and speak with the nonfamily president of

Mars Paul S. Michaels. To sum up the conclusion on the article, Kaplan says there’s

no wonder why Mars Incorporated is a great place to work for. Kaplan and Adamo

collected a significant amount of data about the corporation, culture, environment

and their employees, which supports the articles conclusion.

5.The Main inferences/conclusions in this article are (identify the key

conclusions the auth comes to and presents in the article) Concluding the article

Kaplan discusses the valuable involvement the Mars family members have with the

business. Quoting Michaels the nonfamily president when he says, “The owners

have a lot of sweat equity in the company” and “So when they give you advice or feel

strongly they have a level of credibility”. Michaels also told Kaplan that he hears

from the Mars family very frequently each week. The Mars family is also known to

call employees out of the blue and the employees always feel they’re more delighted

than threatened.

6. The key concepts we need to understand in this article are (by theses

concepts the author means.. figure out the most important ideas you would

have to understand in order to understand the author’s line of reasoning)

Ali Emmott September 29,2013

The company’s privateness has been a crucial factor in their success over the

decades. The lack of interest in the public markets employees has independence to

experiment with ideas and management has the patience to train. The U.S director

for Snickers and Twix Osher Hoberman told Kaplan “I get the benefit of a longer

learning cycle”. A longer learning cycle is very valuable because this allows

employees to become more experienced as well as more educated about their job

within the organization.

7. The main assumption(s) underlying the author’s thinking is (are)..(figure

out what the author is taking granted or might be questioned.)

Throughout the article Kaplan has nothing but positive and reinsuring facts about

the company and companies management. But I felt that Kaplan was naive to the

fact that nothing is perfect and there must flaws and faults somewhere within the

company. The employees appear to be very happy working at Mars but there must

be some policies or functions of the company employees are not happy with.

8. If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are…….. (What

consequences are likely to follow if people ignore the author’s reasoning?)

The author does not address any concerning reasoning in this article about the Mars

corporation.

Ali Emmott September 29,2013

9. What new research has been conducted in this topic? Provide 3 links to new

research articles. Write a brief description of each article research topic. Use

the journal Abstract.

http://m.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2013/09/our-mission-to-mars-

inc.html?page=all&r=full

This article is from Friday September 27, 2013 to my knowledge this is the most

recent article about the Mars Inc. manufacture. When Caitlin Burke research

director at the Washington Business Journal gets a closer look at the secretive

billion-dollar food manufacturer herself.

http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/communications/mars-

named-best-private-company-2013-responsible-business-awards

This article written by Mike Hower relates to the Mars Manufacture being named

the best private company in 2013.

http://www.ethicalcorp.com/csr-reports/mars-incorporated-publishes-2012-

principles-action-summary

This article published in this past July addresses the company’s principles-led

approach to business and its commiments.

Ali Emmott September 29,2013

10. What did you learn from the article? How has what you learned

broadened your understanding of Organizational Behavior?

From the article Inside Mars I have gained insight on the culture of large

organization and the behavior of an organization when functioning. I’ve learned that

not only the employees but business owners and the business management of a

company that having passion in the work place is extremely essential to the

company’s future.

11. Provide 3 Organizational Behavior examples from the article that

demonstrates what you learned and how it changed or broadened your

understanding of Organizational Behavior.