Reference no: EM132239332

Joe Schultz was a first line supervisor of a group of assembly line workers at Supreme Manufacturing, a plastics manufacturing facility. With a high school education, he had been with Supreme in this department, first as an assembly worker, then promoted as a supervisor 5 years ago. His leadership style could be described as "active, controlling and task oriented." He was of the same ethnic background as many of his subordinates (German) and would often 'kid' with them in Germanic slang at the local beer garden on Fridays after work. He was well liked by his subordinates and their work performance was among the best in the company. Joe was recognized as being highly intelligent and mechanically expert. He had taken some evening courses in engineering at the local university over the past 3 years. He had done well, maintaining a B+ average. Recently, with a respectable (although not expert) background in engineering, he was promoted to assistant supervisor in the company's drafting department. Here he had the technical skills necessary to supervise his employees, and the work he supervised was highly programmed, as it was in the assembly department. The workers he supervised were of diverse ethnic background and of mixed gender. Most of them had been in the drafting department for 8-10 years. There was a feeling on the part of some of his new subordinates that one of their own, Bonnie Melville, should have been promoted to the position; but this feeling was not too strong, as certain members of the group disliked Bonnie. Joe continued has basic leadership style (as described above) in his new job, but somehow productivity in the drafting department fell. Numerous antagonisms developed under Joe's leadership and a couple of his better subordinates resigned within a period of three months.

Question: Explain why Joe did so very well in his old department, and encountered these problems in his new job. Incorporate into your response what you have learned about contingency theory and team building. Discuss the Leadership Grid (p.250). Also consider French and Ravens framework of social power (pp. 125-134 + lecture notes week 3) to assess the social power Joe held in his old and his new position. What should Joe do to improve his own performance with respect to his new work team? What, if anything, should Joe's supervisor attempt to do to get the situation back on track?