CASE 9
The Forgotten Group
Member
Developed by Franklin Ramsoomeir, Wilfred Lauter Universi
tne Organizational Behavior course forthe semester appeared to promise
‘the opportunity to learn, enjoy, and practice some of the theores and pry
‘ciples in the textbook nd clase discussions. Christine Spencer was a devct
4, hard-working student, who had been maintaining an A average to date.
[Although te sls and knowledge she had acquired through her courses were
important, she was also very concerned about her grades. She felt that grades
‘were paruinount in giving hers competitive edge when looking for ajob and,
‘asa thindyear student, she realized that she'd soon be doing just that.
Sunday afternoon, Two o'clock. grade. The task was to analyze &
‘Christine was working on en sever-page case and to come up
accounting assignment but didnt witha writen analysis. In aditon,
seem tobe able to concentrate. Her Sandra had asked the groups to pre-
courses were working out very well sex the casein class, with the idea
this semester all but the OB. Much in mind that the rest ofthe class
ofthe marlin that course vas toe members would be “members ofthe
sonlied to the quality of groupwork, Board of Directors of the compasy”
‘and 30 she felt somewhat out of com- who woald be listening to how the
‘rol She recollected the events of manager end her team dealt with the
the past five weeks, Professor problem at hand.
Sandra Thiel ad divided the lass (Cristine was elected “Team
ino groups affive people and had Coordinator” atthe fist group meet-
sven them amajor group assig- ing. The other members of the
‘ment worth 30 percent ofthe final group were Diane, Janc, Steve, and
‘Mike. Diane was quiet and never
volunteered suggestions, but whee
direct asked, she would come =e
‘wi high quality ideas. Mike was
the clown. Christine remembered
that she had suggested thatthe
troup should get together before
every cass to discus the day's case
Mike had balked, saying “No ay
‘This ie an 830 class, and [barely
make it on time anyway! Besides. TE
mise my "Happy Harry’ show ox
television!" The group coulda Beis
but laugh at his indignation. Steve
was the businessike individ,
always wanting to ensure that roa
meetings were guided by an agenda
and noting the tangible resus
achieved or not achieved atthe ead
of every meeting, Janet was the re
ble one who would always bave
more for the group than was expect
(ed of her. Christine saw herse¥ 2s,
meticulous and organized and 28 2
‘person who tied to give her best
whatever she di,
Tewas now week five into the
semester, and Christine was deep =
‘thought about the OB assignment
‘She had called everyone to arrange
‘meeting fora time that would st
them all but seemed to be running
into a roadblock. Mike couldnt
make it, saving that he was working
that night asa member ofthe caze
us security force. In fc, he
‘seemed to miss most meetings and
‘oul sendin brief notes to
Castine, which she was supposed
to discus fr him atthe group
retings, She wondered how to deal
\ith this. She also remembered the
incident last week. Just before cass
started, Diane, Janet, Steve and ber
‘self were joking with one another
Defore class. They were laughing
and enjoying themselves before
‘Sandra came in, Noone noticed that
‘Mike bad slipped in very quiety and
nad unobirusively taken his seat.
She recalled the cafeteria inc
deat. Two wooks ago, she had goneto the cafeteria to grab something to
fet, She had rushed to her secount-
ing cass and had skipped breakist.
‘When she got her club sandich
and headed to the ables, she saw
oer OB group and joined them. The
Aiseussion was ight and enjoyable
as it always was when they met
informally. Mike had come i. Hed
approached ther table, "You gure
dnt ey you were having a group
‘eefing,” he blurted. Christine was
taken aback,
"We just happened to run into
‘each athe, Why notin us
"Mk looked at them, wth a
poncomuitl glance. Ya. right”
Doe muttered and walled away.
‘Sandra Thiet had freely
told them that if there were prob:
Jems inthe group, the members
should make an effort to deal with
them first I the problems could not
De resolved, she had sad that they
should come to her. Mike seemed 20
stant, despite the apparent cama
raderie of the fst meeting.
‘An hour had passed, bringing
the tine to3 rat, and Christine
found hers biting the tp of her
pencl, The writen case analysis was
Aue next week. All the others had
‘done ther designated sections, but
‘Mike adjust handed in sme
rough handwritten notes. He had
called Christine the week before,
telling her tat in ation to his
‘course and his ob, he was having
probloms with his giliend.
CCaistine erpathized with him. Ye,
this was a group project Besides,
the final mark would be peer erahe
ated, This meant that whatever mark
Sandra gave diem could be lowered
orraised, depending oa the group's
opinion about the value of the contr:
bation ofeach member. She was df.
Initelyworeed, She knew that Mike
Ina erative ideas that cou help to
‘se the overall mark. She was alo
concerned for him. As she Estened
(othe music the background, she
wondered what she should do.
Review Questions
1, How could an understanding of
the stages of group development
assist Christin in leadership st
ations such a this one?
‘What should Christine under
stand about individual member
Ship in groups in order to bid
soup processes that are support:
Ine ofher work grour's peror-
23. Is Christine an effective group
leader in this ease? Why or why
not
ee
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