Case Study of Supervisory Management
BIMAP General Management The Case of Gail MacArthur & St Simon’s Manufacturing
Tutor:
Charles N Holford
Team:
Nicole M Waterman Tina Maughn Davidson Ishmael Joy Ann Hooper Beckles
Submission Date: July 11, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
Page 3
INTRODUCTION
4
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
5
CONCLUSION
15
RECOMMENDATIONS
16
BIBLOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
19
2
BACKGROUND
St. Simons Manufacturing is a regional firm which has employees located throughout the Caribbean. Gail McArthur had worked for the company for eight (8) years. A major part of her role in the company required her to use initiative in making supervisory decisions which were instrumental in the company meeting the production targets of ten of the territories where the firm operates. She was considered by many, including management, to be very hard working.
Interestingly however, Gail was perceived by her immediate Supervisor as being slow and lacking initiative. He was of the opinion that workers are paid to work and should be able to do their jobs without the assistance of others. This position became clearly evident at a time when Gail was processing work which was new to her, and was previously a group assigned task. Also note, due to budget constraints Management determined that Gail could not be trained for this new area in her task. Because of the nature of the problem, Gail sought the aid of a co-worker who had the experience of successfully and consistently working with the process. Her Supervisor chastised her greatly because he thought she should have been able to ‘figure it out herself’. Scenarios like these lead Gail to believe that her Supervisor was unreasonable and uncaring. In fact, he kept communication with her at a minimum and only when he wanted something done or when production was late. This caused great tension between the two of them.
Though Gail’s Manager was aware of the ongoing contention between her and the Supervisor, he made no effort to intervene; and further
Tutor:
Charles N Holford
Team:
Nicole M Waterman Tina Maughn Davidson Ishmael Joy Ann Hooper Beckles
Submission Date: July 11, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
Page 3
INTRODUCTION
4
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
5
CONCLUSION
15
RECOMMENDATIONS
16
BIBLOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
19
2
BACKGROUND
St. Simons Manufacturing is a regional firm which has employees located throughout the Caribbean. Gail McArthur had worked for the company for eight (8) years. A major part of her role in the company required her to use initiative in making supervisory decisions which were instrumental in the company meeting the production targets of ten of the territories where the firm operates. She was considered by many, including management, to be very hard working.
Interestingly however, Gail was perceived by her immediate Supervisor as being slow and lacking initiative. He was of the opinion that workers are paid to work and should be able to do their jobs without the assistance of others. This position became clearly evident at a time when Gail was processing work which was new to her, and was previously a group assigned task. Also note, due to budget constraints Management determined that Gail could not be trained for this new area in her task. Because of the nature of the problem, Gail sought the aid of a co-worker who had the experience of successfully and consistently working with the process. Her Supervisor chastised her greatly because he thought she should have been able to ‘figure it out herself’. Scenarios like these lead Gail to believe that her Supervisor was unreasonable and uncaring. In fact, he kept communication with her at a minimum and only when he wanted something done or when production was late. This caused great tension between the two of them.
Though Gail’s Manager was aware of the ongoing contention between her and the Supervisor, he made no effort to intervene; and further
References: (7) Higgins, J. M. (1994). The Management Challenge (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan. (8) Bedeian, A. G. (1993). Management (3rd ed.). New York: Dryden Press. 19