50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

15

Case 4

“Looney Tunes on Parade”:

Part 1—Getting Started on the Right (or Left?) Foot

Background Information

Republic Insurance Company is a regional, all-purpose firm with offices in a three-

state area. The central headquarters office houses the staff that plans and controls

the field-office operations. Because the company is in such a competitive industry,

sales play a very important role in Republic’s efforts.

The group responsible for planning and controlling the sales effort of Republic’s

three-state field force is the Strategic Management Division. There are two main

components of the Strategic Management Division:

1. The Accounting Department pays the bills and keeps track of the income.

2. The Plans Department does the marketing, product and price studies, profit

forecasting, budget planning, and similar duties.

The organizational chart of this Strategic Management Division is shown below. It

depicts the structure of the division and the leadership roles within that structure which

have a bearing on this case. It also includes the names of the individuals who filled those

leadership roles in June 1987, the time at which the events in this case begin.

Division Head:

Sam Benson

Manager:

Peter Gilmore

Plans Accounting

Budgets Unit

Pricing Unit

Supervisor:

Sandi Bates

Vacant

Strategic Management Division

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

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Case 4 (continued)

The manager of the Plans Department is responsible for two units: Budgets and

Pricing. Each unit has a supervisor who is responsible for the projects and tasks

assigned to the unit. The Budgets Unit does long-term planning and evaluation of

the profit and cost centers of Republic and coordinates the overall budget planning

for the entire company. The Pricing Unit is responsible for keeping track of the

competition’s prices on insurance policies, company-wide profit forecasting, and

other special studies about company products or costs. The Pricing Unit regularly

provides these studies to other units and divisions within the company. These stud-

ies supply essential information to the managers of these other departments so that

they can make their own business and budgeting plans.

In June of 1987, the Strategic Management Division was headed by Sam Benson.

Peter Gilmore, who had been with Republic for 10 years, managed the Plans

Department’s two units. The Budgets Unit was supervised by Sandi Bates, and the

Pricing Unit’s supervisory position was vacant.

In that same month, Peter Gilmore received a referral from Personnel for the

open supervisor’s position in the Pricing Unit. The job candidate’s name was David

Randle. David had a résumé that looked good (see the copy of the résumé on the

following page), and Peter managed to squeeze him in for a 20-minute interview

between business meetings. The manager talked in general about the job and asked

David about his résumé. He found David personable and easy to get along with,

liked the candidate’s background, and decided to offer him the job. He told Person-

nel to hire him and take care of the details.

David began work a week later, on July 1, 1987, as supervisor of the Pricing

Unit. He had two cost analysts and a secretary reporting to him.

CASE QUESTIONS

1. Evaluate David Randle’s résumé.

2. Evaluate the selection procedure used by Peter Gilmore.

3. Anticipate any effects of the selection procedure used by Peter on David’s

future performance.

Case 4: “Looney Tunes on Parade”: Part 1

17

Case 4 (continued)

David Randle

5634 Watercrest Street

City, State 12345

Education:

State University

The Evening College Program

B.S. in Business

3.75 GPA, 3.8 in major

1978–1984

Personal:

Born: October 9, 1957

Married

Fluent in four languages:

Spanish, French, Italian, Portugese

Work History: Smith Stores

January 198–current

Cost Accountant: Supervises Cost Unit, profit-planning,

budget coordination for the stores

Johnson Adhesives Manufacturing

February 1986–July 1986

Price Analyst: Developed and supervised computer records,

inventory controls, payrolls

Safety Media Films

January 1983–February 1986

Price Analyst: Budget planning, international finance,

financial planning

Bander Food Chains

November 1981–January 1983

Senior Bookkeeper: Price studies, computer records,

supervision

Get Smart Book Publishers

February 1981–November 1981

Junior Bookkeeper: Payroll accounts, accounts receivable,

payable, general ledger, audits