Rio Grande Supply Co

Facts of the Case Rio Grande Supply Co. * Texas-based wholesale plumbing supply company * Values Integrity, Honesty and Respect for each individual employee * Has an Internet use policy that employees weren’t to use the company’s computers for anything but business-related activities. * Management has the right to access and review anything employees created, stored, sent, or received on company equipment. No software filters were installed to prevent abuse of corporate computer system * The company reserves the right to take disciplinary action, including possible termination, and to press criminal charges if an employee was found to have violated the policy. * Jasper Hennings, President of Rio Grande Supply Co. , takes personal pride in the company’s culture and values of integrity, honest and respect. * Henry Darger, Chief of Operations, fired a female employee for unauthorized access to another employee’s email. The female employee accused Henry Darger of “suspicious” activities * Henry Darger confessed that he was logging on to pornographic websites at the office to escape his troubles. Statement of the Problem * How will Mr. Hennings handle the situation of Henry Darger * How to ensure that the company’s computer and internet policy is followed * How to make the employees embrace the company’s principles of integrity, honesty and respect Point of View Taken * Jasper Hennings, President of Rio Grande Supply Co. Key Objectives To determine the appropriate course of action of Mr. Hennings to handle the issue of Mr. Darger. * To reinforce the company’s cultural vision and values Analysis of Causes Analysis of the Problem 1. What environmental factors have helped to create the situation Jasper Hennings faces? * Internal environment: Corporate culture * The management is aware of this but is not doing anything about it. Because of this, the employees continue to violate the company policy because What factors does Jasper need to consider when deciding on his course of action? If the decision is in line with the company’s values of integrity, honesty and respect * The effect of the decision to other employees * The effect in his community 2. Analyze Rio Grande’s culture. In addition to the expressed cultural values and beliefs, what other subconscious values and beliefs do you detect? Are conflicting values present? When values are in conflict, how would you decide which ones take precedence? * Although there is already an internet policy, some of the employees are still using the internet for personal use.

The management is aware of this but is not taking any action because they felt that it’s not worth the effort to enforce the policy for minor infractions. 3. Assume you are Jasper. What are the first two action steps you would take to handle the Henry Darger situation? How would your role as a cultural leader influence your decision? What message will your solution send to the other managers and rank-and-file employees? * I would first apply the appropriate disciplinary action to Mr. Henry Darger based on the company’s Internet use policy.

Since I am I will keep the honesty policy and not install software filters but will apply appropriate actions to any employee found violating the policy. * Conduct seminars to reinforce the company’s values and policies to existing employees and to acclimate new employees Development of Alternatives 1. Do nothing * Advantages * The company gets to keep a valued hardworking employee * Will save the company the trouble of finding a replacement * Disadvantages * Negative impact on employee morale.

Employees will loose respect for their managers * More employees would violate company policies since management is not enforcing them 2. Fire Henry Darger. Install software filters to prevent unauthorized internet access * Advantages * Employees will not be able to use the internet for personal use * Employees will be afraid and think twice before violating company policies * Disadvantages * The company will lose a hard-working and valued employee * It would be hard and costly to replace Henry Darger