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Case 38

Out of Control

Background Information

Judy Wheeler was coming to really dislike the third Tuesday of each month. This

was the day of the monthly status briefing of the Special Operations Review Com-

mittee. Judy sat at the head of the conference table, looking out the window at the

other buildings populating the office park. As head of the committee, Judy was

always the first there, waiting for everyone else to arrive. However, the situation

was not like this in the beginning.

When the Special Operations Review Committee had been formed four months

ago, Judy was very proud to be appointed to head it. With the competitive pressures

on the business growing for some time, there were many rumors about new corpo-

rate initiatives to search for ways to improve the productivity of various systems

and operations. She felt it was an honor to have been put in charge of one such ini-

tiative. The committee included people from Data Processing, Auditing, Account-

ing, Operations, Marketing, and Personnel.

Judy looked around as people began to file in. “This thing has turned into a real

zoo,” she thought, “and my patience is running out.”

Judy looked at some of the real poor sports. One was Mike Slater, typically sit-

ting over at the corner of the table, staring vacantly into space. He was as aloof as

ever. It was clear from his actions and comments that Mike did not want to partici-

pate in this committee. She overheard him comment one time that he had better

things to do than work with a bunch of “operation types.” He would show up late,

walk out in the middle of the briefing, read the paper, do almost anything he could

think of that would say, “I don’t want any part of this, and I’ll work real hard not to

play a part in it.” He was usually successful, and when he did contribute, it was only

by virtue of his making some kind of caustic remark. Judy realized, however, that

Mike did have some important insight and experience that could be very helpful to

the committee. It was unfortunate that he made it so difficult to listen to him.

Judy looked at Fern Henry, standing near the coffee pot, joking with Sue Casey.

Fern was from Personnel and had been in that department for over 15 years. Fern’s

biggest asset was her ability to talk about anything, at any time, and for great peri-

ods of time. And while her knowledge of the personnel issues surrounding the

committee’s work was good, she tended to voice her opinions quickly and at length,

neither fully considering them nor allowing others to question her. She could talk

for 10 minutes at a stretch and end up saying very little. Judy hated to turn her on

because it was hard to turn her off.

Judy glanced at Sue Casey, who was from Operations. She then saw Buddy

Griffith, also from Operations, enter the room and sit down. About the time this

committee was formed, Sue was given a promotion to section supervisor. Buddy

had made it clear to many people that he thought he deserved the job, and since

then, there was nothing but animosity between Buddy and Sue. Judy smiled to

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

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Case 38 (continued)

herself, thinking, “You can bet that whatever one of them has, the other will try

everything possible to tear down and make look foolish.”

Finally, she noticed Wendy Abrams sitting at the other end of the table. Wendy,

who felt she should have been put in charge of the committee, often tried to take

control of meetings by making assignments, questioning others on where they

stood, and dictating the agenda. Everyone knew what she was doing, and more than

a few had noted how negatively her disruptions affected the group’s work.

Judy was becoming concerned with the committee’s progress. Some of the key

tasks were dragging; others were working at cross-purposes. Judy was becoming

concerned about how to proceed.

CASE QUESTION

How can Judy deal with the problems here in order to make the committee operate

more effectively?