Problem-solving and decision making

Lew Galderone, engineering manager, was beside himself. The problem he faced was complex and highly personal in nature. Joey Stark had been an employee of Guardian Engineering for 15 years and had a record of reliable, consistent work. Joey had reported to Lew for two years. However, his performance recently had become so poor that Lew felt Joey must be fired. For one thing, Joey was frequently absent on Mondays despite the companys policy against excessive absences. Once or twice Lew had smelled alcohol on Joeys breath while at work, and he suspended that alcohol was the problem. A couple of other employees had commented on Joeys drinking, but Lew had never personally witnessed Joey drinking excessively. Lew had talked with Joey about his absences and declining performances. He had asked Joey about his family life, personal life, and working conditions to learn whether any of these were causing the problem. Joey had simply said everything was all right. After the second conversation, Lew wrote a short memorandum specifying his concerns and the memo went into Joeys personnel file. Joey improved his performance for a couple of weeks, but nothing seemed to have changed permanently. If alcoholism was Joeys problem, Lew was thinking about alternative solutions. Once would be to fire Joey, because Lew had read that alcoholics lose their jobs and their families before they become motivated to change their behavior. Another would be to confront Joey and accuse of alcoholism to let him know the company was aware of his drinking problem. A third would be to refer Joey to a private counselor or physician for possible rehabilitation. A fourth would be to give Joey one more warning, making it clear that the next absence or lapse in performance would cost him his job. Complicating the problem was Lews feeling that Joey was a friend as well as a senior employee. However, Lew felt he had to proceed with whatever was best for the company.

The company had no clearly defined policy on alcoholism, which made choosing a solution somewhat more difficult. Lew wondered whether he should talk to other senior managers about the problem and seek their guidance and agreement. He also wondered if there were some way he could gather information about the true nature of the problem before deciding on a solution. Frankly, Lew realized he needed to take action, but he just was not sure what to do.

Requirements:

1. Is the decision facing Lew Galderone considered programmed decision or non-programmed?
2. How should Lew proceed to make the decision? Should he investigate the nature of the problem? Should he make a decision among the available alternatives?
3. What would you do in this situation? Why?