Assignment presents a case and a committee scenario. It is the opportunity to apply leadership styles - autocratic and democratic/participative to a leader's behavior. The case presents Bill Donohue who works at a large construction company. Bill is faced with leading in 2 different situations

Bill Donoghue is employed by the Irvine Construction Co. as a project manager directing the construction of a new catalytic cracking unit at the Flying A Oil Co.'s refinery. Prior to joining Irvine, Donoghue earned a master's degree in Construction Engineering and Management while serving in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after graduating from the United States Military Academy. Upon his retirement after twenty years in the Army, he joined Irvine ten years ago and progressed rapidly through a series of positions of increasing responsibility until he became a project manager three years ago. The jobs he has run as a project manager have been run extremely efficiently; all have been completed on or before the scheduled completion date and at or below the cost estimate. Because of this, Donoghue has acquired the reputation as the rising star of Irvine Construction.

John Thomas, president of Irvine, came to Donoghue fifteen months ago and asked him to run the upcoming Flying A cat cracker project. After reviewing the plans, Donoghue said, "This job is going to be very difficult. The schedule gives us no room for error. The only way I can pull this job off and still make money for the company is to have total confidence in my people. I must have complete control over the personnel on the job. I have to pick the people I need to be my superintendents and general foreman. If somebody needs to be fired, I have to be able to do it. What I mean is, I have to be the boss."

Thomas agreed and Donoghue was appointed project manager.

Before the job began, Donoghue went to the personnel department and obtained information on prospective members of his management cadre. In selecting his subordinates, he concentrated on those individuals with whom he had worked in the past. For those positions for which there were no former co workers available, Donoghue relied on the performance appraisals of the individuals and his knowledge of the individuals making the performance appraisals. In making the final selections, he was concerned about how well each person measured up on three variables: construction experience, particularly in petrochemical construction; willingness and ability to take responsibility; and goal setting behavior.

Donoghue called his management group together before the start of the project to discuss the project and how things would work. During that discussion, he said, "I spent a lot of time picking you guys for this job. I've worked with all but two of you before and I know the kind of work you can do. You've all got over ten years' experience in the industry and some petrochemical experience. The major reason I picked you for this job is the schedule we've been given. It's tight and we're going to have to have everything go right for us to make it. This is a big job and I won't have the time to check everything. You're going to have to take the responsibility for your particular area. Because of the schedule, I'd like to see us pick up some float in the early part of the project so we can have a cushion in the event the weather slows us up. I'm not asking you to beat the men. All I want you to do each day is to set realistic goals to shoot for. You've all worked like this before so I can't see any reason why you won't continue to do so."

As the job began and progressed, the management group became an effective and efficient team. One day during lunch, three members of the management group, Sam, Jack, and Joe were sitting around talking about the job and how much they enjoyed working on it.

Sam: "This is the best job I've ever worked. We're really a team. It's gotten so that I really don't have any worries about being held up by another craft. I don't have to worry about contingency plans now. When we're scheduled to do something, we're able to do it. Donoghue runs a heck of a project."

Jack: "He's the best. I've had a couple of problems that could have really turned into major headaches. I took them to Bill and within a half hour he'd worked with me to straighten things out. I feel like I can take any problem that comes up to him and he can solve it."

Joe: "I'd never worked for or with him before. I was a little skeptical about him after hearing what a hot shot he was supposed to be. After working for him for these two months, I've got to say that he is the best I've seen."

Six months after the project started, Donoghue was appointed to chair a company committee on energy consumption. The committee was composed of a representative from each of Irvine's projects and one from the home office and was to meet periodically to discuss ways of reducing energy consumption. None of the members of the committee had any real education or experience in energy matters. Some had been appointed because of general competence, like Donoghue, while others were substitutes for individuals unable or unwilling to participate. No one knew for sure what the committee was to do. Donoghue, as chair, was told to come up with ways of reducing the firm's energy consumption within two months.

During the first meeting of the committee, it became evident that several of the members were reluctant to serve on the committee. After the meeting, Donoghue reported back to the president that he was not sure that he was the best choice to chair the committee. Several members of the committee had had run-ins with him on previous jobs and, Donoghue said, "Some of these guys seem jealous of me for getting the cat cracker project." The president told Donoghue that he had faith in Donoghue's leadership abilities and that everything would work out.

Questions:

• Using the Leadership Styles Description Chart, describe Bill's behavior as the leader of the Flying Cat Project. Did he display an Autocratic or a Democratic style? Provide examples to support your choice.
• Using the situational factors described in the Introduction to Situational Leadership PDF, identify and describe the situational factors Bill must consider in deciding how to lead the company committee on energy consumption.