Evoltion of Firm

Case Summary:

The law offices of Jeter, Jackson, Guidry, and Boyer are currently expanding larger than ever anticipated. In an attempt to maintain effectiveness within its operations, the firm decided to hire a general manager who would oversee the "business" side of the organization. This is how Brad Howser entered the picture.

While Brad initially started off quietly in his new position as General Manager, it did not take him too long to begin a reign of potential chaos and unrest within the firm. Brad's management skills included being unreasonable, unsympathetic, and indomitable. These skills were decidedly proving to be unsuccessful and unacceptable at the law firm. Employee and client dissatisfaction began to run very high and extra costs, such as public relation funding, exceeded established boundaries. Brad is not handling things well at all at the firm and the partners are very displeased. Now they want to find a solution for correcting this problem before it is too late for the business.

Chapter Topics Related to the Case:

* Discuss the concept of leadership

* Identify and discuss five key behaviors of effective leaders

* Identify and discuss the personal skills and traits of effective leaders

* Describe the effects a leader such as Brad would have on an organization

* Discuss methods an individual like Brad could utilize to develop improved leadership skills

Case Discussion Questions:

1. Do you agree with Brad's suggestion to "sit tight and ride out the storm", or should the partners take some action immediately? If so, what action specifically?

Suggested Response:

The responses provided by the students should be supported with information from the case study. However, the most likely response to expect is as follows. It is clearly indicated by the case study that the partners need to address this issue immediately. There does not seem to be available time to simply "ride out this storm". The business is currently suffering and indications are this will only worsen as time goes on. It is true the entire business is changing and a few of the original goals are being met. However, not all of the changes are for the betterment of the firm. Dissatisfied employees and clients, clients leaving for other service providers,