Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research

Case Analysis

Assignment #1

A case study on

THOMAS GREEN: POWER, OFFICE POLITICS, AND A CAREER IN CRISIS

Submitted to

Prof. Uma Bhushan

On 14th July, 2016

By

Selwin Dsouza-10

Reemal Prabhod-18

Ashesh Pasari-29

Arit Sengupta-39

Sanya Singla-49

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Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

Table of Contents

Situational Analysis...1

Problem Statement... 2

Prioritized Criteria....2

Options2

Evaluation of Options..............................2

Recommendation.3

Action Plan...3

Contingency plan.4

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Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

Situation Analysis:

Dynamic Displays was founded in 1990 as a provider of self service options to banks via Automated
Teller Machines (ATMs).In 1994, Dynamic Displays launched a new division aimed at the travel and
hospitality industry and deployed their first self service check-in kiosk for Discover Airlines. In 2007,
Dynamic Displays Travel and Hospitality Division had 60% market share with over 1500 self-service
kiosks in use at more than 75 airports.

Thomas Green began his career as an account executive for National Business Solutions in Atlanta,
Georgia. He spent six years as an account executive in the Banking Division selling ATMs to regional
banks throughout the Southeast. In March 2007, he joined Dynamic Displays as an account executive
in their Travel and Hospitality Division. He is currently the divisions senior market specialist for the
Eastern region of North America. Green was promoted to the position of senior market specialist by
recommendation from McDonald, the companys Vice President for the Travel Division. Green
reported to Frank Davis, the marketing director. Davis had recently been promoted from the
position that Green assumed. Green was not the first choice for this post by Davis opinion.

In the first two weeks Green reviewed 2006 and 2007 year-to-date sales and made a rapid tour of
major airline industry clients. At the end of the second week, Davis told Green to spend a significant
amount and developing supporting details for his proposals. He also asked him to start developing
new strategies for his region.

On October 8, Green attended the 2008 Budget Plan meeting in which David presented the sales and
projections for upcoming year. Since Davis had held Greens position when the estimates were due,
the numbers for the Eastern region had been developed without input from Green. But according to
Green, the sales goals set by the Frank were impossible to meet and told about the same in the
meeting conducted. Davis was visibly upset about Greens negative attitude.

On October 15th, 2007, Green met with Davis to discuss his performance to date. During this
meeting, Davis listed a set of problems he encountered with Greens work. Davis informed him that
Green lacked a specific communication strategy and there was no hard data or material used when
dealing with market specialists. Also, Green did not return office calls and ignored them .Green was
also not proactive in providing information back to Davis regarding his meetings. However, Green
did not take the criticisms of his manager seriously and believed that Davis made a negative

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Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

assessment of his work because he was not happy with Green taking his previous position and
challenging his findings in meetings.

After the October 15th meeting, Green met with the national sales director and director of software
development. Green focused on developing a new software for airlines where passengers could
perform a variety of tasks ranging from booking seats to booking hotels or cars for their destination.
Green convinced them by saying that this would generate a huge amount of revenue for them.
Hence Green spent around 3 months working independently on his new project and avoided
interactions with Davis whenever he could. Also, Green bad mouthed Davis outside his group
regarding the upbeat projections that Davis claims.

Finally on January 28th, Davis held another performance review meeting with Green after which he
sent a mail to McDonald criticizing Greens performance and finally recommending McDonald to
replace Green if the same work and attitude continues. In response to this mail, McDonald sends a
mail to Green asking for his point of view on the situation. Green, on the other hand realises that he
had not paid much heed to office politics and is unsure of the steps he should take to rectify the
problem.

Problem Statement:

What were the mistakes on the part of Thomas Green and what steps should he take to save his job
and reputation?

Prioritized Criteria:

1. To realise the importance of the expectations that Davis Frank and to work towards fulfilling
those expectations.
2. To develop management skills from other seasoned managers.

Options:

1. To have a disciplined style of working and to adhere to timelines and a process oriented
style of working.
2. To cooperate with higher management on the expectations of his designation.

Evaluation of Options:

1. To have a disciplined style of working and to adhere to timelines and a process oriented
style of working.

Thomas Green was promoted from the position of Account executive to senior marketing
specialist. Green did not also have the essential management knowledge to handle this
position but had the patronage of the Vice President of the Travel Division-Shannon

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Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

McDonald. Even so, Green still reported to Frank Davis who was not very happy about Green
occupying his previous position and Davis would have chosen someone else for the role had
his opinion been given appropriate weight age .Therefore, it was very essential on Greens
part to change the opinion Davis had of him by contributing in the way Davis wanted him to.

Davis had given Green appropriate chances to prove himself. Davis also made an honest
review of Greens work and none of the claims made against Green were baseless. Green
did not have enough documentation to support his work .Green was also not proactive in his
communication and did not answer Davis most of the time. Green was also outspoken when
it came to refuting the claims made by Davis, terming them as unrealistic. Green had an
amazing ability of building rapport with clients but believed that clients would just trust him
and partner with Dynamic Displays.

Learning:

1. Green needed to adopt a very organised and methodical way of working which was in
line with Daviss expectations.
2. Green needed to respect senior management even when he puts forth his ideas which
may be contradictory.
3. Green could have used his communication skills to win over Davis just as he did with his
clients.
4. Green should not have a biased view of Davis and instead learn management principles
from him with regard to his rich experience in the industry.

2. To cooperate with higher management on the expectations of his designation.

Green was appointed on recommendation from McDonald and was not really seen as a right
fit for the post in the eyes on Davis. Green was also informed about this which needed him
to put in a large amount of hard work in order to prove his position and talent. Green also
had to keep in mind that he was directly reporting to Davis. Green should also have taken
into account the series of emails that were being circulated to McDonald criticizing his own
performance and should have taken action at a very early stage. Green also seems to have
trouble taking directions from seniors and is not proactive in communication.
Learning:
1. Its very important to realise ones own mistakes and shortcoming and work towards
acceptance and improving on the same.
2. Its very important to participate and keep senior management people involved in the
contributions that we make towards the objective of the organization.
3. Respect for colleagues and seniors is very important and any communication requires
thought.

Recommendation:

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Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

It is recommended that Green should adopt a very organised and meticulous way of working in
addition to being process oriented. On a personal front, Green should accept seniority and seek
value from his seniors instead of being outspoken and aggressive.

Action Plan:

1. Apologize for the bad performance and explain the reasons for the same.
2. Ensure Davis that he will seek his guidance on presenting and recording work and also
learning management principles.
3. Ensure McDonald of the same and request some more time to prove himself.
4. Work towards attaining these objectives.
5. Have a specific communication strategy when speaking to market specialists, account
executives and have necessary materials available. Also document the approaches carried
out.
6. Return office calls promptly and be available for any communication required.
7. Provide data when requested to by his managers

Contingency Plan:

In case Green does not mend his ways even after warnings been given to him, Green should be
replaced with a competent person and be put in a position where he can work himself to the top
position.

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