Evaluation of Michael Morton as a manager
Michael Morton is more of an autocratic manager because as soon as he was employed in the restaurant he intended to change everything. It is clearly stated that Morton emphasized that all the employees were to follow everything he said or directed without asking for explanations. This depicted him as an autocratic leader whereby he would be the sole person who would make the decisions and expected every employee to obey. He was not ready to discuss or consult them in any decision-making that concerned them or the restaurant (Newstrom and Keith).
Morton was bound to cause resentment from the employees because of forcing them to follow all the stipulated policies and procedures as well as signing the handbook to abide by them. It was unfortunate that Morton did not have leadership qualities. As a manager he should have not dictated everything, more so he even took over Wilson’s authority without consulting her and went to an extent of reversing her directives. Morton seemed confused and unfocused as he was also issuing contradictory rules and thus being a poor decision-maker (Lewin, Lippit and White 271-301).
I suppose Morton was acting this way to secure his position. He may have been afraid of the fact that if he did not retain all the powers and authority, employees like Wilson would take the running of the restaurant. In addition Morton would be acting in this way because he did not trust his fellow employees, not to say he also wanted to feel that he was the boss and what he said and directed was done.
Planning to manage the restaurant
If I were Morton I would have involved other employees in decision-making of the restaurant. Instead of being an autocratic manager I would rather apply democratic leadership style where I would share my decisions and responsibilities with the other employees. By so doing the employees would be more willing to work with me, to build working teams and would be ready to meet the restaurant’s goals and objectives. I would also establish a rewarding system that would reward those employees that achieve the targeted goals and adhere to the firm’s traditions and values (Vroom and Jago).
I would also try to work with Wilson who has been a supervisor of the restaurant, because I would be in a great opportunity to learn her leadership tactics. I would thus incorporate these tactics in my managerial position. Moreover I would use my previously earned experience as an assistant manager to handle challenging situations in the restaurant and stipulate effective problem-solving techniques to enhance efficiency of operations. This would in turn create a good working environment for the employees thus reducing their rate of turnover. In addition due to well treatment and meeting the needs of employees, they would embark on provision of quality services to the customers. Consequently the broad firm’s goals and objectives would be reached not to say high-profit margins would be achieved (Schriesheim 221-8).
What I would do if I was Joe Caruso and Ann Wilson reported the situation
If I was the owner Joe Caruso and Ann reported the situation to me, I would not make any rash decision. I would first investigate the situation to ensure that the accusations are correct. I would not resent my decision-making and victimize Ann as most people do. They do not want to be corrected or accept that they can also make mistakes. I believe if one of the employees rises to complain or an issue, something must be wrong somewhere and it is always not good to assume them. After ensuring that it is true, I would summon Morton and discuss with him the problem at hand and find ways of solving the same will also give him a chance to rectify his mistake otherwise I will have no other option than to demote him. I would also not mention Ann Wilson to avoid misunderstandings between the two.
The reason for all these steps that I would undertake would be to ensure that my restaurant would not result in chores. That is, Ann Wilson would not feel victimized for telling me about the situation and would not have to fear Morton’s retaliation. On the other hand Morton would receive positive criticism and thus would have the chance to rectify his views and behavior. In addition the employees would be ensured of a good leader and working environment which influences their performance to provide quality services to the customers. Thus I would do all of these to ensure the well-being of each stakeholder of the restaurant (Hofstede).
What Wilson should do if Morton becomes aware of her concerns and if he will retaliate?
I think the best thing for Wilson to do is to approach Morton and readdress the issue. She should explain to Morton the problems that are underway as a result of his management style. That is, the effects that his management rules bring about to the employees who have started grumbling and can thus leave the restaurant. In addition those that may not leave the restaurant would be demoralized and thus provide low-quality services to the customers. It is no doubt that the restaurant would lose customers due to less satisfaction of their needs which would then lower the restaurant’s profits margin. Wilson should also convince Morton to involve the employees in decision-making so as to improve the working relations between them as the fall of the restaurant means their fall also.
It is most probable that Morton would retaliate against Wilson. This is because he may feel that Wilson was jealous of him and that she wanted to take his position.
Evaluation of Wilson’s position and her career options
As a matter of fact Wilson’s position in the restaurant was at stake. This is because if he approached the owner Joe Caruso about Morton’s situation, she may have lost her job if Joe took the situation negatively. That is Joe may have presumed that she was bringing out the situation as a personal interest so that she could secure the manager’s position. She may also have suffered due to her audacity to question the owner’s decision-making (Tannenbaum and Schmidt 733).
On the other hand she would have been lucky to get a managerial position if Joe considered her complaints and if Morton would not be ready to rectify his management style. I also think if I was Wilson and it turned out that I was due to lose my job then I would look for a human resource management job elsewhere. This is because it was prevalent that if Morton’s situation was not corrected, the restaurant was bound to do badly and thus her job stability was not ensured. It was thus advisable for her to look for other job opportunities elsewhere.
Works cited
Hofstede, Gerent. “Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind.” New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977.
Lewin, Kurt., Lippit, Ronald and White, Ralph. ‘‘Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates.’’ Journal of Social Psychology 10(1939): 271-301.
Newstrom, John, and Keith, Davis. “Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work.” New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
Schriesheim, Chester. ‘‘The Great High Consideration: High Initiating Structure Leadership Myth: Evidence on its Generalizability.’’ The Journal of Social Psychology 116 (1982):221-228.
Tannenbaum, Robert and Schmidt, Warren. “How to Choose a Leadership Pattern” Harvard Business Review, 1973:733.Print.
Vroom, Victor and Jago, Arthur. “The New Leadership: Managing Participation in Organizations.” New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1988.