Fletcher Case Study
08 February 2014
EMBA 653: Fletcher Case Study
This study analyzes and discusses three shortcomings that prevented investment portfolio manager David Fletcher of Jenkins, Fletcher Partners (JFP) from realizing his team oriented operational expectations. His failures were attributed to poor personnel management, the inability to effectively select or establish team structure, and the failure to devise the appropriate incentives to motivate and reward employees. After careful review it is recommended that Fletcher must invest in personnel and team management training for himself, take a measured approach to create and sustain team structure and culture, and institute an incentive plan that fosters motivation and rewards the contributions of both the individual and the team. It is imperative that Fletcher learn the skills needed to recognize and balance the competing constraints within a team environment. In doing so, he will better position himself to serve as an effective leader and manager and succeed with his team.
The organizational issues identified at Jenkins Fletcher Partners (JFP) can be broadly classified into three main areas: poor people management, lack of team structure, and an exclusive, non-performance based incentive plan. While Fletcher is a brilliant Portfolio Manager, a significant amount of his time is invested in market research which makes him less effective as a people manager. In accordance with the Attentional Focus Model, as time pressure increased Fletcher restricted his focus and ignored the needs of his team because he deemed interpersonal skills to be less relevant to accomplishing the task. Fletcher hired an additional analyst, Doyle, without sharing his team concept vision or consulting with his current analyst Whitney. He failed to recognize the value of introducing the two and sharing his goals with them in an attempt to sense a working compatibility before the hiring decision was made. When conflicts arose in the relationship
EMBA 653: Fletcher Case Study
This study analyzes and discusses three shortcomings that prevented investment portfolio manager David Fletcher of Jenkins, Fletcher Partners (JFP) from realizing his team oriented operational expectations. His failures were attributed to poor personnel management, the inability to effectively select or establish team structure, and the failure to devise the appropriate incentives to motivate and reward employees. After careful review it is recommended that Fletcher must invest in personnel and team management training for himself, take a measured approach to create and sustain team structure and culture, and institute an incentive plan that fosters motivation and rewards the contributions of both the individual and the team. It is imperative that Fletcher learn the skills needed to recognize and balance the competing constraints within a team environment. In doing so, he will better position himself to serve as an effective leader and manager and succeed with his team.
The organizational issues identified at Jenkins Fletcher Partners (JFP) can be broadly classified into three main areas: poor people management, lack of team structure, and an exclusive, non-performance based incentive plan. While Fletcher is a brilliant Portfolio Manager, a significant amount of his time is invested in market research which makes him less effective as a people manager. In accordance with the Attentional Focus Model, as time pressure increased Fletcher restricted his focus and ignored the needs of his team because he deemed interpersonal skills to be less relevant to accomplishing the task. Fletcher hired an additional analyst, Doyle, without sharing his team concept vision or consulting with his current analyst Whitney. He failed to recognize the value of introducing the two and sharing his goals with them in an attempt to sense a working compatibility before the hiring decision was made. When conflicts arose in the relationship