MIP

MBA32 Organizational Behaviour Course

Trouteville Police Department Case

1. Based on the limited information presented, identify and briefly describe the major characteristics of the Trouteville Police Department under the leadership of John Stage Chief Stage was highly respected despite his drinking problems and his short temper. He gave great importance to the level of his people, and he required qualified personnel on his staff. During his tenure the Department did not experience no major problems. Chief Stage was a charismatic leader, in tune with the characteristics of a small rural community. His style implied a low level of formalization of tasks and specific duties: delegation of responsibilities was high, as well as the flexibility in tasks division. During his tenure, the Department was a flat organization, with very few hierarchical levels As a consequence of this leadership style, the Department was an agile and flexible organization. 2. Identify and describe the major characteristics of the Department after Larry Gafts appointment as Chief of Police Chief Gaft brought to Trouteville his experience as Captain in a large metropolitan Police Department. The first decision he took after his appointment has been to reorganize the Department according to the team policing management philosophy. Under this new organizational design, the staff is divided into committees and teams according to specific problems that need to be addressed. Clear targets are set and deadlines are established. In particular, the traffic teams, report writing committee and the reserve police officers committee have been created. Another decision is the one related to the increase of hierarchical levels: the lieutenants were placed in command of divisions, the old sergeants were promoted to Sergeant II level (with the responsibility of commanding a shift), and the patrolmen were promoted to Sergeant I level (responsible for field supervision of a city sector, and in charge of submitting a monthly report) However, no extra-salary for these additional responsibilities was recognized, despite the fact that the new duties implied not only and extra responsibility, but also extra time for performing them. Chief Gafts leadership style was based on control, and is probably related to his previous experience in leading huge teams in a big city. The same can be said about his choice of introducing a high level of formalization of tasks and duties, including the decision of distributing a reorganization manual to personnel. During his tenure the Department became much more rigid, as roles were no more interchangeable. The formalization of roles brought a high level of bureaucracy: the staff had to spend a considerable portion of their time in preparing reports and doing paperwork. 1

3. Has the Trouteville Police Department changed? (if yes, how? If not, why didnt it?) Yes, the Department has changed as a result of the organizational rearrangement and of the new style of leadership. The command and control approach introduced by Chief Gaft has had the undesired result of lowering morale, as a consequence of the absence of incentives and of perceived lack of trust in the personnel. The excessive division of tasks and responsibilities has greatly reduced the interchanges between different division and teams, leading to frictions and to the lowering of the performances. Moreover, the huge increase in bureaucracy has obliged many policemen to abandon the field, creating frustration and lack of shared knowledge of the practical problems of day-by-day activity. Further discontent has created by the fact that, regardless of the huge change in the organization the activities of the Department, no training has been provided to the personnel, which has not been involved in the reorganization activity. In conclusion, we can affirm that Chief Gaft has used a wrong approach, considering the new context in which he was going to operate. Lack of involvement of the personnel has further exacerbated the situation, leading to conflicts and poor performance.