Don England: The Photocopier Incident

INTROUDUCTION

Tim Schrafe, service manager of Tony's Bar and Eatery (Tony's), is causing some problems within the organization as a result of inappropriate behaviour. Schrafe, visibly intoxicated, walked into the restaurant on his day off work. After causing several distractions, Don England, supervisor and part-time manager, caught Schrafe snorting a line of white powder off a photocopier. England needs to determine out how to handle this situation as he prepares his daily report of operations to Tony Marcella, the owner of Tony's.

ISSUES

IMMEDIATE

I Tim Schrafe's photocopier incident, attempting to borrow beer/snorting white powder

- This was ranked "I" because Schrafe may have committed an illegal activity and the company could be liable.

I No formal (written) conduct policies and procedures and low disciplinary consequences

- This was ranked "I" because England didn't know how to respond to the critical situation and Schrafe was not dissuaded by the (possible) consequences of his irresponsible behaviour.

I England's responsibilities as a manager

- This was ranked "I" because England didn't fulfill his duties as a manager. Instead he allowed Schrafe's superiority (as a manager) affect his decisions, which resulted a poor handling of the incident. The incident could have been prevented or minimized.

I Tim Schrafe's mischievous behaviour at work

- This was ranked "II" because Schrafe's behaviour isn't something new at Tony's. However, it is no longer acceptable being a manager.

The immediate issues have been ranked according to importance and urgency:

I = high importance, high urgency II = high importance, low urgency

III = low importance, high urgency IV = low importance, low urgency

BASIC

1. Role ambiguity and job design

- This relates to Don England's responsibilities as both a supervisor and a manager. It creates confusion and undermines his credibility with other managers, i.e. Tim Schrafe.

2. Professional conduct

- Tim Schrafe's photocopier incident is in direct violation of Tony's policies and procedures.

3. Conflict management

- England and Schrafe's confrontation while Schrafe was attempting to borrow beer from Tony's.

4. Resistance to change

- This relates to Tim Schrafe's mischievous behaviour.

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITUATION

Please refer to Figure One for a fishbone analysis on the photocopier incident.

Figure One - Fishbone Analysis on the Photocopier Incident

There are three major factors that led to Tim Schrafe's photocopier incident and they are (1) Tim Schrafe, (2) Don England, and (3) Company Policies and Procedures. Obviously, Schrafe holds the most responsibility for the events that occurred that night. Schrafe should not have been at the establishment on his day off, nor should he have been drinking and coming into Tony's intoxicated, especially around the staff since this violated the company's policies and procedures regarding professional conduct. Furthermore, the company has a zero tolerance for drug use, which Schrafe clearly violated in front of England and a server.

Don England allowed Schrafe's superiority as a service manager influence his decision making on how best to handle the situation. Knowing the company's policies and procedures, England should have asked Schrafe to leave immediate upon his arrival to the establishment since it was his day off work. This would have prevented the incident all together. However, due to a role ambiguity issue, England was lenient towards Schrafe and missed three opportunities to send him home before the photocopier incident even took place. As a result, England is also responsible for the events that occurred since he had the authority and means to prevent it from happening, but instead, took a back seat as a supervisor and neglected his responsibilities as a manager.

The company's policies and procedures regarding professional conduct should have prevented all of this from occurring. However, there is no formal or written documentation of these policies and procedures that the staff can rely on so they don't forget. In addition, the managers don't seem comfortable enforcing these standards, and when they do, the negative consequences are often weak or minimal. This further diminishes the credibility of these policies and procedures and allows some employees (Schrafe) to think it's okay to break the rules.

ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES

Following the incident, Don England has a few options on how to deal with the situation and the implications for himself, Schrafe, other staff, and Marcella, the owner of the business. With two hours remaining in the shift, England is required to also keep up with the running of the restaurant. However, Schrafe's behaviour requires some sort of action.

A) Call the Police

The most straightforward option is to call the police and alert them to the situation that Tim may be wandering around the restaurant in an inebriated and possibly drug-induced state posing a risk to himself and or others. Alerting the police would most likely result in them visiting the business and getting an official report from the scene, requiring England to guide them through the situation.

B) Do Nothing

The second option is to not do anything in the wake of the incident, and ignoring what happened with Schrafe at the restaurant. Most likely England would want to brush over the incident, expecting the staff not to make a commotion out of the incident, and going on with business as if nothing had happened that night.

C) Report to Tony Marcella

Reporting the incident to the next level of management, in this case Tony Marcella because the general