1 Flavours Fine Foods is a leading producer for the food industry, supplying many of Europe’s leading restaurants.
Started just five years ago by brothers Lee and Alan Jones, the organisation has grown from a small company employing five people to a multi-divisional organisation employing 120 people.
The organisation’s production facility is divided into three separate departments. Each department has a single manager with supervisors assisting on the production lines. The managers and supervisors, all of whom are aware of their roles, work well together. However, although the organisation has grown, the owners continue to involve themselves in day to day activities and this has led to friction between the owners, managers and supervisors.
As a result a problem arose last week. Alan Jones instructed a supervisor to repair a machine on the shop floor, which he refused to do without confirmation and instruction from his departmental manager. The supervisor’s manager,Dean Watkins, became involved and was annoyed at what he saw as interference in his department’s activities. Dean told Alan Jones that he “should have come to me first” because although the responsibility for the overall organisation was a matter for the brothers, action taken in the factory was his through powers that had been delegated to him and through his authority, as manager. In the argument that followed, Alan Jones was accused of failing to understand the way that the hierarchy in such a large organisation operates and that interference with operational decisions by senior management was not helpful.
As a consequence of this, Alan Jones has asked you to explain to him and his brother the issues behind the dispute to clarify the roles of managers and supervisors and to indicate how and why successful delegation might be achieved.
Required:
(a) Explain to Alan Jones the main differences between the work of a manager and that of a supervisor.
(13 marks)
