Analysis of a Case: The Joey Restaurant District Manager Position

I just need problem statement and analysis. problem statement must of one sentence. THE CASE: a SURE THING Shane McLellen didn’t have a good feeling as he arrived at the Joey Restaurant on Burrard Street in Vancouver, BC. He was meeting with the restaurant’s district director, Priyanka Singh to find out if he got the promotion to the district manager role he applied and interviewed for. He had been working at the premium casual restaurant chain for five years and worked his way up from busser, server and now restaurant manager. He was the obvious choice, based on his track record and his friends told him the interview was just a formality – he basically had the job. He interviewed for another district manager role six months ago when he thought the job was a sure thing. He was very surprised when he didn’t get that job six months ago. He was mad enough that when this current district manager job was posted he initially decided not to apply. He then changed his mind – after all, Joey Restaurants named him Restaurant Manager of the Year last year and stationed him at their busiest location. His chances were pretty guaranteed this time around. The district manager role oversaw all of the Vancouver Joey Restaurant locations. It was a natural next step for Shane, who has aspired to work in leadership in the restaurant industry. When he wasn’t promoted six months ago, his director, Singh, told him that his people skills needed to improve. But Shane knew that excuse had little to do with the actual reason he didn’t get the job. He heard he was unsuccessful because of corporate politics. They hired some over-achiever from the outside who was known to be strong in developing restaurant managers. Despite what he was told, he was convinced that Singh, had been pressured to hire this person, who had been referred by the CEO. The decision to hire the outsider might have impressed the CEO, but it made Shane angry. With his successful track record as a manager at Joey Restaurant, he was more capable, in his opinion, of overseeing multiple units than someone who was new to the business. Besides, district managers had always been promoted internally among the restaurant managers and he was unofficially the next person to move up to the district manager role. Singh hired the outside candidate as a political manoeuvre to put herself in a good light with management, even though it meant overlooking a loyal employee like Shane in the process. Shane had no patience with people who made business decisions for the wrong reasons. He worked very hard to avoid politics – and it especially irritated him when the political actions of others negatively impacted him. Shane was running a great restaurant and was ready to be district manager, sales were growing, there were few customer complaints, but the only number that was a little out of line was the higher turnover among his staff. He wasn’t too concerned about this. He thinks it was because he has very high standards – for himself and his employees. Any employee who delivered less than 110 percent would be better off finding a job somewhere else. He had to even fire three otherwise good employees who decided to try a new customer service tactic – a so-called innovation they dreamed up – rather than comply with the established process. His by-the-book approach to managing had served him well for many years and losing a few employees now and then was simply the cost of doing business. During a recent visit, Singh suggested to Shane that he try creating a friendlier work environment because he seemed aloof with his employees and Singh heard they called him “Tinman” behind his back. Shane rarely paid attention to what his employees said about him. He wasn’t about to let something childish as a silly name cause him to change his successful management strategy. Even though he recently lost more than the average number of employees due to “personality differences” or “miscommunications” over his directives, his superiors did not seem to mind when he consistently delivered great fiscal results every month. As he waited in the conference room for the others, Shane reflected on his last few months of work and his interview process, this time around. Priyanka Singh entered the room and told Shane, as kindly as she could, that he would not be promoted at this time; one of his colleagues would become the new district manager. He was incredulous. The individual who got promoted had been with the company only three years – and Shane had trained her! He tried to understand how this happened, but it did not make sense. He was overcome with emotion and left the room, reeling and wondering what had happened.