1、群體行為與決策五年前，我開始在Petroco公司的加油站里當服務員。在那里有兩名完全不同的管理者。第一個是Maria Theresa，在我去那家公司之前已經在那里工作了幾個月了，直到在五月中旬她被調離了那里。第二個管理者是Vincent MacMurdo，在那時接手一直到我離開那個加油站。兩位管理者都有學士學位和一些管理經驗。他們被指派到這個特殊的加油站是因為他們在以前工作中的出色表現，因為高的銷售額使得加油站成為了一個能讓管理者證明自己能力的地方。然而，盡管他們兩個有些相同的管理能力，但這兩個管理者還是有很大的不同。Maria在不違反規范的情況下，放棄操作手冊的規定。她尋找能夠建立一種同事間

2、的友誼，而不是把注意力放在各種規范上。她希望能夠忽視各種規定的想法被許多人欣賞，所以她想要在同事間建立友誼的努力取得了極大的成功。這種建立友誼的感覺通過四個渠道傳播：在職員之間，在職員和Maria之間，在職員和顧客之間。而當每天工作時在職員之間，Maria和區域執行官之間的交流是用一種特殊的方法。比如說，在四月的某一天，當我的電池跳電而我們修理時，我們使其它汽車的電子系統短路了。當時實在晚上工作人員較少的時候，他們放棄了修理。而在白天換班之后，日間工作人員修理了短路，開始打電話和在違反規定的情況下去了廢舊汽車場。最后他們換了一個耐用的電池，新的電路系統也被連接好了。第二個傳播友誼的渠道是在職員

3、和Maria之間，這個渠道的成功大多數要歸因于Maria對職員們的關心。她經常在早上很早的時候到辦公室，帶著咖啡和油炸圈餅給職員，或者在晚上帶上匹薩給上夜班的員工。當Maria需要一個額外的人員的時候，Maria在員工身上的努力就獲得了回報。一個事實可以證明員工的忠誠，當Maria急需人手時，有許多員工自愿在工作8個小時之后在為她工作8小時。第三個傳播友誼的渠道是在員工和顧客之間。也有一個事實可以說明這一點。有一次一對夫婦的汽車在離加油站1/4英里的地方突然沒有汽油了。他們請求使用一下加油站里面的付費電話。讓顧客用加油站里的付費電話是明令禁止的，因為內部的安全很重要。然而，我們讓他們用了電話，

4、還把他們的車從1/4英里外推進了加油站。這使得我們獲得了15美元的小費，也贏得了各方面的贊揚。有趣的是，我們的這些行為都違反了Petroco公司的規定，規定指出，禁止員工在沒有得到上級允許的情況下離開加油站。最后一個友誼是通過Maria、職員和區域執行官之間的特殊關系表現出來的。這個區域執行官時一個MBA，他致力于加強公司的各種規章制度。他定期停車在馬路對面，對員工進行監視。然而，我們總是在他的“突然檢查”到來之前，知道他要來了。這是有因為Maria與其它經理之間建立的預警系統。所以在執行官來的時候我們總是做好自己的本分，嚴格遵循Petroco公司的規定，而在他走了之后，我們就變成“常態”。自

5、然，執行官也知道發生了什么事，但是因為Maria總是刷新銷售記錄，他也不再追究。為了她能在離家近的地方工作，她離開了原來的加油站。Vincent成為了我們下一任主管。Vincent總是按章辦事，并且努力的建立個人責任制。新官上任就把一個員工開除了，就因為他在三天的工作中損失了2美元。當那個被激怒的員工想知道Vincent到底在想什么的時候，Vincent讓他去看操作手冊。手冊上明確規定了這樣的員工應該被開除。在Vincent上任的兩周里，有3位員工因為這樣的錯誤而被開除。當員工抗議說Maria從未這樣做過時，Vincent說他并不是容易說話的Maria。規章制度的執行蔓延到每一個角落，基本上改

6、變了員工原來的做事方式。以前一個工作團隊有四個員工組成，一個人對一個加油管負責，還有一個是機動的。在這種安排下，這個機動的員工可以自由的去幫助需要幫助的員工，而且空閑的員工也可以幫助繁忙的員工。所有的可以幫忙的工作就是抽汽油、擦玻璃窗，核實汽油和收錢，然后在第一時間把受到的錢交給負責那根管道的那個員工。Vincent決意打破了這種系統，他認為如果那個幫助的人把錢藏了起來，那么被幫助的人就會因為別人的過失而被開除。然而，他的這個指示沒有被采納，員工們仍然相信彼此。最后，Vincent下了一個規定：誰要是替別人收錢就會被開除。在這樣的系統下，每一個員工越來越堅守自己的崗位，專注于打掃而不是幫助他人

7、了。在這種情況下，個人責任制建立起來了。然而，主要的改變是在員工、管理者和區域執行官的關系上。一個顯而易見的影響是區域的執行官比以前更加頻繁的出現在員工周圍，而且他要來的消息也沒有再預先傳到過員工的耳朵里。因此，他的監督行動開始有了回報，這使得他更加多的實施監督工作。這導致的結果是，員工沒有更多的時間來關注顧客。比如說，我被強令不準往啟動的汽車里面加汽油，這激怒了許多人。當顧客告訴我他們的車無法在啟動時，我就必須越過他們，并且回答說，這違反了公司的規定。有一次，當一個顧客無法發動他的汽車時，Vince不僅拒絕讓他使用電話，而且讓他自己叫了拖車。強調不僅是員工對Maria建立的體系的破壞有一定的

8、反應，這一點很重要。顧客也有所反應，首先是抱怨，其次就不在來光顧了。到了這個時候，奇怪的事情發生了。比如說，在我拒絕往一個顧客的無鉛汽油桶里加汽油時，他突然發動了汽車，從我身邊開走了。然后，類似的事情又發生了，一個女職員因為一個顧客“沒有看到她”而受傷了。之后，員工受傷的事情時時常發生，還有女職員偷了幾百美元后走了。另外，在Vince到達加油站的兩個月之后，幾個重大的糟糕的商業事件發生了。首先，加油站的銷售量大幅度下降。其次，盡管Vince嚴格的執行Petroco公司的規定，但是錯誤還是頻頻發生。第三，區域執行官對Vince說，員工對顧客的服務遠在公司的標準之下。面對這越來越多的問題和員工顯而

9、易見的敵意，Vince和區域執行官最后決定，開除所有擁護Maria體系的員工。隨著一個一個的員工被開除，只剩下兩個原來的員工了。這時，Vince也在尋找一個助手來幫助他來為每個員工制定表格，他要從我們倆個中選，因為我們畢竟是資歷最深的員工。另一個留下來的員工是一個高中畢業生，他也不喜歡Vince，也不喜歡為他工作。我的去向也很簡單：如果任命了我，我就不用離開公司，如果沒選我，我也要離開。毫無意外的，我最后被開除了。所以Maria體系終于結束了。問題討論1、你如何描述Maria和Vince的管理風格，以及他們不同的人際關系？ 為什么？2、請說明Maria和Vince兩個不同的管理時期，加油站里員

10、工行為改變的原因。3、如果你是Petroco公司的高級管理人員，了解了所有的情況，你會做出什么反應？你會改變對加油站管理政策的嗎?Lecture 5 Group Behavior and Decision Makingl The Creation and Destruction of the order of Maria Theresa Charles V ruled over an empire in which the sun did not set. This created fantastic communications problems for the officials of t

11、he Crown in the remote overseas possessions. They were supposed to carry out faithfully the imperial orders reaching them from Madrid, but often they could not, because the directives were issued in crass ignorance of the local situation or arrived weeks if not months after being decreed, by which t

12、ime they were largely obsolete. In Central America this dilemma led to a very pragmatic solution: ” se obedece pero no se cumple”(One obeys but does not comply). Thanks to this recipe, the Central American possessions flourished, not because but in spite of the imperial orders from the Escorial. Two

13、 centuries later this expedient was awarded official recognition under the reign of Empress Maria Theresa through the establishment of the Order of Maria Theresa. With refreshing absurdity it was reserved exclusively for officers who turned the tide of battle by taking matters into their own hands a

14、nd actively disobeying orders.Paul Watzlawick(The Invented Reality) Five summers ago I began work as a gas station attendant for Petroco, a large petroleum refiner with gas stations located primarily in the Northeast and North Central United States. Beginning work during mid-July, I worked in both p

15、art-time and full-time capacities until June of the following summer. During this time there were two different managers. The first, Maria Theresa, had worked there for several months prior to my arrival, and lasted until she requested a transfer in mid-May. The second manager, Vincent MacMurdo, too

16、k over at that time and continued after I had left. Both of these managers held a bachelors degree and had had some previous managerial experience. They had been assigned to this particular station because they had done an especially good job on their previous hob assignments, and because the high v

17、olume of business made the station something of a proving ground for managers on the rise within the company. However, despite sharing a certain managerial competence, the two managers were as different as day and might. Maria, for her part, deliberately operated in ways, which circumvented the regu

18、lations, laid down in the operations manuals. Instead of focusing on the letter of the law and enforcing orthodoxy, she sought instead to forge a sense of comradery and friendship. Her willingness to bend or disregard the rules was greatly appreciated, by both others, and myself and as a result her

19、attempt to forge a sense of comradery was largely successful. This sense of comradery was expressed through four channels: among the crew members, between the crew and Maria Theresa, between the crew and the customers, and in a peculiar way, between the crew, Maria and the district manager, The expr

20、ession of the crews comrader manifested itself during every work day, during which one crew member always helped out another, whether by “jumping” a dead battery, doing a little auto repair, or just running over to the Golden Arches for coffee. For example, during one January day my battery died of

21、natural causes and when we attempted to jump it, we shorted the other cars electrical system. Where a lesser crew night at that stage have given up, the day crew instead rallied and repaired the short and began making phone calls and illegal trips to the junkyard. The results were soon 1) a used but

22、 serviceable battery and 2) the necessary electrical parts and wired. In time, the favors were returned. The second channel of comradety-between the crew and Maria-existed and prospered largely due to Marias readily apparent concern foe the crew. She would often show up early in the morning with cof

23、fee and donuts for the morning crew or late in the evening with pizza for the evening crew. Her extra efforts on the crews behalf were reciprocated whenever Maria needed an extra body because a crewmember could not make his/her allotted shift. An indication of the loyalty, which we felt for Maria, i

24、s given by the fact that crewmembers would frequently volunteer to work another eight hour shift if Maria was going to be short. (The extent of this willing sacrifice can perhaps only be appreciated by those having spent 16 hours standing on concrete!) The third channel of comradery, between crew me

25、mbers and customers, is perhaps best illustrated by the time a couples car ran out of gas and sputtered to a stop about 1/4 mile from the station. When they asked to borrow the telephone we refused permission-letting a customer use the pay phone inside the station was expressly forbidden, since the

26、safe was inside. 1 However, as we did so, we also offered to push their car the 1/4 mile uphill to the station. In what was soon to be an oft repeated story, the result was that we were generously rewarded for our efforts with a $15.00 tip and a standing ovation from the several cars waiting patient

27、ly in the parking lot. The coup de grace came when the manager of the neighboring McDonalss sent over a complimentary round of cokes as a sign of approval. Interestingly, such behavior was completely against Petroco rules, which forbade employees to leave the station without managerial approval. Mar

28、ia-who was not there at the time-gushed with superlatives when she eventually heard the story. The final expression of comradery came about through the peculiar relationship between Maria, the crew and the district manager. The district manager was a well groomed M.B.A, devoted to enforcing the rule

29、s and regulations. One way he did so was to periodically spy on the crew members by parking in the shopping center across the road. However, we always knew he was coming before he “unexpectedly arrived because of Marias early warning system that she had established with other managers. While Mr. Bon

30、d was in our midst we were always on model behavior, following Petroco guidelines to the letter; after he left the station we returned to “normal.” naturally, the district manager knew something was going on, but because Maria consistently set new all-time-sales-records. While simultaneously maintai

31、ning average “shortages,” he never investigated thoroughly. The crew, having a low tolerance of spies, was not about to inform him otherwise.* * * During the month of April, Maria began contemplating a move to a smaller station closer to her home in Connecticut. Although our particular station offer

32、ed her greater prestige, she had begun to miss the community of her family and friends. When an opportunity to move arose in mid-May, Maria initially refused, to the crews delight. Eventually, however, she reconsidered and accepted the opportunity to manage closer to home. We were an aggrieved crew

33、which greeted Vincent MacMurdo. Vince, for his part, operated by the book in a no-nonsense attempt to establish discipline and order. Where Maria fostered comradery, Vince deliberately attempted to foster individual accountability. That a new manager had arrived was quickly driven home to the crew w

34、hen a crewmember was fired for being $2 short for 3 days work. When an irate crewmember demanded to know what the hell Vince thought he was doing, Vince responded by reading from the operations manual. Quoth he, ”An employee shall be fired if s/he is $10 short for the month; or is $5 short for the w

35、eek; or is $1 short for 2 days; or is $.75 short for 1 day. “During the first two weeks of Vinces tenure, 3 people were fired for coming up short. When the crew protested that Maria had never done it that way, Vince responded by saying he was not Maria-the crew readily agreed! The implementation of

36、rule and order extended well past the area of shortages, fundamentally altering the way in which the crew operated. Previously the work crew had consisted of four attendants, one responsible for each inland of gas pumps (three in all), and one floating assistant. Under this arrangement, the assistan

37、t was free to help wherever needed and the other attendants, if they were free, also helped out. Those helping out would pump gas, wipe windows, check oil and collect the money for the person being helped, and would then give the money to the person assigned to the island at the earliest convenience

38、. Vince deliberately destroyed the system, arguing that if the “helpers” decided to pocket the money, then the person being helped would be fired for someone elses theft. However, his initial instructions to cease and desist were ignored, as the crewmembers insisted on trusting one another. Eventual

39、ly, however, Vince laid down the law: anyone collecting money for anyone else would be fired. When a new employee was actually fired for collecting money, the “helper” system ceased. In its place a system emerged where each attendant strayed less and less from his/her “own” island, attending to clea

40、ning and sweeping instead of “helping.” In this way, individual accountability was implemented. However, the main change was in the relationship between the manager, crew and district manager. Where Maria had worked with, but around, the Petrocos rules, Vince adopted them as his own. An immediately

41、noticeable effect was that the district manager was around much more than formerly, and most importantly, his pending arrival was not announced to the crew. Thus, his spying missions, began to pay off, which only encouraged him to make even more spying missions, as he was beginning to uncover, the s

42、ins he had long suspected. One result of this was a reversal of the crews long standing concern to help customers. For instance, I began to rigorously enforce the injunction about not pumping gas into running cars (which infuriated people). Although they might plead that their battery was dying, I h

43、eld the company line. When they told me that if their car did not start, then I would have to jump them, I responded that it was against company policy. One time when a customer could not get his car started, Vince not only refused to let him use the phone, but called a tow truck himself. It is impo

44、rtant to emphasize that it was not only the crew who reacted to the destruction of the order of Maria Theresa. Customers also reacted, at first by complaining, and the by never returning. About this time strange things began to happen. For example, one night after I refused to pump regular gas into

45、an unleaded tank, the driver of the van I had been arguing with suddenly gunned his engine-and narrowly missed me as (leaped out of the way. Then, even as the story was making the rounds, a woman crewmember was tun over and injured by a customer who “didnt see her.” “Accidents” like these just conti

46、nued to happen, first, several crew members were hurt moving boxes of pump parts second, another employee suffered an injury that kept her out of work several months, and third, another crew member was suddenly out on workmans compensation after getting hit by a car door. Then when the bottom had ap

47、parently been reached, a woman crewmember simultaneously quit and stole several hundred dollars while leaving.* * *The Saturday Night Massacre In addition to this accident spree, during Vinces first two months at the station, several major, negative business events occurred. First, the sales volume of the station sharply declined. Second, despite Vinces rigorous application of Petrocos shortage policy, shortages reached mew heights, And third, the district manag