Arctic Mining Case Study

Tom Parker, 43, is now a field technician and coordinator for Arctic Mining Consultants. In the past he’s held various positions in non-technical aspects of mineral exploration. His past experiences include claim staking, line cutting, grid installation, soil sampling, prospecting, and trenching. For this project Parker will be acting as project manger though this is not his normal role. His responsibilities include hiring, training, and supervising a team of field assistants. Tom has hired 3 gentlemen who have worked for him on a past project at Eagle Lake, John Talbot, Greg Boyce, and Brian Millar. The project stipulates that within a seven day window the team stakes 15 claims, 60 miles in total, which would be an average of 7.5 lengths per day between the four team members. These stipulations also include mobilization and demobilization. Mr. Parker also informed the team members that each man would receive a $300 bonus, in addition to their wages, should the project be completed on time. Mr. Parker was angry with two of the team members, Millar and Boyce, who only completed six lengths a piece on the first day, while Parker and Talbot completed 7 lengths each. One the evening of the first day verbally expressed his anger and disappointment with Millar and Boyce. As the days went on the verbal abuse continued as Millar and Boyce continued to under produce compared to Parker and Talbot. Boyce improved his performance and Parker focused his anger on Millar. Millar continued to produce less than the rest of the team throughout the project. This often left Millar feeling mistreated and undervalued and that, no matter how hard he tried, Parker always seemed to focus on him as the bad employee. Millar often went in early, stayed at work as long as possible, and skipped meals in hopes of producing more. In the eyes of Parker this meant