Case # 2: Communication and Conflict Resolution
Study the case study in chapter 7 of your textbook page 222, called: Smoking Prohibited
Analyze topics related to the case and answer using your own critical thinking the four questions at the end of the case.
NOTE: A minimum of 200 words is required for the analysis of section 2

Based on the above, answer the following:
1. Does it agree with the action taken by the supervisor, Manrique Lara Puente? Explain
2. Did the union representative present his case properly? Does the employee have any means of defense when he says that the words “are subject to” do not mean that the supervisor must dismiss an employee?
3. If, given the complaint procedure established in the company IMPROCA Industrial C by A, the measure taken by Manrique is revoked, what effect do you think that decision would have on Manrique’s relations with its workers?
4. What is the meaning of the references to fire “two blocks down this same street” and the “12 years of service without a mere reprimand or reprimand”?

No smoking
The managers of IMPROCA Industrial C por A, a company located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which has 750 employees, take pride in managing what they call a “solid and tight ship”. They feel satisfied with the results of a recent study of attitudes that shows that most of the staff considers that supervision is “strict but fair and efficient”. As a large part of the members of the management, Manrique Lara Puente has emerged from among the staff itself and is assigned to Department No. 14, of Painting, in which he supervises 35 workers. He has been with the company for 20 years and for the last 10 he has been a group leader. He tries to be fair to his men and, at the same time, tries to manage the policies of his company in accordance with the wishes of the general manager of the plant, who is very strict in interpreting the rules and regulations of the company. Manrique awaits in his office the arrival of José Nadal, representative of the union in Department No. 14. The following is the dialogue that both have:
“Manrique, I need to talk to you about Reinaldo Invierno, the man you sacked yesterday afternoon.
“There’s not much to talk about, Jose,” Manrique says. You know he was smoking in restricted areas.
– That’s exactly the point, Manrique. The rules do not say you have to fire him. What they say is that any employee who violates any of the rules of Group One is subject to immediate dismissal. That is far from saying that you have to fire him.
-Look, José. I know that you must do your job as a union representative, and that you have all the right to question any action I may take. But look at this aspect: Reinaldo has been with the company for more than 12 years, so he knows what the company’s rules mean and that they are for some reason. For the paint and the lacquer we work with, you know that this department could fly the whole plant if there was a fire here. There are “No Smoking” signs all over the place and, even more, the workers located in the soothing booths have to use rubber soles to avoid any possibility of producing any spark. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do; One mistake here would blow us all to hell.
-You say that Reinaldo has been with us for 12 years. That’s true, but he has been in your department for only three months. He simply forgot the prohibition of not smoking in certain places, maybe because he was worried or something like that.
-I can not admit that. Maybe it was somebody, two blocks down the street, who was just worried, or was new, or who knows what, and you know what happened. The fire took the lives of three workers in that plant and the damages amounted to millions of dollars; They have not returned to work yet. We do not want that to happen here and it will not happen if I have something to do with it.
-Manrique, you do not leave me another alternative. I am going to file a complaint and I promise that this will come to arbitration. Twelve years of service without a mere reprimand or reprimand have to mean something.
-With this last expression, José Nadal, the union representative, left the supervisor’s office.