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Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203
Part 5 18 Managing Service
and Manufacturing
Controlling Operations 384
18-1 Productivity 385
18-2 Quality 388
18-3 Service Operations 393
18-4 Manufacturing Operations 396
18-5 Inventory 398
Dirk Ercken/Shutterstock.com Endnotes 405

Index 433
16 Control 342
16-1 The Control Process 343
16-2 Control Methods 347
16-3 What to Control? 351
17 Managing Information 362

17-1 Strategic Importance of Information 363
17-2 Characteristics and Costs of Useful Information 366
17-3 Capturing, Processing, and
Protecting Information 370
17-4 Accessing and Sharing
Information and Knowledge 379
Contents vii
PA RT 1
1 Management
Jan Faukner/Shutterstock.com
LEARNING Outcomes
1-1 Describe what management is. After you finish
1-2 Explain the four functions of management. this chapter, go
1-3 Describe different kinds of managers.
to PAGE 21 for
1-4 Explain the major roles and subroles that managers perform in their jobs.
1-5 Explain what companies look for in managers.

STUDY TOOLS
1-6 Discuss the top mistakes that managers make in their jobs.
1-7 Describe the transition that employees go through when they are promoted
to management.
1-8 Explain how and why companies can create competitive advantage through people.
1-1 Management Is . . .
Management issues are fundamental to any organiza-
tion: How do we plan to get things done, organize the
company to be efficient and effective, lead and motivate
employees, and put controls in place to make sure our
Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com
plans are followed and our goals met? Good manage-
ment is basic to starting a business, growing a business,
and maintaining a business after it has achieved some
measure of success.
To understand how important good management is,
think about this. Sears, one of the oldest retailers in the Sears is so cash strapped that it has sacrificed
United States, has lost $8.2 billion since 2011. In 2015 alone, future earnings for short-term needs by selling a
Sears saw revenues decline 20 percent—a $6 billion drop. dozen profitable stores.
The company lost $1.1 billion that year and was forced to
close 562 stores. Without the $9.5 billion it raised from
selling Lands End clothing, Sears Hometown and Out-
let Stores, and 327 profitable Sears stores, Sears would Nayar’s description of managerial responsibili-
be hemorrhaging cash and filing for bankruptcy. Robert ties suggests that managers also have to be concerned
Futterman, CEO of RKF, a retail leasing and consulting with efficiency and effectiveness in the work process.
company, said, “Retailers invest in their best stores and Efficiency is getting work done with a minimum of
refurbish them, they don’t sell them.”1 effort, expense, or waste. At aircraft manufacturer Air-
Ah, bad managers and bad management. Is it any bus, lasers help workers join massive fuselage pieces
wonder that companies pay management consultants together 30 percent faster (and 40 percent cheaper).
nearly $210 billion a year for advice on basic manage- Similarly, rather than reaching up for hours to assemble
ment issues such as how to outperform competitors to and install overhead luggage bins, workers now assemble
earn customers’ business, lead people effectively, orga- these parts at waist-high benches and then bolt them
nize the company efficiently, and manage large-scale to the plane’s ceiling. Besides being easier for workers,
projects and processes?2 This textbook will help you un- this process is 30 percent faster. When testing a plane’s
derstand some of the basic issues that management con- electrical circuitry, engineers previously used probes
sultants help companies resolve. (And it won’t cost you to validate electrical connections, hand recording the
billions of dollars.) results of 35,000 such tests on each plane’s paper blue-
Many of today’s managers got their start welding on prints. Today, wireless probes paired to computer tablets
the factory floor, clearing dishes off tables, helping cus- test each connection, automatically recording the results
tomers fit a suit, or wiping up a spill in aisle 3. Similarly, onto the plane’s digital blueprints. Finally, by using a
lots of you will start at the bottom and work your way massive ink-jet printer, Airbus has cut the time it takes to
up. There’s no better way to get to know your competi- paint airline logos on plane tail fins from 170 to 17 hours.
tion, your customers, and your business. But whether Efficiency alone, however, is not enough to ensure
you begin your career at the entry level or as a supervi- success. Managers must also strive for effectiveness,
sor, your job as a manager is not to do the work but to which is accomplishing tasks that help fulfill organiza-
help others do theirs. Management is getting work tional objectives such as customer service and satisfac-
done through others. tion. Time Warner Cable
Vineet Nayar, CEO of IT services company HCL (TWC) recently reduced
Management getting work
Technologies, doesn’t see himself as the guy who has to do its eight-hour service- done through others
everything or have all the answers. Instead, he sees him- call window to just one
hour by outfitting tech- Efficiency getting work done
self as “the guy who is obsessed with enabling employees with a minimum of effort, expense,
to create value.” Rather than coming up with solutions nicians with iPads that or waste
himself, Nayar creates opportunities for collaboration, for geolocate the nearest
customer needing ser- Effectiveness accomplishing
peer review, and for employees to give feedback on ideas tasks that help fulfill organizational
and work processes. Says Nayar, “My job is to make sure vice. Company spokes- objectives
everybody is enabled to do what they do well.”3 man Bobby Amirshahi
CHAPTER 1: Management 3
said, “We know when a tech is finishing up at one home, and controlling.10 Most management textbooks today
the one-hour window somewhere near them is starting have updated this list by dropping the coordinating
to open for another customer, so we can dynamically function and referring to Fayol’s commanding func-
dispatch that technician to the next job.”5 The focus on tion as “leading.” Fayol’s management functions are
improving customer service is paying off. Today, TWC thus known today in this updated form as planning,
technicians arrive within the set one-hour window organizing, leading, and controlling. Studies indi-
98 percent of the time. TWC’s TechTracker app pro- cate that managers who perform these management
vides customers with the technician’s arrival time, functions well are more successful, gaining promo-
name, identification number, and photo. Thanks to tions for themselves and profits for their companies.
improvements in TWC reliability, repair-related visits For example, the more time CEOs spend planning,
dropped by 15 percent and the number of pay-TV sub- the more profitable their companies are.11 A 25-year
scribers increased.6 TWC Chairman Rob Marcus said, study at AT&T found that employees with better plan-
“Our customers expect and deserve the best customer ning and decision-making skills were more likely to
experience we can deliver.”7 be promoted into management jobs, to be successful
as managers, and to be promoted into upper levels of
management.12
1-2 Management The evidence is clear. Managers serve their compa-

nies well when they plan, organize, lead, and control. So
Functions we’ve organized this textbook based on these functions

of management, as shown in Exhibit 1.1.
Henri Fayol, who was a managing director (CEO) of a Now let’s take a closer look at each of the management
large steel company in the early 1900s, was one of the functions: 1-2a planning, 1-2b organizing, 1-2c leading,
founders of the field of management. You’ll learn more and 1-2d controlling.
about Fayol and management’s other key contributors
when you read about the history of management in
Chapter 2. Based on his 20 years of experience
as a CEO, Fayol argued that “the success of an
enterprise generally depends much more on the Exhibit 1.1
administrative ability of its leaders than on their
technical ability.”8 A century later, Fayol’s argu-
The Four Functions of Management
ments still hold true. During a two-year study
code-named Project Oxygen, Google analyzed
performance reviews and feedback surveys to
identify the traits of its best managers. According
to Laszlo Bock, Google’s vice president for peo-
ple operations, “We’d always believed that to be a Planning Organizing
manager, particularly on the engineering side, you
need to be as deep or deeper a technical expert
than the people who work for you. It turns out
that that’s absolutely the least important thing.”
What was most important? “Be a good coach.”
“Empower; Don’t micromanage.” “Be product
and results-oriented.” “Be a good communicator
and listen to your team.” “Be interested in [your]
direct reports’ success and well-being.” In short,
Google found what Fayol observed: administrative Leading Controlling
ability, or management, is key to an organization’s
success.9
According to Fayol, managers need to perform
five managerial functions in order to be successful:
planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding,
4 PART one
industry, that usually means matching staffing levels
1-2a Planning to customer traffic, increasing staffing when busy, and
Planning involves determining organizational goals then decreasing staffing when slow. Walmart recently
and a means for achieving them. As you’ll learn in Chap- implemented software to match the schedules of its
ter 5, planning is one of the best ways to improve perfor- 2.2 million associates with the flows of its 260 million
mance. It encourages people to work harder, to work for weekly customers. While this dynamic, just-in-time ap-
extended periods, to engage in behaviors directly related proach sounds like a great idea, it resulted in highly
to goal accomplishment, and to think of better ways to fragmented schedules for thousands of store employ-
do their jobs. But most importantly, companies that plan ees who could be sent home from work after just a few
have larger profits and faster growth than companies hours (due to unexpectedly slow customer traffic) or
that don’t plan. called back unexpectedly (when customer traffic in-
For example, the question “What business are we creased). These unpredictable work schedules, which
in?” is at the heart of strategic planning. You’ll learn effectively put many associates perpetually on call,
about this in Chapter 6. If you can answer the ques- produced backlash from employees, advocacy groups,
tion “What business are you in?” in two sentences or and unions alike. In response, Walmart reconfigured its
fewer, chances are you have a very clear plan for your schedules using three types of shifts: open, fixed, and
business. But getting a clear plan is not so easy. As flex. Managers schedule open shift employees
the manufacturer of backpacks for industry lead- during times that they previously indicated that
ing brands like JanSport, North Face, Timber- they would be available for. Fixed shifts, which
land, and Eastpak, VF Corporation dominates the are offered first to long-time employees, guar-
$2.7 billion backpack business. The increasing antee the same weekly hours for up to a year.
digitalization of textbooks and other documents Finally, flex shifts let employees build their
has led VF to reassess how customers use its own schedules in two- to three-week blocks.
backpacks. According to JanSport director of Walmart is also developing an app that will allow
research and design Eric Rothenhaus, “We employees to view, update, and set their schedules
realized we needed to forget everything we using a smartphone. Walmart managers have high
knew about the category. . . . We started to ask: hopes for the new shift structures, which reduced
What are the things we carry with us? How do absenteeism by 11 percent and employee turn-
we carry them? And how is that changing?”13 VF over by 14 percent during a two-year test.15
Michaeljung/Shutterstock.com
studied college students, homeless people, and

You’ll learn more about organizing in Chapter 9 on
extreme mountaineers, learning that they had sur-
designing adaptive organizations, Chapter 10 on
prisingly similar requirements: water-resistance,
managing teams, Chapter 11 on managing human
flexibility, storage for electronics, and the ability
resources, and Chapter 12 on managing individu-
to pack and unpack several times a day. So rather
als and a diverse workforce.
than making bags to carry things from point A to
point B, VR’s JanSport backpacks are designed for
people who move and work in multiple locations—
classrooms, coffee shops, shared office spaces, and be-
1-2c Leading
yond. “When you need to be on the go,” Rothenhaus Our third management function, leading, involves
said, “you need a backpack.”14 inspiring and motivating workers to work hard to achieve
organizational goals. Eileen Martinson, CEO of software
You’ll learn more about planning in Chapter 5 on planning
developer Sparta Sys-
and decision making, Chapter 6 on organizational strat-
tems, believes that it is Planning determining
egy, Chapter 7 on innovation and change, and Chapter 8 organizational goals and a means for
important for leaders
on global management. achieving them
to clearly communicate
what an organization’s Organizing deciding where
goals are. She says, “A decisions will be made, who will do
1-2b Organizing boss taught me a long
what jobs and tasks, and who will
work for whom
Organizing is deciding where decisions will be made, time ago that people are
who will do what jobs and tasks, and who will work for going to remember only Leading inspiring and motivating
workers to work hard to achieve
whom in the company. In other words, organizing is two to three things.” So organizational goals
about determining how things get done. In the retail at her first company-wide
Management Tips from the Pros
T he functions of planning, organiz-

ing, leading, and controlling all
seem straightforward enough, but
organized is by crowdsourcing
meeting agendas. She asks cowork-
ers to add agenda items to an on-
how do managers do all of them si- line spreadsheet, and then during
multaneously? Today’s managers are the meeting, covers only the topics
busy; as you’ll learn later in the chapter, listed—no more.
managers spend as little as two min- ▸ Leading: Indra Nooyi, CEO of
utes on a task before having to switch PepsiCo, handwrites notes to
to another! Here are some techniques roughly 200 of the company’s top
seasoned managers use to be more ef- employees and even to top recruits.
ficient and effective as they execute on She also sends notes to the parents
the four functions of management. of her direct reports, thanking them
▸▸ Planning: Carlos Ghosn is CEO of for their child.
two automakers with headquar- ▸ Controlling: Birchbox CEO Katia
ters halfway around the world from Beauchamp insists her coworkers
each other: Nissan (in Japan) and give her a deadline for every ques-
iStockphoto.com/EdStock
Renault (in France). He is also the tion they ask her, no matter how
chairman of a third—AvtoVaz (in simple. That way, she can prioritize
Russia). To balance all his respon- her responses and stay on track.
sibilities, he plans his schedule out Source: J. McGregor, “How 10 CEOs Work Smarter,
more than a year in advance. Manage Better, and Get Things Done Faster,”
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi speaks Washington Post, January 2, 2015, https://www
▸▸ Organizing: One of the ways Adora .washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership
at a conference in Miami, Florida. /wp/2015/01/02/how-10-ceos-work-smarter
Cheung, CEO of Homejoy, stays -manage-better-and-get-things-done-faster/.
meeting, she communicated just one goal—doubling rev- standards. When traveling, Indians are much more likely
enues over the next few years.16 Martinson says, “The em- to stay with friends or family than in a hotel. In fact, there
ployees completely understand where we are going, and are just two hotel rooms for every 10,000 people in India
we’ve built a culture around that. If you have to come in and (compared to 40 in China and 200 in the United States).
show me 45 charts and go through a lot of mumbo jumbo Why is this? Analyst Chetan Kapoor says, “There are lots
that neither of us understands, it’s not going to work.”17 of hotels where customers go in thinking, ‘Will there be
rats in my room?’”18 Roughly 60 percent of those rooms
You’ll learn more about leading in Chapter 13 on motiva-
are located in independent budget hotels, which vary dra-
tion, Chapter 14 on leadership, and Chapter 15 on manag-
matically in quality. Oyo Rooms is aiming to change that
ing communication.
with its new hotel inspection service. Oyo inspects hotels
across 200 dimensions, including linen quality, mattress
1-2d Controlling comfort, cleanliness, shower water temperature, and staff
appearance. Hotels agree to maintain those standards
The last function of management, controlling, is
as a condition of staying in Oyo’s 175 city database. Oyo
monitoring progress toward goal achievement and tak-
Rooms founder Ritesh Agarwal says that inspections en-
ing corrective action when progress isn’t being made.
courage hoteliers to make repairs and upgrade facilities.
The basic control process involves setting standards to
As a result, he says, “When you book a room through Oyo,
achieve goals, comparing
you know exactly what you’re going to get.”19
actual performance to
Controlling monitoring progress You’ll learn more about the control function in Chapter 16 on
those standards, and then
toward goal achievement and taking
corrective action when needed making changes to return control, Chapter 17 on managing information, and Chapter
performance to those 18 on managing service and manufacturing operations.
6 PART one
1-3 Kinds of Managers performance. That is, top managers are responsible
for creating employee buy-in. Third, top managers
must create a positive organizational culture through
Not all managerial jobs are the same. The demands language and action. Top managers impart company
and requirements placed on the CEO of Facebook are values, strategies, and lessons through what they do
significantly different from those placed on the manager and say to others both inside and outside the company.
of your local Chipotle restaurant. Indeed, no matter what they communicate, it’s critical
for them to send and reinforce clear, consistent mes-
As shown in Exhibit 1.2, there are four kinds of managers,
sages.25 When Phil Martens became CEO of aluminum
each with different jobs and responsibilities: 1-3a top
producer Novelis, he spent his first 100 days visiting
managers, 1-3b middle managers, 1-3c first-line man-
plants around the world and discovered that the com-
agers, and 1-3d team leaders.
pany, with 11,000 employees, had highly fragment-
ed business practices, operations, and strategies. To
1-3a Top Managers clearly communicate, “that we’re going to move from a
Top managers hold positions such as chief execu- fragmented, regional company to a globally integrated
tive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), chief company,” Martens had shirts with the slogan, “One
financial officer (CFO), and chief information officer Novelis,” distributed so that a symbolic picture of the
(CIO) and are responsible for the overall direction of the leadership team could be taken. For the picture, said
organization. Top managers have three major responsi- Martens, “We stood in a very defined triangle, very pre-
bilities.20 First, they are responsible for creating a con- cise, because I wanted to create the image of order, and
text for change. When R. J. Dourney was hired as Cosí’s that we are together.”26 Likewise, it’s important to ac-
CEO, the sandwich chain had struggled for 12 years tively manage internal organizational communication.
under nine CEOs who never posted a profit. After just As part of the One Novelis program, Martens created
two days on the job, Dourney announced to the compa- a global safety program, called Together We Are Safe,
ny’s corporate employees that its Chicago headquarters which monitored health and safety practices across
would close and be relocated in Boston, where Dourney Novelis’s global sites, identified best practices, and then
had been a successful franchiser of thirteen Cosi stores adopted and communicated them as a global standard.
before becoming CEO. Dourney immediately closed As a result, from 2009 to 2013, Novelis saw injuries, ill-
ten unprofitable stores, updated the menu, and changed nesses, and fatalities drop by over 40 percent.27
Così’s stock-incentive program to be performance based. Finally, top managers are responsible for monitoring
He then rolled out a more efficient serving system to their business environments. This means that top managers
serve customers quickly at all locations. In less than a must closely monitor customer needs, competitors’ moves,
year, those same store sales rose 20 percent while the and long-term business, economic, and social trends.
company’s stock price rose 160 percent per share.21
Indeed, in both Europe and the United States,
35 percent of all CEOs are eventually fired because of their
1-3b Middle Managers
inability to successfully change their companies.22 Creat- Middle managers hold positions such as plant
ing a context for change includes forming a long-range manager, regional manager, or divisional manager.
vision or mission for the company. When Satya Nadella They are responsible for setting objectives consistent
was appointed CEO of Microsoft, the company was per- with top management’s goals and for planning and im-
ceived as a shortsighted, lumbering behemoth. Nadella plementing subunit strategies for achieving those ob-
reoriented the company with a series of acquisitions and jectives.28 Or as one middle manager put it, a middle
innovations, including purchasing Mojang, maker of the manager is, “the imple-
Minecraft video game, and a 3D-hologram feature for menter of the company’s Top managers executives
controlling Windows. After following Microsoft for years, strategy” who figures responsible for the overall direction
one analyst noted about Nadella’s new direction for the out the “how” to do the of the organization
company, “Microsoft hasn’t really shown any sort of vision “what.” Ryan Carson
29
Middle managers responsible
like this in a long, long time.”23 As one CEO said, “The founded online learn- for setting objectives consistent with
CEO has to think about the future more than anyone.”24 ing company Treehouse top management’s goals and for
After that vision or mission is set, the second res Island without manag- planning and implementing subunit
strategies for achieving these
ponsibility of top managers is to develop employ- ers because he believed objectives
ees’ commitment to and ownership of the company’s that his 100 employees
Exhibit 1.2
What the Four Kinds of Managers Do
Jobs Responsibilities
Top Managers
CEO CIO Change
COO Vice president Commitment
CFO Corporate heads Culture
Environment
Mmichaeljung/Shutterstock.com/BlueSkyImage/Shutterstock.com/Kzenon / Shutterstock.com/Racorn/Shutterstock.com
Middle Managers
General manager Resources
Plant manager Objectives
Regional manager Coordination
Divisional manager Subunit performance
Strategy implementation
First-Line Managers
Office manager Nonmanagerial worker supervision
Shift supervisor Teaching and training
Department manager Scheduling
Facilitation
Team Leaders
Team leader Facilitation
Team contact External relationships
Group facilitator Internal relationships
could make decisions better and faster by themselves. One middle manager described his job as, “A man who
However, that decision was severely tested when rapid can discuss strategy with [the] CXO at breakfast and
growth resulted in 100,000 students enrolled in Tree- [then] eat lunch with workers.”31
house Island’s online courses. Employees, unsure of A third responsibility of middle management is to
their responsibilities, became increasingly frustrated as monitor and manage the performance of the subunits
endless meetings never seemed to result in meaningful and individual managers who report to them. Finally,
action or decisions. Tasks and projects that were nec- middle managers are also responsible for implement-
essary to keep up with demand started to fall behind ing the changes or strategies generated by top manag-
schedule. Carson fixed the situation by creating roles ers. Why? Because they’re closer to the managers and
for middle managers. “That [managerless] experiment employees who work on a daily basis with suppliers to
broke,” said Carson. “I just had to admit it.”30 effectively and efficiently deliver the company’s product
One specific middle management responsibility or service. In short, they’re closer to the people who can
is to plan and allocate resources to meet objectives. A best solve problems and implement solutions. How im-
second major responsibility is to coordinate and link portant are middle managers to company performance?
groups, departments, and divisions within a company. A study of nearly 400 video-game companies conducted
8 PART one
at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of enough sandwiches for lunch?) After the day is planned,
Business found that middle managers’ effectiveness the manager turns to weekend orders. After accounting
accounted for 22 percent of the differences in perfor- for the weather (hot or cold) and the sales trends at the
mance across companies. In fact, middle managers were same time last year, the manager makes sure the store
three times as important as the video-game designers will have enough beer, soft drinks, and snack foods on
who develop game characters and storylines. Profes- hand. Finally, the manager looks seven to ten days ahead
sor Ethan Mollick, who conducted the study, said that for hiring needs. Because of strict hiring procedures (ba-
middle managers are the key to “making sure the people sic math tests, drug tests, and background checks), it can
at the bottom and the top [of the organization] are get- take that long to hire new employees. Said one conve-
ting what they need.”32 As for Treehouse Island, revenue nience store manager, “I have to continually interview,
is up, the number of instructional videos has increased, even if I am fully staffed.”35
and response times to student questions have been cut in
half. According to teacher Craig Dennis, things are “light
years better” with middle managers in place.33
1-3d Team Leaders
The fourth kind of manager is a team leader. This rela-
tively new kind of management job developed as compa-
1-3c First-Line Managers nies shifted to self-managing teams, which, by definition,
First-line managers hold positions such as office man- have no formal supervisor. In traditional management
ager, shift supervisor, or department manager. The pri- hierarchies, first-line managers are responsible for the
mary responsibility of first-line managers is to manage the performance of nonmanagerial employees and have the
performance of entry-level employees who are directly authority to hire and fire workers, make job assignments,
responsible for producing a com- and control resources. In this new
pany’s goods and services. structure, the teams themselves
Thus, first-line managers perform nearly all of the func-
are the only managers who tions performed by first-line
don’t supervise other man- managers under traditional
agers. The responsibilities hierarchies.36
Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com
of first-line managers include Team leaders are
monitoring, teaching, and primarily responsible for
short-term planning. facilitating team activi-
First-line managers en- ties toward accomplishing
courage, monitor, and reward a goal. This doesn’t mean
the performance of their work- team leaders are responsible
ers. First-line managers are also for team performance. They
responsible for teaching entry- aren’t. The team is. So how do
level employees how to do their team leaders help their teams
jobs. They also make detailed sched- accomplish their goals? Avinoam
ules and operating plans based on middle manage- Nowogrodski, CEO at Clarizen, a software
ment’s intermediate-range plans. In contrast to the long- company, says, “Great leaders ask the right
term plans of top managers (three to five years out) and questions. They recognize . . . that a team is much bet-
the intermediate plans of middle managers (six to eigh- ter at figuring out the answers.”37 Team leaders help
teen months out), first-line managers engage in plans their team members
and actions that typically produce results within two plan and schedule work,
First-line managers
weeks.34 Consider the typical convenience store man- learn to solve problems, responsible for training and
ager (e.g., 7-Eleven) who starts the day by driving past and work effectively supervising the performance of
competitors’ stores to inspect their gasoline prices and with each other. Man- nonmanagerial employees who are
then checks the outside of his or her store for anything agement consultant directly responsible for producing
the company’s products or services
that might need maintenance, such as burned-out lights Franklin Jonath says,
or signs, or restocking, such as windshield washer fluid “The idea is for the Team leaders managers
responsible for facilitating
and paper towels. Then comes an inside check, where team leader to be at the
team activities toward goal
the manager determines what needs to be done for that service of the group.” accomplishment
day. (Are there enough donuts and coffee for breakfast or It should be clear that
the team members own the outcome. The leader is
there to bring intellectual, emotional, and spiritual re-
1-4 Managerial Roles
sources to the team. Through his or her actions, the
leader should be able to show the others how to think Although all four types of managers engage in planning,
about the work that they’re doing in the context of organizing, leading, and controlling, if you were to follow
their lives. It’s a tall order, but the best teams have them around during a typical day on the job, you would
such leaders.38 probably not use these terms to describe what they actually
Relationships among team members and between do. Rather, what you’d see are the various roles managers
different teams are crucial to good team performance play. Professor Henry Mintzberg followed five American
and must be well managed by team leaders, who are CEOs, shadowing each for a week and analyzing their
responsible for fostering good relationships and ad- mail, their conversations, and their actions. He concluded
dressing problematic ones within their teams. Getting that managers fulfill three major roles while performing
along with others is much more important in team their jobs—interpersonal, informational, and decisional.43
structures because team members can’t get work done In other words, managers talk to people, gather and
without the help of teammates. Clarizen CEO Avino- give information, and make decisions. Furthermore, as
am Nowogrodski agrees, saying, “Innovation is created shown in Exhibit 1.3, these three major roles can be sub-
with people who you respect. It will never happen in divided into ten subroles.
a group of people who hate each other. If you want to Let’s examine each major role—1-4a interpersonal roles,
have innovation within your company, you need to have 1-4b informational roles, and 1-4c decisional roles—
a culture of respect.”39 And, Nowogrodski adds, that and their ten subroles.
starts with the team leader. “If you respect other peo-
ple, they’ll respect you.”40 Tim Clem emerged as a team
leader at GitHub, a San Francisco—based software 1-4a Interpersonal Roles
company that provides collaborative tools and online
More than anything else, management jobs are people-
work spaces for people who code software. GitHub,
intensive. When asked about her experience as a
itself, also uses team structures and team leaders to
decide the software projects on which its 170 employ-
ees will work. After only a few months at the company,
Clem, who had not previously led a team, convinced Exhibit 1.3
his GitHub colleagues to work on a new product he had Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles
designed for Microsoft Windows. Without their ap-
proval, he would not have gotten the go-ahead and the Interpersonal Roles
resources to hire people to do the project. By contrast, Figurehead
a manager, and not the team, would have likely made Leader
this decision in a traditional management structure.41 Liaison
Team leaders are also responsible for managing
external relationships. Team leaders act as the bridge or
liaison between their teams and other teams, departments,
and divisions in a company. For example, if a member of Informational Roles
Team A complains about the quality of Team B’s work, Monitor
Team A’s leader is responsible for solving the problem by Disseminator
initiating a meeting with Team B’s leader. Together, these Spokesperson
team leaders are responsible for getting members of both
teams to work together to solve the problem. If it’s done
right, the problem is solved without involving company Decisional Roles
management or blaming members of the other team.42 Entrepreneur
In summary, because of these critical differences, Disturbance Handler
team leaders who don’t understand how their roles are Resource Allocator
different from those of traditional managers often strug- Negotiator
gle in their jobs. Source: Adapted from “The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact,” by Mintzberg,
H. Harvard Business Review, July–August 1975.
You will learn more about teams in Chapter 10.
10 PART one
Seven Deadlies—Things Great Bosses Avoid
A manager is responsible not only for providing direction and
guidance to employees but also for making sure to create a
work environment that allows them to be the best. Author and col-
6. Asking employees to do something that you
don’t want to do.
7. Asking employees to reveal personal informa-
umnist Jeff Haden identifies seven things that managers often do tion in the spirit of “team building.”
that create an uncomfortable and unproductive work atmosphere:
1. P ressuring employees to attend social events. When your
employees are with people from work, even at some party,
it might just end up feeling like “work.”
2. Pressuring employees to give to charity.
3. Not giving employees time to eat during mealtime hours.
4. Asking employees to do self-evaluations.
Brues/Shutterstock.com
5. Asking employees to evaluate their coworkers.
Source: J. Haden “7 Things Great Bosses Never Ask Employees to Do” Inc.com, March 12,
2015, accessed March 28, 2015. http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/7-things-the-best
-bosses-refuse-to-ask-employees-to-do.html.
first-time CEO, Kim Bowers, CEO of CST Brands, for 2013. Xu said, “The (2013) target was very ambitious
said, “We have 12,000 employees. [So,] I spend a to motivate staff.”47
lot of time out in the field with them.”44 Estimates In the liaison role, managers deal with people
vary with the level of management, but most manag- outside their units. Studies consistently indicate that
ers spend between two-thirds and four-fifths of their managers spend as much time with outsiders as they do
time in face-to-face communication with others.45 If with their own subordinates and their own bosses. For
you’re a loner, or if you consider dealing with people example, CEOs often sit on other companies’ boards.
a pain, then you may not be cut out for management CEO Stephen Zarrilli, of Safeguard Scientifics, which
work. In fulfilling the interpersonal role of manage- invests in high-growth health care and technology
ment, managers perform three subroles: figurehead, firms, says, “When you sit on another company’s board,
leader, and liaison. you gain perspective—not only about the company and
In the figurehead role, managers perform cer- its industry—but, more importantly, about other oper-
emonial duties such as greeting company visitors, speak- ating methodologies, governance, and viewpoints that
ing at the opening of a new facility, or representing the can be very beneficial
company at a community luncheon to support local char- when you bring them
ities. When Fendi, the Italian fashion house, launched a back to your compa- Figurehead role the
design initiative to raise money for charity, CEO Pietro ny.”48 Indeed, companies interpersonal role managers play
Beccari hosted a gala at the company’s recently opened in low-growth, highly when they perform ceremonial
duties
flagship store in New York City.46 competitive industries
In the leader role, managers motivate and encour whose CEOs sit on out- Leader role the interpersonal
role managers play when they
age workers to accomplish organizational objectives (see side boards earn an av-
motivate and encourage workers to
box “Seven Deadlies—Things Great Bosses Avoid”). erage return on assets accomplish organizational objectives
One way managers can act as leaders is to establish chal- 15 percent higher than
Liaison role the interpersonal
lenging goals. William Xu, the enterprise division chief companies with CEOs
role managers play when they deal
of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Enter- who don’t sit on outside with people outside their units
prises, gave his division a 40 percent sales growth target boards!49
1-4b Informational Roles for monitoring social media.51 An-
other site, Federal News Service
Not only do managers spend most of (http://fednews.com), provides sub-
their time in face-to-face contact with scribers with daily electronic news
others, they spend much of it obtaining clips from more than 10,000 online
and sharing information. Mintzberg news sites.52
found that the managers in his study Because of their numerous
spent 40 percent of their time giving personal contacts and their ac-
and getting information from others. cess to subordinates, managers
In this regard, management can be are often hubs for the distribu-
viewed as gathering information by tion of critical information. In the
scanning the business environment disseminator role, managers
and listening to others in face-to-face share the information they have
conversations, processing that infor- collected with their subordinates
AP Images/Keith Srakocic
mation, and then sharing it with people and others in the company. At
both inside and outside the company. Qualtrics, a software company
Mintzberg described three informa- that provides sophisticated on-
tional subroles: monitor, disseminator, line survey research tools, CEO
and spokesperson. Ryan Smith makes sure that
H.J. Heinz Company CEO
In the monitor role, managers everyone in the company is clear
scan their environment for information, Bernardo Hees acts as
on company goals and plans.
actively contact others for information, a spokesperson for his Every Monday, employees are
and, because of their personal con- company. Here, Hees speaks asked via email to respond to two
tacts, receive a great deal of unsolicited at an exhibition at the Senator questions: “What are you going to
information. Besides receiving firsthand John Heinz History Center in get done this week? And what did
information, managers monitor their en- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. you get done last week that you
vironment by reading local newspapers said you were going to do?” Smith
and the Wall Street Journal to keep track says, “Then that rolls up into one
of customers, competitors, and technological changes that email that the entire organization gets. So if someone’s
may affect their businesses. Today’s managers can sub- got a question, they can look at that for an explanation.
scribe to electronic monitoring and distribution services We share other information, too—every time we have
that track the news wires (Associated Press, Reuters, and a meeting, we release meeting notes to the organiza-
so on) for stories and social media posts related to their tion. When we have a board meeting, we write a let-
businesses. These services deliver customized news that ter about it afterward and send it to the organization.”
only includes topics the managers specify. Business Wire Qualtrics also uses an internal database where each
(http://www.businesswire.com) monitors and distributes quarter employees enter their plans for meeting the
daily news headlines from major industries (for example company’s objectives. Those plans are then made vis-
automotive, banking and financial, health, high tech).50 ible to everyone else at Qualtrics.53
CyberAlert (http://www In contrast to the disseminator role, in which man-
.cyberalert.com) keeps agers distribute information to employees inside the
Monitor role the informational round-the-clock track
role managers play when they scan
company, managers in the spokesperson role share
their environment for information of new stories in cat- information with people outside their departments or
egories chosen by each companies. One of the most common ways that CEOs
Disseminator role the subscriber. It also offers
informational role managers play
act as spokespeople for their companies is speaking at
when they share information with CyberAlert Social, which annual meetings and on conference calls with sharehold-
others in their departments monitors roughly 25 mil- ers or boards of directors. CEOs also serve as spokes-
or companies lion individual social people to the media when their companies are involved
Spokesperson role the media posts daily across in major news stories. When Kraft Foods merged with
informational role managers play 190 million social me- H.J. Heinz Company in 2015, managers began work-
when they share information with dia sources worldwide. ing to reduce spending. They announced 5,000 layoffs
people outside their departments or
Brandwatch and Viral- and implemented zero-based budgeting, which re-
companies
Heat are additional tools quires even the smallest expenses to be justified every
12 PART one
year. With earnings drop- writedown. Cornell said,
Tupungato/Shutterstock.com
ping and revenue down “Simply put, we were losing
nearly 10 percent, CEO money every day,” and could
Bernardo Hees told the not, “find a realistic scenario that
media and investors, “We got Target Canada to profitability until at
are instituting routines least 2021.”56
that represent discipline, accountability, and methodol- In the resource allocator role, managers decide
ogy for how we will operate. The actions under the re- who will get what resources and how many resources
sulting plan will take us two years to be [sic] complete, they will get. Ford’s F-series truck, the best selling ve-
but will make us more globally competitive and acceler- hicle in the U.S. for 32 consecutive years, generates
ate our future growth.”54 $22 billion in sales a year and accounts for 12 percent
of Ford’s global sales and 40 percent of its global prof-
its. In 2009, Ford committed to a multibillion-dollar in-
1-4c Decisional Roles vestment to redesign the F-series, whose prices range
Mintzberg found that obtaining and sharing information from $24,000 to $50,000, to be built with a completely
is not an end in itself. Obtaining and sharing information aluminum body, something found only in much more
with people inside and outside the company is useful expensive cars, such as the the $70,000 Tesla Model S
to managers because it helps them make good deci- or the $75,000 Audi A8. Ford Chairman Bill Ford, says,
sions. According to Mintzberg, managers engage in four “Some people might say, ‘Aren’t you taking a chance with
decisional subroles: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, your best-selling vehicle?’ But that’s what you have to
resource allocator, and negotiator. do.” He said, “I would have had much more anxiety if
In the entrepreneur role, managers adapt them- they had come in with business-as-usual.” The 2015 F-
selves, their subordinates, and their units to change. series is 700 lbs. lighter, which allowed Ford engineers
For years, Whole Foods Market, was the top—and to replace a 6.2 liter V8 with a 3.5-liter turbocharged
only—organic grocery retailer. When traditional chains, V6. While still capable of towing 8,000 pounds, overall
such as Kroger and Walmart, began offering organic gas mileage rose by 16 percent from 19 mpg to 22 mpg,
produce, meat, and packaged foods for cheaper prices, making the F-series the most fuel efficient gas-powered
Whole Foods—sometimes called “Whole Paycheck” vehicle in its class.”57
due to its high prices—became vulnerable and earnings In the negotiator role, managers negotiate sched-
plummeted. Co-CEO Walter Robb said, “All of a sud- ules, projects, goals, outcomes, resources, and employee
den . . . you can get the same stuff in many other places raises. When low-cost Dublin-based airline Ryanair was
and you could get it cheaper.” So the company cut prices, shopping for 200 new planes in 2014, it pressed Boeing
which, “Will tell customers what we are about: values and and Airbus to add an extra eight to eleven seats per plane.
value,” says founder and Co-CEO John Mackey. Whole Doing so cuts costs by 20
Foods also launched its first national advertising cam- percent and earns an extra Entrepreneur role the
paign, started a customer loyalty program, and partnered 1 million euros per plane decisional role managers play
with Instacart to deliver groceries to customers’ homes each year. CEO Michael when they adapt themselves, their
subordinates, and their units to
in fifteen cities. Co-CEO Robb says that changes—and O’Leary traveled from change
lower prices—will continue.55 Ireland to Seattle to per-
In the disturbance handler role, managers re- sonally negotiate the deal Disturbance handler
role the decisional role managers
spond to pressures and problems so severe that they and acknowledged pitting play when they respond to severe
demand immediate attention and action. In Decem- Ryanair’s longtime suppli- pressures and problems that
ber 2014, Brian Cornell, Target’s new CEO, went on a er Boeing against Airbus, demand immediate action
solo tour of the company’s Canadian retail stores. Tar- saying, “We were very Resource allocator role the
get Canada, the company’s first international expan- close to going to Airbus decisional role managers play when
sion, had lost $2 billion since starting in 2011. Cornell, in the spring [of 2014].” they decide who gets what resources
CEO for just four months, wanted to see the strug- O’Leary left Boeing with and in what amounts
gling Canadian stores firsthand. On returning home, a deal for 200 planes, each Negotiator role the decisional
he reviewed Target Canada’s sales numbers, and just with eight extra seats, and role managers play when they
a few weeks later, in January 2015, announced Target a hefty discount off the negotiate schedules, projects, goals,
outcomes, resources, and employee
would spend $600 million to liquidate all 133 Canadian $104 million retail price raises
stores, lay off 17,000 employees, and take a $5.4 billion of Boeing’s 737-MAX
jet (still in development) that brought the total price tag
down from $20.8 billion to $11 billion.58 Exhibit 1.4
Management Skills
What Companies
Importance
1-5
High
Look for in
Managers
I didn’t have the slightest idea what my job was.
I walked in giggling and laughing because I had
Importance
been promoted and had no idea what principles
Low
or style to be guided by. After the first day, I felt
like I had run into a brick wall. (Sales Repre-
Technical Human Conceptual Motivation
sentative #1) Skills Skills Skills to Manage
Suddenly, I found myself saying, boy, I can’t Team Leaders Middle Managers
be responsible for getting all that revenue. I First-Line Managers Top Managers
don’t have the time. Suddenly you’ve got to go
from [taking care of] yourself and say now I’m
the manager, and what does a man-
ager do? It takes awhile think-
goals. If performance in nonmanagerial
ing about it for it to really
jobs doesn’t necessarily prepare you for
hit you . . . a manager gets
a managerial job, then what does it
things done through other
take to be a manager?
people. That’s a very, very hard transition
When companies look for em-
to make. (Sales Representative #2)59
ployees who would be good managers,
The preceding statements were made by two they look for individuals who have technical
star sales representatives who, on the basis of skills, human skills, conceptual skills, and
their superior performance, were promoted the motivation to manage.60 Exhibit 1.4
to the position of sales manager. As their shows the relative importance of these
comments indicate, at first they did not four skills to the jobs of team leaders,
feel confident about their ability to do their first-line managers, middle manag-
jobs as managers. Like most new managers, ers, and top managers.
these sales managers suddenly realized that the Technical skills are
knowledge, skills, and abilities that led to suc- the specialized proce-
cess early in their careers (and were probably dures, techniques, and
responsible for their promotion into the ranks knowledge required to get the job done. For
of management) would not necessarily help the sales managers described previously, tech-
them succeed as managers. As sales representa- nical skills involve the ability to find new sales
tives, they were responsible only for managing prospects, develop accurate sales pitches based
their own performance. But as sales managers, on customer needs, and close sales. For a nurse
Viorel Sima/Shutterstock.com
they were now directly responsible for supervis- supervisor, technical skills include being able to
ing all of the sales representatives in their sales insert an IV or operate a crash cart if a patient
territories. Further- goes into cardiac arrest.
more, they were now Technical skills are most important for team
Technical skills the specialized directly accountable leaders and lower-level managers because they
procedures, techniques, and for whether those supervise the workers who produce products or serve
knowledge required to get the job
done sales representatives customers. Team leaders and first-line managers need
achieved their sales technical knowledge and skills to train new employees
14 PART one
How to Be an Effective Executive in the Age
of Brilliant Machines
I n the era of big data, powerful analytics, enterprise software

tools, and apps that do just about anything, there’s no deny-
ing that technology has made many jobs obsolete. Could the
▸▸ Tolerating ambiguity—The bigger and broader a problem,
the better suited it is to a manager who can tolerate ambi-
guity and has a high level of discernment.
same be true for managers? Could technology make manage- ▸▸ Employing soft skills—Humans have the advantage when
ment obsolete? it comes to interpersonal skills such as empathy, inspira-
As data science and artificial intelligence begin to permeate tion, and coaching.
business organizations, it will become increasingly critical for man-
In the era of brilliant machines, the managers who master hu-
agers to have strong human skills. In this era of brilliant machines,
man skills will be the ones who have the edge.
managers make the biggest difference by doing the following:
▸▸ Asking questions—It takes judgment to know who to ask, Source: Irving Wladawksy-Berger, “As Big Data and AI Take Hold, What Will It Take
to Be an Effective Executive,” Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2015. http://blogs
what questions to ask, and when to ask them. .wsj.com/cio/2015/01/23/as-big-data-and-ai-take-hold-what-will-it-take-to-be
-an-effective-executive/tab/print/.
▸▸ Attacking exceptions—An algorithm might identify ex-
ceptions, but good managers will chase them down to
resolve them.
and help employees solve problems. Technical knowl- average intelligence by approx imately 48 percent.62
edge and skills are also needed to troubleshoot problems Clearly, companies need to be careful to promote smart
that employees can’t handle. Technical skills become less workers into management. Conceptual skills increase in
important as managers rise through the managerial ranks, importance as managers rise through the management
but they are still important. hierarchy.
Human skills can be summarized as the ability to Good management involves much more than intelli-
work well with others. Managers with human skills work gence, however. For example, making the department ge-
effectively within groups, encourage others to express their nius a manager can be disastrous if that genius lacks tech-
thoughts and feelings, are sensitive to others’ needs and nical skills, human skills, or one other factor known as the
viewpoints, and are good listeners and communicators. Hu- motivation to manage. Motivation to manage is an as-
man skills are equally important at all levels of management, sessment of how motivated employees are to interact with
from team leaders to CEOs. However, because lower-level superiors, participate in competitive situations, behave
managers spend much of their time solving technical prob- assertively toward others, tell others what to do, reward
lems, upper-level managers may actually spend more time good behavior and punish poor behavior, perform actions
dealing directly with people. On average, first-line manag- that are highly visible to others, and handle and organize
ers spend 57 percent of their time with people, but that administrative tasks. Managers typically have a stronger
percentage increases to 63 percent for middle managers motivation to manage than their subordinates, and man-
and 78 percent for top managers.61 agers at higher levels usu-
Conceptual skills are the ability to see the ally have a stronger mo- Human skills the ability to work
organization as a whole, to understand how the tivation to manage than well with others
different parts of the company affect each other, and managers at lower levels.
Conceptual skills the ability
to recognize how the company fits into or is affected by Furthermore, managers to see the organization as a whole,
its external environment such as the local community, with a stronger motivation understand how the different parts
social and economic forces, customers, and the com- to manage are promoted affect each other, and recognize how
petition. Good managers have to be able to recognize, faster, are rated as better the company fits into or is affected
by its environment
understand, and reconcile multiple complex problems managers by their em-
and perspectives. In other words, managers have to be ployees, and earn more Motivation to manage
smart! In fact, intelligence makes so much difference money than managers an assessment of how enthusiastic
employees are about managing the
for managerial performance that managers with above- with a weak motivation to work of others
average intelligence typically outperform managers of manage.63
1-6 Mistakes Managers Exhibit 1.5
Make Top Ten Mistakes Managers Make
1. Insensitive to others: abrasive, intimidating, bullying style
Another way to understand what it takes to be a manager 2. Cold, aloof, arrogant
is to look at the mistakes managers make. In other words, 3. Betrays trust
we can learn just as much from what managers shouldn’t
4. Overly ambitious: thinking of next job, playing politics
do as from what they should do. Exhibit 1.5 lists the top
5. Specific performance problems with the business
ten mistakes managers make.
Several studies of U.S. and British managers have 6. Overmanaging: unable to delegate or build a team
compared “arrivers,” or managers who made it all the 7. Unable to staff effectively
way to the top of their companies, with “derailers,” or 8. Unable to think strategically
managers who were successful early in their careers 9. Unable to adapt to boss with different style
but were knocked off the fast track by the time they 10. Overdependent on advocate or mentor
reached the middle to upper levels of management.64 Source: M. W. McCall, Jr., and M. M. Lombardo, “What Makes a Top Executive?”
The researchers found that there were only a few dif- Psychology Today, February 1983, 26–31.
ferences between arrivers and derailers. For the most

part, both groups were talented, and both groups had
weaknesses. But what distinguished derail-

Chrisdorney/Shutterstock.com
ers from arrivers was that derailers pos-
sessed two or more fatal flaws with respect
to the way they managed people. Although
arrivers were by no means perfect, they
usually had no more than one fatal flaw or
had found ways to minimize the effects of
their flaws on the people with whom they
worked.
The top mistake made by derailers was that they
were insensitive to others by virtue of their abrasive,
intimidating, and bullying management style. The
authors of one study described a manager who walked
into his subordinate’s office and interrupted a meeting
by saying, “I need to see you.” When the subordinate
tried to explain that he was not available because he
was in the middle of a meeting, the manager barked,
“I don’t give a damn. I said I wanted to see you now.”65
Not surprisingly, only 25 percent of derailers were
rated by others as being good with people, compared
Werner Heiber/Shutterstock.com
to 75 percent of arrivers.
The second mistake was that derailers were
often cold, aloof, or arrogant. Although this sounds
like insensitivity to others, it has more to do with
derailed managers being so smart, so expert in their
areas of knowledge, that they treated others with
The top mistake made by derailers is having an contempt because they weren’t experts, too.66 For
abrasive, intimidating, and bullying management example, AT&T called in an industrial psychologist
style. to counsel its vice president of human resources be-
cause she had been blamed for “ruffling too many
16 PART one
feathers” at the company.67 Interviews with the vice decisions that their subordinates should be making—
president’s coworkers and subordinates revealed that when they can’t stop being doers—they alienate the
they thought she was brilliant, was “smarter and fast- people who work for them. Rich Dowd, founder of
er than other people,” “generates a lot of ideas,” and Dowd Associates, an executive search firm, admits
“loves to deal with complex issues.” Unfortunately, to constantly monitoring and interrupting employees
these smarts were accompanied by a cold, aloof, and because they weren’t doing the job “in the way I saw
arrogant management style. The people she worked fit, even when their work was outstanding.” Accord-
with complained that she does “too much too fast,” ing to Richard Kilburg of Johns Hopkins University,
treats coworkers with “disdain,” “impairs teamwork,” when managers interfere with workers’ decisions,
“doesn’t always show her warm side,” and has “burned “You . . . have a tendency to lose your most creative
too many bridges.”68 people. They’re able to say, ‘Screw this. I’m not stay-
The third mistake made by derailers involved ing here.’”71 Indeed, one employee told Dowd that if
betraying a trust. Betraying a trust doesn’t mean be- he was going to do her job for her, she would quit.
ing dishonest. Instead, it means making others look Second, because they are trying to do their subordi-
bad by not doing what you said you would do when nates’ jobs in addition to their own, managers who
you said you would do it. That mistake, in itself, is fail to delegate will not have enough time to do much
not fatal because managers and their workers aren’t of anything well. An office assistant to a Washington
machines. Tasks go undone in every company every politician came in to work every day to find a long to-
single business day. There’s always too much to do and do list waiting on her desk, detailing everything she
not enough time, people, money, or resources to do it. was expected to get done that day, along with how to
The fatal betrayal of trust is failing to inform others do it, who to call, and when to give her boss updates
when things will not be done right or on time. This on her progress. She said, ”Sometimes, this list was
failure to admit mistakes, failure to quickly inform three or four pages long. It must have taken him at
others of the mistakes, failure to take responsibility least an hour to create.”72
for the mistakes, and failure to fix the mistakes with-
out blaming others clearly distinguished the behavior
of derailers from arrivers.
The fourth mistake was being overly political and 1-7 The Transition
ambitious. Managers who always have their eye on their
next job rarely establish more than superficial relation- to Management:
ships with peers and coworkers. In their haste to gain
credit for successes that would be noticed by upper The First Year
management, they make the fatal mistake of treating
people as though they don’t matter. An employee with In her book Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New
an overly ambitious boss described him this way: “He Identity, Harvard Business School professor Linda
treats employees coldly, even cruelly. He assigns blame Hill followed the development of nineteen people
without regard to responsibility, and takes all the credit in their first year as managers. Her study found that
for himself. I once had such a boss, and he gave me a becoming a manager produced a profound psycho-
new definition of shared risk: If something I did was logical transition that changed the way these managers
successful, he took the credit. If it wasn’t, I got the viewed themselves and others. As shown in Exhibit 1.6,
blame.”69 the evolution of the managers’ thoughts, expectations,
The fatal mistakes of being unable to delegate, and realities over the course of their first year in man-
build a team, and staff effectively indicate that many agement reveals the magnitude of the changes they
derailed managers were unable to make the most experienced.
basic transition to managerial work: to quit being Initially, the managers in Hill’s study believed
hands-on doers and get work done through others. that their job was to exercise formal authority and to
In fact, according to an article in Harvard Business manage tasks—basically being the boss, telling oth-
Review, up to 50 percent of new managers fail be- ers what to do, making decisions, and getting things
cause they cannot make the transition from producing done. One of the managers Hill interviewed said, “Be-
to managing.70 Two things go wrong when managers ing the manager means running my own office, using
make these mistakes. First, when managers meddle in my ideas and thoughts.” Another said, “[The office is]
Exhibit 1.6
Stages in the Transition to Management
MANAGERS’ INITIAL EXPECTATIONS AFTER SIX MONTHS AS A MANAGER AFTER A YEAR AS A MANAGER
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Be the boss Initial expectations were wrong No longer a doer

Formal authority Fast pace Communication, listening, and positive
reinforcement
Manage tasks Heavy workload
Learning to adapt to and control stress
Job is not managing people Job is to be problem solver and
troubleshooter for subordinates Job is people development
Source: L.A. Hill, Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1992).
my baby. It’s my job to make sure it works.”73 In fact, Informal descriptions like these are consistent with
most of the new managers were attracted to manage- studies indicating that the average first-line manager
ment positions because they wanted to be in charge. spends no more than two minutes on a task before
Surprisingly, the new managers did not believe that being interrupted by a request from a subordinate,
their job was to manage people. The only aspects of a phone call, or an email. The pace is somewhat less
people management mentioned by the new managers hurried for top managers, who spend an average of
were hiring and firing. approximately nine minutes on a task before having to
After six months, most of the new managers had switch to another. In practice, this means that su-
concluded that their initial expectations pervisors may perform thirty tasks per hour, while
about managerial work were wrong. Man- top managers perform seven tasks per
agement wasn’t just about being the hour, with each task typically different
boss, making decisions, and telling oth- from the one that preceded it. A man-
ers what to do. The first surprise was the ager described this frenetic level of
fast pace and heavy workload involved. activity by saying, “The only
Said one of Hill’s managers, “This job is time you are in control is
much harder than you think. It is 40 to when you shut your door,
50 percent more work than being a pro- and then I feel I am not
ducer! Who would have ever doing the job I’m sup-
guessed?” The pace of mana- posed to be doing,
gerial work was startling, too. which is being with
Another manager said, “You the people.”75
have eight or nine people The other major
looking for your time . . . surprise after six months
coming into and out on the job was that the
of your office all day managers’ expectations
IQoncept/Shutterstock.com
long.” A somewhat about what they should do as

frustrated manager managers were very differ-
declared that manage- ent from their subordinates’
ment was “a job that never expectations. Initially, the
ended . . . a job you couldn’t get managers defined their jobs as
your hands around.”74 helping their subordinates perform
18 PART one
their jobs well. For the managers, who still defined
themselves as doers rather than managers, assisting 1-8 Competitive
their subordinates meant going out on sales calls or
handling customer complaints. One manager said, “I
Advantage
like going out with the rep, who may need me to lend
him my credibility as manager. I like the challenge,
through People
the joy in closing. I go out with the reps and we make
the call and talk about the customer; it’s fun.”76 But If you walk down the aisle of the business section in
when the managers “assisted” in this way, their sub- your local bookstore, you’ll find hundreds of books that
ordinates were resentful and viewed their help as in- explain precisely what companies need to do to be suc-
terference. The subordinates wanted their managers cessful. Unfortunately, the best-selling business books
to help them by solving problems that they couldn’t tend to be faddish, changing dramatically every few
solve themselves. After the managers realized this years. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the im-
distinction, they embraced their role as problem solv- portance of good people and good management: compa-
er and troubleshooter. Thus, they could help without nies can’t succeed for long without them.
interfering with their subordinates’ jobs. In his books Competitive Advantage through
After a year on the job, most of the managers People: Unleashing the Power of the Work Force and The
thought of themselves as managers and no longer as Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First,
doers. In making the transition, they finally realized Stanford University business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer
that people management was the most important part contends that what separates top-performing companies
of their job. One of Hill’s interviewees summarized the from their competitors is the way they treat their work-
lesson that had taken him a year to learn by say- forces—in other words, their management style.79
ing, “As many demands as managers have on their Pfeffer found that managers in top-performing
time, I think their primary responsibility is people companies used ideas such as employment security,
development. Not production, but people devel- selective hiring, self-managed teams and decentraliza-
opment.” 77 Another indication of how much their tion, high pay contingent on company performance, ex-
views had changed was that most of the managers tensive training, reduced status distinctions (between
now regretted the rather heavy-handed approach managers and employees), and extensive sharing of
they had used in their early attempts to manage their financial information to achieve financial performance
subordinates. “I wasn’t good at managing . . . , so that, on average, was 40 percent higher than that of
I was bossy like a first-grade teacher.” “Now I see other companies. These ideas, which are explained in
that I started out as a drill sergeant. I was inflexible, detail in Exhibit 1.7, help organizations develop work-
just a lot of how-tos.” By the end of the year, most forces that are smarter, better trained, more motivated,
of the managers had abandoned their authoritarian and more committed than their competitors’ work-
approach for one based on communication, listening, forces. And—as indicated by the phenomenal growth
and positive reinforcement. and return on investment earned by these companies—
Finally, after beginning their year as managers in smarter, better trained, more motivated, and more
frustration, the managers came to feel comfortable committed workforces provide superior products and
with their subordinates, with the demands of their service to customers. Such customers keep buying and,
jobs, and with their emerging managerial styles. While by telling others about their positive experiences, bring
being managers had made them acutely aware of their in new customers.
limitations and their need to develop as people, it also According to Pfeffer, companies that invest in their
provided them with an unexpected reward of coach- people will create long-lasting competitive advantages
ing and developing the people who worked for them. that are difficult for other companies to duplicate.
One manager said, “It gives me the best feeling to Other studies also clearly demonstrate that sound man-
see somebody do something well after I have helped agement practices can produce substantial advantages
them. I get excited.” Another stated, “I realize now in four critical areas of organizational performance:
that when I accepted the position of branch manager sales revenues, profits, stock market returns, and cus-
that it is truly an exciting vocation. It is truly awesome, tomer satisfaction.
even at this level; it can be terribly challenging and In terms of sales revenues and profits, a study of nearly
terribly exciting.”78 1,000 U.S. firms found that companies that use just some
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The coroner wrote down this answer with a deliberate air, and,
when he had finished, turned to the jury.
“I think we have nothing more to ask this witness, unless there is
any point that you want made more clear.”
There was a brief silence. Then the super-intelligent juryman
interposed.
“I should like to know if this witness ever had any Liquor
Arsenicalis in her possession.”
The coroner held up a warning hand to Madeline, and replied:
“That question, Sir, is not admissible. It is a principle of English
law that a witness cannot be compelled to make a statement
incriminating him—or herself. But an affirmative answer to this
question would be an incriminating statement.”
“But I am perfectly willing to answer the question,” Madeline said
eagerly. “I have never had in my possession any Liquor Arsenicalis
or any other preparation of arsenic.”
“That answers your question, Sir,” said the coroner, as he wrote
down the answer, “and if you have nothing more to ask, we can
release the witness.”
He handed his pen to Madeline, and when she had signed her
depositions—a terribly shaky signature it must have been—she
came back to her chair, still very pale and agitated, but obviously
relieved at having got through the ordeal. I had taken her arm as she
sat down and was complimenting her on the really admirable way in
which she had given her evidence, when I heard the name of
Anthony Wallingford called and realized that another unpleasant
episode had arrived.
Chapter VI.
The Verdict
I had not been taking much notice of Wallingford, my attention
being occupied with the two women when it strayed from the
proceedings. Beyond an irritated consciousness of his usual restless
movements, I had no information as to how the soul-shaking
incidents of this appalling day were affecting him. But when he rose
drunkenly and, grasping the back of his chair, rolled his eyes wildly
round the Court, I realized that there were breakers ahead.
When I say that he rose drunkenly, I use the word advisedly.
Familiar as I was with his peculiarities—his jerkings, twitchings and
grimacings—I saw, at once, that there was something unusual both
in his face and in his bearing; a dull wildness of expression and an
uncertainty of movement that I had never observed before. He had
not come to the Court with the rest of us, preferring, for some
reason, to come alone. And I now suspected that he had taken the
opportunity to fortify himself on the way.
I was not the only observer of his condition. As he walked, with
deliberate care, from his seat to the table, I noticed the coroner
eyeing him critically and the jury exchanging dubious glances and
whispered comments. He made a bad start by dropping the book on
the floor and sniggering nervously as he stooped to pick it up; and I
could see plainly, by the stiffness of the coroner’s manner that he
had made an unfavourable impression before he began his
evidence.
“You were secretary to the deceased?” said the coroner, when
the witness had stated his name, age (33) and occupation. “What
was the nature of your duties?”
“The ordinary duties of a secretary,” was the dogged reply.
“Will you kindly give us particulars of what you did for deceased?”
“I opened his business letters and answered them and some of
his private ones. And I kept his accounts and paid his bills.”
“What accounts would those be? Deceased was not in business,
I understand?”
“No, they were his domestic accounts; his income from
investments and rents and his expenditure.”
“Did you attend upon deceased personally; I mean in the way of
looking after his bodily comfort and supplying his needs?”
“I used to look in on him from time to time to see if he wanted
anything done. But it wasn’t my business to wait on him. I was his
secretary, not his valet.”
“Who did wait on him, and attend to his wants?”
“The housemaid, chiefly, and Miss Norris, and of course, Mrs.
Monkhouse. But he didn’t usually want much but his food, his
medicine, a few books from the library and a supply of candles for
his lamp. His bell-push was connected with a bell in my room at
night, but he never rang it.”
“Then, practically, the housemaid did everything for him?”
“Not everything. Miss Norris cooked most of his meals, we all
used to give him his medicine, I used to put out his books and keep
his fountain pen filled, and Mrs. Monkhouse kept his candle-box
supplied. That was what he was most particular about as he slept
badly and used to read at night.”
“You give us the impression, Mr. Wallingford,” the coroner said,
dryly, “that you must have had a good deal of leisure.”
“Then I have given you the wrong impression. I was kept
constantly on the go, doing jobs, paying tradesmen, shopping and
running errands.”
“For whom?”
“Everybody. Deceased, Mrs. Monkhouse, Miss Norris and even
Dr. Dimsdale. I was everybody’s servant.”
“What did you do for Mrs. Monkhouse?”
“I don’t see what that has got to do with this inquest?”
“That is not for you to decide,” the coroner said, sternly. “You will
be good enough to answer my question.”
Wallingford winced as if he had had his ears cuffed. In a moment,
his insolence evaporated and I could see his hands shaking as he,
evidently, cudgelled his brains for a reply. Suddenly he seemed to
have struck an idea.
“Shopping of various kinds,” said he; “for instance, there were the
candles for deceased. His lamp was of German make and English
lamp-candles wouldn’t fit it. So I used to have to go to a German
shop at Sparrow Corner by the Tower, to get packets of Schneider’s
stearine candles. That took about half a day.”
The coroner, stolidly and without comment, wrote down the
answer, but my experience as a counsel told me that it had been a
dummy question, asked to distract the witness’s attention and cover
a more significant one that was to follow. For that question I waited
expectantly, and when it came my surmise was confirmed.
“And Dr. Dimsdale? What did you have to do for him?”
“I used to help him with his books sometimes when he hadn’t got
a dispenser. I am a pretty good accountant and he isn’t.”
“Where does Dr. Dimsdale do his bookkeeping?”
“At the desk in the surgery.”
“And is that where you used to work?”
“Yes.”
“Used Dr. Dimsdale to work with you or did you do the books by
yourself?”
“I usually worked by myself.”
“At what time in the day used you to work there?”
“In the afternoon, as a rule.”
“At what hours does Dr. Dimsdale visit his patients?”
“Most of the day. He goes out about ten and finishes about six or
seven.”
“So that you would usually be alone in the surgery?”
“Yes, usually.”
As the coroner wrote down the answer I noticed the super-
intelligent juryman fidgeting in his seat. At length he burst out:
“Is the poison cupboard in the surgery?”
The coroner looked interrogatively at Wallingford, who stared at
him blankly in sudden confusion.
“You heard the question? Is the poison cupboard there?”
“I don’t know. It may be. It wasn’t any business of mine.”
“Is there any cupboard in the surgery? You must know that.”
“Yes, there is a cupboard there, but I don’t know what is in it.”
“Did you never see it open?”
“No. Never.”
“And you never had the curiosity to look into it?”
“Of course I didn’t. Besides I couldn’t. It was locked.”
“Was it always locked when you were there?”
“Yes, always.”
“Are you certain of that?”
“Yes, perfectly certain.”
Here the super-intelligent juror looked as if he were about to
spring across the table as he demanded eagerly:
“How does the witness know that that cupboard was locked?”
The coroner looked slightly annoyed. He had been playing his
fish carefully and was in no wise helped by this rude jerk of the line.
Nevertheless, he laid down his pen and looked expectantly at the
witness. As for Wallingford, he was struck speechless. Apparently
his rather muddled brain had suddenly taken in the import of the
question, for he stood with dropped jaw and damp, pallid face,
staring at the juryman in utter consternation.
“Well,” said the coroner, after an interval, “how did you know that
it was locked?”
Wallingford pulled himself together by an effort and replied:
“Why, I knew—I knew, of course, that it must be locked.”
“Yes; but the question is, how did you know?”
“Why it stands to reason that it must have been locked.”
“Why does it stand to reason? Cupboards are not always locked.”
“Poison cupboards are. Besides, you heard Dimsdale say that he
always kept this cupboard locked. He showed you the key.”
Once more the coroner, having noted the answer, laid down his
pen and looked steadily at the witness.
“Now, Mr. Wallingford,” said he, “I must caution you to be careful
as to what you say. This is a serious matter, and you are giving
evidence on oath. You said just now that you did not know whether
the poison cupboard was or was not in the surgery. You said that you
did not know what was in that cupboard. Now you say that you knew
the cupboard must have been locked because it was the poison
cupboard. Then it seems that you did know that it was the poison
cupboard. Isn’t that so?”
“No. I didn’t know then. I do now because I heard Dimsdale say
that it was.”
“Then, you said that you were perfectly certain that the cupboard
was always locked whenever you were working there. That meant
that you knew positively, as a fact, that it was locked. Now you say
that you knew that it must be locked. But that is an assumption, an
opinion, a belief. Now, a man of your education must know the
difference between a mere belief and actual knowledge. Will you,
please, answer definitely: Did you, or did you not, know as a fact
whether that cupboard was or was not locked?”
“Well, I didn’t actually know, but I took it for granted that it was
locked.”
“You did not try the door?”
“Certainly not. Why should I?”
“Very well. Does any gentleman of the jury wish to ask any further
questions about this cupboard?”
There was a brief silence. Then the foreman said:
“We should like the witness to say what he means and not keep
contradicting himself.”
“You hear that, Sir,” said the coroner. “Please be more careful in
your answers in future. Now, I want to ask you about that last bottle
of medicine. Did you notice anything unusual in its appearance?”
“No. I didn’t notice it at all. I didn’t know that it had come.”
“Did you go into deceased’s room on that day—the Wednesday?”
“Yes, I went to see deceased in the morning about ten o’clock
and gave him a dose of his medicine; and I looked in on him in the
evening about nine o’clock to see if he wanted anything, but he
didn’t.”
“Did you give him any medicine then?”
“No. It was not due for another hour.”
“What was his condition then?”
“He looked about the same as usual. He seemed inclined to
doze, so I did not stay long.”
“Is that the last time you saw him alive?”
“No. I looked in again just before eleven. He was then in much
the same state—rather drowsy—and, at his request, I turned out the
gas and left him.”
“Did you light the candle?”
“No, he always did that himself, if he wanted it.”
“Did you give him any medicine?”
“No. He had just had a dose.”
“Did he tell you that he had?”
“No. I could see that there was a dose gone.”
“From which bottle was that?”
“There was only one bottle there. It must have been the new
bottle, as only one dose had been taken.”
“What colour was the medicine?”
Wallingford hesitated a moment or two as if suspecting a trap.
Then he replied, doggedly: “I don’t know. I told you I didn’t notice it.”
“You said that you didn’t notice it at all and didn’t know that it had
come. Now you say that you observed that only one dose had been
taken from it and that you inferred that it was the new bottle. Which
of those statements is the true one?”
“They are both true,” Wallingford protested in a whining tone. “I
meant that I didn’t notice the medicine particularly and that I didn’t
know when it came.”
“That is not what you said,” the coroner rejoined. “However, we
will let that pass. Is there anything more that you wish to ask this
witness, gentlemen? If not, we will release him and take the
evidence of Mr. Mayfield.”
I think the jury would have liked to bait Wallingford but apparently
could not think of any suitable questions. But they watched him
malevolently as he added his—probably quite illegible—signature to
his depositions and followed him with their eyes as he tottered
shakily back to his seat. Immediately afterwards my name was called
and I took my place at the table, not without a slight degree of
nervousness; for, though I was well enough used to examinations, it
was in the capacity of examiner, not of witness, and I was fully alive
to the possibility of certain pitfalls which the coroner might, if he were
wide enough awake, dig for me. However, when I had been sworn
and had given my particulars (Rupert Mayfield, 35, Barrister-at-Law,
of No. 64 Fig Tree Court, Inner Temple) the coroner’s conciliatory
manner led me to hope that it would be all plain sailing.
“How long have you known deceased?” was the first question.
“About two and a half years,” I replied.
“You are one of the executors of his will, Mrs. Monkhouse has
told us.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why you were appointed executor after so short an
acquaintance?”
“I am an old friend of Mrs. Monkhouse. I have known her since
she was a little girl. I was a friend of her father—or rather, her step-
father.”
“Was it by her wish that you were made executor?”
“I believe that the suggestion came from the deceased’s family
solicitor, Mr. Brodribb, who is my co-executor. But probably he was
influenced by my long acquaintance with Mrs. Monkhouse.”
“Has probate been applied for?”
“Yes.”
“Then there can be no objections to your disclosing the
provisions of the will. We don’t want to hear them in detail, but I will
ask you to give us a general idea of the disposal of deceased’s
property.”
“The gross value of the estate is about fifty-five thousand pounds,
of which twelve thousand represents real property and forty-three
thousand personal. The principal beneficiaries are: Mrs. Monkhouse,
who receives a house valued at four thousand pounds and twenty
thousand pounds in money and securities; the Reverend Amos
Monkhouse, land of the value of five thousand and ten thousand
invested money; Madeline Norris, a house and land valued at three
thousand and five thousand in securities; Anthony Wallingford, four
thousand pounds. Then there are legacies of a thousand pounds
each to the two executors, and of three hundred, two hundred and
one hundred respectively to the housemaid, the cook and the kitchen
maid. That accounts for the bulk of the estate. Mrs. Monkhouse is
the residuary legatee.”
The coroner wrote down the answer as I gave it and then read it
out slowly for me to confirm, working out, at the same time, a little
sum on a spare piece of paper—as did also the intellectual juryman.
“I think that gives us all the information we want,” the former
remarked, glancing at the jury; and as none of them made any
comment, he proceeded:
“Did you see much of deceased during the last few months?”
“I saw him usually once or twice a week. Sometimes oftener. But
I did not spend much time with him. He was a solitary, bookish man
who preferred to be alone most of his time.”
“Did you take particular notice of his state of health?”
“No, but I did observe that his health seemed to grow rather
worse lately.”
“Did it appear to you that he received such care and attention as
a man in his condition ought to have received?”
“It did not appear to me that he was neglected.”
“Did you realize how seriously ill he was?”
“No, I am afraid not. I regarded him merely as a chronic invalid.”
“It never occurred to you that he ought to have had a regular
nurse?”
“No, and I do not think he would have consented. He greatly
disliked having any one about his room.”
“Is there anything within your knowledge that would throw any
light on the circumstances of his death?”
“No. Nothing.”
“Have you ever known arsenic in any form to be used in that
household for any purpose; any fly-papers, weed-killer or
insecticides, for instance?”
“No, I do not remember ever having seen anything used in that
household which, to my knowledge or belief, contained arsenic.”
“Do you know of any fact or circumstance which, in your opinion,
ought to be communicated to this Court or which might help the jury
in arriving at their verdict?”
“No, I do not.”
This brought my examination to an end. I was succeeded by the
cook and the kitchen-maid, but, as they had little to tell, and that little
entirely negative, their examination was quite brief. When the last
witness was dismissed, the coroner addressed the jury.
“We have now, gentlemen,” said he, “heard all the evidence that
is at present available, and we have the choice of two courses;
which are, either to adjourn the inquiry until further evidence is
available, or to find a verdict on the evidence which we have heard. I
incline strongly to the latter plan. We are now in a position to answer
the questions, how, when and where the deceased came by his
death, and when we have done that, we shall have discharged our
proper function. What is your feeling on the matter, gentlemen?”
The jury’s feeling was very obviously that they wished to get the
inquiry over and go about their business, and when they had made
this clear, the coroner proceeded to sum up.
“I shall not detain you, gentlemen, with a long address. All that is
necessary is for me to recapitulate the evidence very briefly and
point out the bearing of it.
“First as to the cause of death. It has been given in evidence by
two fully qualified and expert witnesses that deceased died from the
effects of poisoning by arsenic. That is a matter of fact which is not
disputed and which you must accept, unless you have any reasons
for rejecting their testimony, which I feel sure you have not.
Accepting the fact of death by poison, the question then arises as to
how the poison came to be taken by deceased. There are three
possibilities: he may have taken it himself, voluntarily and knowingly;
he may have taken it by accident or mischance; or it may have been
administered to him knowingly and maliciously by some other person
or persons. Let us consider those three possibilities.
“The suggestion that deceased might have taken the poison
voluntarily is highly improbable in three respects. First, since
deceased was mostly bed-ridden, it would have been almost
impossible for him to have obtained the poison. Second, there is the
nature of the poison. Arsenic has often been used for homicidal
poisoning but seldom for suicide; for an excellent reason. The
properties of arsenic which commend it to poisoners—its complete
freedom from taste and the indefinite symptoms that it produces—do
not commend it to the suicide. He has no need to conceal either the
administration or its results. His principal need is rapidity of effect.
But arsenic is a relatively slow poison and one which usually causes
great suffering. It is not at all suited to the suicide. Then there is the
third objection that the mode of administration was quite unlike that
of a suicide. For the latter usually takes his poison in one large dose,
to get the business over; but here it was evidently given in repeated
small doses over a period that may have been anything from a week
to a year. And, finally, there is not a particle of evidence in favour of
the supposition that deceased took the poison himself.
“To take the second case, that of accident: the only possibility
known to us is that of a mistake in dispensing the medicine. But the
evidence of Dr. Dimsdale and Miss Norris must have convinced you
that the improbability of a mistake is so great as to be practically
negligible. Of course, the poison might have found its way
accidentally into the medicine or the food or both in some manner
unknown to us. But while we admit this, we have, in fact, to form our
decision on what is known to us, not what is conceivable but
unknown.
“When we come to the third possibility, that the poison was
administered to deceased by some other person or persons with
intent to compass his death, we find it supported by positive
evidence. There is the bottle of medicine for instance. It contained a
large quantity of arsenic in a soluble form. But two witnesses have
sworn that it could not have contained, and, in fact, did not contain
that quantity of arsenic when it left Dr. Dimsdale’s surgery or when it
was delivered at deceased’s house. Moreover, Miss Norris has
sworn that she examined this bottle of medicine at six o’clock in the
evening and that it did not then contain more than a small quantity—
less than a drachm—of Liquor Arsenicalis. She was perfectly
positive. She spoke with expert knowledge. She gave her reasons,
and they were sound reasons. So that the evidence in our
possession is to the effect that at six o’clock in the afternoon, that
bottle of medicine did not contain more than a drachm—about a
teaspoonful—of Liquor Arsenicalis; whereas at half-past ten, when a
dose from the bottle was given to deceased by the housemaid, it
contained some three ounces—about six tablespoonfuls. This is
proved by the discovery of the poison in the stomach of deceased
and by the exact analysis of the contents of the bottle. It follows that,
between six o’clock and half-past ten, that a large quantity of
arsenical solution must have been put into the bottle. It is impossible
to suppose that it could have got in by accident. Somebody must
have put it in; and the only conceivable object that the person could
have had in putting that poison into the bottle would be to cause the
death of deceased.
“But further; the evidence of the medical witnesses proves that
arsenic had been taken by deceased on several previous occasions.
That, in fact, he had been taking arsenic in relatively small doses for
some time past—how long we do not know—and had been suffering
from chronic arsenical poisoning. The evidence, therefore, points
very strongly and definitely to the conclusion that some person or
persons had been, for some unascertained time past, administering
arsenic to him.
“Finally, as to the identity of the person or persons who
administered the poison, I need not point out that we have no
evidence. You will have noticed that a number of persons benefit in a
pecuniary sense by deceased’s death. But that fact establishes no
suspicion against any of them in the absence of positive evidence;
and there is no positive evidence connecting any one of them with
the administration of the poison. With these remarks, gentlemen, I
leave you to consider the evidence and agree upon your decision.”
The jury did not take long in arriving at their verdict. After a few
minutes’ eager discussion, the foreman announced that they had
come to an unanimous decision.
“And what is the decision upon which you have agreed?” the
coroner asked.
“We find,” was the reply, “that deceased died from the effects of
arsenic, administered to him by some person or persons unknown,
with the deliberate intention of causing his death.”
“Yes,” said the coroner; “that is, in effect, a verdict of wilful murder
against some person or persons unknown. I agree with you entirely.
No other verdict was possible on the evidence before us. It is
unfortunate that no clue has happened as to the perpetrator of this
abominable crime, but we may hope that the investigations of the
police will result in the identification and conviction of the murderer.”
The conclusion of the coroner’s address brought the proceedings
to an end, and as he finished speaking, the spectators rose and
began to pass out of the Court. I remained for a minute to speak a
few words to Mr. Holman and ask him to transcribe his report in
duplicate. Then, I, too, went out to find my three companions
squeezing into a taxicab which had drawn up opposite the entrance,
watched with ghoulish curiosity by a quite considerable crowd. The
presence of that crowd informed me that the horrible notoriety which
I had foreseen had even now begun to envelop us. The special
editions of the evening papers were already out, with, at least, the
opening scenes of the inquest in print. Indeed, during the short drive
to Hilborough Square, I saw more than one news-vendor dealing out
papers to little knots of eager purchasers, and once, through the
open window, a stentorian voice was borne in with hideous
distinctness, announcing: “Sensational Inquest! Funeral stopped!”
I glanced from Wallingford, cowering in his corner, to Barbara,
sitting stiffly upright with a slight frown on her pale face. As she
caught my eye, she remarked bitterly:
“It seems that we are having greatness thrust upon us.”
Chapter VII.
The Search Warrant
The consciousness of the horrid notoriety that had already
attached itself to us was brought home to me once more when the
taxi drew up at the house in Hilborough Square. I stepped out first to
pay the driver, and Barbara following, with the latch-key ready in her
hand, walked swiftly to the door, looking neither to the right nor left,
opened it and disappeared into the hall; while the other two, lurking
in the cab until the door was open, then darted across the pavement,
entered and disappeared also. Nor was their hasty retreat
unjustified. Lingering doggedly and looking about me with a sort of
resentful defiance, I found myself a focus of observation. In the
adjoining houses, not a window appeared to be unoccupied. The
usually vacant foot-way was populous with loiterers whose interest in
me and in the ill-omened house was undissembled; while raucous
voices, strange to those quiet precincts, told me that the astute
news-vendors had scented and exploited a likely market.
With ill-assumed indifference I entered the house and shut the
door—perhaps rather noisily; and was about to enter the dining-room
when I heard hurried steps descending the stairs and paused to look
up. It was the woman—the cook’s sister, I think—who had been left
to take care of the house while the servants were absent; and
something of eagerness and excitement in her manner caused me to
walk to the foot of the stairs to meet her.
“Is anything amiss?” I asked in a low voice as she neared the
bottom of the flight.
She held up a warning finger, and coming close to me, whispered
hoarsely:
“There’s two gentlemen upstairs, Sir, leastways they look like
gentlemen, but they are really policemen.”
“What are they doing upstairs?” I asked.
“Just walking through the rooms and looking about. They came
about a quarter of an hour ago, and when I let them in they said they
were police officers and that they had come to search the premises.”
“Did they say anything about a warrant?”
“Oh, yes, Sir. I forgot about that. One of them showed me a paper
and said it was a search warrant. So of course I couldn’t do anything.
And then they started going through the house with their note-books
like auctioneers getting ready for a sale.”
“I will go up and see them,” said I; “and meanwhile you had better
let Mrs. Monkhouse know. Where did you leave them?”
“In the large back bedroom on the first floor,” she replied. “I think
it was Mr. Monkhouse’s.”
On this I began quickly to ascend the stairs, struggling to control
a feeling of resentment which, though natural enough, I knew to be
quite unreasonable. Making my way direct to the dead man’s room, I
entered and found two tall men standing before an open cupboard.
They turned on hearing me enter and the elder of them drew a large
wallet from his pocket.
“Mr. Mayfield, I think, Sir,” said he. “I am Detective
Superintendent Miller and this is Detective-Sergeant Cope. Here is
my card and this is the search warrant, if you wish to see it.”
I glanced at the document and returning it to him asked:
“Wouldn’t it have been more in order if you had waited to show the
warrant to Mrs. Monkhouse before beginning your search?”
“That is what we have done,” he replied, suavely. “We have
disturbed nothing yet. We have just been making a preliminary
inspection. Of course,” he continued, “I understand how unpleasant
this search is for Mrs. Monkhouse and the rest of your friends, but
you, Sir, as a lawyer will realize the position. That poor gentleman
was poisoned with arsenic in this house. Somebody in this house
had arsenic in his or her possession and we have got to see if any
traces of it are left. After all, you know, Sir, we are acting in the
interests of everybody but the murderer.”
This was so obviously true that it left me nothing to say. Nor was
there any opportunity, for, as the superintendent concluded, Barbara
entered the room. I looked at her a little anxiously as I briefly
explained the situation. But there was no occasion. Pale and sombre
of face, she was nevertheless perfectly calm and self-possessed and
greeted the two officers without a trace of resentment; indeed, when
the superintendent was disposed to be apologetic, she cut him short
by exclaiming energetically: “But, surely, who should be more
anxious to assist you than I? It is true that I find it incredible that this
horrible crime could have been perpetrated by any member of my
household. But it was perpetrated by somebody. And if, either here
or elsewhere, I can help you in any way to drag that wretch out into
the light of day, I am at your service, no matter who the criminal may
be. Do you wish any one to attend you in your search?”
“I think, Madam, it would be well if you were present, and
perhaps Mr. Mayfield. If we want any of the others, we can send for
them. Where are they now?”
“Miss Norris and Mr. Wallingford are in the dining room. The
servants have just come in and I think have gone to the kitchen or
their sitting room.”
“Then,” said Miller, “we had better begin with the dining room.”
We went down the stairs, preceded by Barbara, who opened the
dining room door and introduced the visitors to the two inmates in
tones as quiet and matter-of-fact as if she were announcing the
arrival of the gas-fitter or the upholsterer. I was sorry that the other
two had not been warned, for the announcement took them both by
surprise and they were in no condition for surprises of this rather
alarming kind. At the word “search,” Madeline started up with a
smothered exclamation and then sat down again, trembling and pale
as death; while as for Wallingford, if the two officers had come to
pinion him and lead him forth to the gallows, he could not have
looked more appalled.
Our visitors were scrupulously polite, but they were also keenly
observant and I could see that each had made a mental note of the
effect of their arrival. But, of course, they made no outward sign of
interest in any of us but proceeded stolidly with their business; and I
noticed that, before proceeding to a detailed inspection, they opened
their note-books and glanced through what was probably a rough
inventory, to see that nothing had been moved in the interval since
their preliminary inspection.
The examination of the dining room was, however, rather
perfunctory. It contained nothing that appeared to interest them, and
after going through the contents of the sideboard cupboards
methodically, the superintendent turned a leaf of his note-book and
said:
“I think that will do, Madam. Perhaps we had better take the
library next. Who keeps the keys of the bureau and the cupboard?”
“Mr. Wallingford has charge of the library,” replied Barbara. “Will
you give the superintendent your keys, Tony?”
“There’s no need for that,” said Miller. “If Mr. Wallingford will come
with us, he can unlock the drawers and cupboard and tell us
anything that we want to know about the contents.”
Wallingford rose with a certain alacrity and followed us into the
library, which adjoined the dining room. Here the two officers again
consulted their note-books, and having satisfied themselves that the
room was as they had left it, began a detailed survey, watched
closely and with evident anxiety by Wallingford. They began with a
cupboard, or small armoire, which formed the upper member of a
large, old-fashioned bureau. Complying with Miller’s polite request
that it might be unlocked, Wallingford produced a bunch of keys,
and, selecting from it, after much nervous fumbling, a small key,
endeavoured to insert it into the keyhole; but his hand was in such a
palsied condition that he was unable to introduce it.
“Shall I have a try, Sir?” the superintendent suggested, patiently,
adding with a smile, “I don’t smoke quite so many cigarettes as you
seem to.”
His efforts, however, also failed, for the evident reason that it was
the wrong key. Thereupon he looked quickly through the bunch,
picked out another key and had the cupboard open in a twinkling,
revealing a set of shelves crammed with a disorderly litter of
cardboard boxes, empty ink-bottles, bundles of letters and papers
and the miscellaneous rubbish that accumulates in the receptacles
of a thoroughly untidy man. The superintendent went through the
collection methodically, emptying the shelves, one at a time, on to
the flap of the bureau, where he and the sergeant sorted the various
articles and examining each, returned it to the shelf. It was a tedious
proceeding and, so far as I could judge, unproductive, for, when all
the shelves had been looked through and every article separately
inspected, nothing was brought to light save an empty foolscap
envelope which had apparently once contained a small box and was
addressed to Wallingford, and two pieces of what looked like
chemist’s wrapping-paper, the creases in which showed that they
had been small packets. These were not returned to the shelves,
but, without comment, enclosed in a large envelope on which the
superintendent scribbled a few words with a pencil and which was
then consigned to a large handbag that the sergeant had brought in
with him from the hall.
The large drawers of the bureau were next examined. Like the
shelves, they were filled with a horrible accumulation of odds and
ends which had evidently been stuffed into them to get them out of
the way. From this collection nothing was obtained which interested
the officers, who next turned their attention to the small drawers and
pigeonholes at the back of the flap. These, however, contained
nothing but stationery and a number of letters, bills and other papers,
which the two officers glanced through and replaced. When all the
small drawers and pigeonholes had been examined, the
superintendent stood up, fixing a thoughtful glance at the middle of
the range of drawers; and I waited expectantly for the next
development. Like many old bureaus, this one had as a central
feature a nest of four very small drawers enclosed by a door. I knew
the arrangement very well, and so, apparently, did the
superintendent; for, once more opening the top drawer, he pulled it
right out and laid it on the writing flap. Then, producing from his
pocket a folding foot-rule, he thrust it into one of the pigeonholes,
showing a depth of eight and a half inches, and then into the case of
the little drawer, which proved to be only a fraction over five inches
deep.
“There is something more here than meets the eye,” he remarked
pleasantly. “Do you know what is at the back of those drawers, Mr.
Wallingford?”
The unfortunate secretary, who had been watching the officer’s
proceedings with a look of consternation, did not reply for a few
moments, but remained staring wildly at the aperture from which the
drawer had been taken out.
“At the back?” he stammered, at length. “No, I can’t say that I do.
It isn’t my bureau, you know. I only had the use of it.”
“I see,” said Miller. “Well, I expect we can soon find out.”
He drew out a second drawer and, grasping the partition between
the two, gave a gentle pull, when the whole nest slid easily forward
and came right out of its case. Miller laid it on the writing flap, and,
turning it round, displayed a sliding lid at the back, which he drew up;
when there came into view a set of four little drawers similar to those
in front but furnished with leather tabs instead of handles. Miller drew
out the top drawer and a sudden change in the expression on his
face told me that he had lighted on something that seemed to him
significant.
“Now I wonder what this is?” said he, taking from the drawer a
small white-paper packet. “Feels like some sort of powder. You say
you don’t know anything about it, Mr. Wallingford?”
Wallingford shook his head but made no further reply, whereupon
the superintendent laid the packet on the flap and very carefully
unfolded the ends—it had already been opened—when it was seen
that the contents consisted of some two or three teaspoonfuls of a
fine, white powder.
“Well,” said Miller, “we shall have to find out what it is. Will you
pass me that bit of sealing-wax, Sergeant?”
He reclosed the packet with the greatest care and having sealed
both the ends with his signet-ring, enclosed it in an envelope and put
it into his inside breast pocket. Then he returned to the little nest of
drawers. The second drawer was empty, but on pulling out the third,
he uttered an exclamation.
“Well, now! Look at that! Somebody seems to have been fond of
physic. And there’s no doubt as to what this is. Morphine hydrochlor,
a quarter of a grain.”
As he spoke, he took out of the drawer a little bottle filled with tiny
white discs or tablets and bearing on the label the inscription which
the superintendent had read out. Wallingford gazed at it with a
foolish expression of surprise as Miller held it up for our—and
particularly Wallingford’s—inspection; and Barbara, I noticed, cast at
the latter a side-long, inscrutable glance which I sought in vain to
interpret.
“Morphine doesn’t seem much to the point,” Miller remarked as
he wrapped the little bottle in paper and bestowed it in his inner
pocket, “but, of course, we have only got the evidence of the label. It
may turn out to be something else, when the chemical gentlemen
come to test it.”
With this he grasped the tab of the bottom drawer and drew the
latter out; and in a moment his face hardened. Very deliberately, he
picked out a small, oblong envelope, which appeared once to have
contained a box or hard packet, but was now empty. It had evidently
come through the post and was addressed in a legible business
hand to “A. Wallingford Esq., 16 Hilborough Square.” Silently the
superintendent held it out for us all to see, as he fixed a stern look on
Wallingford. “You observe, Sir,” he said, at length, “that the post-
mark is dated the 20th of August; only about a month ago. What
have you to say about it?”
“Nothing,” was the sullen reply. “What comes to me by post is my
affair. I am not accountable to you or anybody else.”
For a moment, the superintendent’s face took on a very ugly
expression. But he seemed to be a wise man and not unkindly, for
he quickly controlled his irritation and rejoined without a trace of
anger, though gravely enough:
“Be advised by me, Mr. Wallingford, and don’t make trouble for
yourself. Let me remind you what the position is. In this house a man
has died from arsenic poisoning. The police will have to find out how
that happened and if any one is open to the suspicion of having
poisoned him. I have come here to-day for that purpose with full
authority to search this house. In the course of my search I have
asked you for certain information, and you have made a number of
false statements. Believe me, Sir, that is a very dangerous thing to
do. It inevitably raises the question why those false statements
should have been made. Now, I am going to ask you one or two
questions. You are not bound to answer them, but you will be well
advised to hold nothing back, and, above all, to say nothing that is
not true. To begin with that packet of powder. What do you say that
packet contains?”
Wallingford, who characteristically, was now completely cowed by
the superintendent’s thinly-veiled threats, hung his head for a

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