Stanton Linings & Seals (SLS) was established in 1976 as a small family-owned US

business specializing in the manufacture of waterproof linings made of plastic

composites. In the early years, SLS focused on products used to retrofit aging
showers and bathtubs in residential settings. Within a decade, SLS achieved
considerable revenue growth by expanding their product lines, eventually becoming
a major supplier to several bathroom and hot tub manufacturers, and selling
commercial products to food and beverage clients, including three large breweries.

Francisco Moreno works in Accounts Receivable at SLS, processing payment plans

and managing invoices for client accounts. Francisco is well suited for this work as he
is a careful person and extremely attentive to detail. While Francisco is somewhat shy
and reserved—even a bit awkward in some social settings—his job does not require
him to interact with clients, nor does his work require much collaboration with
coworkers, and this suits him just fine. Francisco enjoys having the freedom to
complete his work as he sees fit, and he knows his work matters to SLS as he
effectively manages the flow of much of the company’s revenue. He also believes
he’s paid reasonably well and doesn’t dislike any of his coworkers.

The manager of Accounts Receivable, Simon Johns, recently told Francisco that he
would be representing the department as a member of the recently announced
cross-functional work team (CFWT). For Francisco, the thought of working closely
with people he doesn't even know filled him with anxiety and fear. He learned that it
is better to be cautious than be abused in the end.  When he asked his manager why
he was appointed to the CFWT, Simon replied, “Because you’re the one I picked, and
that’s all the reason you need.”

Being forced to serve on the CFWT upset Francisco because it compounded an

existing problem that started three months earlier when Francisco discovered that he
received one of the smallest annual pay raise among the four employees who
worked in the same position in his department. This upset Francisco because he had
the most seniority among his coworkers and he consistently exceeded the
performance standards outlined in the employee manual and in his job description.
He couldn't say the same thing for two of his coworkers who are especially sloppy
and careless in their work. Moreover, Francisco recently heard that customer
satisfaction, or delivery times, or something else was going to be used to calculate
the annual pay raise for employees in his department. He wasn’t sure exactly how or
even whether this was true, but the thought of this change angered him because he
rarely interacted with customers.

Francisco is convinced that Simon has been “out to get him” from the start. During
the rare times when Simon is present in the office he seems to take an interest in all
of the other employees’ lives but makes little attempt to connect with Francisco.
Because Simon performs the annual performance reviews without ever working
closely with his employees, Francisco questions the basis of Simon’s assessment. He
is not confident that it’s even ethical for Simon to perform these reviews without
really taking the time to observe his employees at work. Worse, the performance
reviews are usually one-sided where Simon does most of the talking. But what can
Francisco do? As he sees it, Simon’s the boss and he is not. 

Francisco has become increasingly unhappy, but he figures all he can do is to put his
head down, and do the job that is required of him as he has little desire to spend the
effort needed to find a new job. Plus, getting a new job may mean uprooting his
entire family to move elsewhere. But unlike in the past, now when Francisco is asked
to stay late or to cover someone else’s shift he makes up an excuse and declines. As
he told his brother at a family dinner a few weekends ago, “If they want me to do
extra stuff, they need to show me the money.” In cases when he does agree to do
something extra, he finds a way to even things out, such as by taking longer breaks
or skipping meetings.

__________________________

© 2015. Case developed by Patrick Garcia, Department of Management, Macquarie

University. Please do not distribute without permission.