Summary

Emerald Financing Corporation was founded to provide financing for its parent company, a major industrial firm
producing a widely diversified array of products.

Bill Joyner is the current area manager of Emerald and is responsible for the consumer financing department which
primarily offers direct cash loans, usually second mortgages. The office has only been marginally productive in recent
months and has experienced increasing problems. Due to his predecessor’s quick dismissal, there has been no real adjustment
period for Bill in his new environment. He has been thrust into managing the daily activities of an unfamiliar office, staffed
with employees unknown to him. The only real input and guiding force he has to assist him is his district manager, Mary
Evans.

Bill Joyner has been described as a job-centered leader. He is recently more concerned with performance rather than
with his employees’ satisfaction. However, his immediate concern is a management trainee named Keith Roberts.

Recently, Keith seems to be spending more and more time away from his desk due to various plausible reasons.
When he is at work and at his desk, he sits idly much of the time, or discusses subjects other than business with his co
workers. Nevertheless, his work is still completed each day, and its quality has not been visibly affected.

Bill never outwardly expressed disapproval over Keith’s conduct. He never had any private conversations with
Keith to discuss the latter’s behavior. Bill has only generally mentioned the problems to the entire group during office
meetings. One day, to everyone’s shock, Bill announced that Keith will no longer be working for Emerald following yet
another of Keith’s AWOL’s. This pronouncement was followed by shock from Keith’s fellow employees. Keith was well-
liked and considered intelligent by his coworkers. They were convinced that Keith was terminated without due process and
this instilled fear in them. In the succeeding days, although everyone works diligently and work gets completed by day’s end,
the other employees were unhappy and tension was very palpable.

Bill now has the task of adjusting to his new role as area manager and at the same time dealing with unhappy
employees as well as overcoming their distrust.

Statement of the Problem

Whether or not Bill should change his leadership style.

Objectives

1) To evaluate the alternatives and provide alternative courses of action (ACA’s) for Bill Joyner to address the problem

2) To identify the strengths and weaknesses of each ACA.

3) To propose the most feasible recommendation(s) for Bill Joyner to cope with his new job and unfamiliar employees.
Areas for Consideration (SWOT Analysis)
 ENVIRONMENT STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES OPPORTUNITI ES THREATS
1. Cus tomers NONE
2. Suppl iers NONE
3. Competi ti on NONE
4. La bor
ma na ge ment bored a nd frus tra ted
tra i nees for not ha vi ng enough
work to occupy a ful l
da y yet s ti l l requi red
to work l a te hours ;
not a ll owed to work
on ma na a gement
de vel opment
progra mduri ng i dl e
ti me
Kei th Roberts work s ti l l compl eted ma na gement tra i nee di s mis s ed for no
ea ch da y wi th no who s pends more a ppa rent or cl ea r
vi s i ble reducti on i n ti me a wa y from hi s re a s on
qua l i ty; wel l -l i ke a nd de s k a nd ha s mi s s ed
cons i de red hours of work due to
intel li gent by a s e ri es of excus es ;
coworkers whe n a t hi s des k, s its
i dl y mos t of the ti me
or di s cus s es s ubjects
other tha n bus i nes s
wi th coworkers
EFC empl oyee s ne ver s eemed ha ppy performa nce does
nor s a ti s fi ed wi th not a ppea r to be
thei r jobs ; a ls o l es s ened but nei ther
a ppea r to mi s trus t does i t s how
5. The Fi rm Bi l l Joyner a fter i mprovement
Bi l l Joyne r job-centered l ea der; new to the job no a djus tme nt peri od
a l though he met wi th when he a s s umed
ea ch empl oyee hi s new role a s offi ce
i ndi vi dua l l y to revi ew ma na ge r; mre
the l a tter's goa l s a nd concerned wi th
objecti ves i n l i ne performa nce tha n
wi th the compa ny's with employee
expecta ti ons , goa l s a ti s fa cti on
s etti ng wa s
compl eted i n a very
genera l s ens e
the offi ce i ncrea s ed onl y ma rgi na l ly
a bs enteei s m a nd producti ve i n recent
turnover months a nd ha s
experi ence d
incre a s i ng probl ems ;
a ffected by the
condi ti on of the
economy, wi th ri s i ng
unempl oyment a nd a
depres s ed hous i ng
ma rket

Alternative Courses of Action (ACA’s)

I. Do not change leadership style but improve on communication

Advantages:
1) Building up communication while maintaining job focus can increase productivity to significant levels

2) Reinforcing the formal environment

Disadvantages:
1) Might increase instead of minimize the employees’ unhappiness
2) It does not necessarily follow that this will increase productivity since there are other factors to consider

II. Bill Joyner may change his leadership approach from being job-centered to being more of a employee-centered
one

Advantages:

1) This will increase the employees’ positive attitude towards their job.

2) This will lessen the gap between Bill and his employees for a better working relationship

3) Increase the morale of the employees

Disadvantages:

1) Bill Joyner might have to attend seminars about leadership that might lessen his time to work

2) Bill Joyner will have to adjust his way of communicating and interacting with the employees

III. Employ a flexible leadership strategy that would be depend on the situation

Advantages:
1) Bill can easily adapt to changing environments
2) Bridging the gap with employees
3) Increasing employee effort and productivity

Disadvantages:
1) A lot depends on the maturity level of the employees
2) Bill must also be open to change and adapting to change as needed
3) Risk of going overboard

Conclusion
 We choose ACA # 3, to employ a flexible leadership strategy that would depend on the situation. This is in line with
the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership where the primary activities of a leader are to make achievable and desirable rewards
available to organization members who attain organizational goals and to clarify the kinds of behavior that must be
performed to earn those rewards.

The primary focus of the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership is on how leaders can increase employee effort and
productivity by clarifying performance goals and the path to be taken to achieve those goals. In Bill’s case, he can build on
the four primary types of behavior associated with the theory, namely: directive, supportive, participative and achievement
behaviors, with special focus on directive and supportive behaviors.

Recommendations

In line with the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership and the behaviors identified, we recommend the following:

1) Conduct one-on-one performance management evaluations for each employee wherein the goals and strategies
employed will be aligned with that of the company. This would include performance agreements, development
agreements, interim progress reviews, employee self-evaluation and supervisor performance evaluation. (directive
behavior)
2) Schedule team building activities at least once a year in order to improve group cohesion. (participative behavior)
3) Encouraging employees to contribute by setting up a “Suggestion Box” where incentives will be handed out to the
best suggestion improving or developing organizational capability and increasing performance quality for every
quarter. (supportive behavior)
4) Introducing an annual incentive plan based on the performance of each employee. Factors that may be considered
are the contents of the performance management evaluations and up to what extent the employee was able to comply
with the goals and strategies proposed. (achievement behavior)

Bibliography

Certo, S. C. (2000). Modern Management (Eighth Edition ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
http://www.stfrancis.edu/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/btopics/works/fied.htm