Mark Prentice recounts the story of his first full-time job, working on a shipping dock. He is trained by a co-worker to load shipping containers of mail-order items. The work is hard physical labour and repetitive because of the conveyor belts that bring the packages to be put in the containers. Relationships on the shipping dock are dysfunctional with fighting being a common occurrence, lack of respect for the supervisor, perceived favouritism by the foreman in work assignments and a physically challenging environment. Although the company offered some benefits, there was little social interaction among the staff and poor advancement prospects.

1. Discuss the role of the supervisor or manager in providing a conducive climate for high performance by employees. Relate your discussion to the facts presented in this case, with particular reference to Rick and Tom.

2. Analyze the causes of conflict or breakdown in the relationships, indicating the way in which it was handled in this case.

3. Comment on the problem of employee motivation in this case. If you were Rick, what steps would you have taken to improve the situation?

4. Discuss the factors that appear to be contributing to Rick’s effectiveness as a supervisor.