Jennifer has just received her MBA and is currently working in a manufacturing s

Question

Jennifer has just received her MBA and is currently working in a manufacturing setting where three of her four subordinates, with whom she must work daily, are male; all four are older than she is. Jennifer gets along pretty well with the three men, but her one female subordinate, Emma, has done less work than the others, produces poor results when she does do her work, and has challenged Jennifer publicly. “We never did it this way before and it always worked just fine” was a typical comment from Emma when Jennifer was discussing changes with her team. To avoid confrontation, Jennifer has found herself giving more work to other team members or doing it herself. Jennifer has heard through the grapevine that Emma has had an affair with the vice-president, and that this affair may still be continuing, even though it violates the company policies. Jennifer knows that her immediate boss, a nephew of the vice-president, will not touch the situation for fear of upsetting his uncle (i.e., the vice-president).

What should Jennifer do about Emma? (Please choose your preferred solution and briefly explain from a leadership standpoint)

1.Talk to the human resources director and try to get Emma transferred.

2.Go over her boss’s head and talk to the division chief about how Emma’s poor work performance is interfering with other team members’ work and how her own supervisor refuses to take any action.

3.Ignore the problem and hope that Emma will come to accept her leadership once she realizes that, as the new boss, Jennifer is more than capable.

4.At a team meeting, ask for her team’s help in improving their team’s work and praise Emma’s suggestions.

5.Meet with Emma privately to try to identify her problem and work out a solution, even though she is fairly sure that Emma will not want to talk to her.

Explanation / Answer

Answer

5.Meet with Emma privately to try to identify her problem and work out a solution, even though she is fairly sure that Emma will not want to talk to her.

A leader would never put down his or her members or subordinates. Grapevine and gossips Cannot be held as an evidence against any of the members. Jennifer would have approached higher authorities, but it will lower the morale of Emma, resulting to a more worst situation, and giving room for conflicts and hateredness. It is important that Jennifer must approach Emma to know what problem or issues she is facing which letting her to underperform and the ways she could figure out to help her. Though, she don't like to talk to Jennifer, but effort to communicate and to help her will give Jennifer opportunity to understand her and it could change Emma's attitude towards Jennifer.

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