Exercise 14-C: Case Study: “Am I the Manager?”
Gail was hired at the apparel manufacturing company to be the office and production manager. She was very excited
about her new position; the job responsibilities seemed to be a perfect fit with her skills an d strengths. Her responsibilities
included running the office and the ordering department and coordinating the production facilities. Larry was the owner of
the company and he handled all the financial aspects of the business. L.J. was the plant manager an d was Gail’s direct
supervisor.
On the first day of work, Larry instructed Gail to make the order and production department more efficient. Gail
soon began to realize that there were a few employees in the ordering department who were very ineffic ient and lacking in
motivation. One employee in particular, Kathy, would come in 10 -20 minutes late, have several personal calls that lasted
anywhere from 5-25 minutes, and refused to answer the phones when anyone else seemed to be free. She would simply
say to other order people, “I need you to get that call; I’m busy doing my account summaries. “Larry had already warned
her of Kathy’s unacceptable behavior and informed her that Kathy had several documented violations and notations in her
personnel file. Larry felt that Gail should try to work with her, but if she was not able to change her behavior, he wanted
Gail to document one final complaint and terminate her.
Gail decided to have a feedback session with Kathy, during which Kathy was very defe nsive yet said she would try
to change her behavior. Kathy insinuated that even though she did these things, Larry liked her and he was not really
bothered by them. Over the next two weeks Kathy did not change her behavior, so, with the documented results of the
feedback session and the other citations in her file, Gail decided she would terminate Kathy. Kathy caused a scene in the
office and ran into Larry’s office. After a considerable time period, Gail was called into Larry’s office and he told Gail
that Kathy was not fired and that “Gail just needed to help Kathy improve upon her behaviors. “ Gail left the meeting
feeling like she had just been undermined in front of the entire staff.
Another situation that had been developing dealt with Gail’s reorganization of the production department. In order
to gain efficiency between the ordering staff and the production department, there needed to be an order and prioritization
schedule. After developing a new system, Gail proceeded to explain the new sys tem to both the ordering department and
to Maggie, the production supervisor, and her staff. Not much was said and Gail felt confident her new system would
work out. Soon she discovered that nothing had changed. Maggie was making her own determinations reg arding
production regardless of the orders put in and prioritized by the order department. Gail went to discuss it with Maggie and
the reply she got from Maggie was, “This is my department, I have been here much longer than you and I’ll have them
produce what them to. Go cry to Larry if you don’t like it. Until I hear it from Larry I will do as I please. “This dream job
was starting to seem more like a nightmare.
The final straw came regarding the ordering of materials. Gail quickly realized that t hey did not have the necessary
materials to make the high demand products. She worked on an inventory count with L.J. and between the two of them
they were able to come up with an accurate count and on order plan to get production back on schedule. Gail th en
proceeded to place an order for the necessary supplies. At least she had control over something around here. Two days
later, Larry called her into the office furious about the requisition materials; I handle the finances and this just put me i n a
bad spot with a supplier I owe money to. I make the decision on when we purchase materials. Understand?” Gail was
beginning to understand all too well. She was mad, frustrated, hurt, and disillusioned all at the same time. “What have I
gotten myself into with this organization?” She thought.
Questions
1.
What guidelines of empowerment were violated by Larry or Gail?
2.
What guidelines of delegation were violated by Larry or Gail?
3.
What should Gail plan to discuss with Larry? What issue need to be raised?
4.
What does Gail need to do in order to obtain the necessary elements of empowerment and delegation? What does
Larry need to do to facilitate Gail’s success?
5.
What advice would you give to Larry and Gail regarding their working situation?