Question

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?

Answer 1

Answer:-

Joe did so well within his old department because he was there for so long and gained relationships with each worker, therefore they were comfortable with Joe and had no problem working for him since he was a good leader to them. When Joe got promoted, he had stayed within his boundaries, as stated in the Contingency Model "leaders are very stable and consistent over time". This situation does not fit Joe as a leader, he was comfortable where he was and tried taking his same leadership into this new position where the workers there are not used to it, therefore they aren't doing the best to their ability.

It seems as though Joe is a Team Style Leader (within the Leadership grid) because in his previous position he was alike the other workers and they all liked him, they also had very well performance, therefore Joe cared for his team as well the production. Where in the new position it seems as though he is acting as a Country Club Style Leader, caring more for the people than the production because he wants his workers in his new position to like him as they did in his last position, therefore, he is trying to gain the people right now, rather than the production. Although he wants his workers to like him he also needs to show them who is boss and tell them that production needs to be better.

Joe's social power within his old position was Legitimate Power, Expert Power, and Referent Power. Legitimate Power because he was the boss of his other workers and they would do what they were asked by Joe and had no problem with it, they had a good system going, good relationships and good production. Expert Power because he had the correct knowledge for the position he was in, especially for working it for so long, he made it work. He had the confidence within this position and could come up with solutions to any problem that arose. Referent Power because all of his workers liked him, they would even go out together on Friday nights, they respected Joe and do as he would say. Joe influenced his workers, and this is another reason why everything worked out so well within his branch of work.

Joe's social power within his new positions are the opposite as above, although he does still have some Expert Power, just not within his new line of workers, he hasn't warmed up to them yet, therefore, he does not have Legitimate Power nor Referent Power over them. I am sure he has Coercive Power over them though, he can punish them for not doing a good job, considering he is their boss/in charge of them. He does have Informational Power, he gets to see all of the numbers on a production where they don't get to see it directly, he gets information before all of them and therefore, they need him for this specific information.

Joe should be more of a boss than a friend, this may be the issue here. As I stated above, Joe is being more of a Country Club Style Leader where he needs to be a Team Style Leader. He can still be nice and try to bond with his workers, but he also needs to tell them what needs to be done. Their production needs to increase and therefore, they need to work harder and respect Joe more. They cannot take advantage of him because he is their new boss and doesn't know much about their team or what plans they had in place in the past. Joe's supervisor could help out by letting Joe know what has worked in the past for this specific team, formally introduce him to all of the worker's and hopefully, they will warm up to Joe quicker

KINDLY RATE THE ANSWER AS THUMBS UP. THANKS A LOT.