Why is the Universe Against Me? (A) and (B) (Abridged)

Abstract

Hasn't everyone at some point felt as if the universe was conspiring against his or her success? This case narrative tracks the story of Emmett Taylor, an operations manager for a bottling company, as a snow and ice storm bears down on his southeastern U.S. plant. Taylor is already plagued by stress caused by all facets of his life—family, work, and personal health—and this storm is no exception. The story offers an opportunity to discuss time, energy, and priority management; individual behavior from a type-A personality; work-life balance; organizational behavior; and leadership. This case is a suitable substitution for the classic best-selling Darden case "John Wolford" (UVA-OB-0167).

Excerpt

UVA-OB-1081

Rev. Apr. 18, 2022

Why Is the Universe Against Me? (A) and (B) (Abridged)

Emmett Taylor figured the sound he was hearing was just more rain sloshing onto the wooden windowsill outside his home office. What now? he wondered. A typhoon? Soggy winter weather all week had delayed suppliers into and delivery trucks out of the Soda Bottling Ventures (SBV) plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, that Taylor managed. Forecasters were calling for the rain to freeze in the coming hours, leading to the first snowfall of the season overnight. As one of the younger general managers in the bottling plant system at 35, Taylor attributed his quick rise through the ranks to his world-class work ethic. His standing joke to his operations manager, Freddy Crane, was that Taylor subscribed to the FILO system: first in, last out. But not today. On this day, snow was bearing down on most of the East Coast, and Taylor's wife Susan had loudly insisted he race home before the roads worsened.

The second time Taylor heard the sloshing noise, it had morphed into some sort of wet clap, a splatter even. His head swung up from the driver schedule that had been confounding him. It swiveled along with his body on the Aeron chair. Then he saw it. “Julie! What the...!” There on the floor was his three-year-old slinging green paint onto the wall. Slapping it. Slathering it, really. For a moment, it struck him as funny. Should I snap a picture for posterity? She seemed quite content with her finger-painting masterpiece, which was dribbling like a current down the beige drywall. Then he noticed that the stream continued down over the baseboard molding, pooling on the carpet under her knees. It was everywhere. “Holy...!”

Taylor heard staccato steps quickly moving down the hallway's hardwood floor. Susan. In seconds, she was through the windowed doors and into the office. “Are you kidding me, Emmett?” Her eyes flashed fire, fixing on the chaos. He could have been one of her third-grade students, scolded for the umpteenth time. “I leave Julie with you for 15 minutes while I'm tracking down Charlie on his skateboard down the block and come home to find her ruining our walls? Don't you pay attention to anything?” She scooped up Julie from behind to avoid her paint-covered limbs. “The carpet too?? And to top it off, I hear you cursing at her? Seriously, Emmett! You need to get a grip!”

. . .

Keywords: crisis management, risk, leadership, time management, work life balance, leadership, time management, priority management