Management 14th Edition by Leslie Rue,Lloyd Byars ,Nabil Ibrahim

Exercise 4

A New Computer System
John Brown, 52, has been at State Bank for 30 years. Over the past 20 years, he has worked in the bank's investment department. During his first 15 years, the department was managed by Lisa Adams. The department consisted of Lisa, John, and two other employees. Lisa made all decisions, while the others performed manual recordkeeping functions. When Lisa retired five years ago, John held the position of assistant cashier.
Tom Smith took over the investment department after Lisa Adams retired. Tom, 56, has worked for State Bank for the past 28 years. Shortly after taking control of the department, Tom recognized that it needed to be modernized and staffed with people capable of giving better service to the bank's customers. As a result, he increased the department workforce to 10 people and installed two different computer systems. Of the 10 employees, only John and Tom are older than 33.
When Tom took over the department, John was a big help because he knew all about how the department had been run in the past. Tom considered John to be a capable worker; after about a year, he promoted John to assistant vice president.
After he had headed the department for about a year and a half, Tom purchased a computer package to handle the bond portfolio and its accounting. When the new system was implemented, John said he did not like the computer system and would have nothing to do with it.
Over the next two years, further changes came about. As the other employees in the department became more experienced, they branched into new areas of investment work. The old ways of doing things were replaced by new, more sophisticated methods. John resisted these changes; he refused to accept or learn new methods and ideas. He slipped more and more into doing only simple but time-consuming activities.
Presently, a new computer system is being acquired for the investment section, and another department is being put under Tom's control. John has written Tom a letter stating he wants no part of the new computer systems but would like to be the manager of the new department. In his letter, John said he was tired of being given routine tasks while the "young people" got all the exciting jobs. John contended that since he has been with the bank longer than anyone else, he should be given first shot at the newly created job.
What suggestions do you have to motivate John to train on the new computer systems?