The problem in the article appears to be employee dissatisfaction, leading to the character Bill Flynn to engage in improper behavior in order to meet his work needs. Bill appears to be very ambitious, which causes him to quit a job that does not satisfy his desires. He left a sales position even before he had been accepted for the training position in the technical field of computers.
This is an indication that Bill is a person who knows what he wants and is not tied to job security, or afraid of not getting a job. He is rather confident for someone with less than one year work experience. The problem identified in the article involves the behavior of a person who is ambitious and willing to go to great heights to achieve his targets.
Bill is provided with the opportunity to train for a whole year in the technical field, after which he can obtain employment at the firm. The problem is that there are ten other people, who threaten his chances of success, whereby success is finishing the one year training program and being offered permanent employment. There are a maximum of four vacancies, which means that at least seven people will be eliminated.
This leads Bill to come up with strategies that will ensure that he makes it to the last day of the competition. Due to the intensity of the training, some trainees result to dysfunctional behavior, which is expected when the competition gets stiff. The trainees had been advice to work individually, but there are a few people who work in groups, assisting each other, and at times steal reference material from previous groups to get direction.
According to Charles Darwin, survival of human beings and other creatures has been based on natural selection, whereby only the strongest can survive. One channel of survival is adaptation. Similarly, the work environment is very competitive, and with increasing cases of unemployment, people tend to do whatever it takes, to make good use of available opportunities. Bill is aiming at increasing his computer knowledge base, and succeeding in the program would be very advantageous for him.
The other trainees have the same views, and since the organization will only hire the best, the trainees decide to go on an all out war. Group work was discouraged but the trainees know that individual efforts are futile and therefore form discussion groups to assist them through the courses. Some people result in stealing of reference material from previous groups.
The policies outlined, especially those involving individual work are likely to be overlooked in any organization. This is because people are social, and tend to create friendships, and companionship. Companionship leads to sharing problems, as was seen in the growth of Bill’s discussion group.
One way for organizations to pose such competitions would be based on creating group tasks, whereby people are forced to succeed in groups or face elimination. Duties in organizations require coordination with other people, and as much as individual talent and skill may be beneficial, the individual must be a team player.
The three bosses seemed to identify this trait in Bill, as he went the extra mile to create friendships with them in other fields beside the work place. His involvement in sports must have pleased them too, since it showed his ability to work with others, and probably led to the pay rise, in his last interview when he was offered the job, but informed them of better pay elsewhere.
Another solution to avoid cheating and stealing of material during challenges is to provide assessment teachers to assign the groups at least one experienced person to guide them in their course of the training.
Providing such a person would save them on time spent trying to figure out what is required of them, and convert it into meaningful time spent working on providing the most suitable solution or response. Behavior problems can best be controlled by providing mentors, who can guide and encourage positive behavior, since achieving something by yourself is bound to attract negative means of attaining success.