Reference no: EM133155114

SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

Kathy was an entry-level officer who would have started working and Bayer's nine months ago. When she started, she was enthusiastic and loved what she did. Kathy arrived early at work and would complete the task promptly. She enjoyed her role and was very persistent at what she did. Kathy decided to finance herself to pursue studies to better aid her role. She came out on top of her class and was enthusiastic about her role. Later there was a change in management to the way things are done and how supervision is to be carried out. There were changes in policies, standards and much emphasis was placed on following procedures. Staff were no longer able to use their initiatives. Kathy, the best staff, became the worst.

She behaved differently as she could not use the knowledge gained from her studies. She explained that she has a strategy to turn the organization around, but her supervisor insists they follow the rules or bear the consequences. Some shifts in Kathy's behaviour included arriving at work late, sucking her teeth when her supervisor instructed, and slamming files to demonstrate her anger. Further, Kathy was caught rolling her eyes and not maintaining eye contact with her supervisor during a one and one discussion. The supervisor decided she would take disciplinary actions against Kathy and wrote to the discipline committee that recommended that Kathy be punished for her actions and added more details that did not occur.

Since high school days, Marcus and Kathy have been friends, and he gained employment one year after Kathy in the same firm. Marcus arrived and gravitated to the supervisor. Kathy got upset as she believed he was betraying their friendship by befriending the supervisor. She said, "Marcus remember I warned you to stay away from her" he responded, "relax". Now, Marcus gets whatever resources he needs while Kathy is forced to wait later. This created a conflict between Marcus and Kathy. Later that year, Marcus was chosen to represent the department at a conference internationally.

Moreover, he was travelling almost everywhere to every workshop. Marcus explained to Kathy that he is a winner and hoping to be promoted. In the monthly quarterly meeting among 12 staff, the supervisor constantly praised Marcus for his exceptional work. She offered Marcus an on the spot salary increase to compensate him for his hard work. The other staff were not excited but cheered for him nevertheless.

Shavon, a staff, decided to write a letter to the middle-level manager complaining that they were there for years and was never promoted, neither did they receive an increase to their salary. That staff asked to remain anonymous and explained that Marcus, the new staff, was favoured more than anyone. Further, she explained that he gets to be a part of all the training and his salary increased while they toiled for years without. The middle manager acknowledged receipt of the letter and called the supervisor to his office to discuss the issues highlighted and explained that Shavon came forward to him and he's not pleased with what has been happening. Shavon was shocked and furious; she also melted when she heard the middle manager mention her name since Marcus said: "Bad Minded People" when he saw her approaching. Shavon locked herself in the bathroom and cried. The other staff, including Kathy, showed support. They all decided to approach top management to highlight this situation.

As a top manager, you must provide a written analysis based on the case study. In addition, you must provide an understanding of crucial supervisory management skills and techniques towards resolving these issues and make strategic recommendations for the organisation.

In doing so, you must:

1. Discuss the implications specifically for Motivation, Team Building, Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Appraisal Techniques and Communication based on the case study.

2. Use theories and literature to support the implications of each area.

3. Provide strategic recommendations related to supervisory management skills and techniques based on the case study on how you will design and implement conflict resolution techniques in the organisation.