On the way back to her own office, Ebony conferred with Renaldo about two current engineering projects about which he had called earlier. When she reached her desk, she looked at her watch. It was $10$ minutes before lunch, just time enough to make a few notes of the details she needed to check in order to answer the knotty questions raised by the sales manager that morning.After lunch Ebony started again. She began by checking the previous day$$s production reports, did some rescheduling to get out urgent orders, placed appropriate delivery dates on new orders and inquiries received that morning, and consulted with a foreman on a personal problem. She spent $20$ minutes on a Skype call going over mutual problems with the Eastern Plant.

By midafternoon Ebony had made another tour of the plant, after which she met with the personnel director to review with him a touchy personal problem raised by one of the clerical employees, the vacation schedules submitted by her foremen, and the pending job$-$evaluation program. Following this conference, Ebony hurried back to her office to complete the special statistical report for Oracle, one of Norris$$s best customers. As she finished the report, she discovered that it was $10$ minutes after six and she was the only one left in the office. Ebony was tired. She put on her coat and headed through the plant toward the parking lot. On the way she was stopped by both the night supervisor and night foremen for approval of the production schedule.With both eyes on the traffic, Ebony reviewed the day she had just completed. $$Busy$?$ she asked herself. $$So$,$ did I accomplish anything?$$ Her mind raced over the day$$s activities. $$Yes and no$$ seemed to be the answer. $$There was the usual routine, the same as any other day. The plant kept going and I think it must have been a good production day. Any creative or special$-$project work done?$$ Ebony grimaced as she reluctantly answered, $$No$.$With a feeling of guilt, she probed further. $$Am I an executive? I$$m paid like one, respected like one, and have a responsible assignment with the necessary authority to carry it out. Yet one of the greatest values a company derives from an executive is her creative thinking and accomplishments. What have I done about it$?$ An executive needs some time for thinking. Today was a typical day, just like most other days, and I did little, if any, creative work. The projects that I so enthusiastically planned to work on this morning are exactly as they were yesterday. What$$s more, I have no guarantee that tomorrow or the next day will bring me any closer to their completion. This is the real problem, and there must be an answer.$$By this time Ebony had turned onto the side street leading to her home. The problem still uppermost in her mind was: $$How can I become a more effective manager of my time?$$ Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw her son running toward the car calling out, $$Daddy$,$ Mommy$$s home.$$SOURCE: Based on Prod. #: KEL$071-$PDF$-$ENG, Kellogg School of Management, $1973.$Discussion Questions

$2\mathrm{.}5.$ What principles of time and stress management are violated in this case?

$2\mathrm{.}6.$ What are the most important organizational problems?

$2\mathrm{.}7.$ Which of Ebony$$s personal characteristics inhibit her effective management of time?

$2\mathrm{.}8.$ If you were hired as a consultant to Ebony, what would be your advice? Help her become more capable of managing her stress.