ROBLEM BASED LEARNING – THE SCHOEN ULTIMATUM (Case Study Sample)

PROBLEM BASED LEARNING – THE SCHOEN ULTIMATUM by [Author's Name] [Course Name] [Professor's Name] [University's Name] [City and State] [Date] Problem Based Learning – The Schoen Ultimatum "The Schoen Ultimatum" case study presents a very interesting scenario for analysis with respect to Human Resource Management. There appear to be a number of issues as to why Carlissa Schoen was not able to effectively gain the confidence of her colleagues. Firstly, when she was appointed as the human resources (HR) and employment relations (ER) manager, an email from the CEO himself should have gone out to all the concerned managers urging them to comply with the instructions of the new manager. Sometimes, spoken words do not suffice. Secondly, a draft enlisting Schoen's responsibilities and the extent of her authority should have been prepared and circulated among the managers. It would have ensured that the managers knew about the authority that Carlissa Schoen had. Apparently, miss Schoen was not sure about the extent of her authority while she was working as an HR/ER manager. Many questions arise in this plot. Could the HR/ER manager overrule the hiring / dismissal decision of the other managers if a proper reason was not provided? Were the CEO and miss Schoen on the same page after the appointment of Miss Schoen as the HR/ER manager? If the CEO was interested in the leadership development program, why didn't he follow up with the progress of the department? Should miss Schoen have consulted with other managers before formulating any new policies? Lastly, was such an extreme action on behalf of miss Schoen necessary? From the case study, it can be analyzed that miss Schoen was a very patriotic and hardworking employee. She had a very calm personality and believed in solving things diplomatically. The extreme measure that she took at the end was human nature. As far as the CEO is concerned, he seems like a guy who is more concerned about the end goals of the organization than the means the employees take to achieve those goals; hence, he can be termed as more of a utilitarian CITATION ASe82 \l 1033 (Sen, et al., 1982). Another issue that can be identified is that the business managers and miss Schoen were on the same authority level. Thus, there also exists a possibility that other managers felt inferior in complying with the orders of a person who had the same authority as them. The working environment must also be taken into account. Were there effective policies in place at the organization in order to ensure that a woman gets the same respect and value as men? For this case, we will assume that the issue of sexism was not present at the organization in which miss Schoen was working.Among all the issues identified in the preceding paragraphs, the two most important and vital issues that resulted in miss Schoen taking such an extreme step are presented in the following paragraph. The first major issue was ambiguity regarding the responsibilities and the extent of authority of other business managers and the HR/ER manager. If other business managers were notified in a clear manner about the authority they possessed and their duties, such a situation would not have been created. Notifying the employees about their job descriptions and the amount of authority they possess helps to improve the efficiency of the organization as the employees know about the organizational hierarchy and as a result the work methodology CITATION KPI92 \l 1033 (Iannello, 1992). Secondly, the communication gap that existed between the CEO, HR/ER manager and other business managers regarding the formation and working of the new department should have been bridged. Communication gap between the members of an organization causes confusion and employees cannot work efficiently in their respective departments and hence the overall performance of the organization takes a hit CITATION LEA08 \l 1033 (Atwater & Waldman, 2008). In order to properly address the two issues identified in the preceding paragraph, it is necessary that the nature of the two issues be understood in detail. The first issue relates to proper management in an organization. Job descriptions and defining authority at a certain position in an organization is the best way to educate the employees about their area of jurisdiction. It helps to incorporate a sense of responsibility and ensures that all the employees in the organization follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs). It is necessary that employees follow the SOPs if an organization wants to achieve all of its goals CITATION KMa11 \l 1033 (Manghani, 2011). The second most important issue that has been highlighted in this case study relates to effective communication within organizations. Over time the concept of communication in organizations has changed and now more focus is put on two-way communication in the organizations. This means that while the orders must be properly conveyed by the bosses to the subordinates, the subordinates must also communicate the problems and issues to the authorities CITATION JMI90 \l 1033 (Ivancevich, et al., 1990). In the scenario that we are analyzing, there was a lack of communication from both sides. Miss Schoen should have informed the CEO about the non-compliance of other managers towards the SOPs of the organization in a diplomatic manner instead of taking such an extreme measure at the end. Similarly, the CEO should have asked the HR/ER manager about the progress of the newly appointed manager. In the preceding paragraphs the possibility of sexism in the organization was also considered. It is very common in male dominated organizations that men do not comply with the instructions / orders of a woman and feel inferior if the woman has authority over them CITATION JAc90 \l 1033 (Acker, 1990). But the case study provides us no information regarding the demographics of the organization. Hence, we cannot comment on the fact that whether this behavior of other business managers with the newly appointed HR/ER manager was because of sexist thinking. If we apply the two solutions discussed above to the problems faced by miss Schoen in effectively managing the human resources and employee relations department, we can establish easily that her problems would have been solved. If the CEO had asked his team to formulate a document that enlists the job description of each business manager and all associated employees, every manager would have known the areas about which he / she was answerable. In addition, the document should have contained the authority of each individual and must have enlisted the standard operating procedures of the organization. For instance, take the example of employee dismissals. If the SOP was documented that an employee can only be fired with the consent of the HR/ER manager and the letter must be co-signed by the HR/ER manager, the problem of business managers not taking the consent of HR/ER manager would have been solved. In case any business manager did not follow the SOP, he / she could easily be questioned. As far as the hiring of employees is concerned, the respective departments should have the authority to interview and hire employees as this allows for better screening and better selection among the many applicants CITATION JPf98 \l 1033 (Pfeffer, 1998). The role of HR department in this case is to ensure that merit is upheld and all the persons that are hired meet the minimum requirements set forth by the organizations. Other than that, the professionals of each department should ...