take the steps necessary to meet this Chief, we've been tightening up thing s Marsha: "Well, it's final.

"
new competition.
Reluctantly, Basil approache d
the big walrus, who was still sun­
ning him self on th e large rock. Afte r
som e srnallta lk, he said , "Oh, by the
way, Chief, a new herd of walr uses
se em s to ha ve moved into our te rri­
II tor y." The Old Man's eye s snap ped
open , and he filled his g rea t lungs in
prep aration for a migh ty bellow. But
Basil added qu ickly, "Of co urse , we
don't anticipate any tro uble. Th ey
don't look like herring eater s to me.
More likely inter ested in minnows .
And as you know, we don't both er
with minnows o urselves."
The Old Man let out the air
with a long sigh. "Good , go od," he
sa id. "No point in our ge tting exc ited
over no thing the n, is th ere?"
Things didn' t ge t any better in
the wee ks that followed. One day,
peering dow n from the large ro ck,
th e Old Man noticed th at par t of the
herd seemed to be miss ing .
Su mm onin g Bas il, he g runted peev­
ishly. "What's go ing on , Basil?
Y\'here is eve ryo ne?" Poor Bas il
didn 't have the courage to tell the
Old Ma n th at ma ny of the younger
walruses were leaving every day to
join th e new herd. Clearing his
throat nervously, he sa id, "Well
CA S 1 5
a bit You know, getting rid of some of
the dead wood. After all, a herd is only
as good as the walru ses in it"
"Run a tight ship, I always say,"
th e Old Man grunted . "Glad to hear
that all is go ing so well."
Before long, everyo ne but Basil
had left to join th e new her d, and
Basil realized that the time ha d
co me to tell th e Old Man the fact s.
Terrified bu t deter mined, he flopped
up to th e large ro ck. "Chief," he
sa id, "I have bad news. 111e rest of
the herd has left yo u. t' Thc old wal­
rus was so astonishe d th at he could­
n't even work up a goo d bellow. "Left
me?" he cried. "All of the m? But
why? How could th is hap pe n?"
Basi l did n't have th e heart to
tell him, so he me rely sh rugged
helples sly.
"I can't und e rs tand it," the old
walru s said. "And just whe n every ­
thing was going so well."
Revie w Q ue stion s
1. Wh at bar riers to com munication
ar e evide nt in this fable?
2. Wh at comm unication "lessons"
does this fable offe r to those who
are se rious abo ut careers in th e
new workplace? •
john: "It' s been a difficult deci sion,
but I know it will work out for th e
best."
-MMSha: "Yes, how ever, we ar e leav­
ing many things we like here."
john: "I know, but remember,
Professor Massie is so meo ne you
respect a great de al and he is
offering you a chall en ge to come
and intr od uce new co urses at
Ce nt ral. Besides, he will sure ty be
a pleasure to work for."
Marsha: "John we're you ng, eager
an d a little adventurous . Th e re's
no reason we shouldn't go."
j ohn: "We're go ing dear."
Ma rsha Lloyd beg an the fail
se mester eagerly. Th e points dis­
cussed in her ea rlier co nversa tions
with Fr ed were now real challenges,
and she was teac h ing new under­
gradua te and g rad uate co urses in
Central's cu rriculum. Overall, th e
transition to Cenl ral ha d be e n pleas­
an t. The nine facul ty me mbers were
war m in welcom ing her, and Marsha
felt it would be good working with
th e m. Sh e also felt comfor table with
th e performance sta ndar ds th at
appeared to exis t in the departme nt.
Alth ough it was certain ly not a "pub­
lish or peri sh " situation, Fred had
indicated during th e recruiti ng
process th at resear ch and publica­
tions would be g iven increasing
weight along with teaching and se r­
vice in futu re de partmen tal deci­

or• se
sions. 111is was con sistent with
Th Case of the Miss· n Marsha's persona l be lief that a pro­
fessor s hou ld live up to eac h of
Prepa red by John R. Schermerhorn, Jr., Ohio University these re sponsibilities. Alth ough
the re was some conflict in evide nce
amo ng th e faculty over wha t weight­
ing and stan dards should apply to
these performan ce are as, she

I
t was late Febr uar y, and Mar sha Lloyd had ju s t com pleted an important
long-distance telephon e call with Pr ofessor Fred Massie, head of the se nse d some co nse ns us tha t the
Dep artment of Management at Central University. During the conversation m ultiple resp onsibilities sh ould be
Marsh a accepted an offer to move from he r present position at Private respecte d.
Univer sity, located in th e East, to Central in th e Midwest as an Assistant It was April, and spring vaca tion
Pr ofessor. Marsha and her hu sband Jo hn then sha red th e following thought s. time. Marsha was sitting at ho me

W-60 THE OB SKILLS WORKBOOK ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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I

.-;::­
r eflecting up on h er experiences to
dat e at Central. Sh e was plea se d.
Both she and J oh n had adjus ted
very we ll to Midweste rn life.
Alth ou gh th e re we re th ing s they
bo th mis sed fro m their prio r loca­
tio n, she was in an inte re sti ng new
job and they found the rural enviro n­
ment of Cen tr al ver y satisfying .
Ma rsha h ad also received pos itive
stud e nt fee dba ck on h er fall se mes­
ter" courses, ha d presented two
papers at a recent pro fessional meet­
ing, and h ad ju st been informed th at
two of he r pap e rs wou ld be pub­
lish ed by a journal. T h is was a good
record and she felt sa tisfied . She
had been workin g h ard and it W C\S
paying off.
The spring semester h ad e nded
and M arsha was preoccupi ed . It wa s
time , she thou ght, for an en d-of-the­
ye ar perfo rmance review by fred
Massie. This anticipatio n h ad been
stimula ted, in part, by a recent meet­
ing of th e College facu lty in wh ich
the De an indica ted that a 7% par
raise po ol was no w available for th e
co m ing year. He wa s en cour agi ng
departme nt chairpe rsons to dis trib­
ute th is money d iffer e nt ially ba sed
on performance me rit. Marsha ha d
listene d clo sel y to the Dean ancl
liked wh at she heard. Sh'e felt this
meant th at Ce ntra l was re ally tr ying
to establish a performa nce -orien ted
re wa rd system. Such a system was
co ns is ten t with h e r perso nal ph iloso ­
phy and, indeed, she tau ght such
reasoning in her co urses.
Throughou t May, Marsh a kep t
expecting to h ave a conve rsation
with Fred Massie on these top ics .
One day , th e following m e m o
appeared in her facu lty mailbox .
ME MOR'\NDUM
T O: Fellow Faculty
FROM: Fred
RE: Raises for Next Year
The Dean has been most open
abo ut the finan ces of the Colleg e as evi­
I)·'. ·····....····..·················..
den ced by h is detai l and can dor regard­
ing the budg et at the last faculty meeting.
Con sist ent with that phi losop hy
provide a perspective on ra ise s and clari­
fy a point or two.
The actu al doll ar s available to ou r
de par tm ent e xclus ive o f the cha irm an
total 7.03%. In allocating th ose fu nds I
have attempted to rewar d people on the
bas is of their contribu tion to the life of
the De partm ent and th e Univer s ity. as
well as profe ss ional growth and develop­
me nt. In addition, it was es sen tial th is
yea r to adju st a couple of inequi ties
whic h had de veloped ove r a period of
time . The distribution of inc rements was
the following:
5% or ll' s ~ J 7 + 9"0- 9%
5 + 'Yo--7% 2 Mor e th an 9%
Marsh a read the m emo with
m ixed emotions . Initially, she was
upset that Fred had obviousl y ma de
th e pay ra ise decisions with out hav­
ing s poke n first with her abo ut he r
perfor mance. Still, sh e felt good
because s he was sure to be o ne of
those re ceivin g a 9 + % inc rease.
"N ow," she mus ed to herse lf, "it will
be go od to sit dow n with Fred and
d iscus s not on ly th is past year's
efforts, but my plans for ne xt ye ar' s
as well ."
Marsh a was disap pointed when
Fred did not contact her for su ch a
discu ssion . Furthermore, sh e found
herself freq uen tly involved in informal
con ver sations with other faculty mem­
bers wh o were speculating over who
received the various pay increments.
One day Carla Block , a faculty
colleag ue, came into Ma rs ha's office
and said she ha d asked Fred ab ou t
he r ra ise. She received a 7 + %
increase , and also learned th at the
two 9 + %increases had been g iven
to se nior facu lty m embers. Ma rsh a
was incredul ous , "It ca n't be ," she
th ou g ht, "I was a top performer this
past yea r. M y teach ing an d publica­
tions record s are strong, an d I feel
I've bee n a positive for ce in the
......j ..
de par tme nt." She felt Carla coul d be
mi staken and waite d to talk the mat­
r want to ter ou t with Fr ed.
A few days later an oth er co l­
leagu e reporte d to Marsha th e results
of a similar co nvers ation with Fred.
This time Mar sh a exp lode d inte rnally.
Sh e fell she deser ved ju st rew ard.
The next day Marsha received a
comp uterized notice on he r pay incre­
ment from the Acco un ting Office. Her
raise was 7.'2:'10. That night, after airing
her feelings with John , Marsha te le­
pho ned Fred at home and arranged to
meet with him the next day.
F re d M assie kn ock ed on th e
doo r to Ma rsha's office an d e nte red .
The g reeting s were cordial. Marsha
3
began th e conversation. "Fred,
2
we 've always been frank with one
an othe r and now I'm co nce rn ed
about my raise," she said . "I thought
1 hael a good year, b ut I unde rs ta nd
th at I've received ju st an ave rage
raise ." Fred Massie was a perso n
who talked openly, a nd Marsha
co uld trus t him . He res pond ed to
Ma rsha in thi s way.
Yes , Mar sha, y ou ar e a to p pe r­
fo rm er. I fee l you have m ade g reat con­
tr ibut ion s to the Departm e nt . The two
9 + % rai s e s wen t to cor rect
"ine q uities " that h ad b uilt u p ov er a
pe riod of time for two se nior people. I
felt tha t s ince th e m on e y was av ailable
this yea r that I ha d a re sp on sibi lity to
ma ke th e ad justmen ts. If we don 't con­
s ider th e m , you received one of th e
thr e e top r aises, and I con si der a ny
percen tage differences betwe en the s e
th re e very s upe r ficia l. I su ppose I
could h ave bee n more discriminating
at the lowe r end of th e distribut ion . but
I can't gi ve ze ro inc rem en ts. I k no w
you h ad a good ye ar . It's wh at I expec t­
e d when r hi red yo u. You h aven 't le t
me d own . From yo ur perspec tive [
know you feel yo u earned an "A," an d I
ag ree . I gave you a "B +" . I hope you
u nd e rst and why.
Marsha sym pathized with Fred's logic
and felt goo d having spoken with him.
THE OB SKIUS WORKB=K W-61
-7 i
Although sh e wasn't happy, she und er­
stood Fred 's position. Her final com­
ment to Fred was this. "You know, it's
not the absolute dollar value of the
raise th at hurts. It's the se nse of let­
dO\\11. Recently, for example, I turned
down an extensive consu lting job that
would have paid far more than the
missing raise. j did so because I felt it
would require too many days away
from the office. I'm not sure my col­
leagu es would mak e that ch oice."
In the co u rse of a cas ual sum­
mer conve rsa tion, Carla me ntione d
to Mar s ha that she hea rd two of th e
faculty who had received 4 + % raises
ha d com plained to Fr ed and the
Dean, After lodg ing th e com plaints
th ey had received addit ional sa lary
incr em ents . "Oh great," Mar sha
respon ded to herself, "I thou g ht I
ha d pu t this th ing to re st."
About three week s later, Marsha,
Fred, Carla, and anoth er colleague
wer e in a meeting with the Dean .
Althou gh the meeting was on a sepa­
rate matter, something was said which
implied that Car la had also received an
add itional pay incre ment. Marsha con­
fron ted the Dean and learn ed that this
W<lS the case. Carla had protested to
Fred an d the Dea n, and they r aised
her pay on the justification that an his­
torical salary inequ ity had bee n ove r­
looked. Fred was visibly uncomfor t­
able as a discu ssion en sue d on how
salar y incremen ts sh ould be award ed
and what had transpired in the depart­
mcnt iii this respect.
Fred eventually excu sed himse lf
to attend anoth er meeting. Mar sha
and the other s continued to discu ss
the matter with the Dean and the co n­
versa tion became increasi ng ly heated .
Finally, they each rose to terminate the
meetin g and Marsh a felt compelled to
say one more thing. "It's not that I'm
not making enough mon ey," she said
to the Dean, "but I just don't feel I
received my fair share, es pecially in
terms of your own state d policy of
W-62 THE OB SKILLS WORKBOOK
rewarding faculty on the basis of per­ What we re Marsha's go als and
formance merit" what conflict management s tyle
With th at remark, Marsha left would hav e wor ked be st in help­
the meeting . As she walked down ' . ing h er achi eve them?
the hall to her of fice , sh e sa id to her­
2. What is Fred's con flict manage­
se lf, "N ext year there will be no
ment style and h ow has it influ­
turning dow n co nsulting jobs
en ce d events in this case?
because of a misgui ded sense of
de pa r tme nta l resp onsibility." 3. Once Marsha found out what her
raise was to be, how could she
have used the notion an d elements
Review Questions of distri butive negotiation to create
a situation wher e Fred would make
1. Wh at is Marsha's conflict man­
a raise adjustmen t that was favor­
ageme nt style and how has it
able and motivating for her? •
influenced eve nts in this case?
C A SE 16
Neve r on und y
Developed by Anil e C. Cowd en, California Stote University, Socrornenlo.cnd
John R. Schermerhorn, Jr., O hio University
cCoy's Building Supply Cente rs of San Marcos, T ex as, have been in
continuous successful ope ra tion for over 70 years in an increasingl y
co mpe titive re ta il busi ness. Mc Coy's is one of the nation' s largest fami ­
ly-owned and -manage d b uilding-s up ply com pan ies, serving 10 million
custo me rs a ye ar in a re gion al area currently cove ring New Mexic o , Texas,
Oklaho ma, Arkan sas, Mississip pi, and Louisiana. McCoy's strategy has been
to occ upy a niche in the mar ke t of sma ll a nd me dium-s ized cities .
McCoy's groun ding principle is me nt team (Emmett McCoy and his
acquiring and se lling th e fines t-Q uali­ two sons, Brian a nd Mik e , who serve
ty pro ducts that can be foun d an d as co-pre side nts) has establi she d 11
providing Quality se r vice to cu s­ tea ms of mana gers d raw n from the
torn e rs , As an ope rations-orie nted diffe rent regions McCoy's stores
company. McC oy's has always man­ cover. T he team s meet regul arly to
aged witho ut ma ny layers of ma nage­ discuss new prod ucts , be tte r ways for
men t. Manag er s are ask ed to conce n­ pro duc t de liver y, and a ho st of ite ms
trate on ser vice-relate d issues in integral to mai ntaining cus to mer sat­
their sto res : get the merch an dise on isfact ion. Team leadership is rotat ed
the floor, price it, se I! it, and help the amo ng the man agers .
custo me r car ry it out. T he majori ty McC oy's ha s a workforce of 70
of th e adm inistrative workload is han ­ per cent full-time and 30 percent part­
dled through headquarters so th at tim e employees . McCoy 's philoso ­
store em ployees can co ncen tra te on phy values loyal, ada pta ble, skilled
cus tome r se rv ice. The top man ag e­ e mployees as th e most essential ele­
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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