Esa Lindholm, Anna’s supervisor, has the reputation of being a skilled merchandiser, and in the past has initiated many ideas to increase the sales volume of the store. Lindholm personifies the ambitious manager in terms of his work ethic. What drives Lindholm? In his management practices he believes in setting targets, measuring progress, and is action oriented, or what some supervisors at Flockmann’s call ‘the ready-fire–aim syndrome.’ Beyond his hearing, people typically used such words as arrogant, egoistic, Teflon-man, selfish and obnoxious to describe Lindholm’s personality. One sales associate said, off the record, ‘It’s his way or the highway.’ What is more, some of the longer-term supervisors said that Esa Lindholm was very impatient and that he was sometimes rude to his subordinates while discussing merchandising problems with them.
The problem