Question

Chun, a quality control worker for Rayburn Foods, is discouraged and ready for a change. He sends an e-mail to his friend Turner, who also works at Rayburn, in which he voices frustration with his supervisor's management style. According to Chun, his supervisor fails to recognize the good work of the quality control team, is frequently absent, plays favorites, and despite repeated requests from Chun and others, hasn't corrected two safety violations. Chun tells Turner that he would like to transfer to the sales department where Turner works. As Turner reads Chun's e-mail about his supervisor's shortcomings, he is reminded of the good relationship he has with his supervisor. Turner respects his supervisor and knows that his supervisor respects him. He thinks Chun would be a welcome addition to the sales department so he forwards Chun's e-mail to his supervisor, along with a comment about Chun's strong work ethic and skills.

1.    Do you see any problems resulting from forwarding Chun's e-mail?

2.    How well did Chun handle this situation? How well did Turner handle it?

Answer 1

Ans. 1. As we can see and understand, the supervisor of Chun at Rayburn Foods is not a man of strong ethics and is an irresponsible person having little or no management knowledge, expertise, and/or skills. Chun alleges that the supervisor is late frequently, plays favorites, is not at all active towards addressing the safety violations, and also does not recognizes or appreciates the work of the quality control team.

When Turner forwards the e-mail of Chun to the supervisor, it may lead to some kind of reprisal. For instance, the supervisor may find Chun’s email as going against his position and job and may initiate some biased action that could harm Chun’s interest at the job or even beyond. The supervisor is known to play favorites and he may have a personal bias and grudge against Chun when he finds that Chun is speaking ill about his management approach and the way he performs his duties.

Ans. 2. Chun should have reported the behavior of the supervisor to the senior and appropriate person in the hierarchy, instead of seeking transfer to the sales department. According to the Utilitarianism theory of ethics, an action should result in good for a maximum number of people. When Chun seeks a transfer, he is escaping the situation and is not finding a solution to it. For instance, the safety violations will remain in the system until something dangerous happens, and hence the correction is necessary. While Chun may escape, the consequences may be bad for others.

Turner’s handling of the situation is affected by his feelings, thoughts, and biases. For instance, Turner respects the supervisor and has a good relationship with the person, and hence finds nothing wrong in forwarding Chun’s email to the supervisor. But there can be repercussions for Chun if the email is transferred. Also, it appears that Turner is more obliged to keep his relationship with the supervisor and maybe compromising company/employer interests while doing so. Turner can talk to the supervisor and get to know more about his stand on the complaints made by the Chun. He can also forward the email and case to the relevant disciplinary or concerned authority in the organization so that a proper and long-term solution is found out.

Turner finds Chun to possess strong work ethics and skills, and he is hence a welcome addition to Turner’s sales team. Chun is also quite forthcoming in escaping the situation and to be transferred. However, the gain of one department here can be the loss of another. Hence both Chun and Turner should reach to right people to find out a lasting solution to the problematic situation.