This case tells the story of a day in the life of Emmett Taylor who works as an operations manager in a bottling company. When the storm prevents the normal function of the factory and delays supplies, Taylor suffers from stress (Behfar & Bodily, 2015). His frustration is caused by all aspects of his life: family, work, and relationships with people. The story helps to understand the behavior and reactions to stressful situations of a type-A personality and analyze priority management, the balance between work and personal life, and leadership.
Emmett Taylor is characterized by the desire to win, extreme haste, impatience, excessive anxiety, expressiveness, and alertness. He refers to people who are characterized by such traits as aggressiveness, ambition, and social activity (Behfar & Bodily, 2015). He has a strong desire for leadership, social superiority, and the perception of life as an arena of competition. He is also characterized by the exaggerated need for activity, over-involvement in work, and inability to distract from work and relax (Behfar & Bodily, 2015). As it is seen from the story, he is easily frustrated by external circumstances and life difficulties.
On the one hand, a type-A person like Taylor has an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. On the other hand, such employees are more productive than the type-B ones. They overwork themselves and seek competition, eventually ending up in chronic stress situations. It can be concluded that type-A managers are not stress-resistant since premature impotence destroys the fulfillment of the intended organizational goals. For such people, it is important to actively limit the degree of their involvement in the work. They should also try to maintain a balanced attitude towards different areas of life.
References
Behfar, K., & Bodily, J. H. (2015). Why is the universe against me? (A). University of Virginia, Darden Business Publishing.