Bob Antice's performance decline and Rita's management dilemma at Powerful

Rita's problem is Bob Antice. Bob, an employee of Powerful, was a star who brought his reputation to the company but is not living up to the changing times nor changing along with them. Still a legend in the recording history, friend and mentor to generations of performers, a legendary speaker, enthusiastic, imaginative, and the most successful salesman in the company's history, Bob seems to be losing his edge and not realizing it. Most importantly, he is delusional about his current performance and optimistic that the company is succeeding when it actually is not, and Rita is faced with pressure from colleagues to fire him.

A key-contributor to Powerful success, Bob is not 'living' in the 21st century. Computer have taken over -- ipods, Shazam, LiveNation and so forth- sales had declined to more than 20% in 2009, and as Klein, Powerful's CEO noted, Bob was still in sales excepting that the wasn't selling anything any more. Bob had not only failed in adapting himself to the real world, but wasn't aware that he had failed in doing so, and, whilst the company was sliding back in sales, Bob was still retaining his original high salary preventing the company from employing another, more lucrative salesman, in his stead.

On the other hand, firing Bob will mean firing the very person who, from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s had placed Powerful on top, had recognized and introduced platinum faces, and had forged indispensable connections with wholesalers, retailers, promoters, managers, and other employees. Bob is optimistic, well-liked, and trustworthy. Firing him may create ripples and will be a criticized act. Hence Rita's problem: Faced with pressure from Klein on the one hand to fire Bob and from some other colleagues, on the other, to retain Bob due to his popularity, Rita has to decide whether to fire Bob or to give him one more chance at making sales go, and if the latter would be her option her challenge then will be to attempt to motivate him.

Part II. Rita's decision

Firstly, Rita has to be fair. Rita has to take the good of the company into consideration and act with procedural fairness (justice, consistency, objectivity, and ethics) synthesized with interactional fairness (dignity, consideration, and respect) for Bob whilst implementing her decision. The synthesis of both will not only placate the company but will also prove understanding to Bob. The deficiency of this synthesis may well result, on the other hand, in the company not only sliding further downhill but in increased discontentment from employees and employers, such as Klein, that may sabotage the company still further.

Rita should further consider whether externalities may be holding Bob back: his unfamiliarity with the equipment; unintentional deception by others produced by fawning instead of honest and informative feedback about his performance; Bob's specific environment -- he may be helped by being moved to another work station, and so forth. Externalities can affect Bob's performance.

It may be the case, too, that clever aligning of Bob's values with the organization's interests may induce Bob to upgrade his performance. Collins (2001) states that employees become motivated by a Flywheel effect, i.e. when they see the organizational wheel spinning, feel the excitement of momentum, and see others of the organization putting their all into spinning this wheel too, that is when they put their shoulder to the wheel and push. It may be the case, therefore, that Bob, when told about decline in sales, will be motivated by interest in the company alone to upgrade his performance and that this motivation will be exacerbated by seeing others in his environment put their shoulder to the wheel too. The combined effort and excitement in the atmosphere will be sufficient to motivate Bob to improve his skills.

If that were still not sufficient, Rita could employ the Expectancy theory. From what we have been told about Bob -- his high salary, confidence in himself, and apparent laid-back personality -- it seems unlikely that Bob will be motivated by any additional factors and, therefore, it seems unlikely that Bob's performance (according to the Expectancy theory, as described later) will change. Nonetheless, Rita as fair manager, has to giver Bob a chance. Her decision, therefore, should be to apply the Expectancy theory to his situation, provide Bob with the ultimatum of 'shaping or leaving', and provide him with a specific perimeter of time whereby he can, with her assistance and the assistance of others, upgrade his marketing skills.

Conclusion

Bob's reputation, character, and past performance make him a valued employee. Unfortunately, however, Bob has failed to upgrade his performance to the rigors and expectations of the 21st century and pressure is mounting upon Rita to fire Bob. Rita has to decide whether to fire Bob outright, ignore his deficits and retain him based upon his personality and past performance, or provide him with a chance of 'shaping up or slipping out'. Rita may take the expectancy theory into account and see whether a reward may motivate Bob. It may be that Bob may be self-motivated aligning his interests with that of the company's good, or it may be that reinforced vigor in the company as a whole may motive Bob to voluntarily reinforce his efforts.

Ultimately, whatever Rita decides to do, she should do out of a sense of fairness and justice. Rita's decision, in other words, should be driven by procedural fairness synthesized with interactional propriety. What this entails is treating people with consistency, making decisions that are correctable, avoiding supervisor bias, proving a voice to each of her employees regardless of status; and ensuring that her decisions meet legal and ethical standards. Procedural fairness should be synthesized with interactional fairness where Rita acts with dignity, respect, and concern for Bob and where she prefaces her intention with apologies, rationale, and timely explanation. The synthesis of both is the recommended action for a manager in Rita's situation.