The Canadian National Bank Case Study

National Bank

Executive Summary

The Canadian National Bank (CNB) is located in the Southwestern Ontario community of Chatham and has twelve employees. Changes to the deregulation of the banking industry have led to the various adjustments within the CNB and its branch banks nationwide. CNB has introduced initiatives that would increase revenues, reduce internal costs and provide an array banking services that would better serve the needs of their clients.

Lesley Mahon is a new graduate from the Honors Business Administration program from the Richard Ivey School of Business and has been recently hired by the CNB as the Manager of Customer Services at the Chatham branch. Previous work experience included four summers working and training with CNB in all facets of retail banking. Lesley directly supervises a staff of five customer service representatives and one receptionist.

Pam Stewart was hired as a customer service representative directly after she received her high school diploma. Pam has in-depth knowledge of all operational aspects of the bank which she has gained from her twenty-five years of experience working for the Chatham branch.

A formal written statement to The Canadian National Bank's National Committee for Employee Concerns (NCEC) has been submitted by Pam Stewart, concerning the actions of Lesley Mahon. Pam has stated in the letter to the NCEC that Lesley had impeded on her personal and professional development by not allowing her to take business courses.

The key underlying issues in this case are Lesley's lack of leadership skills and Pam's unethical behavior and insubordination in her dealings with her superior.

Statement of Problems, Opportunity and Objections

One of the initial problems in this case is the absence of leadership skills of the newly appointed Manager, Lesley Mahon. Lesley fails to quickly address some key insubordinate issues of her Customer Service Representative employee Pam Stewart. The situation continues to deteriorate as stress levels rise amongst the two women and ultimately results in Pam needing to take short-term stress leave. Shortly after her return to work, Pam submits a formal complaint to the NCEC alleging that she feels that she is being harassed by Lesley and that she is intentionally blocking her educational development.

Lesley Mahon, a fresh graduate of the Honors Business Administration Program with little work experience, had been recently hired for the Chatham branch. In her capacity as the Customer Service Manager she was responsible for the administration and implementation of the Customer Service Capacity Management (CSCM) system. The CSCM was a fairly new initiative that was developed from the head office and was previously implemented by her predecessor. The CSCM system was an internal management tool used measure the customer fluctuations and match those customer service needs to the availability of customer service representatives on any given day.

Pam Stewart was a customer service representative and seasoned employee of the Chatham branch with numerous years of experience working for the Chatham branch. Her performance evaluations over last five years indicated very high average ratings for all aspects of her job description.

Analysis

The CNB's head office had