Fred Maiorino Case Study - Analysis of Critical Issues

Fred Maiorino Case Study

Analysis of Critical Issues

In mid-1991, Fred Maiorino was terminated from his job as a salesperson, at Schering-Plough, a position that he had held for 35 years. Fred was given a letter stating that the cause for his termination was “for not meeting company sales goals, excessive tardiness, failing to call on key physicians, and ignoring suggestions for improving his performance.” Fred’s life had been turned up-side down, and a month later he had been replaced by a much younger newly hired salesperson. He felt that his age was the main factor behind him being terminated. Fred believed that Schering-Plough’s had come up with an evaluation and motivation system that was unfair to the company’s senior salespersons. For this reason, Fred felt he had grounds to sue the company for age discrimination, among other things. Schering-Plough failed to motivate Fred due to their lack of leadership, performance reviews measures, and sales goals.

At Schering-Plough, management said that they had tried to work with Fred to help him realize the company’s sales goals. In early-1987, Jim Reed was made general sales manager over Fred’s sales district. Jim had asked Fred for help and leadership due to the increasing sales that the company was experiencing. To gain Fred’s support in these matters, Jim told him that he was one of the senior men at the company. Although, Jim tried to gain support from Fred by telling him this, he failed to motivate Fred because of his own lack of leadership skills. Jim was trying to practice leadership skills that “use influence tactics to frame the purpose of engaging in a requested or needed behavior in a manner that energizes followers to do so” (Kacmar, Carlson, & Harris, 2013).

In the study conducted by Kacmar, Carlson, & Harris (2013) they state that “research has shown that individuals who accept the role of leader frequently possess a specific influence