Exploring the Best Strategies When Job Specific Failure Is Imminent: A Case Study

In relation to the management of conflict the College has several inter-related procedures. The first and most important to this area is the Anti-Harassment procedure. This procedure deals with the steps, first informal and then formal, that a member of staff who feels they are being harassed can go down to resolve this conflict. Linked to this is the Disciplinary procedure under which action may be taken upon a successful Anti-Harassment complaint. For managers there is also the Poor Performance procedure should the conflict be in relation to the performance of a staff member. For conflicts in relation to employment matters, pay and grading issues the College has a Grievance procedure.

67). Such an environment creates high turnover rates, conflicts between departments, and productivity issues (Wilson-Starks, 2003, p. 3). While the toxic leader may, at first glance, appear to be a productive member of the agency, due to his/her own self-promotion, the agency and subordinate officers lose ground through the toxic leader’s efforts to control.

I am very interested in a career field in Human Resources. For this paper, I interviewed Lillian Mannino who is a Human Resource and Personnel Manager at the UC San Diego Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy. As a manager, Lillian serves as the link between the graduate school’s management and its employees. She is in charge of overseeing recruitment, employee relations, policy development, payroll, and benefits. Personnel management is a special branch of management that is focus on the concerns of employees at work and their relationship with the organization. Her educational experiences consist of a bachelor degree at UC San Diego in Management Science and a professional Human Resources certificate from UCSD Extension. She has been working in the academic administration for almost ten years and earned her current position as manager through climbing up the ladder. She started off working in this field as a student affairs officer then was promoted to an administrative specialist. Her prior work experience paved a path for her to build up professional experience as well as a solid network within the UCSD administrative system.

The primary problem in this case deals with a source of tension between two employees that have recently received promotions. There are various individual factors that may be a source of conflict that the case points to; however both parties need to look beyond their own personal perspectives in order to move towards the organizational goals. In the case of Thomas Green, he certainly has a lot of maturing to do before he is able to perform well as the next stage in his career development. In the case of his supervisor, Mr. Davis, he must also learn how to help disgruntled employees fill into their position in their new roles without any personal feelings get in the way. Several observations were made as to how both employees could address the problems. However, given the fact that both employees are new to their roles, the best case solution may involve a more senior management professional getting involved and setting a good example for both employees by resolving the sources of conflict and aligning them towards organizational goals.

The next problem to arise is just as frustrating as the previous problems. Carl checks on the training room that he is planning on using for orientation. When he walks into the room he sees Joe, from technology, setting up computers all around the room. He finds out quickly that the training room has been reserved for both himself and Joe for the month of June so that Joe can train employees on a new software. It has been a very stressful day for Carl and after all of the issues he has found concerning the new trainee orientation, Carl panics.

This case was prepared by Associate Professor Marc L. Lipson. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2010 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation.

The purposes of this case study are (1) to list outward manifestation that indicate that organizational results could be improved and (2) explain leadership theory, organization behavior theory, and all the personal and structural sources of conflict evident at the Brewster-Seaview Landscaping Company.

And finally, there is the issue of staff mismanagement. The supervisor, Keith Frazier, is only checking in with this department one to two times per week. Mr. Frazier is aware that Pat is making international phone calls. He is also aware that Pauline found a way for Pat to make these calls from the building’s elevator once he had the phone system modified to only allow internal calls. Mr. Frazier has also been fielding complaints from the accountants about not receiving their tax schedules in a timely fashion. However, he has failed to confront either of these issues. This lack of management can be attributed to the following:

Many organizations and establishments have philosophies in how an organization is to be functioning and which positions are necessary to execute the plan. One of the crucial positions that make the establishment function is that of a Supervisor. The term supervisor is a word with Latin roots which means “to look over,” however, a supervisor is viewed as a person who is an immediate overseer to an employee at a workplace. The supervisor is the person an employee would directly report to for any work related situation. A supervisor plays an essential part of the management team that gives an organization purpose and leadership by being responsible for employees’ progress and productivity (Bittel & Newstrom, 1992).

than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2010 by the University

The authors do not intend to iIIustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have

This case was prepared by Professor Mark E. Haskins, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and has benefited from collaborations with various colleagues over the years on earlier versions. It was written as a basis for discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2012 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation. ◊

According to Paauwe & Williams (2001), sharing information and communicating have been considered the life blood of middle management. They are the pins linking the top management with the rest of the company and guiding the information flow through the organization. Furthermore, to successfully achieve organization goals or objectives, management has to establish effective communication channels through all management levels (Whetten & Cameron, 2005). In contrast, in this case there was inefficient communication between the middle manager (Beth Campbell) and the first-line manager (Richardson) in the Phoenix office, and the middle manager did not give the first-line manager clear instructions and guidelines about her new job. Even more, Richardson had not been introduced to her team officially and had not been given proper instruction about her paperwork and reports. As a result, Richardson failed to convey the organizations goals to her team and complete her sales reports on time. In addition, Richardson did not arrange for her first meeting in a professional manner, because she did not send out invitations in advance and she gave a short speech without identifying her roles and responsibilities (Booth & Cates,

I truly enjoyed reading your discussion on job dissatisfaction and ineffective communication is one of the top factors that affect the behavior of employees in an organization. If there is not effective communication between team members, there may be a lack of clarity on each members roles or responsibilities he or she are to assume (Joseph, 2017). “Organizational leaders can enhance job satisfaction by providing training for employees and making sure that employees are used in jobs that draw on their strengths and abilities” (Fischer, 2012). Ineffective communication in the workplace can lead to conflict between employees and management within an organization. When someone’s character, integrity, or work ethic has been brought into question due to ineffective communication, morale is low, job performance suffers, and workplace relationships are destroyed. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed (Amos 3:3, KJV)? In respect to what you said concerning turn over, researchers express that turnover can be a good thing if the employee was terminated (voluntarily or involuntarily) because he was not efficient in his job performance (Kinicki & Fugate, 2016). However, losing a good employee because of job dissatisfaction causes the company to lose valuable employees and negatively impact company the finances.

This case discussed the events that occurred during a change in DSS Consulting’s organizational structure. Three retired school district administrators established DSS Consulting during the late 1990’s. The company offered administrative support to small school districts located within the mid-west and mountain west region. They specialized in handling the negotiating of labor agreements as well as implementation of permanent system solutions designed to enable those organizations to run efficiently.