MR.

PADUA

For six years, Mr. Padua had been the Management Services Director of the Fruit Puree Division of his
corporation. With professional experience gained from various industries, his technical expertise was
undoubtedly quite valuable to the corporation. He, however, had personal attitudes which created a wall
of hostility between him and his staff and the rest of the Senior Managers of his Division.
For one thing, Mr. Padua did not see any point in laughing at a joke which he did not consider funny.
Unfortunately, his standard to “funny” was in the line of erudite humor, which even the other Directors
found to deep for reflection. Neither did he believe in attempting to gain the drift of others if only to gain
rapport with them. He insisted in being his own person regardless of what others believe.
It was also rare to him to concede to anything. This attitude was compounded by his difficulty in
expressing his thoughts especially when it came to justifying himself. This caused misunderstanding
between him and others which further aggravated his own negative perception of others as well as their
negative perception of him. He could not give allowances for differences in his attitude with those of
others. And those who differed from him, in one sense, were treated with a degree of coldness.
He was aware of his social deficiencies, but according to him, he simply could not be what was he was
not. He often mentioned that it was already very hard for him to change his ways.
Outside the workplace, though, Mr. Padua tried hard to be friendly with his staff. And, while he showed
concern for their professional training, he himself could not seem to be at ease in relating to them in the
workplace. It was as if he was afraid that friendship would curtail his authority.
At this time, a new problem solving system was being inculcated throughout the corporation. To show his
concern to his staff, he made them the first trainees on the system.
The system was designed to enable a group to identity a problem and recommend a solution throughout
the various states of the system. The group was place under the guidance of Training Assistances from the
Personnel directorate ensuring the objectively of result. The exercise with his staff identified three
difficulties in their workplace, one of which concerned Mr. Padua. The recommended solution was to
replace him.
Needless to say, this put’top management in a dilemma. Mr. Padua was an officer of the company, and to
continue to attract talent to officership, his tenure had to be protected. Besides, the problem focused on
Mr. Padua personality. How exactly does one correct that? He had already attended Dale Carnegie’s
course. On the other hand, faith in the system they were endorsing was being put to the test. If they could
not support its results now, how could they expect anyone to believe its merits?
STUDY GUIDE:
1. Describe the personality of Mr. Padua. How is this reflect in his communication style?

Mr. Padua seems to be highly critical of the status quo in the workplace. He tends to assign
specific roles on someone and recognize only the values he places on them. If there are changes
in the workplace, he is apt to have difficulty in coping with the change that is happening.

Mr. Padua appears to be a person who is only inclined to selective listening. He tends to listen to
things which he can only accept and discards things which seems to be unimportant to him.
Selective listening in the workplace is not just a bad habit or rude behavior. It becomes a
problem. Mr. Padua is a manager and he is dealing not just his subordinates but also the Directors
in his office.
 Lastly, Mr. Padua seems not akin to share his vision with his teammates. Sharing the vision with
the team would allow Mr. Padua to meet his subordinates and even the Directors eye-to-eye and
talk. Sharing the vision also acknowledges the efforts or accomplishments put forth by the team.
This would allow open channels for discussion and better understanding of the work and people
involved. Mr. Padua, however, tends to deny communication and would rather stick to his own
opinions.

How is this reflect in his communication style?

Mr. Padua’s personality reflects one-way communication. He delivers but never listens. He
tends to be aggressive in his communication therefore alienating people who are working around
him. When his ideas are challenged, he does not concede. He only has an opinion of himself and
what his opinion only matters in the discussion.

2. How has this style affected his relationship with his associates and subordinates?

Although Mr. Padua delivers the results needed by the company, it often comes with a price. Bad
behaviors of bosses do compel good employees to leave their jobs or even management to look
for more suitable candidate.

3. If you were the management, would you have him replaced? Defend your stand.

Looking at a perspective, I would easily say that I would have Mr. Padua replaced. But replacing
him would take a longer process because it would almost always difficult to find a suitable
employee able to deliver the results that the company wants. However, it is also difficult to loss
all good subordinates when Mr. Padua could not communicate with them properly. Or simply
saying, that Mr. Padua is the problem.

I think that the management is notable in allowing Mr. Padua to participate in personality
seminars which would enhance his social skills. It is important to note that the Directors should
also provide feedback mechanism to allow Mr. Padua to recognize his own strengths and
weaknesses in terms of dealing with his subordinates and superiors.

Mr. Padua also must appreciate the activities/seminars provided to him by the management.
Often, we, as workers, neglect the opportunities for learning and change. The management
encourage attitude adjustment, in this case, Mr. Padua, as a manager, must look beyond the
apparent success brought about doing good work or producing results. He must recognize that
personality traits make a solid contributor to a better team. And the influence of good manager on
the company is invaluable.

4. What implications does the case have on management policies and practice on hiring and
developing workers and staff?

Management policies should be directed by providing training for the improvement of employees
in terms of personality development and social enhancement skills. We often neglect the power
of these trainings in the lives of our workers. Management often measure success in terms of
delivering positive results, maybe management can recognize people who values creating a better
team. Part of the promotion process would be how the manager encourages or influences the
team/unit he handles.

Management may also develop an atmosphere where there is work-life-balance. This means that
employees alike may engage in social activities such as fellowship nights and recreational
activities and voluntary works. This may enhance their ability to interact more with people and
just create a friendly atmosphere among co-workers.
 In hiring, human resource manager may provide situational tests that can be measured. One
cannot fully understand a person during the interview process therefore providing them questions
that is patterned after the values of the workplace would be helpful. Attitudes are often seen
when it is in the actual environment.

The Bone of Contention

Bella has been with Food Corp. for the past three years working as one of the finance staff. She joined the
company after graduation, and, due to diligence, rose from the ranks. She is a certified Public Accountant
from a reputable school in Metro Manila. Apparently at the onset, she was happy and content in her work,
regularly receiving her monthly remuneration on time. She received added benefits accruing to ordinary
employees like her, such as 13 th month pay, midyear bonuses, and uniform allowances. She received
average industry rates for her type of job.
Patty was a classmate of Bella. She recently joined Food Corp. also as a finance staff, being herself an
accounting graduate. Unlike Bella, she had been to different companies transferring form one job to the
other. Because of her various experiences, she was offered a premium over her last salary upon joining
the company. She received a salary higher than that of Bella.
Office idiosyncrasies were plenty in Food Corp. Because of this, Bella was able to get information of
Patty’s salary. Having been with the company for so long a time, Bella felt depressed and demotivated
upon learning of the big disparity in their salaries, considering that Patty was a newcomer. Also, Patty
was new in the field, although the work was related to her educational background and past work
experiences. Despite the benefits Bella was entitled to receive, she did not get sufficient periodic salary
increases in return of her loyalty and dedication. In fact, her present salary including past merit increases,
is still lower than that being received by Patty.
Despite all these, Bella remained friendly with Patty, but maintained a distance with could be felt by the
latter. There seemed to be some silent hostility between the two, the reason for which Patty could not
understand. In fact, she was unaware of the salary of Bella. Being only new in the company, she did not
have any access to such information.
After some time, friendliness was transformed into a mere civilized co-existence. Behind the back of
Patty, some things were heard. Competence was being questioned, every move watched. Patty felt limited
and unfree. She admitted she was new to the company. But she was eager to learn. She tried to stay after
office hours to learn and ropes of the trade, in spite of her other activities such as school work.
Fortunately for the two, Bella was to be assigned to one of the company’s foreign branches. She was
recommended by her former boss who was assigned also to some other foreign office. However, while
waiting for the time of her departure, she remained as a finance staff, receiving the same salary. During
this time, relations between the two somehow improved. Patty sense that there was something bothering
to Bella and so she tried to be as cordial and patient as possible. Also, she had a hint as to what was
causing the anxiety of Bella. The situation, however, affected the performance of Patty. She could not
concentrate on the things she had to do. In the office, she became conscious of what people might say.
She was afraid to commit mistakes, and hence afraid to try to do things unless she knew them. Since she
was new to the company, most of the things that had to be done were unfamiliar to her. Thus, her
performance suffered.
QUESTIONS:
1. Why is Bella demotivated? Is she justified to be so?
The salary that Patty, the new comer is receiving is basically higher than what she is receiving
considering that she is new in the company.
No, the fact that

2. Describe the relationship between Bella and Patty. Were their behaviors justified? Explain your
stand.
Bella and Patty are classmates. It was not provided if they are close in school but having known
each other for quite some time, Patty may consider Bella as a friend.

3. What were the immediate and long-range problem in this case?

4. Propose solutions to these problems.

SUSIE WONG

In 1985, Susie Wong joined the largest corporation in the country as a Senior Finance Analyst. She had
quite impressive credentials: second placer in the local Certified Public Accountant’s Licensure Exam,
and MBA from the University of California in Los Angeles. Her aptitude undeniably showed in her work.
Whatever she argued a point, she was, more often than not right.

That was, however, her waterloo. It seemed that Susie Wong started to become known as the terror
Finance in her Division. The task assigned to her required her to request information from the finance
group of her Division’s operating units. Apparently, the inefficiency of the information system irked her
and she found it difficult to be patient with finance personnel who could not give her the information she
need. This aside from the fact that she could not point out the fault diplomatically, made people warry of
her.

It seemed that her previous job had given her the same problem. Because she was grouchy with rest of the
staff, her father requested her to leave his freight-forwarding company. But she was not totally
disagreeable. As long as conservation was not on the job, she had made successful attempts to be
sociable.

The job likewise, had certain flaws in the eyes of Susie. Aside from the difficulty in securing data, she
was not happy about having to do the binding of the Annual Budget. She had mention that when she
worked for an auditing firm, another, department was specifically assigned to do the work of binding
reports.

Another resource of dissatisfaction for her was her boss, the Finance Manager. She was, however not
alone in this. Her immediate superior had received negative reviews from other staff members both within
and outside the finance group of his stringent demands, aloofness, and inability to give ordered directions.
Neither did Susie allow herself to be cowed by him.

The job of Head of her section had been vacant for the year. When Susie was hire, there had been an
understanding that she would be considered for the job. And except that the other members of the section
were not reporting to her, she was practically doing the work of the section head. When her boss had
observed that she was making significant advantage in gaining rapport with the other members of the
section, he went so far as to stay, unofficially, that the appointment would be given to her.

However, a section Head in one of the operating units had requested to be reassign to Manila for personal
reason, and the position was given to him. From the start, it had become quite obvious that Susie was
technically superior to her new head. Argument between them had come as far as to cause the new head
to reprimand her insubordination officially, in writing.

The Finance Manager, too had not been satisfied with the performance of the new Section Head, but since
it was not corporate practice to fire people, he had been transferred to another operating unit. Yet, the job
Section Head was again given to another Senior Finance staff from the corporate Head Office, and not to
Susie Wong.

Not surprisingly, Susie had started to let her resentment for the Finance Manager show in the deliberate
half-hearted manner in which she accomplished her task. It is unfortunate that the immediate recipient of
the effects of her inefficiency was the new Section Head, and not the Finance Manager.

QUESTIONS:
1. Why was Susie always bypassed in the promotion?
2. Was management justified in not promoting her?
3. How did this non-promotion affect her?
4. What are the problems in this case?
5. Propose ways of resolving these problems.