CASE STUDY

Case Study

Case Study

Background

The case is about Helen Gates who works for a company called Cercle. She has been working for the company since the past 26 years, whereas since last nine years, she has been working at the Placit plant of the company which is situated Richmond, Virginia. Recently, Helen Gates approached Ted Evans, who works as the line manager at the plant, and communicated to him, her concerns and issues related to racial and gender discrimination, which she has been facing in the working environment of the plant. Helen Gates is a black woman, and Evans is now faced with a complex situation of dealing with the allegations put forward by Helen, as he knows that Helen is serious about the issues and will go ahead to take appropriate actions if needed.

Issues in the Case

The case involves issues revolving around Helen and how she was treated in the workplace by other workers. Helen, a black lady, was one of the most senior employees employed in Cercle. She joined working in the C shift of line four rights from the start with Davis and Clausen. She was the only one, according to seniority, who was not promoted, as Davis and Clausen got promoted to DCS (Benjamin, DeTurk & Kristjansdottir, 2002). Helen complained to Evans that she was not treated rightfully by other workers in the plant. She was the only woman working among other men and there wasn't a single worker in the control room who was black, or had a similar background as Helen's. Helen had no one in the workplace with whom she could discuss and share her problems that she had been facing; there was no one who had anything common with her. There are several issues related to racial discrimination that Helen pointed out in her conversation with Evans. Such as incidents where Oswald shouted at her, demanding her to close a set off alarm (Fan & Zigang, 2004). Other incidents where Richard and Davis let Oswald use the telephone outside the control room where workers were only allowed to use the paid phones in the lunchroom, times when she was building the packs with Oswald, and she was told by Richard that it was the wrong way of building the packs which made her to think why Oswald did not tell her that. In short, Helen faced several issues which demanded consideration as the issues might be related to gender and racial discrimination (Harrington, Neck & Smith, 2000).

Bolman and Deal Frameworks

According to Bolman and Deal, frames which are personal and preferred are used by every person to collect information, every individual has personal and preferred frames that they use to gather information, form conclusions and to identify and describe behavior. The frames assist in providing distinctive versions of the organizational life and particular although limited variety of ideas, methods, processes which can be utilized in improving the performance of the organization. Bolman and Deal's four frameworks are Structural, Human Resource, Political and Symbolic ...