CASE STUDIES ASSIGNMENT $1($Chapters $1-5)$

Chapter $1.$ Case Study: Is Terry Being Blamed Unfairly?

Terry was recently promoted to supervisor. Things were not going as smoothly as they should. In the past few days it seemed that the manager of the division was being unreasonable. She had talked to Terry about the performance of the work unit. There had been a customer complaint last week about the slowness of service. There were also a few gripes from employees about the way he treated them. Although he felt bad, he did not think he was really responsible for either situation. After all, at the time the complaining customer requested service they were very busy. And the gripes, they just liked to complain. What could he do about that? But since he wanted to succeed, Terry has asked you to help him out.

$1.$ Should Terry be held accountable for the customer complaint and employee gripes? Why or why not?

$2.$ What suggestions can you make to Terry to help him be successful in his job?

Chapter $2.$ Problem$-$Solving Case: Leadership Training on the Program at Insight Communication $($pg$.46)$

$1.$ Insight Communications promoted employees with good technical skills into supervisory positions and then taught them leadership skills. Is this the best way for supervisors to lead well? Why or why not?

$2.$ Identify three principles of leadership from this chapter that you think would be most important to include in the training for supervisors. Briefly explain why you selected these principles.

$3.$ Supervisor Matt Stephens felt that he knew more about leading, and managers see improved performance in the trained supervisors$$ teams. If you were one of supervisors, how else would you be able to tell if you were leading effectively?

Chapter $3.$ A Supervision Challenge: A Christiana Hospital Department Can't Succeed Without Cooperation $($pg$.50)$

$1.$ Reflecting back to the chapter$$s opening case study, imagine that you were a sterile processing department $($SPD$)$ supervisor at Christiana Hospital, assigned to one of its problem$-$solving teams. Consider that your team would also include hospital managers, nurses, and employees and that some team members would be from the operating room, while others would represent SPD$.$ With your group, discuss and identify several possible sources of conflict on this team. Suggest some ways that an SPD supervisor could help the team move beyond conflict $($the storming stage$)$ and toward constructive solutions. Also, identify ways that your participation on the team could help you lead your employees in SPD$.$

Chapter $5.$ A Supervision Challenge: Are Generation Y Employees Unfairly Stereotyped? $($pg$.103)$

$1.$ Discuss how Generation Y$/$Millenial workers$$ desire for engagement and meaningful work affects a supervisor$$s job. $($You might also consider whether the statements about young workers are valid, and why or why not.$)$ What might be harder about supervising such employees? What might be easier? When an employee demonstrates challenging behavior, what is the underlying cause and motivation? Does accommodating differences in age$-$related values make business sense? Ethical sense? Prepare a list of recommendations your group can agree on for supervising young workers. Then identify any suggested recommendations your group could not agree on$.$