Case According to Thomas Paine, “A person commits an error by not reflecting far enough”. Perhaps this is the best aphorism that is applicable in the case of Mr. Jose Naguimbing. For he seemed to be acting out of his impulses without even taking into consideration the worst repercussion that might arise out of his decision which is wanting of intellectual or wise discretion. Mr. Jose Naguimbing succeeded his brother Pedro as a General Manager of Jona Car Rental, which was very profitable when the latter turned it over to the former.
However, things began to change by the time the business has been handled by Pedro’s brother Jose. The staff has been skeptical of Jose’s capability to competently and effectively discharge his duties as the General Manager of the business. For the following reasons; first, at the first few months he was very enthusiastic at the fifth month he began to perform poorly as the general manager of the business which was evidenced when the manager presented him a purchase of order for three units of Toyota Corolla, and requested his signature, Mr. Jose Naguimbing without further ado affixed his signature thereon.
Thereafter the manager filed the purchase of order on the following day but, Mr. Jose Naguimbing suddenly desisted the purchase thereof on the same day and instead instructed his manager to cancel the order. And commanded the same to purchase three units of Mitsubishi Cars from another car dealer. Now the question is, isn’t his act prejudicial on the part of the car dealer? And isn’t it negligence on his part to just put his signature thereon without even studying what was the document about?
In connection to the first inquiry unfortunately it is absolutely prejudicial on the dealer, the fact that he affixed his signature on that document signifies his willingness and the concession to take that product and therefore it can no longer be taken back inasmuch as he will be inevitably causing delay and disruption of the business transaction of the dealer thus putting an obstacle for the profit to enter into their business with this kind of scenario Mr. Jose Naguimbing is acting out of bad faith for breach of contract.
Same goes with Mr. Jose Naguimbing he will likewise be reaping the fruits of his act for commanding and instructing his office manager to buy three units of Mitsubishi cars instead of Toyota cars for he had to make another reservation before his request is to be entertained. Nevertheless, beyond that his reputation as a businessman will be tainted, which will affect the business in the long run. As a businessperson, he should take into account the essence of business and legal ethics most especially human relations.
According to Article 19 of the Civil Code of the Philippines; “Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith. ” Yes every person has their right, the law neither dares to abridge nor abridge nor to interfere thereto. According to the Latin maxim, “Lex Nil Frustra Facit”- the Law does nothing in vain. The law exists to regulate human actions in such a way that there will be a harmonious human relationship.
In Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corp. v. Court of Appeals, It was held that; “A right, though by itself legal because recognized or granted by the law as such, may nevertheless become the source of some illegality. Furthermore, when a right is practiced in a manner which does not adhere with the norms enshrined in the aforementioned article and results in the damage to another, a legal wrong is thereby committed for which the wrongdoer must be held accountable. ” As to the second one it is his negligence for before he should sign the document, he must first study the same.
Giving it his signature means that he is giving that piece of paper the power to do what it ought to do in adherence with the stipulations agreed thereto by the two or more person entering into a contract. Secondly, when the post of branch manager for Angeles City becomes vacant he appointed someone whom his immediate staff thought to be incapable of the position of the three candidates is vying therefor. In addition, the staffs’ suspicion was justified after three months, the revenues of the branch plummeted drastically. As opposed with a competitor within the area, the performance of the branch manager was dismal.
Business is not a one-man job it does not mean that just because he is the boss he is the only one who is supposed to be obeyed in every decision he imposes. Involvement of the employees in the decision-making, or in a way of saying teamwork, trust and confidence to the employees, a character of the leader worthy of emulation and respect, are the fundamental principles for the success of a business. Now, involvement of the team; inasmuch as it does not mean that just because he is the boss he will be the sole source of all the things that are supposed to be undertaken by the business for the furtherance of its mprovement and growth. A leader says “we”, a boss says “I”, hence the boss should not act like someone whose authority and nature is beyond any fallibility. In Bontia v. NLRC (96). “The rule is well settled that labor laws discourage interference with an employer’s judgment in the conduct of hid business. Even as the law is solicitous of the welfare of the employees, it must also protect the right of an employer to exercise what are clearly management prerogatives.
As long as the company’s exercise of the same is in good faith in order to advance its interests and not for the purpose of defeating or circumventing the rights of the employees under the law or valid agreements, such exercise will be upheld”. For in every decision of the leader makes, affects everything in the functions of the business especially if what is at stake is the condition of the business and the general welfare of the employees working therein. Thus, involvement of the employee is always of essence.
A decision which is subservient only to a single person has diminutive chance of bringing forth positive result(s) however optimistic his thinking will be. Why? for the very reason that he cannot expect his subordinates/employees to be cooperative in the decision which he himself made if at the very inception thereof the subordinates /employees do not act in concurrence thereto since he failed to seek of their opinions if in fact his employees/subordinates is of one mind to the same. Therefore as the general manager, he should learn how to captivate the interest of his subordinates/employees.
Moreover, plans would be made easier if there is a collective agreement of both the leader (in this case the general manager) and the subordinate/employees. According to Russell Crowe, in the film “A Beautiful Mind”, “the best result comes for everyone in the group doing what is best for himself and the group”. Trust and confidence to the employees; it is simply believing in what they can do. Let them practice the virtue of self-reliance; help them utilize their best knowledge available. With these, the leader is also in the acquisition of his employees’ trust and confidence.
Consequently, they will be giving their best in every task assigned to them. For the faith, their leader is giving them serves as the driving force for them to work proficiently and be passionate at what they are doing hence, industry or the value of work is inevitably, imbued within their heart. A leader should have a character that is worthy of emulation; leading by example. Though this has become a common cliche for everyone always hear this to others like their teacher, parents, some student leaders, and at times, being quoted in every election campaigns.
Nevertheless, this has been proven time and again that a leader should set an example in such a manner that would invite the respect of his employees. He should not just state the imperatives as regards to what should be the best thing to do for the well-being of the business or the ideal plans he would want to do. In other words, don’t just be filled with hypothetical speculations. Do it. Justify it by means of deeds. Third, when Jose decided to establish another branch he asked his staff to give him three potential sites for him to choose from.
He picked Laog City. After a few months of operation it appeared that Laog city has the weakest potential for his business to flourish. As opposed to one business rival who established their branch in Santiago City in the same year, has been registering substantial revenues. Santiago City was one of the potential sites forwarded to Jose for consideration. He is giving decision without proper deliberation, amounting to the willful disregard of the employees’ prerogative to express their view that may somehow contribute to the business’ improvement.
What is the use of asking his staff to identify potential sites for the purpose of business expansion if he would not consider his staffs’ request? The ideal site was already forwarded to him yet he chose a place that has no assurance for his business to prosper. This situation is slightly connected to the prior incident wherein he chose someone to be the office manager whom his employees thought to be unworthy to assume the position of being an office manager of the firm. What happened? Revenues plummeted thereafter the hiring of the unworthy office manager.
The branch he established in Laog City did not contribute to the firm’s acquisition of profits due to his monopolization of the jurisdiction of his decision making as the General Manager of Jona Car Rental. Due to the foregoing facts, that are herein presented the mismanagement of his business is the proximate cause of his lack of foresight for not being able to envision the flow of the coming events that may or may not work against him, his employees and, most of all his business. 2. ) There is an article by Michael Griffith “7 Things To Do To Improve a Poorly-Performing Business”. Although this article written by the forementioned author did not explicitly said that this is intended for managers who were performing poorly however this can be of great help to them since, it is their job to keep the business on the right track. Moreover, anything that hinders the development or the success of the business will be forthwith blamed to them. Therefore, here are the seven things Mr. Jose Naguimbing may do to improve his performance as the General Manager of Jona Car Rental. Schedule a meeting and discuss the situation. Gather all the people and investors/contractors that are involved in your company and let them know about the situation.
Closing down is a last-ditch solution, so you must all brainstorm and drum up ways to salvage the company and get it back on track. The more honest you are to all the ones concerned in the running of your business, the better – since everyone can do his own part in improving for the good of the company. Create a timeline of events that led to failure/poor performance. This is necessary to determine at what point the error was made. For all you know, it may be just a glitch in stocks, sales, or even plain miscommunication…and better still, wrongful accounting. Discussing the cause is important to the discovery of a solution.
It is also essential to stopping a problem on its tracks. Reach out to clients and mentors for advice. This is a common mistake of most business owners – they are too proud to ask for help even when they know they need it. Think of it – it’s either you swallow your pride, or you close shop. The decision shouldn’t be difficult. Ask customers for feedback – the poor business may be purely due to poor customer service. Don’t let them know your company is at the brink of closure, but ask them nonetheless and try to pinpoint form their point of view where the problems may have started.
Develop other streams of revenue. This is to ensure that you don’t completely run out of funds needed for operation. Also, you may want to offer additional products to clients which will help boost sales. Maybe your initial set of products was not as interesting as you thought – and that it definitely needed an overhaul/upheaval. Try increasing prices – but provide additional value. A good way to increase profit is by increasing prices, but to increase prices when at the brink of near failure would be silly if you do not intend to make the purchase more enticing for a client.
Try giving bigger portions, or size or quality. Provide irresisting encouragement to customers to plunk down more of their money in your products. But remember – offer something more – don’t blindly increase price point for no reason other than “you desperately need to increase revenue. Cut costs and remove unnecessary systems used by the business. There will be processes which will help your business perform better, but there will be some which are actually pocket-drainers – the advantages of employing them may not be commensurate to the benefits they bring.
Map out everything – from top to bottom. Cancel unprofitable processes and age-old practices which contribute less than they should to your business. Boost employee morale. One of the first fears that will spring up whenever the business isn’t doing too well is job security. Your employees will understandably be scared of losing their jobs when you go out of business. Counteract an otherwise excellent job performance from your staff with reassuring words. Tell them that you will do everything necessary to fix the business.
Don’t make them or their own salaries take the cut when things are not doing well. Remember, when you unnecessarily “punish” employees by having them work longer for less, then you will be faced, not only with a poorly-performing business, but disgruntled employees as well (who may march out th door). Pedro should have given Jose some instructions as regards to how the firm ought to be managed. By instruction, obviously, it means giving him the things he ought to do and ought not to do. And by instruction it means close supervision of Jose’s performance.
Let him assume the position interlocutorily and observe his behavior in the firm, his performance, his skill in human relations in terms of his treatment of the employees, put him in a situation with which he can exercise his right judgment and his skill in decision-making and, his accomplishment for the business thereupon the assumption of the position. Afterwards, assess and evaluate him after the test had been applied, gather the employees of the firm get their feedbacks appertaining Jose’s performance and eventually ask them forthrightly, is Jose fit to be the General Manager of this business?
The assessment and evaluation, together with the employees’ judgment will provide a pertinent basis if he pass or not for the position of being the General Manager. Sad to say, but this is exactly what Pedro missed before turning over the company to Jose. Blood is indeed thicker than water, but by virtue of who is fit for the job, relationship ought not to be the basis of such hiring. Qualification of the person aiming for the position should bear the gravity of selection. Therefore, this has to be settled purely by way of professional judgment.
