Name Nishant Arora

Question 1

Talking about the first few weeks of Lisa Benton’s experience at Houseworld. I would begin
by stating that on the first Day of her job only she had to face a combination of Selective
Perception bias as well as Stereotyping bias from new boss Deborah Linton and the
associate product manager Ron Scoville.

Since both of them were not MBAs and held a different educational background from Lisa,
and when people judge others on the basis of their interests and background, it falls under the
bias of Selective Perception.

Stereotyping is a form of bias based on certain common characteristics between two people or
if an individual belongs to a certain group of people and both Linton and Benton mentioned
they are not fond on MBAs.

Since Benton held an MBA degree whereas Linton and Scoville did not, it left her vulnerable
for the above types of biases I mentioned and this can be ascertained from the examples I am
quoting below.

After explaining some of the demands of the job on Day 1, Linton declared in a quiet but firm
tone: "MBAs act like they know a lot more than they do. The only way to learn is on the job,
and your formal education won’t help you. I’ve known some Harvard MBAs, and I don’t like
them."

Later that day, Scoville also mentioned that he was not impressed with MBAs, especially those
from Harvard.

On the first day itself, while gathering supplies to stock her new office, Benton noticed
Richard Clark, the group product manager who had impressed her during the recruiting
process. She was disappointed that he barely remembered her, and did not stop to welcome
her aboard.

On first day itself Scoville took Benton for lunch, He opened the door and pulled her chair out
for her and Benton suddenly felt conscious of the fact that she was a woman and he talked to
her in a very condescending and patronizing manner and later that day He kept her occupied
with a secretarial task of copying reports till 7 pm whereas other product management staff left
at 5:30.

On day 4, Benton walked into Linton’s office to get a few answers and Linton asked Benton to
come back later, this made Benton felt disappointed that her boss does not want to make any
time for her.

In her third week, Benton began to accompany Scoville and Linton to meetings with different
staff groups and the ad agency. Even when she did have an opinion, Benton usually deferred to
Scoville and Linton; recalling Scoville’s "learning mode" comments, she thought it best to be
quiet and act like a learner. Besides, Scoville and Linton rarely asked Benton for her
opinion, and Benton felt they made no effort to treat her as one of the brand team. Benton
began to feel "like a fifth wheel."
Question 2

Answer for Part A.

Trait Level: High/Low Example supporting the answer

Openness to HIGH Scoville moved from the operations department

Experience to marketing department with sharp contrasting
roles. This was the reasoning behind his high
score.

Conscientiousness LOW Scoville was trying to load his work on Benton,

even when Benton told Scoville that She was
busy with her own project, Scoville insisted that
Benton did his copying work first, He even
made her stay late by asking her to copy reports
for him on first day at work. This shows he
does not care about other people’s project
deadlines on time.

Extraversion LOW Scoville was not an extrovert person as he was

not able to mingle with members of other team
and was not able to get work done by others –
liaising with other teams and getting work
done.

He doesn’t mingle well with other department

workers. This was evident when he doesn’t join
them for lunch. This point can further be
supported by the fact that a challenge is getting
 things done from other departments

It was quite clear that he lacked networking

skills and had a challenge in interpersonal skills
needed for interaction with others as mentioned
in the case study.

Agreeableness LOW There are many instances where we could see

that he was low on ‘Agreeableness’.

During the ‘Copying’ incident mentioned

above, he didn’t sound accommodating when
Lisa mentioned that she has some work other
than ‘copying’.

He even did not agree with the assumptions

Benton made to the analysis of Pure and Fresh
pricing.

He was critical in his approach. This was

supported by the events of Lisa’s first day
interactions with him where he was extremely
critical of MBA graduates. He was also found
to be extremely irritable by other employees
and was perceived not easy to get along with.

Neuroticism HIGH Scoville, during the ‘profit calculation’ incident

yelled at Benton, that is the primary reason why
I have given him a High score in the
Neuroticism.

Answer for Part B

Suggestion 1:

Lisa Benton could be more communicative and empathetic towards Scoville as she now
understands what his trigger points and personality traits are. She can be more careful
with her choice of words and actions and can use his eagerness to share knowledge to learn
about other facets of the job and this can be reiterated by the fact that after the ‘Pricing
analysis incident’. Benton considered the fact that getting along with Scoville was probably
essential to her success on the brand and realized that he was indeed open to feedback, and
there had been occasions when he had come across as a decent, even warm, person. Benton
returned to Scoville’s cubicle and suggested that they meet after work. Over drinks, Scoville
apologized for hurting Benton’s feelings, and talked about his frustration with the organization
and the fact that he had not been promoted yet. They agreed that they would try to cooperate.

Suggestion 2:

Lisa Benton could try to be a bridge between Scoville and other peers. If Lisa encouraged
others to give him a hand. Scoville would realize that Lisa had a reward power which would
give him some benefits.

Question 3
 Answer for Part A

Since Linton failed to notice Lisa’s strengths, therefore as per ‘Johari Window’ this situation
corresponds to the ‘Hidden Area / Facade’ window. Linton failed to notice Benton’s
Analytical skills, Intellectual capacity, Organizational abilities (according to Benton).

Answer for Part B

Lisa could follow an approach in which she can pursue the tasks given by Linton, however,
identify opportunities where she can leverage her strengths.

She could request a meeting with Deborah Linton, to obtain more information related to the
goals and objectives she has in mind for her, to get more clarity regarding the expectation of
the role. At the meeting, she should ensure that she explains the issues that she has been facing
and how they are a hindrance to her growth and performing to the best of her abilities. This
could be a turning point by opening a new communication portal between the two.

She should also request a review of the evaluation she was given and explain how
disappointed she was in the manner it was delivered to her. She should emphasize the
objectives to be included in the evaluation and areas where she should focus on.

Question 4

Linton could have used any one of the below three techniques and could have tried to be
gentle with her negative feedback:
1. The '1 like, I wish, I wonder' technique:
• The technique states that feedback should start with: I like, I wish, and I wonder.

2. The 3-2-1 technique: It involves the following steps:

• Name three things that you liked
• Name two areas that could be improved in the employee's work
• Highlight the one thing that you liked the most

3. The CEDAR technique:

CEDAR stands for:
C-Context
E-Examples
D-Diagnosis
A-Actions
R-Review
Context
The first stage of the CEDAR Feedback Model involves opening the conversation and
setting the context. It’s important for the recipient to be aware of the area in relation to
which they will receive. It’s also important for the individual to be aware of the
importance of feedback itself and how feedback works.
Examples
Having set the scene, you need to provide specific, factual and preferably directly
observed examples of actions or behaviours that you want to provide feedback on. Provide
enough examples to bring the point to life, but don’t overwhelm the feedback recipient.
Diagnosis
Now that the individual receiving the feedback understand the specific areas that have
been identified, the next step is to diagnose the situation with them.
This process usually follows a coaching approach. In this model the feedback provider
asks the recipient what they think happened and why. This is a two-stage process in which
the recipient has the chance to speak and in which the feedback provider listens actively to
what they have to say. By the end of this discussion both of you should understand what
caused the situation to occur.
Actions
Having worked to understand some of the root causes that led to the situation, you can
now move on to determining what actions can be taken to ensure the situation is resolved
or doesn’t happen again.
This stage is also usually undertaken through a coaching approach. Here the feedback
provider asks the recipient for their thoughts on future actions and next steps. The desire
here may be to provide solutions, but doing so should be avoided.
Actions don’t need to be this dramatic!
Review
The last stage of The CEDAR Feedback Model wraps the conversation up. The
conversation concludes, but the feedback process doesn’t. We should keep checking in the
individual and providing reinforcing feedback on a regular basis as well as having a more
formal discussion at a set time.
Question 5

Three engagement tactics that could have helped Lisa in feeling more motivated to work in
Houseworld, as per William Kahn who introduced the concept of employee engagement, he
mentioned the following three dimensions of employee engagement:

1. Physical engagement: This is the extent to which the employees expand their efforts while
doing the job. This increases the feeling of confidence and ensures that the employee is putting
right energy and resources. The company should encourage new joiner like Lisa to speak their
mind without any fear of criticism or judgement. This message should be clear to all manager
level roles so that they reciprocate the same thing to their teams.

2. Cognitive engagement: The employees should understand the company's vision and
strategies. The more knowledge the employee has regarding the organization goals and what is
expected of her, more creative the deliverables are. This focuses on whether the employee
perceives their role/task as meaningful. As soon as Lisa joined Houseworld she should have
 been briefed about her career progression goals

3. Emotional engagement: The employee should feel emotional relationship with the
employer. Through this strategy the managers should build trust among employees and make
them feel safe and appreciated. Linton should have provided on the spot recognition for Lisa,
whenever she thought that Lisa has done a good job. Even a small word of appreciation goes a
long way in boosting the morals of an employee

Question 6

Answer for Part A

The following Soft tactics could be used by Lisa Benton:

1.Impression management. A way of getting someone to see us likeable and trustworthy

while increasing the influence that we have on them. As Lisa is aware about the relationship
between Scoville and Linton, she can ensure that both of them look at her in the right light.
She can achieve this by effectively managing the small tasks Scoville is giving her while
simultaneously making letting Linton know how she has divided her time at the desk and what
tasks she has completed and capitalize on the reward power that Linton has and
simultaneously increasing her own referent power.

2. Exchange of information: Exchanging benefits or resources to ensure that the person you
are influencing is willing to accept your point of view. Lisa used to have hands on sleeve
approach during her summer internship. She can use that experience in assisting Scoville with
marketing projects whose deadlines are

Answer for Part B

 The following Hard tactics can be used by Lisa Benton:

1. Coalition formation: Groups with similar opinions push an idea through someone. As Lisa
is aware that rest of the staff including Linton's boss has positive feedback about her. She can
showcase her skill set to other colleagues at work and take their help to pitch across the
message about her positive skill set through word of mouth. This would be taking advantage of
her referent power.

2. Information control: Exploit access to information to change someone's behavior in your

favor. This can be very smartly utilized by Lisa, by not letting Linton know of her
conversations with Vernon and playing it cool whenever the topic arises. This would make
Linton anxious, and her behavior would definitely change towards her to access that piece of
information. This would be taking advantage of her limited informational power

Question 7

Lisa's co-workers breached ethics at multiple occasions as per the case study. This has been
done by:

Discrimination in treating employees: From the beginning. Linton and Scoville made it clear
to Benton that they did not like MBAs because they are arrogant. However, Linton's inability
to contain herself shows a prejudice against MBAs that is not professional and is also on the
opposite side of the company policy about hiring and promotions and code of conduct
assumingly.

The Unilateral favoritism to MBAs during recruitment: Because of policy of the Home
Care Division, the recruiting practice emphasized recruiting MBAs from top-notch schools for
 entry-level marketing positions. This decision makes it difficult for Linton, also Scoville to be
promoted as they thought that they were not having an MBA degree which might be a
drawback for them and hence nurtures their negative attitudes toward MBAs.

I find this favoritism policy unfair because either Binary Resume Screening technique
should be used and incorporated in the recruitment policy but this Subjective Resume
Screening technique used by the management is in my view leading to Selective Perception
bias in the organization, as is evident in the behavior of Deborah Linton and Ron Scoville.

Unequal opportunity: Because of her dislike to Benton, Linton seemed to ignore Benton's
ability on purpose and did not assign challenging tasks to Benton. Linton eventually failed
Benton by assuming that Benton's task maturity was low and blocked her development of her
expert power.

Lack of Mutual respect: Scoville and Benton had multiple face-offs related to the work that
was being assigned to her by Scoville. This led to a feeling of discontent and animosity
between the two. When Lisa Benton stepped into Scoville's office to show him her analysis
and recommendations. He seemed impressed, but later Scoville appeared and asked her how
she arrived at her figures. When Benton displayed her spreadsheet, Scoville began challenging
her assumptions. Frustrated with his attitude, Benton muttered "That's ridiculous" which led to
Scoville yelling at her in a voice that was audible across the entire floor, which is a clear
breach of ethics at a workplace and can be covered under sexual harassment at workplace

Question 8

In my view she should continue with her job rather than going back to working at Right Away
or for that matter any other organization and following are my supporting arguments:

1. The low choice alternative option. The strength associated with Right Away is the offer of
the salary package which is higher than the House world. The demerit in choosing Right Away
is Lisa's lack of self-confidence to manage the huge marketing responsibilities, even though
she can manage different tasks. She thinks that there would be no long-term goal and that she
would not learn much from it because it is a small company.

2. If Lisa leaves Houseworld, she may be happy due to not having to deal with unhelpful
management, but she may be unhappy due to limited opportunities to grow as the company is
small and she may regret her actions of not trying to solve the problem at Houseworld

3. She could develop a good reputation as an employee and future leader. She could
demonstrate her loyalty to the company and her ability to manage work with Scoville and
Linton.

4.Though she has strained relationship with her boss and Scoville, she has a learning
opportunity as to how to deal with such personalities. Also, she should not forget that she has
support of Vernon who is boss of Linton and on whom Lisa has good impression.

5.Lisa by now have developed networking with employees of other departments which she can
use for any information sharing or utilize it for her support when required.