10:16 LTE C onlinestudy.nus.edu.ws Ch TBS 202: Personal Management Skills Case study 1: A state of morale When Dorothy Fagge was first hired in the shipping department to box and ship shoes at the Apex Shoe Factory, she was quite happy with her work. Most of the employees were about her age, and they talked and had a lot in common. A few weeks after she started, however, Alf Pennington was transferred to the shipping department as the new supervisor and the 'new broom started sweeping clean' His first change was to limit coffee breaks. The employees missed the easy-going informality of being able to take a break whenever they felt they needed one or were well caught up in their work, so they started bringing coffee to work in thermos flasks. With their own coffee, three or four would get together at slow periods and have their private coffee chat. When the new supervisor saw this he mumbled something about what was needed were fewer coffee breaks and more work breaks. Next he jumped on the employees for putting pictures on the walls-pin-ups, movie stars, grandchildren, scenes from foreign countries, you name it and it was there. Claiming they were a fire hazard and unattractive, he ordered the pictures removed. One by one they came down. The straw that broke the camel's back was his order that the women stop wearing mini skirts and tight-fitting jeans to work. The younger women thought he had really gone too far this time even though they compiled with his order. Within three weeks, two of the better employees had quit, three others had asked for transfers to the stock room and Dorothy was openly looking for another job. With only a skeleton crew, shipping lagged and customers began to complain about incorrect and missed shipments. Alf was on the spot. Questions: What do you think were Alf Pennington's objectives? Could he have accomplished them without upsetting his employees? Is this a morale problem or a supervisory problem? Why? What would you do now if you were Alf? Why