Unprofessional Conduct

Andre Hamilton had spent eight years in the United States Air Force. While in the service, he learned how to conduct himself in a professional manner, and he learned to respect others. He wanted to become a manager so he completed a bachelor’s degree in organizational management at the University of LaVerne. After graduating from school, his confidence soared to a point where he felt he was in a position of great demand by potential employers. In 1996, while looking through Sunday’s Press Enterprise newspaper, he saw an ad for a job fair.

Thinking of the companies that would be present at the job fair, he decided to attent. The day of the job fair arrived. His interviews came down to two companies, G. M. A. C. and The Office Supply Store. Both interviews went extremely well. On Friday, September 27, 1996, Andre was interviewed by Mrs. Jane Apple from G. M. A. C. , a mortgage company. At the interview, she explained to him the responsibilities of a loan officer, the position he had applied for. She also asked him questions about what he thought about the company.

Apple informing him that although the position only paid commisions. Mrs. Apple looked at Andre and said, ‘’You have the job if you want it. ’’ He tried to hard to contain his happiness. He told her he would accept her offer and thanked her for giving him an opportunity. On Monday, September 30, 1996, when he arrived at work, he was greeted and introduced to the staff members and shown around the office. Mrs. Apple told him to relax. Andre began to feel that he had accomplished his goal of becoming a career person with a good job.

Everyone was very friendly and seemed happy to be employed at that company. What he enjoyed the most about this organization was the team style of leadership displayed by Mrs. Apple. On Tuesday, October 1, 1996, he had second interview with The Office Supply Store. He was interviewed by Mr. Smith, district manager, and Maria Smith, human resources director.

After the interview, he was told he had the position and would receive a letter in the mail telling him the information and the store where he would be working. He decided to accept the job offered from The Office Supply Store, because he wanted to move into management. Also at G. M. A. C. , his only income is commision, while at The Office Supply Store, he would have a steady salary. He also likes the close location to his home. The Office Supply Store would train him to manage his own store. On Wednesday, he returned to G. M. A. C. and informed Mrs.

Apple that he had been made an offer by The Office Supply Store and he felt it would be a beter opportunity for him. She listened to him and sounded sincere when she informed him that she understood why he had come to his decision. Ending the conversation, she told him that if it didn’t work out at The Office Supply Store, he should call her and she would gladly give him another opportunity. After receiving the letter telling him where to report the work, he arrived at his training store. Andre was to meet with Mrs. Richards, the general manager, who was also his new boss.

When he reached the general manager’s office, he introduced himself and informed her that he was sent to this store by district manager to begin his management training. Her face begin to flush. She just stared at him and ‘’Why are you here? You are supposed to be at the orientation meeting’’ she said sharply. He informed her that according to the letter he received from the district manager and gave it to her. She asked him to have a seat in the break area next to her office, while she straightened out the situation over the phone. He began to get angry at the nasty language she was using.

He felt this showed a total lack of professionalism. The more he thought about his reception, the angier he became. He even thought about punching her in face or engaging her with some profanity of his own. In looking at possible options he had in this situation, his first option was definitely to punch her in the face, but he knew that would result in trouble with the police. Another option was just the walk out the door, but he took the attitude that he would overcome this and proceeded to convince himself that this was an isolated event.

He felt this was the Standard ‘’grin and bear it’’ method of maintaining a job. After he had calmed down, he viewed the situation from a more practical perspective. He told himself that he should probably just start looking for a new job. He decided he should remain silent on this issue, because he had continuously heard people say throughout the years ‘’don’t rock the boat. ’’Finally, the last option he thought of was to talk with the district manager about his experience, but the district manager’s natural reaction would be to defend Mrs.

Richard’s behaviour, and label him with an attitude problem. So he did nothing. Over the next few weeks, the general manager continued to display the same level of behaviour. Andre even tried to communicate with her as two mature adults. To his disappointment, he felt that she appeared uncaring and uncooperative. The problem which is emphasized in this topic can be explained with main components of attitudes and major job attitudes, responses to dissatisfaction, job rotation, fundamental attribution error, emotional intelligence, and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory.