Business 2295f Mini Essay

Case: Carl Jones

Presented to: Prof. David House

Due Date: November 23, 2009

Student: Sefako Phala

Student Number: 250320063

Foreword

After analyzing this case, it is evident that there are many issues that need to be resolved

at McLaughlin Pharmaceutical. The company is having internal issues with a foreman named

Carl Jones, as well as one of his employees Joe Podivinski. The main objective of this report is to

outline the major issues at hand, and to ascertain the root of these problems. Also taken into

consideration will be Joe Podivinski’s observed behaviours. This report will aid Carl Jones in

taking the right steps to resolving the problem.

Analysis of the Situation

McLaughlin Pharmaceutical is a company that is using a functional form of managing.

This ensures that its resources are used properly and efficiently and also promotes professional

development. The latter can be seen with Carl Jones himself attending management courses so

he was better able to accept his position as foreman. Unfortunately this management style is one

of the reasons that Joe Podivinski is acting the way he is. He is able to get away with his

behaviour due to the fact that this management style generally has less accountability for the

service of this organization due to the fact that there is little intercompany mingling. This means

that a problem in one functional group is only that functional group’s problem. In a situation like

this, leadership is extremely important and there was already concern over whether or not Carl

Jones had the ability to lead those who had been working here for much longer than him.

Carl Jones’ leadership ability could be described as one that follows the path-goal theory

of leadership. He is very conscientious in helping his followers to complete tasks and also is

helpful in providing guidance to his followers when he does delegate tasks. Although he does

follow the path goal theory, there are a few areas of it that become less defined in terms of his
interaction with Joe Podivinski. Carl Jones is directive meaning that he lets his followers know

what is expected of them and gives guidance about what and how work is done. This also

includes maintaining performance standards, which Joe is not doing. He has been an inefficient

worker as of recent and Carl Jones has not said or done anything to correct this. There are two

roots to this insubordination. Carl’s leadership being what it is does encompass many of the traits

of an effective leader. He does not; however, seem to be able to inspire all of his workers to do

their work. In addition he has not really shown any conflict management and team building

skills since he has never really had to until now. The second root of this insubordination on Joe

Podavinski’s part is Carl Jones’ power sources. Carl is not exercising both his coercive power

and legitimate power over Joe. In terms of his coerciveness, it does not seem apparent to Joe that

Carl could take action against him for his behaviour. Carl’s coercive power alone should act as a

deterrent to any misbehaviour and also should be combined with Carl’s legitimate power of

being in a higher position than Joe. This being said, Joe himself is the steward of the union and

has been for a while which makes disciplining him a difficult task.

Joe Podivinski has had many different incidents as of late and according to McLaughlin

Pharmaceuticals’ rules for disciplinary action he has committed numerous offenses under all 3

groups. The most startling is the group C offense. Item 21 states that is an offense to

insubordinate by refusal to perform work assigned. These offenses are punishable by dismissal.

The issue of Joe not being punished for these indiscretions can be attributed to the fact that Carl

Jones has never punished Joe for his misdeeds as well as the fact that being part of the union,

Carl is concerned about following union guidelines. This may also stem from the fact that if Carl

was to follow union protocol, there would be a conflict of interest since grievance filing must

first be passed through the stewards, according to the union guidelines. Considering that Joe is
well liked, and was elected by his peer group to be a steward it is possible that this is stopping

Carl from filing the initial grievances that would lead to further punishment of Joe for his

intolerable behaviour. Joe’s knowledge of this may be the reason for his acting out and his

feeling of invincibility

Concluding Remarks

As it has been observed there are many underlying reasons for the issues arising at

McLaughlin Pharmaceutical. Overall, Carl’s inadequate leadership qualities and lack of power

enforcement has led to Joe being allowed to get away with activities that should not be allowed.

On top of that, Carl’s lack of early action with grievances and punitive measures to tackle these

situations has allowed the situation to escalate. The rules of the company and guidelines of the

union were put in place so that constructive conflict resolution can be achieved as well as for the

safety of this company’s workers.