Name Anant Chauhan

Question 1

Write your answer here.

Answer

Instance 1 – Cool and disinterested welcome by Linton along with Unpleasant introduction comment by
to Lisa during latters first day in the office, mentioning ‘she doesn’t like MBAs’ was disappointing. This
actually became an unconscious point of friction between both of them.

Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the group product manager who had impressed her during the recruitment
process failed to remotely recognize her. He missed giving a warm welcome to her into the
organization thereby disappointing her.

Instance 3 - Scoville’s condescending tone and manner in which he spoke to Lisa over and above his
way of acting like an overbearing big brother made it difficult for Lisa to perform more like a team
player. Over and above Him assigning her menial tasks like copying reports and clerical works added
more to the friction which Lisa had already developed mentally within her first few weeks at office.

Question 2
Write your answer for Part A here.

Trait Level: High/Low Example supporting the answer

Openness to High Having moved from a different department to the

current one shows the same. Moreover he was
Experience
open to hear Lisa at instances and would teach her
things to make her learn tricks of trade.

Conscientiousness Low The copying incident clearly reflects his lack of

planning and self-discipline, basis which he was
constantly changing the project and thereby irritating
Lisa, while she helped.

Extraversion Low His social skills were at real low and were evidently
visible with him skipping team lunch. Also Lisa’s
interdepartmental interaction and her work with him
made it clear that he found it challenging getting his
work done with other departments.

Agreeableness Low Even though he was courteous enough during his

and Lisa’s first lunch, his critical views on MBA’s
and his aggressive nature, no nonsense approach
and views of other product manager made it very
clear of him not being in high bracket of
agreeableness.

Neuroticism High As mentioned above, his hostility toward other

departments followed with his meltdown with Lisa
during the Pure and fresh pricing strategy clearly
indicates his hostility, anxiousness and border level
depression.
Write your answer for Part B here.

She can connect with Scoville using basic two points

Emotional Connect – As seen with her interaction with Scoville, post office hours with him after
Scovilles meltdown, it became evident from his apology that he is emotionally handicapped and she
needs to understand what triggers his aggression or meltdowns and maneuver around him to get the
work done.

Making one indispensable for interdepartmental dealings – As it was obvious that Scoville’s
interdepartmental skills dealing with people were not best. With her capabilities to connect with people
across, she can make herself an essential part of the cog wheel that would ensure that all
interdepartmental dealings happen through making her indispensable.

Question 3

Write your answer for Part A here.

This situation represents Hidden Area / façade aspect.

Write your answer for Part B here.

Lisa should use her people soft skills with Linton and develop a relationship with her.

Both being ambitious and growth driven Lisa can connect with Linton on work level that brings them on
same page on projects and puts their view in same bucket. Coercive skills will best help her.

Taking initiatives and involving herself in projects that can help increase her visibility to the
management is something Lisa can leverage in her favor.

Her interdepartmental recommendations can be used to put weight in her suggestion and thereby give
her necessary campaigning in the team and company for promotion in case of MBO/ INCIDENT/360
performance rating.
Question 4

Write your answer here.

Linton could have

1. Given a sandwich feedback to Lisa with her weakness and explaining them as scope of
improvement rather than blatantly mentioning them as her weaknesses. She could have
supported her point with plan of action of training for her to improve on same.
2. Regarding her showdown with Scoville, she could have assured to improve his behavior and
counsel him to work on his people management skills.

Question 5

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 Appreciation after job well done

 Validation of work being done in right direction
 Proper handholding during important projects

 Adequate support and induction during initial days and ensuring good knowledge
transfer

Question 6

Write your answer for Part A here.

  Persuasion with Scoville to bring him on same page as her.
 Exchange with Scoville by helping him out fastrack his work and build up his team
player image with other departments, eventually making her a star in his view and and
indispensable asset for him.
 Impression Management with Linton by constant validation of her work with her and
getting her approval on her action plans.

Write your answer for Part B here.

Two hard tactics that Lisa can use are

 Combination of Silent control with Linton as Lisa could have taken help from Jack Vernon’s
advise and create a situation where Lintons orders were projected contradicting Linton’s.

 Also assertiveness with a little information control to deal with Scoville would give Lisa an edge
to get his work done from different department and with her knowledge being superior,
information control would give her added advantage to keep Scoville always on toes and non
over powering.

Question 7

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Breach of trust did happen - In the incident where Scoville forced Lisa to do his copying work while she
was busy on her work. And when she denied, he had a meltdown. With Verbal exchanges in the heat
of the moment reported as it is to Linton, it showed a clear breach of trust from Scoville’s side. He
reported an incident which could have been resolved through verbal communication post office and
mentioning the comments said unintentionally / due to misunderstanding should not have reached
reporting managers ears.
Question 8

Write your answer here.

Lisa should ideally quit the job at Houseworld. Main reasons as per my understanding there are many
conflicts in motion

Conflict due to personality: Linton, Scoville and Lisa, all had different personalities. Hence the
alignment to be on same page was clearly missing

Conflict due to goals: What Linton wanted from Lisa, what scoville expected from her, what Jack
Vernon had instructed her to follow were clashing enough to make Lisa work like headless chicken in
all directions.

Lack of ethics: Not Providing Lisa with a fair opportunity in spite of her giving her best was evidently
visible to not just Lisa but other department people too. Moreover Scoville was let go many times for
his display of unprofessional behavior and we see no action taken against him. Other ex team
members likewise projected the same but no concrete action was taken to put him in line.

Lack of Engagement strategies: Physical, Emotional and Cognitive all three were missing from the line
manager Linton, which resulted in Lisa’s increase in disappointment with the company and making her
realize her decision to join household was wrong.