Jeff Martin Case Study

Background:
Jeff Martin works for a Canadian meatpacking firm in the Bacon Slicing Department. He
has been employed there for 12 years; he was an extremely hardworking employee and has
always been loyal to his company. He has always been known to help out his fellow employees
and pitches in whenever necessary; he is well liked by management and all his fellow workers.
He is a family man with 4 small children and a wife that stays at home and he volunteers
coaching baseball and hockey. Jeff is an all-around well liked person.
One day Jeff had to work a double shift because one of his co-workers sons needed to be
rushed to the hospital, the company was understaffed because it was a long weekend so the
supervisor had no choice but to ask Jeff to work extra time, because Jeff is an eager to please
type of employee he agreed to work the extra shift despite being extremely tired from the shift he
had just finished. Also by Jeff taking this shift he had to postpone his family's departure for
vacation but his wife understood because they needed the money.
When Jeff agreed to pick up this second shift it was Friday of a long weekend meaning
the company was extremely busy, the coolers became severely clogged and Jeff had to haul
pallets to other parts of the plant due to the lack of storage, making this shift even more tiring
because he was constantly hauling product making the time away from the conveyor belt even
longer. Jeff seriously considered asking for someone to help him because he was so tired but
because of so few staff he pushed through it. Close to the end of Jeff's shift someone brought in
"rework" peameal bacon which is the packages that were destroyed by transit and could not be
used. Upon sorting through this rework he found several packs of peameal that were in perfect

condition, though the company had a strict policy against stealing of any kind Jeff decided to
sneak some for his family because he had to postpone their vacation a little treat for his family
especially after he had just worked a double shift. So he put it in his lunchbox, as he was walking
out with the rest of his co-workers someone bumped into him causing him to spill the contents of
his lunchbox and reveal the bacon that he had taken. He now finds himself in the office of John
Turnbull, Jeff and John had a history because John was Jeff's supervisor before he got promoted
to superintendent. Jeff now sits waiting to hear what will happen to him.

Primary Problem
- Jeff stole bacon from his work

Secondary Problem
-The company was understaffed causing Jeff to work a double shift and postpone his
families vacation
- Jeff stole going against the companies code of conduct
- Jeff could not ask for help with this tough shift because the company is understaffed
- Jeff thought it would be ok because of how much he had done for the company that day

Analysis

Jeff was an extremely loyal employee up until this point, he was someone who was well
liked by management and all his co-workers and top pick for a promotion. However because Jeff
went against the Code of Ethics even just once, all his hard work and dedication to the company
gets called into question because under no circumstance is stealing ever ethical. Jeff knew what
he was doing was wrong but continued to do it anyways which also calls into question his values.
What made Jeff think that it was ok to take this bacon even though he had worked at the
company long enough to know that it was not tolerated? That day it seemed that Jeff was faced
with an ethical dilemma because he knew that it was wrong to do so, but he did do it anyways
because he had to postpone his vacation with his family due to work. However Jeff would not
have ended up in this position if the company had the proper staffing to get someone else to work
Bob Williams' shift. This incident effects the whole company because if the supervisor/
superintendent had completed their organizing managerial role this could have been avoided
because Jeff would not have been faced with this ethical dilemma. But Jeff will have to accept
the responsibility for his actions and realize that he made the wrong ethical decision.

Implications
Jeff is the main person that is going to be affected by this problem because he is at risk of
losing his job with the slicing company. But if Jeff gets fired his family will also be greatly
affected because he is his families only source of income meaning that if he loses this job their
funds will be reduced immensely. This may put lots of stress on the Martin family because Jeff
will obviously be upset about losing his job but he will need to start looking for a new job
immediately and if he can't find one that will put stress on him. It also may start to take a toll on

his wife as well because although she would like to stay home with her kids that may no longer
become an option for her because Jeff will not get a reference from this job and it may make it
harder for him to find work.
Someone else this incident effects is the superintendent because he is Jeff's old supervisor
so he knows how hard Jeff works and what a great asset to the company he had been in the last 7
years he has worked for them but he also knows the companies code of conduct and knows that
stealing is absolutely prohibited. John has already taken on the role of a disturbance handler
because he has been put into this situation where he has two possible outcomes. John finds
himself in an ethical dilemma because he has two options, one he could fire Jeff and follow the
companies code of conduct that would also follow his ethics. If he chose this option he would
have to use his managerial leadership skills and train and hire a new employee to fill Jeff's
position. Or he has option number two which is to give Jeff a warning that if something like this
ever happens again that his employment will be terminated, this goes against John's ethical views
and the companies code of conduct but will allow him to keep a very valuable worker that he has
witnessed do a very good job. With either decision he makes it forces John to use his conceptual
skills to see the big picture and question which in the end will be the best decision for the
company.
Lastly the employees and the rest of the company will be effected from this incident
because depending on which option John chooses. On one hand they could be effected positively
because if John chooses to stick with his morals and does follow through with firing Jeff the
other employees will see that no matter how hard you work and how well liked you are it does
not matter because once you go against the companies code of conduct you will be fired. This
will set a good example and may discourage other employees from doing it in the future because

they have seen the consequences. But on the other hand if John decides to keep Jeff the word
will obviously get around the company of what happened and the other employees may start to
think that the company doesn't take their code of conduct seriously and may start to think that it
is ok to steal.

Alternatives

Fire Jeff

Pros- The company continues to follow their code of conduct, the other employees will
know the consequences, the other employees will respect the decision
Cons- Losing a hard-working and loyal employee, will have to find someone new to
replace Jeff, Jeff won't have an income to support his family

Keep Jeff and give him a warning

Pros- You get to keep a valuable employee, Jeff's family will still have his income, Jeff
will hopefully have learned his lesson
Cons- The other employees may not respect the rules, Jeff could think that if he got away
with it once he could again, The company did not stick to their code of conduct(not ethical)

Keep Jeff and make him work extra

Pros- Gives Jeff a chance to redeem himself, shows other employee that nothing will go
unpunished, Get to keep a hard working employee

Cons- Other employees may think Jeff gets special treatment, employees may begin to
think it is ok to steal, might not be a hard enough consequence to teach Jeff a lesson

Recommendation
I think it would be best if you fire Jeff because it is not ethical to steal and there should
never be an excuse for stealing because he knew what he was doing was wrong and still
continued to do it anyways. Even though he has been a loyal employee in the past this does not
demonstrate the characteristics of a loyal employee now. Also this will help to maintain the
respect for management in the company because the other employees will see that even though
you are a hard working person there will be no toleration for stealing and that will make for a
better group of employees in the long run. Also it will keep within the companies ethics and I
believe it is always right to stick by your judgment.

Implementation
Immediate Action- Talk to Jeff while he is sitting in John's office and ask why he did it,
explain to him that it would not be fair to give him special treatment and that his employment is
terminated
Short-term action- Begin looking for a new employee that has the right qualifications,
train the new employee, set up a security system to prevent this incident from happening again

Long-term action- make sure that the new employee is performing to your standards,
have semi-annual meetings with employees to go over the code of conduct