Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The case mainly addresses the issue of Mina O Reilly who has to decide whether to clock in or out an
employee named Sanchez because of a blunder he committed. Despite being a patriotic and dedicated, a
brief moment of inattention, created a major public scare which led the closure of the airport for forty-
five minutes.
This affected a wide range of stakeholders ranging from employees, investors, customers and also the
media. Mina no doubt felt the pressure to sack off Sanchez for his five minutes of inefficiency. However,
the main question arises: is this the real problem?
The employees are mostly blamed for their mistakes but what is the root cause is 90% (GoLeanSixSigma,
2017) of the time the process. Therefore, how come such a sensitive area is covered by only one person
who is doing multiple shifts? Who approved this additional shifts? How come other people in the process
did not catch the mistake and correct it? Is the operation layout designed in a poka-yoke manner? It seems
a pretty open and easily accessible space for a sensitive area. The airport may consider additional safety
measures.
Sanchez is a human being and leaders understand that human err. Leaders also expect that humans may
not be efficient and/or correct hundred percent of the time. This is the reason why leaders use Pygmalion
strategy. The market is angry at the inefficiency, the security of the airport is being questioned considering
its precedents and media blaspheme news.
Solutions:
Short term measures: Sanchez has to be taken care of. Safety is no doubt the airport mission and vision
but the firm should not compromise in one of the core values: Team Spirit. Sanchez is one of the most
valued worker in the organization. Corrective actions should be taken because he was inefficient for five
minutes and dragged the firm into a consequential disaster. He can be put into a performance
improvement program. Also, in order to appease other stakeholders, he can be temporarily suspended.
In this manner, not only he will have time for some self-reflection and avoid the media lashes. This time-
period will also lead to a cool off period. After everything fall into place, the firm can take Sanchez back.
In the meanwhile, they can provide explanation about the scenario and apologies to the public.
Long term measures: The airport should really work on the process of the airport, improve training of all
employees and adding more security in their operations strategy. The airport management should also
consider whether the employees are empowered enough to act upon tasks/issues outside of their normal
job description. Instead of only focusing on their job descriptions, employees should be able to act upon
inefficiencies or problems.
Mina O Reilly should also analyze its leadership style and components. Did she ponder upon the soft
aspect of her leadership? Did she inspire employees to act upon an issue hindering the company shared
vision?