Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

The National Engineering University
Lipa Campus
A. Tanco Drive, Marawoy, Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines 4217
T el Nos.: (+63 43) 980-0385; 980-0387; 980-0392 to 94 loc. 3129
E-mail Address: [email protected] | Website Address: http://www.batstate-u.edu.ph

CASE STUDY 1
PM 109 – Total Quality Management

General Directions: Read and analyze the given case study by using the guide questions below.
A. Objectives
B. Introduction and Background
C. Statement of the Problem
D. Areas of Considerations based on the case questions. (You can also answer the case
questions on this part.)
E. Proposed Solution
 Provide one specific and realistic solution
 Explain why this solution was chosen
 Support this solution with concepts discussed in class
F. Conclusions and Recommendations
 Determine and discuss specific strategies for accomplishing the proposed
solution.
 If applicable, recommend further action to resolve some of the issues
 What should be done and who should do it?

FACTS
Jerry Austin, 42, was promoted to supervisor of the Case Analysis Unit just three months
ago. The Case Analysis Unit was a special investigation group with the city's Department of
Social Services. The four employees in this Unit investigated suspected fraud cases and
researched various special requests for exemptions and services. The investigations conducted by
the case analysis representatives typically began by verifying data obtained from applicants
during the intake process. Then, field agents as well as employers or claimants would be
contacted as necessary for additional information. The information gathered from all these
sources would be reviewed, and a recommendation for either "no further action" or "prosecution"
would be issued. While the unit's workload fluctuated somewhat, the average standard of
production was 12 completed cases per week and four backlogged cases cleared.

Jerry believed that everyone in his unit was doing an acceptable job except Frannie Hudson.
Frannie, 45, had been with the department for 20 years, the last eight of which were spent in this
unit. Frannie's usual rate of performance was seven cases a week, with one or two backlogged
cases cleared. Jerry remembered a conversation with Sullivan Hart, the previous supervisor of
this unit, whose retirement had opened up the supervisory opportunity for Jerry. The
conversation took place about four months before Sullivan's last scheduled day, when they were
having lunch together. Jerry had just been named as Sullivan's replacement, and they were
discussing different aspects of the transition and the operations of the Case Analysis Unit. Jerry
remembered Sullivan's remarks very clearly: "Frannie just doesn't have the motivation to do an
adequate job, and to be honest with you, I'm too close to retirement to rock the boat." Sullivan
had paused, putting down his fork. "You know," he continued, "I finally got to the point with

Leading Innovations, Transforming Lives, Building the Nation

 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
The National Engineering University
Lipa Campus
A. Tanco Drive, Marawoy, Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines 4217
T el Nos.: (+63 43) 980-0385; 980-0387; 980-0392 to 94 loc. 3129
E-mail Address: [email protected] | Website Address: http://www.batstate-u.edu.ph

Frannie that I'd be pleased if I got seven or eight completed cases from him each week. Everyone
else ended up taking up the slack."

After that conversation, Jerry began to watch Frannie more closely. Sure enough, Frannie
seemed to move more slowly, stop more often, put aside more challenging tasks, and ask for help
more frequently than his co-workers in the unit. Otherwise, though, Frannie was a model
employee. He was seldom absent and arrived at work on time every day. The quality of his work
was almost as good as the work done by the other employees. He was polite and considerate,
even if he did not socialize as freely as the others did. Jerry looked in Frannie's personnel folder.
He found no record of any previous counseling or disciplinary procedures, but did find Frannie's
most recent performance appraisal, which had been conducted by Sullivan Hart about a month
before he left. Jerry was disturbed but not surprised by what he saw: Sullivan had rated Frannie
as an "above average" employee (a 4 on a scale of 5).

According to Sullivan, Frannie's productivity was in line with the unit's standards. He had
written: "Frannie does his job well and has a long history of good performance with the city."
There was no indication in the appraisal or in the file that there had ever been a notice given to
Frannie about work standards or a discussion with him about how he could improve his work
performance. Under the city's merit review system, the higher the evaluation rating, the bigger
the salary increase an employee was entitled to. For example, employees rated as doing an
acceptable job would receive an average increase of about 4 percent; those rated above average,
6 percent; and those rated superior, 8 percent. Sure enough, Frank's salary had been adjusted by
about 5.5 percent as a result of this last review.

Jerry was learning about another problem related to Frannie's performance. Shortly after
assuming the supervisor's job, Jerry began sensing how much anger and hostility the other
employees in the unit had toward Frannie. At first, he would overhear side comments directed at
Frannie during meetings or discussions, but recently he had noticed that Frannie's co-workers
were making these comments more openly. For example, in a recent staff meeting, an initial joke
about how slowly an applicant responded to a fraud claim was compared to Jerry's processing of
cases. While he sat there, obviously uncomfortable, the others ridiculed him contemptuously.
Before Jerry could regain order, there was a lot of psychological "blood" on the floor. As a result
of that episode, Jerry became concerned about the long-term effects this situation would have on
the morale and performance of the unit if he let the situation continue.

CASE QUESTIONS
1. Describe the problem(s) that Jerry is facing.
2. Should Jerry do anything about the less than standard performance of Frannie Hudson? If
so, what should his performance management strategy be?
3. What should Jerry do about Frannie in relation to the other employees in the unit?

Leading Innovations, Transforming Lives, Building the Nation