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O' Reilly Case Essay

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MINA O’REILLY AT LOGAN AIRPORT’S TSA
HARVARD BUSINESS CASE 9-409-116

Introduction & Background Analysis This paper provides a case study analysis and case solution to an organizational behavior and leadership Harvard Business School case study by Michel Anteby and Erin McFee concerning the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Boston’s Logan Airport (Anteby & McFee, 2009). The case focuses on supervisor and managerial responses to a Transportation Security Officer’s (TSO) role in enabling a security breach at the airport. The time setting for the case study is a Monday morning in 2009, the day after the security breach. The principal decision maker is Mina O’Reilly, one of about 100 Supervisor Transportation Security …show more content…

The response must be implemented in a manner which is consistent with TSA’s primary mission and organizational culture. Moreover, in formulating her response, O’Reilly must balance the competing claims of her strong favorable feelings towards Sanchez; her duty to place the safety and security of passengers ahead of all else; her wish to satisfy her superiors, including those pressing her to make an example out of Sanchez; her responsibilities to her direct reports (including Sanchez); and her own desire to continue to advance at TSA.

Problem Analysis
The role of Mina O’Reilly’s Personal Feelings and Interests It is apparent that Mina is strongly favorably disposed towards Sanchez and she personally likes him. Until this incident, O’Reilly put complete confidence in Sanchez’s performance and sees him as a good role model for other employees. The evidence in the case suggests that O’Reilly may be too favorably disposed towards Sanchez in a way which prevents her from seeing his faults. She dismissed his need to be “recertified” two years ago as a result of poor performance on screening audits as an “isolated incident on an otherwise strong record” (Anteby & McFee, 2009, p. 5). O’Reilly also does not bother to question why Sanchez has not advanced at least to LTSO in eight years, when she herself advanced to STSO in less than three years. In assessing

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