Review the scenario and response the following:
Sullivan was general manager of the Plastics Division of Warner Manufacturing Company. Eleven years ago, Ed hired Russell (Rusty) Means as a general manager of the Plastics Division's two factories. Ed trained Rusty as a manager and thinks Rusty is a good manager, an opinion based largely on the fact that products are produced on schedule and are of such quality that few customers com-plain. In fact, for the past eight years, Ed has pretty much let Rusty run the factories independently. Rusty believes strongly that his job is to see that production runs smoothly. He feels that work is work. Sometimes it is agreeable, sometimes disagreeable. If an employee doesn't like the work, he or she can either adjust or quit. Rusty, say the factory personnel, "runs things. He's ?rm and doesn't stand for any nonsense. Things are done by the book, or they are not done at all." The turnover in the factories is low; nearly every em-ployee likes Rusty and believes that he knows his trade and that he stands up for them. Two months ago, Ed Sullivan retired and his replace-ment, Wallace Thomas, took over as general manager of the Plastics Division. One of the ?rst things Thomas did was call his key management people together and an-nounce some major changes he wanted to implement. These included (1) bring the operative employees into the decision-making process; (2) establish a planning com-mittee made up of three management members and three operative employees; (3) start a suggestion system; and (4) as quickly as possible, install a performance appraisal program agreeable to both management and the opera-tive employees. Wallace also stated he would be active in seeing that these projects would be implemented without delay. After the meeting, Rusty was upset and decided to talk to Robert Mitchell, general manager of sales for the Plastics Division. Rusty: Wallace is really going to change things, isn't he? Robert: Yeah, maybe it's for the best. Things were a little lax under Ed. Rusty: I liked them that way. Ed let you run your own shop. I'm afraid Wallace is going to be looking over my shoulder every minute. Robert: Well, let's give him a chance. After all, some of the changes he's proposing sound good. Rusty: Well, I can tell you our employees won't like them. Having them participate in making deci- sions and those other things are just fancy man- agement stuff that won't work with our employees.
Questions
1. What different styles of leadership are shown in this case?
2. What style of leadership do you think Wallace will have to use with Rusty?
3. Do you agree with Rusty? Why or why not?
4. If "products are produced on schedule and of such quality that few customers complain," why should there be any changes?
B. On a Monday morning, April 28, George Smith was given the news that effective May 1, he would receive a raise of 13 percent. This raise came two months before his sched-uled performance appraisal. His manager, Tom Weeks, in-formed him that the basis for the raise was his performance over the past several months and his value to the com-pany. He was told that this was an "above average" increase. On the next day, Tuesday, a group of George's co-workers were having their regular morning coffee break. The conversation slowly made its way around to salary in-creases. One member of the group shared that she had received a performance review in April, but she had yet to receive any indication of a salary increase. George made a comment about the amount of any such increases, spe-ci?cally questioning the range of increase percentages. Another co-worker immediately responded by saying how surprised he was in getting an across-the-board 12 percent increase last Friday. Another co-worker con-?rmed that he too had received a similar salary increase. Shocked by this information, George pressed for informa-tion, only to learn that several people had received in-creases of "around" 11 to 13 percent. Confused and angry, George excused himself, went back to his of?ce, and closed the door. That evening, George wrestled with his conscience concerning that morning's discussion. His ?rst impression of his raise was that it had been given based on perfor-mance. He felt he was being singled out for recognition for his hard work and his value to the organization. Now he wasn't so sure. Several questions were bothering him: 1. Why did his boss present the raise to him as a merit increase when it was the same as everyone else's? 2. Did individual job performance really count for that much in salary increases in his department? 3. Did his boss hide the truth regarding the raise? 4. Can he trust his boss in the future? 5. Will future salary increases be averaged across the board too?
Questions
1. Do you think George is right to be this upset? Why or why not.
2. How do you think the information George discovered during that morning coffee break will affect his per-formance from now on?
3. How would you react if you were George? Why?
4. What can Tom Weeks do to regain George's trust?
C. Bob Luck was hired to replace Alice Carter as administrative assistant in the admissions of?ce of Claymore Community College. Before leaving, Alice had given a month's notice to the director of admissions, hoping this would allow ample time to locate and train her replacement. Alice's responsibilities in-cluded preparing and mailing transcripts at the request of stu-dents, mailing information requested by people interested in attending the college, answering the telephone, assisting stu-dents or potential enrollees who came to the of?ce, and gen-eral supervision of clerical personnel and student assistants. After interviewing and testing many people for the posi-tion, the director hired Bob, mainly because his credentials were good and he made a favorable impression. Alice spent many hours during the next 10 days training Bob. He appeared to be quite bright and seemed to quickly pick up the proce-dures involved in operating a college admissions of?ce. When Alice left, everyone thought Bob would do an outstanding job. However, little time had elapsed before people real-ized that Bob had not caught on to his job responsibilities. Bob seemed to have personal problems that were severe enough to stand in the way of his work. He asked ques-tions about subjects that Alice had covered explicitly; he should have been able to answer these himself if he had comprehended her instructions. Bob appeared to constantly have other things on his mind. He seemed to be preoccupied with such problems as his recent divorce, which he blamed entirely on his ex-wife, and the distress of his eight-year-old daughter, who missed her father terribly. His thoughts also dwelled on his search for peace of mind and some reasons for all that had happened to him. The director of admissions was aware of Bob's preoccupation with his personal life and his failure to learn the of?ce procedures rapidly.
Questions
1. Could Alice Carter have done anything differently here? Why or why not?
2. What would you do at this point if you were the director of admissions?
3. Do you think Bob should keep his job? Why or why not?
4. Describe how you might effectively use a performance appraisal in this situation.