151658 - 3 BS MGT Long Test 2 LS 100 - G

EUGENIO, Gian Christian V. November 23, 2018

Black Hawk Engineering Company Case

The case of Black Hawk Engineering company is very common to small companies

where subordinates neither want change nor do they want to follow bosses who are older

than them or new to the company. This is very prominent especially in the Philippines

because of the culture here that age is almost always synonymous to knowledge and

wisdom which, in some cases, are true. It is true that Mr. Singson’s attitude towards Mr.

Barrera is very immature and improper. His reaction to new ideas and methods is very

concerning when it comes to the growth of the company and productivity of work. But Mr.

Singson’s reaction is of no way just because of disrespect, it may also be because of the way

Mr. Barrera tried to introduce him to a newer and more efficient method of recording

company’s sales. In this paper, I will discuss the flaws of the issues and alternative courses

of action that Mr. Barrera should have done in terms of introducing new methods of doing

their job to promote efficiency.

Analyzing the case, I have noticed a few flaws in the way of teaching, attitudes of the

employees, or the organization’s culture, in general. With the limited information that I

have, assumptions were made especially in the topic of biases, attitudes, and perceptions of

the individuals involved. First problem that I have noticed is the company’s culture when it

comes to their work, mainly the Statistics Department where they do the same things

almost everyday for more than a decade now. Lastly, is the way Mr. Singson reacted when

Mr. Barrera tried to teach him a new way to do his job more efficiently. With the problems

being known, I proceeded and applied what we’ve learned in class in my critique of the

Black Hawk Engineering Company Case

 The first problem that I have noticed is the statistics department’s poor work ethic.

In their defense, we cannot blame them because the statistics department have been

lacking on proper leadership for quite a while now and so, their perception of their work has

been misconstrued. To add to that, Black Hawk Engineering Company started small and they

may not be familiar and able to adjust the moment they grew and became a large company.

This stagnant and almost clerical routine have resulted in them not being open to change

and new ideas. This is evident not only in the quarrel between Mr. Singson and Mr. Barrera,

but also when Mr. Barrera tried to get to know his peers because they were not as

welcoming as they should. To add, their new head, Mr. Wilson, has no background on

managing people. In our discussion, it is mentioned that the ideal king of leadership is a mix

of both a manager and a leader, and so, Mr. Wilson may not be fit to lead this department

because he lacks the abilities and experiences that a manager may need when he/she

encounters work-related conflicts. In Mr. Barrera’s case, his subordinates have not yet given

him trust and so, with trust being the foundation of respect, his subordinates might not

listen to him even though he is, in fact, their boss.

The last problem that I have noticed is the way Mr. Singson reacted to new ideas. I

am not entirely sure as to why Mr. Singson reacted in such a way but I have made

assumptions. One of the problems I noticed is that Mr. Singson is not very open to learning.

He did not even try and learn the new method but rather rejected it the moment he had a

chance. His perception of the devised method is poor. Analyzing this, the cause may be of

many things. One is that Maybe because Mr. Singson is old, he is not, anymore, open to

explore new ideas and methods of doing his work more efficiently. Another possible cause

of this is that Mr. Singson‘s perception not only of his boss but also of the new method. He

may have a certain bias against Mr. Barrera but the specific bias, we do not know but we
can assume that it is age bias wherein Mr. Barrera, who is younger than Mr. Singson, is

giving him orders which, in Mr. Singsons point of view, may be offensive since he has been

in the company longer than Mr. Barrera. It may be because of the way Mr. Barrera

introduced the new technology. He did explain how it works but he has to understand that

Mr. Singson is old and comfortable with the way he does his job and will probably not be

open to change unless forced or realizes that it is really a good idea. Mr. Barrera might’ve

explained it in a way that Mr. Singson couldn’t comprehend or that Mr. Barrera’s method

just wasn’t for Mr. Singson. Either way, though, Mr. Singson should have not reacted in such

an unprofessional manner. It could also be because Mr. Singson only graduated high school

and might not be able to comprehend the terms Mr. Barrera was using.

Some more insights that I have gained are in the topics of conflict, leadership,

commitment and motivation. With this, I have devised some solution with regards on

corporate strategy, attribution, and motivation. In the topic of conflict, the substantive

conflict that happened in the workplace over a new method, a more efficient method, if I

might add, where Mr. Singson rejected Mr. Barrera’s recommendation of the new plan. Mr.

Barrera had a goal in mind, which is to increase work efficiency and productivity, but Mr.

Barrera was not open to that goal and denied it without even trying the method. The cause

of this conflict may be because of Mr. Barrera’s interpersonal relationship with his

subordinates. This is evident when Mr. Barrera tried to get to know his subordinates and,

evidently, they were not welcoming.

Another cause may be of leadership. As I have mentioned earlier, Mr. Barrera is

relatively new to the company and have not yet formed a bond with his co-workers. To add,

Mr. Barrera have no background on management where he could’ve learned how to

manage and interact with his employees. Also, Mr. Barrera does not show signs of being a
leader, according to the rubiks in the lecture, he was more of a maintenance oriented

person which is a management criteria and not a trait of a leader. Sure, there should be a

mix of both management and leader but in Mr. Barrera’s case, he has not yet prove himself

to be a leader and so, his subordinates have not yet given him enough respect.

In the topic of commitment and motivation, I think Mr. Singson has a normative

commitment to the organization and its goals where he feels like he is obligated to work.

This may be the result of doing the same job for years with no hopes of promotion or

reward. If only that his job was motivated by some kind of compensation or promotion,

maybe his job or the quality of his work might’ve improved.

With the problems stated, I have some recommendations on how to solve and

prevent these kinds of conflict from happening again. First is the company’s corporate

strategy. We must first make the corporate strategy more specific and understandable all

the way from the top management to the lowermost employee in the company hierarchy.

With making the corporate strategy more concise and accurate, can make an impact on the

organization’s structure which will, then, affect the behavior of its employees and will affect

their performance. Next would be the attribution. Mr. Barrera should first determine the

cause of Mr. Singson’s behavior in order to act accordingly and solve the conflict more

efficiently and if possible, compromise. According to an article published by the University

of California San Diego, one must handle conflict by being calm and talking to the person

about his concerns, calmly. Then, you must identify the points on where you agree or

disagree with each other and make compromise by devising a plan which will be accepted

by both parties. (UCSD 2018) This is the biggest mistake that Mr. Barrera have committed

with his confrontation with Mr. Singson. Instead of leaving after the quarrel, he should’ve

asked why Mr. Singson rejects the proposal.

 Next solution would be to motivate the employees to have better work ethic. This

can be done in many ways. One is a reward if higher pay or promotion when they reach a

certain quota etc. another would be giving individual meaningful rewards to their

employees. Giving them something that they will value is a good way of motivating

employees to increase their productivity. Lastly, you must ask your employees for feedback.

Knowing where your weaknesses are and areas of improvement is very important for the

company’s growth and its survival. Your employees are not robots that just shuts down after

they do their jobs, you must understand that these people have feelings and emotions

which can greatly affect work quality and productivity.

In conclusion, I think that the Black Hawk Engineering Company should have taken

care of their employees better, especially departments who have been relatively new to the

company because they are very vulnerable to certain things that can easily trigger conflict.

Also, the statistics department, specifically Mr. Barrera, should have been either more

assertive or understanding of his power and his employees and should’ve been able to

handle the situation better so that the productivity would not be affected. I think that this

case is not just a fault of one person but the accumulation of many flaws within the

organization, its structure, and management. One must understand that managing a small

business and a large company are two completely different things and one must be able to

adapt to that sudden change or there may be consequences that can happen.

Works cited:

“How to Handle Conflict in the Workplace” UCSD, 5 Jan. 2018,

https://blink.ucsd.edu/HR/supervising/conflict/handle.html