Bob was 23, and like seven of the other members of the ground’s crew was a recent college graduate

Bob was 23, and like seven of the other members of the ground’s crew was a recent college graduate. He had majored in psychology and had attained a near-perfect average in his major but was unable to get into graduate school in clinical psychology. His devotion and pride in his work had earned him the title of “Harborite,” short for Harbor side man. He had worked at the inn for seven years during summers, weekends, and holidays while attending New England College and valued the job very much. He was well liked and respected. Most members of the ground’s crew felt he should be the boss, and he was often asked how and when a particular job should be done. Though he would often instruct members on the how, he would never seem to venture behind Harold’s back and give the when or the O.K. on a job without first checking with Harold. If Harold said no, something else had to be done first, Bob accepted his answer. Harold had been a good friend especially during the past two winters when Bob had been unemployed. Whenever there was any work, Harold would call Bob and instruct him to make sure the job was done slowly and properly the first time; the understanding being, make the work last. Thus, though Bob would often agree with his fellow workers that Harrold was rather slow and very disorganized, he would remind them that Harold meant well and that basically the hotel was fairly well cared for.

But as Fate would have it, Harold became stricken with a gall bladder problem, and Bob was asked to take over the crew for probably the balance of the summer or six weeks.  His takeover was carefully monitored by management, and Bob was unable to make purchases without the accountant’s initial approval. The crew was monitored and both the owner and the accountant spent the first few days of Bob’s takeover pulling surprise checks on the workers. Everyone, however, was working well and management was particularly pleased that some priorities which Harold had passed over were now being cared for. Bob took the opportunity to reorganize the work load so that each member of the crew got an even share of the easy as well as hard or unpleasant jobs. For instance, the same two men had been assigned to cleaning the 50-gallon garbage containers each morning. Their vociferous complaints had fallen on deaf ears, as Harold felt that because they were the youngest two members on the crew they should be the ones to do this job. A 20-minute lecture on how he had been treated as the youngest member of a ground’s crew was so often repeated that they acquiesced and began finding other methods of slipping out of the task. One such tactic was to clean the same garbage container for the amount of time it would lake to clean all ten. Bob felt that this was unfair and made a schedule whereby each man on the crew including himself would have his turn. No one except the former full-time cleaners particularly cared for the decision but everyone felt that it was a fair solution.

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Roger’s behavior became an issue quickly. Everyone had felt Harold exercised no control whatsoever over his son until we all saw what occurred after his father had left. Bob attempted to change his work schedule, which meant Roger would no longer spend the day on the sit-down lawnmower. Several problems surfaced immediately. Roger felt that his father was the boss and for this reason alone he didn’t have to listen to any temporary boss give him orders. Bob reminded Roger that as the highest paid member of the crew he had better work or there would be little reason for ordering anyone else to work especially for less pay. Roger said he didn’t care if anyone worked or not. Bob immediately went to the manager to voice his and the crew’s complaints about Roger. The manager’s response was to say that Roger was Bob’s problem, although he agreed that a few words to Roger were in order. His words must have been very few since Roger emerged showing little concern and promptly went about his business, mainly Sue. Bob spoke with Sue and she insisted Roger had been driving her crazy but she didn’t have the heart to hurt his feelings. Bob could see her point in that Roger had an extremely pronounced acne problem which had kept him from dating during high school. He was considered a mathematical genius, but his physical appearance and quick temperament offended many prospective friends and dates.

Bob returned from the pool unsure of just how to handle Roger. The manager would be of little help since he and Harold had known each other for ten years. Harold’s absolute devotion to the inn during those ten years made it clear to Bob that the manager would not fire Roger. Any such action would have to be Bob’s responsibility and Bob’s alone; and something had to be done. Roger’s presence was destroying the morale of a very hardworking and talented maintenance crew. Bob returned to the maintenance garage to find his entire crew, less Roger, seated inside the garage, not working, a half hour before the lunch break. The reason was Roger.

Questions:

1. What do you see as the basic underlying problem here?

2. Analyze this situation from a motivational standpoint using the following models. Use the concepts and the terminology of each model as you apply it.

• Analyze Roger’s needs using Maslow’s Hierarchy.
• Analyze the situation from Roger’s perspective using Expectancy Theory.
• Analyze the situation from Roger’s perspective using Equity Theory.
• Analyze the situation from the crew’s perspective using Equity Theory.

3.If you were Bob, specifically what would you do, both regarding Roger and regarding the crew? Explain why you think your plan would work using the context of some of your answers in question #2.