Checkpoint Week 2

First of all, I think that employee and production cutbacks are something that should be handled by management staff and not employees. There are many situations where Mack’s idea of including the staff on decision making would be helpful, but I don’t think is one of those situations.

If I were Ralph, I would gather everyone in the department, explain the situation and then ask for input. I would assure everyone that no idea or possibility will be overlooked. I would also explain that Mack assured me that our decision will have his backing, as long as it is within reason. As people start to generate ideas, someone would write them on a whiteboard and beside each idea we could list the pros and cons. Hopefully, from working together as a team, we could come up with the most effective, yet least devastating way to cut costs and production.

If the group’s decision is not reasonable, I think Mack should see what other alternatives the team has come up with, that way he has some input to help with his decision. He could also explain to the team why their decision is unreasonable and give them stricter guidelines to work by. Since the team is not working with any guidelines in the beginning, it may be hard for them to know what is reasonable or unreasonable. If Mack were to sit in on their discussion and add his input, together they may be able to come up with the best decision.