Case Analysis for Mpc

Players and issues:

-Bob Marvin is the President of Motor Parts Corp. (MPC). He is described as a shy person. But since he works in the public, he has to hide his shyness in formality. You could call him a perfectionist. He wants things done the right way. Even though he encourages subordinates to take more initiative, he often criticize those that he has confidence in. Despite his success, he is very insecure, and a worrier. He works extremely hard, and covers up his shyness by his presentations. People often see him as stiff, cold, dry and even bureaucratic. He has few friends. But those who knows him best, understands that he is a caring and brilliant executive.

-Al Shepherd is the executive vice president at MPC. His wife is battling cancer. His main priority is fighting the illness with her. On a day to day basis he has the most important job at the company. His job requires a lot of travel. But he has been cutting back so he can be home to help his wife. He delegates issues to his two senior staff. Bob shared some gossip with Mike, and mentioned that he thinks Al is soft. He stays home when he gets a cold, and when there's snow on his driveway. He was out a week after an ear infection. Al's commitment to his job is being questioned by Bob.

-Mike Jones is a management professor at the university, and a consultant to MPC on planning issues. He has known Bob for 20 years. Mike has consulted for three organizations that employed Bob. Bob is comfortable in sharing gossip about Al.

-Bob is utilizing Mike as an intermediary to communicate and get information about Al's commitment level. He felt that due to Al's personal conflict, he is not able to perform at the level that is needed for his position.

-During Mike's informal meeting with Al at lunch. Al express to Mike that he is not 100 percent into the job. But he figured out a way to be more effective during this tough time. He wants to setup a regional office where he would be available for 3 hours a day. He wants to fly out regional managers where there are significant problems, instead of flying out personally to see for himself what the issues were. He will also delegate more responsibilities to Joe Roderick. Then for some reason Al felt that he needed to bring up the fact that he was considered as a candidate for the President position at Delta corp. He wanted to remind Mike that he did not pursue the opportunity because he felt that MPC is family and that they would take care of their own in times of trouble.

-Mike later reported to Bob about the lunch with Al. He tried to be descriptive, but urged Bob to speak with Al directly. All Bob cared about was what Al meant when he brought up the opportunity that he passed up on with Delta corp. There was a huge difference in perception since Bob did not speak to Al directly, he is making assumptions