Whats happened to Bob? was the question asked of Jack Otto, Production Supervisor, by one of his mechanics, Clyde Fisher. Jack had been wondering the same thing for several weeks about Bob Hill, another of his mechanics. Jack Otto is a 54-year-old production supervisor who has been with AZ Airlines for 20 years. He is well-liked and respected by his peers and subordinates and is very competent at the technical aspects of his supervisory job. Bob Hill, 40 years old, has been a generally competent and productive mechanic at AZ for ten years. Bob has been popular with his co-workers. Although he periodically blows up at them, he always apologizes afterward. His absenteeism rate has been higher than average for the last several years, with most absenteeism on Mondays. Also, it is not uncommon for Bob to be 10-15 minutes late at least once a week. But, because of a shortage of experienced mechanics and because Bob often cuts his lunch hour short to make up his tardiness time, Jack and other managers at AZ have decided to live with Bobs attendance problems as long as they dont become extensive. It is not uncommon for many company employees to stop for a beer after work. Clyde told Jack that Bob has been staying at the neighborhood bar for several hours after work most nights. Clyde also said he had heard rumors that Bob Hill was having personal problems at home. Jack doesnt like to pry into the lives of his workers, but he knows that he cant ignore the situation much longer, especially with the others beginning to talk about Bobs problem.

Answer the following questions and defend your answer. Use information from the text when possible to justify your position.

1) What symptoms did Jack, the other managers, and the coworkers observe in Bobs behavior?

2) Diagnose the underlying problem(s) that is(are) causing those symptoms within the context of a valid theory.

3) What are the courses of action that Jack and the other managers might consider in addressing Bobs problem?