Computing objectives and organization responsibility Baden is a city with a LO 2, 3, 4, population of 450,000. It has a distinct organization group, called the Public 5, 8 Utilities Commission of the City of Baden (called the Baden PUC), whose re¬ sponsibility is to provide the water and electrical services to the businesses and homes in the city. Baden PUC's manager is evaluated and rewarded based on the profit that Baden PUC reports.

Baden PUC buys electricity from a privately owned hydroelectric facility several hundred miles away for resale to its citizens. Baden PUC is responsi¬ ble for acquiring, selling, billing, and servicing customers. The maintenance and moving of electric wires within the city are, however, the responsibility of the City of Baden maintenance department (called Baden Maintenance).

Baden PUC pays Baden Maintenance for work done on its electrical wires.

Over the years, there have been many squabbles between Baden Mainte¬ nance and Baden PUC. These squabbles have usually involved two items: complaints by customers about delays in restoring disrupted service and com¬ plaints by Baden PUC that the rates charged by Baden Maintenance are too high. The most recent concerns a much more serious issue, however.

On July 12, at about 10:30 a.m., a Baden city employee working in the parks and recreation department noticed an electrical wire that seemed to be dam¬ aged. The employee reported the problem at about 12:15 p.m. to Baden Mainte¬ nance during his lunch break. The report was placed on the maintenance supervisor's desk at 1:15 p.m. where it was found at 2:05 p.m. when the supervisor returned from lunch. The maintenance supervisor then called the Baden PUC dispatch office to report the problem and request permission to investigate the report and make any required repairs. The request for repair was placed on the Baden PUC service manager's desk for approval at 2:25 p.m. The service manager received the message when he returned from a meeting at 4:00 p.m., approved the work, and left a memo for a subordinate to call in the request. The request was then mistakenly called in as a request for routine service by a clerk at 4:50 p.m. and logged by the dispatcher in Baden Maintenance. A truck was dispatched the following day at 3:50 p.m. When the repair crew arrived at the scene, it dis¬ covered that the wire was indeed damaged and, if any of the children playing in the park had touched it, it would have caused instant death.

The incident went unreported for several days until a reporter for the Baden Chronicle received an anonymous tip about the episode, verified that it had happened, and reported the incident on the front page of the paper as an example of bureaucratic bungling. The public was outraged and demanded an explanation from the mayor, who asked the city manager to respond. The ini¬ tial response from the Baden City manager that "everyone had followed pro¬ cedure" only fanned the furor.

REQUIRED

(a) Was what happened inevitable given the City of Baden's organization structure? Explain.

(b) Given the existing organization structure, how might this incident have been avoided?

(c) How would you deal with this situation now that it has happened?

(d) Would a change in the organization structure help prevent a similar situa¬ tion from occurring in the future? Explain.

(LO 1)