Steve Arnold is a Production Manager at Acme Manufacturing Company in New Jersey: Organizational Leadership Case Study, UoA, Malaysia.
Case Study –Acme Manufacturing Company
Steve Arnold is a production manager at Acme Manufacturing Company in New Jersey. When drove into the parking lot at the plant on Tuesday morning at 8:35, he was already 35 minutes late for work. Steve had overslept that morning because the night before he had stayed up late to finish the monthly production report for his department. He parked his car and entered the rear of the plant building. Passing through the shipping area, Steve spotted his friend George Summers and stopped to ask how work was progressing on the new addition to George’s house.
Entering the office at 8:55, Steve greeted his secretary, Ruth Sweeney, and asked whether anything urgent needed his immediate attention. Ruth reminded him of the staff meeting at 9:30 with Steve’s boss—Frank Jones, the vice president for Production—and the other production managers. Steve thanked Ruth for reminding him (he had forgotten about the meeting) and continued on to his adjoining inner office to look for the memo announcing the meeting. He vaguely remembered getting the memo in an email one or two weeks earlier but did not take the time to read it or look at the attached materials. His phone rang, and it was Sue Bradley, the sales vice president, who was inquiring about the status of a rush order for one of the company’s important clients. Steve promised to look into the matter and get back to her later in the day with an answer. Steve had delegated the rush order last week to Lucy Adams, one of his production supervisors, and he had not thought about it since then. Stepping back into the outer office, Steve asked Ruth if she had seen Lucy today. Ruth reminded him that Lucy was at a training workshop in California. She would be difficult to reach until the session ended late in the afternoon because the workshop facilitators regard cell phone calls and text messages as an unnecessary distraction.
Questions
1. Describe the leadership behaviours Steve used and their influence on the attitudes and behaviours of the team members.
2. Identify and explain three (3) strengths and three (3) weaknesses in leadership development at Acme Manufacturing.
3. Recommend and explain the effective leadership practices may use to ensure a more effective outcome.
