Emile Fortin's Decision To Quit His Job And Start A Restaurant Business

Jardia, Pearl
Mgmt 3720
Assignment #2
This case study is about an accountant, Emile Fortin, who decided to quit his job and start a restaurant business. His wife and 3 sons were also involved in the business and all had their respective roles. His youngest son Robert, who was a busboy took more interest in the restaurant and became involved with it. At first he started serving tables, and then later started managing the restaurant on Saturday nights. Not only did his shift crew trust and respect him, but they also helped him by working extra hours to prepare the restaurant for opening. Robert’s ambition to stay in the restaurant business led him to pursue his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. During his freshman year he started dating a young lady named Sylvia. She was also interested in the restaurant business and started sticking around to help out at the restaurant. At the same time, she also reported to Emile and his wife whatever happened in the restaurant between the customers and the staff and made fun out of the situation. Later during the year as the clientele increased, Emile decided to hire Sylvia full time. As a salaried employee now, her attitude at work changed as she felt more responsible for what was happening around her and she didn’t find the amusing anecdotes funny anymore. Robert followed suit and
tried to use his knowledge of management to remedy what he thought was a problem but to no avail. As a result, Emile thought the restaurant wasn’t performing well on Saturday nights and decides to “correct the situation”. Basing his actions on the stories from Sylvia and the fact that she had higher receipts than the others, he directs the employees to start using Sylvia’s strategies to bring in more revenue. Even though some of the employees tried to modify their behaviors to match Sylvia’s technique, their attitude towards the couple (Robert and Sylvia) changed and they developed deviant behavior such as shutting them out, sabotaging Sylvia’s work and not being as helpful as they used to be. This type of scenario shows how leadership plays a huge role in Emile’s business. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or a set of goals. In this paper we will discuss one of the leadership theories and how it relates to Emile’s character. We will also provide the expectations of the other people in this case to react to him if he maintains his current course of action. We will suggest some leadership changes needed for the restaurant and finally we will suggest the theory used in this case to explain most of the leadership phenomenon in organizations.
In my opinion, the leadership theory that best describes Emile’s character is the Trait Theories of Leadership. These theories focus on the personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from leaders. Research identifies six personal traits that strongly relate to leadership: intelligence, adjustment, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to new experiences and self-efficacy.
Emile, who is seen as an extraverted individual, took a personal risk by quitting his job as an accountant and starting his own business. As a sociable and energetic person, he did not imagine himself aligning numbers all day. He had vision to be a successful small business owner. Therefore he made his business unique by having an original cuisine, relaxed atmosphere and reasonable prices.
Some of the trait theories that Emile’s character exhibits are, Self-confidence- which is a belief in one’s self, ideas, and ability. He believed in himself which led him to risk his job and start his own business. Another trait he exhibits is achievement drive as he is seen as someone who has High level of effort; high levels of ambition, energy and initiative According to trait theory, individuals with these characteristics emerge as leaders regardless of the situation.

The success of a leader doesn’t necessarily depend on traits, but the working relationship between the leader and other group members and changing situations. Even though Emile possesses some traits that make him a leader, there are also some flaws in his leadership abilities. Emile made some decisions based on whatever Sylvia told he was happening at the restaurant. When he asked them to use Sylvia’s techniques, and also showed them her receipts, showed his favoritism toward Sylvia. As a result, the other characters felt that Sylvia and Robert were “throwing them under the bus” causing them to react the way they did. If Emile continues his actions this way the other characters will continue their deviant behavior causing reputation and clientele of the bistro to decline.
In order to ensure the survival of the restaurant, Emile will need to adjust his style of leadership to accommodate all the employees.
I would suggest the Transformational leadership theory in this case. Transformational leaders inspire their followers for the good of the organization. Emile needs pay more attention to what is going on at the restaurant instead of listening to Sylvia. If he applies the four elements: Individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence, this will result in the extra effort from the workers and also increase productivity, morale and employee
satisfaction.
Transformational Leadership theory is the best when it comes to understanding the phenomenon of leadership in organizations. I say this because, as a development tool, transformational leadership has spread already in all sectors of western societies, including governmental organizations. The transformational leadership theory is best to remember because it is common in most companies. Companies with transformational leaders are more creative and have greater decentralization of responsibility. There is also greater agreement among top managers about the organization’s goals, which yields superior organizational performance.
In conclusion, the four elements are connected because there is a basis of respect, encouragement, and influence that is involved in transformational leadership. The personality of the leader has to be genuine because any chance of inconsistency for the followers and all trust are gone, and the leader has failed. This is what happened in Emile’s case. He exhibits the traits of being a leader; however he failed to promote consistent vision, mission, and a set of values to the members. I view leadership as one 's ability to influence and motivate others to willingly follow. It is not dependent on title or formal authority.
References:
Bistro Champlain Case study
Organizational Behavior 15th Edition by Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge