1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case.
The Moss and McAdams (M&M) Accounting Firm has six offices located across Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are prominent in the community and staff over 150 employees. The main office is located where the story takes place in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Often in companies with a smaller staff there may be one person responsible for multiple tasks. This can have both negative and positive effects on the organization. For example people may feel comfortable going to the same person for something but what do they do that person is unavailable or may not have the answer? Bruce Palmer is a newly promoted account manager for ...view middle of the document...
In the end the decision was made by Ruby to let Olds work with Crosby fulltime leaving Palmer defeated. If I was Palmer at the end of the case I would have to respect the fact that Olds chose to work with Crosby opposed to me. One of the most important parts of being in management is being able to understand people. Knowing that we are all different in our cultures, personal opinions, likes and dislikes is important to understand when working with others. Once Olds stated the fact that he was unhappy and was unable to deliver this issue should have became bigger than any project. It has been proven that your employees know you have their best interest they will work longer and harder. Being able to recognize when someone is overwhelmed and that’s not in anyone’s best interest truly exemplifies what a manger really is.
2. Discuss what Palmer could do, if anything, to avoid losing Olds.
I think what Palmer could do is learn from Olds. If Palmer feels like Olds has many of the qualities you look for an accountant maybe he can learn from Olds and apply some of his personal style of doing things to his own team. Also Palmer could arrange one on one’s or lunches with Olds to get some of his feedback on his project. This way Olds is still able to do his consulting work which he prefers and Palmer still has access to his expertise. Another point I would like to elaborate on is throughout this entire story Olds was never asked what he would like or what would make him happy. From a managers perspective we do understand that we will not always make employees entirely happy and that they may not always agree with the decisions we make. But as long as we can stand by the fact that we will remain ethical and always keep our employees interest at best this will help create a more positive work environment.
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a matrix type organization that are apparent in this case.
The advantage and disadvantages of a matrix type of organization can range from efficiency, strong project focus, easier post-project transition and flexibility. Efficiency was definitely...
