Lesley recently graduated from college with her degree in business administration. She spent the past two

summers working at Connecticut Mutual Insurance (CMI) filling in as an intern on a number of different jobs

while employees took their vacations. She recently received and accepted an offer to join CMI full-time as

supervisor of the policy department.

CMI is a large insurance company. In the headquarters office alone, where Lesley will be working, there

are more than 1,500 employees. The company believes strongly in the personal development of its employees.

This belief translates into a philosophy, emanating from the top executive offices, of trust and respect for all

CMI employees. The company is also regularly atop most lists of "best companies to work for," largely because

of its progressive work-life programs and strong commitment to minimize layoffs.

In Lesley's new job, she will direct the activities of eighteen clerks. Their jobs require little training and

are highly standardized. A clerk's responsibility is to ensure that renewal notices are sent on current policies, to

tabulate any changes in premiums, to advise the sales division if a policy is to be canceled as a result of nonresponse

to renewal notices, and to answer questions and solve problems related to renewals.

The people in Lesley's work group range in age from nineteen to sixty-two, with a median age of

twenty-five. For the most part they are high school graduates with little prior experience. They earn between

$2,350 and $3,200 a month. Lesley will be replacing a long-time CMI employee, Jan Allison. Jan is retiring

after thirty-seven years with CMI, the past fourteen spent as a policy-renewal supervisor. Because Lesley spent a

few weeks in Jan's group last summer, she is familiar with Jan's style and is acquainted with most of the

department members. But people don't know Lesley very well and are suspicious of the fact that she is fresh out

of college and has little experience in the job.

The reality is that Lesley got this job because management wanted someone with a college degree to

oversee the department. Lesley's most vocal critic is Lillian Lantz. Lillian is well into her fifties, has been a

policy renewal clerk for more than a dozen years, and - as the "grand old lady" of the department - carries a lot

of weight with group members. Lesley knows that it will be hard to lead this department without Lillian's

support.

Lesley is determined to get her leadership of the department off on the right foot. As a result, she has

been doing a lot of thinking about the qualities of an effective supervisor.