Bobs Meltdowns Managerial Crisis - Case Study Example

The act committed by Dunn is inexcusable, and condoning it would seem like supporting the behavior.

The first alternative that Singer could take is to fire Dunn, who is the Senior Vice President and General Manager, Services. However, the case study identifies that Dunn is the best manager and the profitability of the company probably rides on his shoulders. This alternative will make the company lose revenue and probably end up insolvent. The other alternative that Singer could take is to severely reprimand Dunn and make him apologize to Ms. Annette for his behavior. Organizational behavior ethos dictates that the best functioning of an organization as a team requires cohesion that can only be achieved by the unity between the managers (Robbins and Judge 263). The third alternative would be to assume that Dunn was under a lot of pressure from the responsibility entrusted to him. Therefore, this alternative would require that Mr. Singer talks to Dunn and tells him to calm down and that Annette would be made to understand the importance of the services department.

All the alternatives proposed above have their limitations and strengths, mainly because of the deep ethical and professional implications of Dunn’s actions. The first alternative is the first consideration, because of the unprofessional nature of Dunn’s reaction. However, this alternative would result in a loss in profitability for the company before another manager as good as Dunn is found. The second alternative, a reprimand and no other action being taken is not very advisable for the firm. This is because of the interpretations that the action would elicit from the other employees.

This alternative would imply that the company does not care about some employees, especially female employees, and that their performance record by Dunn gives them more leeway than the other employees. According to McShane and Glinow (123), team cohesion is promoted by employee confidence, therefore, this alternative would be promoted by the abilities of Dunn, whom the employees like and respect. The last alternative should not even be considered, since it would imply that organizational ethics are completely disregarded in the organization. The disadvantage of this alternative is that female employees will feel discriminated against in the organization.

From an analysis of the options presented above, it seems that the best option would be to take the second alternative. The company cannot afford to lose its best manager at this time, therefore, the best alternative is to give Dunn a suspended punishment, make him apologize, and probably inform Ms. Annette of the basis of the decision, that the services department is too important to the company. Read More