Name Shivapriya Subramanian

Question 1

The first quotation was she was not expected,and she was a hardward

Instance 1 - The first instance

MBA

where the friction between Lisa

and Linton was during her first
day in the office. Linton
remarked that ‘she doesn’t like
MBAs’. This remark along with
the
cool and disinterested welcome
she got from her boss was a
primary friction point
Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the
group product manager who had
impressed her during the
recruitment process barely
recognized her nor welcomed her
into the organization. He had
given her a cold welcome
Instance 3 - Scoville’s
condescending manner in which
he spoke to her and he was acting
like an overbearing big brother.
He assigned her menial tasks like
copying reports. This was
another friction point during her
first few weeks
Instance 1 - The first instance
where the friction between Lisa
and Linton was during her first
day in the office. Linton
remarked that ‘she doesn’t like
MBAs’. This remark along with
the
cool and disinterested welcome
she got from her boss was a
primary friction point
Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the
group product manager who had
impressed her during the
recruitment process barely
recognized her nor welcomed her
into the organization. He had
given her a cold welcome
Instance 3 - Scoville’s
condescending manner in which
he spoke to her and he was acting
like an overbearing big brother.
He assigned her menial tasks like
copying reports. This was
another friction point during her
first few weeks
Instance 1 - The first instance
where the friction between Lisa
and Linton was during her first
day in the office. Linton
remarked that ‘she doesn’t like
MBAs’. This remark along with
the
cool and disinterested welcome
she got from her boss was a
primary friction point
Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the
group product manager who had
impressed her during the
recruitment process barely
recognized her nor welcomed her
into the organization. He had
given her a cold welcome
Instance 3 - Scoville’s
condescending manner in which
he spoke to her and he was acting
like an overbearing big brother.
He assigned her menial tasks like
copying reports. This was
another friction point during her
first few weeks
Instance 1 - The first instance
where the friction between Lisa
and Linton was during her first
day in the office. Linton
remarked that ‘she doesn’t like
MBAs’. This remark along with
the
cool and disinterested welcome
she got from her boss was a
primary friction point
Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the
group product manager who had
impressed her during the
recruitment process barely
recognized her nor welcomed her
into the organization. He had
given her a cold welcome
Instance 3 - Scoville’s
condescending manner in which
he spoke to her and he was acting
like an overbearing big brother.
He assigned her menial tasks like
copying reports. This was
another friction point during her
first few weeks
Instance 1 - The first instance
where the friction between Lisa
and Linton was during her first
day in the office. Linton
remarked that ‘she doesn’t like
MBAs’. This remark along with
the
cool and disinterested welcome
she got from her boss was a
primary friction point
Instance 2 - Richard Clark, the
group product manager who had
impressed her during the
recruitment process barely
recognized her nor welcomed her
into the organization. He had
given her a cold welcome
Instance 3 - Scoville’s
condescending manner in which
he spoke to her and he was acting
like an overbearing big brother.
He assigned her menial tasks like
copying reports. This was
another friction point during her
first few weeks
The following were the instances which according to me, caused friction between Lisa and her
team members: Linton and Scoville
 1. Linton greeted Benton pleasantly, and said that she was not expecting Benton for
another week and that her office was not set up yet.
2. Linton remarked that ‘she does not like MBA’s especially the ones from Harvards’.
3. Scoville’s condescending manner in which he spoke to her and the fact that he was
acting like an overbearing big brother. He assigned her menial tasks like copying
reports. This was another friction point during her first few weeks.
4. Richard Clark, the group product manager who had impressed her during the
recruitment process barely recognized her nor welcomed her into the organization. He
had given her a cold welcome.

Question 2

Write your answer for Part A here.

Trait Level: High/Low Example supporting the answer

Openness to High Scoville moved from Operation to marketing

Experience department showing his openness.

Conscientiousness Low The copying episode with Lisa where Scoville

was frantically making changes at the last
moment is evidence for his low
conscientiousness

Extraversion Low He does not 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

Agreeableness Low 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
who took Lisa’s side later

Neuroticism High Scoville was nice to Lisa in the beginning by

answering her questions and doubts. But he
threw a temper tantrum during his disagreement
with Lisa on the assumptions on Pure and
Fresh’s pricing strategy. Due to this emotional
instability his neuroticism score is high

Lisa can initiate an emotional

connect with Scoville. She could
assess what ticks him and
what doesn’t by connecting with
him outside the office on an
emotional level. She can make
herself indispensable to Scoville
by using her relationships with
other department colleagues
in getting work done quickly for
him. Scoville’s increasing
reliance on her can improve her
relationship with him.
Lisa can initiate an emotional
connect with Scoville. She could
assess what ticks him and
what doesn’t by connecting with
him outside the office on an
emotional level. She can make
herself indispensable to Scoville
by using her relationships with
other department colleagues
in getting work done quickly for
 him. Scoville’s increasing
reliance on her can improve her
relationship with him.
Lisa could have asked more questions to him and have built a better rapport with him. She
could have gotten things done quickly from her friends from other departments quickly for him
and could have built an emotional relationship with him. She could have gone on lunches
more often with him and befriended him.

Question 3

It is the hidden area or facade

1. Lisa should come out of the learner mode and make her opinions visible and loud such
that Linton can see them and understand her assertiveness.
2. Both Lisa and Linton are ambitious women, given that Lisa is great at communication
skills and she is great at mingling with people she must go out on a lunch with Linton
and project her ideas and showcase her talents and show her that she is a confident
woman and remove the misunderstanding that Linton has about her.
3. She should come forward and take up responsibilities next time when she receives a
appreciation mail from Vernon citing her previous experience and show her
willingness to work independently.

Question 4
 Instead of using strong words like unassertive and "lacking in initiative and confidence”, she
could have been nicer with subtler words. The meeting was an informal one and hence it could
have been on a friendly note where she could have used words of encouragement asking her to
voice her opinions and take up responsibilities and given that it’s been 3 months since she had
joined the company and she is great at communication and has been getting accolades from
her senior as well. She could have also spent more time with Lisa from the start to get to know
her as she is also an ambitious woman manager. She could have also set up a road map for
Lisa so it could have m=been easier for her to achieve her goals.

Question 5

1.Lisa could have felt motivated by being more appreciated by Linton as she appreciated by
Vernon on small things.

2.She could have been given roles that aligned with her skillsets.

3.She should have been given the freedom to speak Her mind and give her opinions without
being judged so her sensibilities would have come to foreground and her actual capabilities
would have been showcased. This did not happen even during her informal performance
review.

4.Linton should have given her a roadmap specifying her goals so she would have felt more
motivated in achieving the same and wanted in getting the targets achieved and an integral part
of the team.

5.Including fun activities in the team could have helped in understanding the people better and
could have acted as an ice breaker between Linton and Lisa and other team members too.
Question 6

She can use the following two soft tactics:

Lisa can use Persuasion with Scoville, creating an emotional connect with him since he is
open to feedback, when they both discussed about frustration on the organization when they
went for drinks.

Lisa could have used impression management with Linton as she thinks she is not assertive
and doesn’t take up responsibilities, speaking up in the meetings and giving her opinions and
taking up more responsibilities and accomplishing them thus winning her trust .

She can use the following two hard tactics:

1.She can use Coalition formation with Vernon as he is quite impressed with Lisa’s
performance and since both have graduated from Harvard, she can ask for more
responsibilities in the project through him thus winning the trust of Linton.

2.Lisa can use Assertiveness to Scoville and say no to do menial jobs as she did for the
copying work since he is just her colleague .and not her boss
Question 7

Yes.There is a clear breach of ethics by Lisa’s coworkers.

1.When Scoville and Lisa had an argument and they went to Linton, yelled at Lisa which
according to me was not right. Whatever be the misunderstanding between her team mates she
as a manner must sort things amicably and not yell at them.

2.Linton was responsible for her team’s growth and she must always have time for them and
have private sessions with them. But she did not even have time for the regular performance
appraisal for Lisa and only after 3 months she had a private chat with her.

3.Copying episode .It is good to help peers but we can not pressurize them to take up our tasks
at the cost of their work which happened here and passing undue comments which was highly
unprofessional.

4.We saw that Linton gave Lisa analysis work late in the evening during the first few days
when she joined and this was against their company rules Their company promised a work life
balance and giving work post work time was unnecessary and also not understanding what the
employee actually wanted to work on, finding the expectations, the strengths of the
employee’s is the duty of the manager which did not happen in the case of Lisa who did not
want to be restricted with the analysis part and was great at communication.

Question 8

According to me she must not leave the job.

Lisa joined this organization so that she would receive classical training in marketing from a
structured environment from industry leader.
Rather than running away from problems she should understand that this is how corporates
work as she is young and must understand conflict management and use the soft tactics and
learn as much as she can from Scoville

Meanwhile she must prove herself to be a good team player and take up initiatives and become
more assertive and come outside the ’learner’ mode.

Given than she has friends from all departments and Verner adores her, she can switch to
better products and exhibit her presentation skills.

As the management is increasing the number of Harvard recruits her advancement in career is
bright in Houseworld.