Discourse Analysis
Bill Corwin was employed by a
large bank for several years. He started as a messenger, and then was assigned
to a branch. He progressed in this branch from a bookkeeping clerk to a
platform assistant. In this position he had a variety of duties largely
centring on administrative assistance to the officers of the branch
The bank’s many branches were divided regionally,
each region having a group of officers responsible for the branches in that
region. Bill was transferred from the branch in which he had worked for 12
years to a branch in another region. At the time of his transfer he was told
that the branch was completely “run down” as to operational procedures and
systems. The branch had a normal complement of 4 officers and 35 staff members.
One month prior to Bill’s transfer, one of the four officers had retired, and
two weeks after this retirement the branch manager was hospitalized with
serious illness. When Bill arrived at his new assignment, he found a rather
demoralized situation. Complete lack of interest was shown by two remaining
officers and the rest of the staff was not properly trained or disciplined. The
two officers did not know Bill, and they were informed by the regional office
that he was being assigned to the branch as a platform replacement for only two
weeks.
During his first week at the branch Bill discovered
that the senior clerks were not qualified to train other staff members,
customer complaints were rampant, there was both a record of excessive
absenteeism and excessive overtime, and the branch had received very poor audit
report by the bank’s internal auditors with the same major exception reported
on the previous four audits.
After two weeks Bill was called to the regional
office and offered the job of operations officer. He was told that he would
receive the official title in two months. He was also told that the present
operations officer, who had held the job at this branch for seven years, was to
be relieved of all operational responsibilities and that he would be instructed
to work with Bill until the branch was functioning effectively. Bill returned
to the branch and started on his assignment. He found the former operations
officer cooperative for about one week. Bill then decided to go ahead without
the help of the former operations officer. Over the next three months he worked
almost every night
until 8:00 or 9:00p.m. He tried to correct the
problem that had developed over several years. The training of employees
involved considerable time, and he found it necessary to release 12 clerks who
were causing trouble in various ways. The remaining staff and replacements
started to function smoothly. He received his title as promised. Then the
branch manager returned to work after his prolonged illness. A week after his
returned, he called Bill to his office and questioned his efforts in this
branch. He told Bill that the former operations officer had mentioned that he
was an upsetting influence in the branch, had fired several good people, did
not know his job, and that he left his job early several days a week.
1. If you were
Bill, how would you answer the branch manager? 2. Did the regional office
handle Bill’s transfer properly? 3. What should be done by the regional office
now?
4. Do you believe that Bill
can function effectively as a manager in this branch?
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