Desicussion Thread
1. If you were Palmer at the end of the case, how would you respond?
Palmer is disappointed that his top assistant was being taken away from his project. However, after taking an objective view of the situation, Palmer would be able to realize it was the best move for the company. The situation was not working out because both teams were losing valuable work time from a valuable employee. Since management decided that Olds needed to be working on the Springfield Metals project, they needed to find a suitable replacement. Palmer needed to set up a meeting with management. With Crosby, Sands, Olds and Palmer attending the meeting, Palmer could voice his displeasure with how Crosby was attracting Olds with incentives such as golfing and baseball tickets. The meeting would hopefully end any future conflicts similar to the current one.
2. What, if anything, could Palmer have done to avoid losing Olds?
Palmer could have gone to management at the beginning of the decision to use Olds in both jobs. By voicing concerns to Sands about Olds’ priorities and ability to work two jobs at once, Sands might have assigned Olds to only one project. This would have been the best solution because even if Olds was assigned to Crosby’s project, a suitable replacement could have been assigned to Palmer’s project from the start.
Letting Olds know how important he is to the project and create a work schedule to ensure that he devotes as much time as possible to Palmer’s project. Offering more incentives to Olds would also have been effective because it seemed to motivate him when Crosby was taking him out golfing and giving him baseball
Palmer is disappointed that his top assistant was being taken away from his project. However, after taking an objective view of the situation, Palmer would be able to realize it was the best move for the company. The situation was not working out because both teams were losing valuable work time from a valuable employee. Since management decided that Olds needed to be working on the Springfield Metals project, they needed to find a suitable replacement. Palmer needed to set up a meeting with management. With Crosby, Sands, Olds and Palmer attending the meeting, Palmer could voice his displeasure with how Crosby was attracting Olds with incentives such as golfing and baseball tickets. The meeting would hopefully end any future conflicts similar to the current one.
2. What, if anything, could Palmer have done to avoid losing Olds?
Palmer could have gone to management at the beginning of the decision to use Olds in both jobs. By voicing concerns to Sands about Olds’ priorities and ability to work two jobs at once, Sands might have assigned Olds to only one project. This would have been the best solution because even if Olds was assigned to Crosby’s project, a suitable replacement could have been assigned to Palmer’s project from the start.
Letting Olds know how important he is to the project and create a work schedule to ensure that he devotes as much time as possible to Palmer’s project. Offering more incentives to Olds would also have been effective because it seemed to motivate him when Crosby was taking him out golfing and giving him baseball