Case Study # 1
Principle of Practice Management
The president od simplex Mills sat at his desk to the hushed atmosphere so typical of
business offices, after the close of business hours. He was thinking about Rehman, the
manager uncharged of purchasing and his ability to work with George, the production
manager, and Vipulabh, the marketing and sales manager in the firm. When the
publishing department was established two years ago, both George and Vipulabh
agreed with the need to centralize this function and place a specialist incharge. George
was of the view that this would free his supervisors from detailed ordering activities.
Vipulabh opined that the flow of materials into the firm was important enough to warrant
a specialized management assignment. Yet since the purchasing department began
operating, it has been precisely these two managers who have had a number of
confrontations with the new purchasing manager, and occasionally with one another, in
regards to the way the purchasing function is being carried out.
From George point of view, instead of simplifying his job as production manager by
taking care of purchasing, the purchasing department has developed a formal set of
procedures that has resulted in as much time commitment on his part as he had
previously spent in placing his orders directly with vendors. Further, he is specially
irritated by the fact that his needs for particular items or particular specification is
constantly being questioned by the purchasing department. When the department was
established, George that the purchasing manager was there to fill his needs, not to
question them. As Vipulabh sees it, the purchasing is an inetgral part of marketing
function, and the two therefore need to be jointly managed as a unified process.
Purchasing function cannot be separated from a firm’s overall marketing strategy.
However, Redman has attempted to carry out the purchasing function without regard for
his obvious relationship between the responsibilities and those of Vipulabh, thus making
a unified marketing strategy.
In his previous position, Rehman had worked in the purchasing department of a firm
considerably larger than Simplex. Before being hired, he was interviewed by all the top
managers, including George and Vipulabh, but it was the president himself who
negotiated the details of the job offer.As Rehman sees it, he was hired as a professional
to do a professional job. Both George and Vipulabh have been distracting him from this
goal by presuming that he is somehow subordinate to them, which he believes is not the
case. The people in the production department, who use the purchasing function most,
have complained about the detail that he requires on their requisitions. But he has
documented proof that the materials are now being purchased much more economically
than they were under the former decentralized system. He finds Vipulabh’s interests
more difficult to understand, since he sees no particular relationship between his
responsibilities for efficient procurement and Vipulabh’s responsibilities to market the
firm’s product.
The president has been aware of the continuing conflict among three managers for
some time but on the theory that a little rivalry is healthy and stimulating, he has felt that
it was nothing to be unduly concerned about. But now that much of his time is being
taken up by much of what he considers to be petty bickering, the time has come to take
some positive action.
1. Is George’s view of the situation realistic?
- George’s view of questioning the purchasing manager is not realistic,
because Rehman has a specific role that he needs to fulfill for the
purchasing department. George requires Rehman to function for the
requirements that was supposedly for him. Every department should have
specific plans to work with in order to properly function as an organization
without errors.
2. How do you evaluate Vipulabh’s position?
- Vipulabh’s view stated that he wants to have a unified two departments,
between the marketing departments and purchasing departments. While
his request is partially correct, since the purchasing patterns needs to
match with the marketing strategy, however Rehman’s point of view deals
with purchasing systematic processes, reducing the cost of material, and
improving the sourcing process has no relevance to Vipulabh’s work. To
conclude, Vipulabh’s view simply tells us that he wants to take control over
the purchasing function that as no relevance to his profile.
3. How might this conflict be associated with factors in the formal organization?
- The formal organization has a clear hierarchal structure and defined roles,
the same can be said with this case since the three managers have their
own roles and responsibilities, but in this case George and Vipulabh is
unable to let go of the role being assigned to Rehman. The conflict in this
case is that George and Vipulabh are examples of two employees who are
incapable of accepting changes that are required in order for the
organization to grow.
4. What should the president of Simplex Mills do now?
- The president of Simplex Mills should properly assess the situation with
regards to the organizational structure and employee productivity.
Because the sudden change to the two organization may lead to conflicts
that may affect the employees behavior towards their own work. The
president should clarify the employees to their respective tasks and
responsibilities to avoid misunderstandings and confli ct.
