The abuse of the coffee break was getting out of hand. Fifteen minutes were allowed in the mornings and afternoons for breaks, but no one really paid much attention to the time. The systems analyst making a study of lost time in the company calculated that over 1000 man hours per year could be saved if all employees adhered to the coffee break rule. In his report to higher management, he strongly recommended that all supervisors and department heads be informed of the seriousness of the problem and that administrative action be taken to correct this destructive organizational behavior. When the supervisors and department heads were called together and confronted with facts and figures to demonstrate the gravity of the situation, they reacted with a sense of caution rather than urgency: the general feeling was that if management bore down too hard, the morale of the people would sink to a new low. As one manager put it, "After all, the theory behind the break is to relieve monotony and tension and balance out productivity during the workday." Each manager did agree, however, to talk to their employees.

No other action was taken at the meeting, but the systems analyst was told to continue to spot-check the breaks. After another month of spot-check the Breaks. After another month of spot-checking, he reported that the excessive breaks were still the rule; evidently the talks between the supervisors and the employees had little effect on the time taken for the breaks. At this point higher management decided it was time for action and issued the following memo to all department heads and supervisors: "Effective immediately, all employees will take the allowed 15 minute break an 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Any employee taking longer without the express permission of his or her manager will be issued a written reprimand. Any employee receiving 3 reprimands for the above violation in a 12 month period shall be discharged without recourse."

Once you've done that, I'd like you to tell me how you would have handled this situation if you were the manager. Your description/explanation of how you would have handled things should be thoughtful and thorough. It should not include a summary of the case.