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AMDG

LS 100 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Mr. Manolet M. Siojo

Individual Case Analysis (Individual Assignment)

1. Case analysis should include the following:

 Determine the major problem/s of the case

 Setting your objectives for problem solution
 Outlining alternative courses of action with the “pros” and “cons” of each course
of action
 Coming to a conclusion – your final choice of action

2. Minimum three (3) to maximum five (5) pages, double-spaced

3. Keep your analysis brief and concise.
4. Deadline for submission: On or before April 20, 2018 Friday by 12 noon to Ms Ghing
Lopez at JGSOM Offices, 5th Floor JGSOM Bldg. Late submissions will be accepted with
an appropriate deduction.

CASE: RUBEN SANTOS

Ruben Santos, twenty-five, graduated from the state university in March 2004 with a B.S.
degree in Psychology.

Shortly after graduation, he took a job as assistant office manager with the Sure-Health
Services Inc., a group health insurance organization. His salary was P30,000 per month. As
assistant office manager he was responsible for supervising approximately 40 female office
employees who performed sorting, totaling, and recording operations concerning medical claims
charged against Sure-Health.

The office workers were situated at several rows of desks in a large open room. As assistant
manager, Ruben Santos had a desk in the same room but off to one side of the desks of the girls.
His immediate superior, Carlito Guizon, the office manager, had been with Sure-Health for 20
years and had risen to his present position from a beginning job as a clerical assistant. During his
career at Sure-Health, he had watched the company grow and progress, and often referred to
the increase in employees under his supervision with a great deal of pride.

According to Ruben Santos, his work at Sure-Health was not especially challenging. In
describing his job, he stated that his main duties were to check the time cards of the office
workers each morning, to make sure that “everything was in order,” and to answer questions
concerning claims that the girls might bring to him. In addition, he did special statistical studies
at the request of the controller’s office or Guizon. These studies were infrequent, and during his
first four months with Sure-Health, Ruben participated in only two such studies. He estimated
that on the average, he actually “worked” no more than one or two hours a day.

Partially because of some courses he had taken at the university, Ruben Santos had some
strong convictions concerning the supervision of the office employees. He was concerned about
the situation at Sure-Health for two reasons: the high turnover of office employees – which
averaged 48% per year; and the apathy of many of the girls toward their work. He realized that
he was new in the company, but nevertheless felt obligated to make some suggestions which he
felt would improve the situation with regard to the office force. Guizon, his immediate superior,
often disagreed with these suggestions. For example, to partially utilize his unproductive time,
Ruben suggested that, as he had had several courses in physiology as a pre-med student before
shifting to psychology, it might be helpful if he could spend an hour or two a week in instructing
the office staff in some basic fundamentals of physiology. The nature of the work was such that
knowledge of the various body functions and systems, he felt, would be helpful in speeding up
the sorting and processing of claims that came in. Ruben suggested to Guizon that he would be
happy to conduct these informal classes as a part of his regular duties. Mr. Guizon, however, did
not feel this was a good suggestions and did not permit Ruben to go through with his ideas.
Ruben also had a disagreement with Guizon over the handling of the case of Doris Martinez.
Doris, a clerk-typist, approached Ruben one day while Guizon was out of the office to report that
she was sick and desired to go home. Ruben made the necessary arrangements for her to have
the rest of the day off. When Guizon heard of this incident, he was very upset. He told Ruben
that he did not have the authority to make these kinds of the decisions and that he, Guizon,
would make all such decisions in the future. Ruben felt that, because Guizon was not in the office
at the time the situation occurred, and because Doris Martinez was obviously sick, he had made
a good decision, and he let the matter drop.

On December 10, 2004, Robert Collantes, controller of Sure-Health called Ruben into his
office to discuss plans for a new software installation that company was considering putting in to
speed up the processing of claims. On December 10, 2004, Robert Collantes, controller of Sure-
Health Services Inc. called Ruben into his office to discuss plans for a new software that the
company was considering buying and installing to speed up the processing of claims. He spent
about two and one half hours with Ruben explaining the proposed system and concluded the
interview by stating that he that as new men often had good ideas for improvement, he would
welcome any suggestions that Ruben might have. Ruben was enthusiastic about Collantes’
approaching him, and spent several hours that night at home working out a plan that would
permit the new process to be installed in his area with a minimum of difficulty. He submitted his
ideas to Collantes’ the next morning.

Collantes’ was very impressed with Ruben’s ideas and immediately called a meeting of
several officials of Sure-Health, including Guizon, to review Ruben’s plan. This meeting was held
during the early afternoon of December 11. About three o’clock that afternoon, Guizon entered
the area in which the girls’ and Ruben’s desks were located, approached Ben’s desk, and slammed
the folder containing Ben’s plans down, exclaiming, “What in the hell is this?” Before Ruben
could reply, Guizon commenced in a loud voice to lecture on the necessity of going through
channels when submitting reports, ideas, and suggestions. His remarks attracted the attention
of the office girls, most of whom stopped work to watch the disturbance. Ruben interrupted
Guizon to suggest that they might continue their discussion in Guizon’s office which was glass-
enclosed and out of earshot of the girls. Guizon snatched the folder from Ruben’s desk and
stalked into his office, Ruben following.

The discussion in Guizon’s office consisted mainly of a continuation of Guizon’s diatribe. After
Guizon had concluded, Ruben stated that he had not been satisfied with his relationship with
Sure-Health and intended to submit his resignation in the very near future. He then left Guizon’s
office. The next day, December 12, Guizon asked Ruben to step into his office for a few minutes.
He apologized to Ben for his conduct of the previous day, remarking that he had had several
things on his mind which upset him and that he had full confidence in Ruben’s abilities. Ruben
accepted this apology, remarking that he might have flown off the handle a little bit himself. The
meeting ended on a cordial note. Nonetheless, Ruben still felt very upset. Resigning from Sure
Health was still at top of his options.

As a consultant looking in (and using the guidelines at the start of this case) how would you
analyze the case? Assuming you can convince Ruben to stay on, what would be your
recommendations to solve the problem/s?