I am supposed to analyze the following case study below for my business management class, but I am having trouble making connections. The questions are "Is there a problem here?" and "What can be done to fix the problem?"

Sandy Jones supervises a clerical and secretarial pool of eight employees at

the American Standard Insurance Company. Her group is responsible for typing

and filing the insurance claims and registrations for Standard's customers in the

Southern region. It is high-volume work that, although requiring speed and ac-

curacy, is often tedious.

Sandy is proud of her unit because they get the work done well. Generally,

Sandy enjoys her job and likes the people she works with. Most of her subordi-

nates are young women who recently graduated from high school, some from

the same school. By and large, this is their first regular job.

Sandy has one headache, though, and that headache is Katherine Brusk-

owicz. Katherine is a very good worker, perhaps quicker and more accurate than

anyone else in the unit. She learned the job very quickly and now finishes her

work before the others. The only problem with Katherine, as Sandy told a friend

at lunch one day, is that "she's just a pain in the ass."

"For example," Sandy said, "Katherine talks all the time. Now I know the

work can be tedious, and I let the girls talk as long as they get their work done,

but Katherine can get really loud at times, especially when I'm gone. I know,

I've gotten complaints from others." Sandy is worred that Katherine's talkative-

ness may become an annoyance and distraction to the other employees.

Even more disturbing than the volume of her talk is its content. Katherine

seems to delight in verbally harassing and intimidating the other employees in

the unit. She brags about all the boyfriends she has. She'll often mock how

other employees dress or talk, and will argue with them about doing certain

tasks. She even picks on Sharon regularly, teasing her about her weight and lack

of boyfriends.

Some of the employees in the unit have become accustomed to Katherine

and can now take her in stride, although there are others who have a more diffi-

cult time dealing with her, and whom she still upsets. In either case, the employ-

ees in the unit have to make adjustments, and morale in the unit stays low.

Sandy is certain that if Katherine weren't there, everyone would be much hap-

pier.

Sandy has informally talked with Katherine a few times about these matters,

and Katherine will behave for a day or twothen pick up again where she left

off.