Attribution Errors

Attribution theory explains the ways in which we judge people differently,

depending on the meaning attributed to the situation in context. Upon
joining Jensen Shoes, Brooks has worked under the supervision of both Chuck
Taylor and Jane Kravitz. He was demoted to an individual contributor in his
second stint under Jane.
Brooks started out with great motivation and expectation when approaching
the environment project. However, his supervisors assigned him too big a
workload, including 2 S.Os in addition to the environment project. This turn
of events lead Brooks to seriously consider his future at the firm.
In this regard there were some attribution errors that contributed to most of
the misunderstanding that occurred between Brooks and Kravitz. The
attribution errors comes into light in 3 key aspects where the perception of
the supervisor and the employee showed some conflict.
Brooks was more interested in the environment project and assumed that the
management would allow him more time to complete the S.Os. Completing
the S.Os were of the highest priority for the management and they expected
Brooks to meet those expectations, whatever be the situation.
Brooks felt he was being relegated to a stereotype when he was assigned the
African and Latino projects the second time, even though he had no
experience in this market. Management wanted to save time on the project,
given Brooks background as an African American.
After a series of events such as losing his team, budget cuts and demotion
for not completing his S.Os, Brooks felt the management treatment toward
him were unfair. Management on the other hand had very high expectations
for Brooks given his extensive experience and felt his performance was
insufficient.
The perspective of management can be better understood using attribution
theory to evaluate Brooks performance. Attribution errors are determined
based on three factors namely Distinctiveness, Consensus and Consistency.
Distinctiveness-Brooks performance has been sub-par at best. He is
behind on his S.Os and is asking for a business trip. His failure in this aspect,
consequently seems internal.
Consensus- Brooks was unable to complete his strategic objectives in time
when other employees were able to do so. As a result, his failure would once
again appear to be the result of internal behavior.

Consistency- Brooks was unable to complete the work assigned to him in 2

different instances and as a result his failure seems rather internal.