Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training at first, but in mid-March, employees started calling his office to complain that Randle was not filling their orders. By April, 10 months after Randle had started with Republic, Peter Gilmore was definitely bothered by David Randle. He wondered to himself: "What's go- ing on here? Is Randle too busy, or is he incompetent, or what? Something just isn't right." To deal with this concern, he talked with Randle and asked the supervisor to complete a long self-assessment form he had picked up at a conference a few year's earlier. It contained a list of skills for accountants in project management. The person completing the assessment rated his or her current skill levels on a scale of 1 to 7. Gilmore wanted Randle to identify any job performance weak- nesses he might have and to start improving them. Randle filled out the form and told Gilmore that the assessment was very helpful and that he could see performance areas he needed to improve immedia ately. Sure enough, Gilmore seemed to notice some improvement in Randle's work during the next few weeks. Discussion Questions CASE QUESTIONS 1. What was happening at this point? 2. What should Gilmore do at this point?Case 5: "Looney Tunes on Parade"-Part 2 Changing the Guard Sam Benson had been head of the Strategic Management Division at Repub- lic Insurance for nearly six years. He served well in this capacity, capping a 30- year career with Republic by retiring in April, 1988. Sam was replaced by Henry Carpenter, 41. Henry had been with Republic for almost three years, serving as chief information management officer. Car- penter moved into Sam Benson's office during David Randle's eleventh month with Republic, in May. It seemed to Peter Gilmore that from that day forward, Randle spent a lot of time with Carpenter. He could often be found in Carpenter's office, no matter what time of day it was. They would have lunch together or go out for drinks af- ter work. Beyond these social contacts, Carpenter began assigning projects di- rectly to Randle. Often these assignments were made without Gilmore even knowing about it. Gilmore, who suspected as much, was too busy to give the matter serious thought. "What the hell," he told himself. "Let Henry work with him, too." Not long after, though, when Randle was on vacation, an incident occurred which convinced Peter Gilmore that his vague intuitions about something not being right with David Randle were well founded. Sometime earlier, in April, Randle had conducted a performance evaluation of Betty Moore, one of the cost analysts in Randle's Pricing Unit. During the evaluation, Randle promised to make Betty a supervisor and arrange for her to receive a 20 percent salary in- crease. (In fact, Republic had a policy that the maximum salary adjustment to which anyone was entitled during a six-month period was 14 percent.) By May, when Betty saw no change in her salary, she met with Gilmore privately. Betty had worked with Gilmore for over four years. Betty began: "You know, David did my performance appraisal two months ago, and he promised me a supervisory promotion and a 20 percent salary in- crease. But I haven't received either yet. Is there something wrong?" Gilmore was surprised. "David promised what?" he asked in astonishment. He was very aware of the firm's policy on salary increases and knew that David Randle was also aware of them. Betty repeated her comments. As Gilmore listened to Betty's explanation, his anger rose. When Betty finished, he called Bill Schmidt to join them. Bill was Betty's colleague and the other cost analyst that Randle supervised. Gilmore said, "Bill, Betty has been telling me some things which I find very distressing about David's management practices. Tell me what's going on there." He got an earful. The analysts told him that Randle never gave them any work to do on any kind of regular basis. They did not know what he did with the assignments he received from Gilmore or Carpenter, but every so often, Randle would give them a real rush job on a big project and then pressure them until it was finished. When Randle finally received their report, he would put his name on it and pass it along. Peter Gilmore now became very angry. He thanked Betty and Bill for their honesty. As soon as they left, he walked into Henry Carpenter's office and made three points: "One, I don't trust Randle, and I may want to fire him. Two, I 5.3 Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training think you and Randle are getting way too close. And three, in the future, tell me if you make any assignments directly to Randle." Gilmore's irritation was obvi- ous, and Carpenter patiently waited for him to calm down. Gilmore then told Carpenter what he just learned from Betty and Bill. After returning to his office, Gilmore phoned Randle at his home. Randle's wife answered the call, and told him that Randle was not available. Gilmore said pointedly: "Tell David that we will not be commuting to work anymore together." Sensing something in Peter's tone, Mrs. Randle started talking about all the family problems David was having. Gilmore ended the conversation as quickly as possible. Randle was now approaching his first year's anniversary with Republic In- surance, and his performance appraisal was due. When he returned from vaca- tion the following week, the evaluation was waiting (see the following page for Gilmore's appraisal of Randle). During the discussion, Gilmore told Randle that there had better be improvement in his performance-or else. Again, Randle seemed to make a recovery. He came into work early, worked hard and stayed busy, was quiet, and stayed late. But Gilmore was watching him closely now.CASE 5 "Looney Tunes on Parade" Part 2: Kicking Into Gear Background Information Peter Gilmore, manager, hired David Randle in July, 1987, to supervise the Pricing Unit of Republic Insurance Corporation's Strategic Management Divi- sion. The Pricing Unit conducted important studies about the competitive pos- ture of Republic's various policy products. Once Randle was hired, Gilmore delegated assignments to Randle often and easily. Gilmore expected these as- signments to be completed and returned on a timely basis, although he did not check on progress during the interim. Flares in the Night In December, 1987, six months after he was hired, things still seemed to be going smoothly for the new supervisor of the Pricing Unit, David Randle-at least on the surface. Nonetheless, Peter Gilmore was feeling uneasy. As he later put it: "It was nothing I could put my finger on exactly. I just didn't feel com- fortable trusting him." In fact, Gilmore had been receiving some information about Randle that was giving him some pause for concern. One source of this information was supervisor Sandi Bates. Sandi, David Randle's counterpart in the Budgets Unit, also reported to Peter Gilmore. It be- came clear not long after Randle was hired that he and Sandi Bates simply did not get along. Gilmore was not too concerned, feeling the problem was just a difference in personalities. There were periodic flashes of anger and occasional back-biting. Finally, in January, Gilmore lost his patience and told the two of them: "I don't want this fighting anymore. You two work out your differences and get this squabbling resolved." In early March, Sandi Bates asked to see Gilmore privately. She told him that she had tried to resolve these problems but with little success. She also told him that Randle was "screwing up" some of the projects Gilmore had given him. Gilmore asked Randle about these "screws-ups" a few days later. Randle conceded that he had been having some difficulties because of family problems. Gilmore took him at his word but still felt uneasy. In mid-March, a second matter of concern developed. The source of this concern was Randle's new sideline venture: a mail-order supply business that he had started with his brother-in-law in February. Randle would occasionally so- licit other employees in the headquarter's office for orders. Gilmore was amused 5.1Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training think you and Randle are getting way too close. And three, in the future, tell me if you make any assignments directly to Randle." Gilmore's irritation was obvi- ous, and Carpenter patiently waited for him to calm down. Gilmore then told Carpenter what he just learned from Betty and Bill. After returning to his office, Gilmore phoned Randle at his home. Randle's wife answered the call, and told him that Randle was not available. Gilmore said pointedly: "Tell David that we will not be commuting to work anymore together." Sensing something in Peter's tone, Mrs. Randle started talking about all the family problems David was having. Gilmore ended the conversation as quickly as possible. Randle was now approaching his first year's anniversary with Republic In- surance, and his performance appraisal was due. When he returned from vaca- tion the following week, the evaluation was waiting (see the following page for Gilmore's appraisal of Randle). During the discussion, Gilmore told Randle that there had better be improvement in his performance-or else. Again, Randle seemed to make a recovery. He came into work early, worked hard and stayed busy, was quiet, and stayed late. But Gilmore was watching him closely now. CASE QUESTIONS 1. What are the problems at this point? 2. Evaluate how well Gilmore is handling these prob- lems. 3. Recommend how he should deal with the problems. 4. Evaluate Gilmore's performance appraisal of Randle