The Case Jeffery Smith, Case Study Example

Jeffrey Smith should fire David Johnson because his position on the direction of the company is in contradiction with the goals of the company. The position that Johnson takes on company decision and his apparent association with internal conflicts warrants this position. The decision to fire him is thus justified by these circumstances.

The situation in this case, however, did not need to soar to this position. To prevent the decision to fire Johnson, the situation had the possibility of resolution at earlier stages. Options to prevent the escalation of the situation were available. The strategies that could prevent the situation from escalating include denying the responsibility for greater amounts of mutual funds. The reluctance in preventing the taking of the mutual funds escalated the situation as it gave Johnson confidence that he was on the right track. The warning of Johnson against the pursuit of the intended line would work to prevent the crisis.

Jeffrey Smith, on the other hand, should not step aside for any reasons. The position of Jeffrey Smith on the situation and the decision to fire David Johnson is the proper position that any other managerial personnel with the same authority would have done. The actions of insubordination by Jeffery Smith gave no other option to Smith. David would have done several things differently to avoid the situation at hand. The principal object he would have done is to go with management’s plans and decisions. The other thing Johnson would have done is to leave the research personnel to do their assigned tasks, and employ the correct process in researching on what he wanted.