NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

NUS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Department of Management and Organization
Human Resource Management Unit

AN AWARD FOR DISASTER?

Congratulations Rajesh! You are the best quality leader of the year 2013, said Mike
Kelly, Global Quality Director of a world renowned refrigeration company, Coolbright, as
he presented Rajesh tickets for two to Hawaii with a 4 night stay in a five-star hotel.
Rajesh was so delighted, not because of the award, but because he fulfilled a promise
he made to himself. He once told his wife:
I am in the company to make the best of my time. Its not going to be
easy. I will not be a quality engineer for long. My aim is to progress quickly and at
the same time receive a handsome pay package. We have a young family to feed,
a condo to buy, a bigger car to purchase. I am young and intelligent. I am driven,
straightforward and ambitious. I will make my mark at Coolbright very soon!
Anita Yan, Rajeshs very first boss at Coolbright, was Senior Vice President, responsible
for Quality Improvement and Change Management in South East Asia region. Anita had
always been impressed by Rajeshs high quality of work and speed in delivery. In fact,
she was the one who endorsed Rajeshs award. Due to some reorganization, Rajesh now
reported to Allen Brown, who in turn reported directly to Anita. Bagging the award, it
appeared to everyone in the company that Rajesh was an obvious choice for promotion.
His current position was one that Allen used to be before he was promoted to his
present position.

TROUBLES BREWING
Its once again performance evaluation time. It was the time managers dreaded. It was a
time employees hated. But for Rajesh, its the best time of the year. Its time to tell his
success stories and grab that promotion, he thought to himself wistfully.
However, Rajesh was jolted to his senses by Allens remark:
Rajesh, you are obviously a bright young man. People who worked with
you in the same projects liked you. However, I do have a couple of reservations
about your interaction style and your lack of managerial experience. You dont
have direct reports. All you did was coordination between several stakeholders. I
suggest that you learn from other senior managers if you are serious about your
next move.

USA SKULKEREWATHANA. JANUARY 2015

While Rajesh was pondering over Allens feedback on his performance, Jimmy Choo,
Rajeshs buddy, stopped by his office and started some juicy gossip:
Rajesh, I have insider news. Do you know that actually your boss has
someone else in mind when it comes to promotion? You are really a pain in his
neck. If Allen were to choose his own people, it would not have been you. You
have to prepare for any fallout. Take care, buddy!
Rajesh was stunned.

TROUBLES ESCALATED!
Rajesh spent most of his time during the next 3 months on his projects. He had
stretched himself so thin that he had no time to enjoy his evening walk with his wife. To
that, he explained to her that the workload had become heavier as Allen wanted to train
him for the next lap in his career at Coolbright.
Rajesh thought that everything was going well until he was shaken from his busy
schedule by an email from Allen, carbon copied to Anita.
Rajesh, it has been more than 6 months since you started working with
me. I have yet to receive any work-in-progress report from you. This is not the
first time I mentioned this to you. If you recalled, I repeated myself more than
twice during the past 6 months. Working in a team requires each member to
keep everyone else updated. Together, we win the race. There is no point being
the sole champion, leaving behind your teammates. I thought you remember
our companys values by heart. I am wrong. I am disappointed with your lack of
team spirit.
Rajesh was dumbfounded.
He believed he had been doing so well. All his stakeholders in the projects sang praises
of him. Rajesh tried to explain his situation to Allen via email, without anyone else in the
loop as he did not deem it fit to blow up the matter. It turned out to be a mistake. Allen
snapped back with a long list of incidents he was not satisfied with Rajesh. As Rajesh ran
through the list, he began to worry that this matter would be blown out of proportion if
he was assertive and refute Allens claims. He decided to call a truce to the fiery email
exchange. He replied to Allen:
Allen, I appreciate your guidance. It did not occur to me that there are
many more things that I have yet to learn. I promise you I will work on the list
and perform even better. If I did disappoint you in any way, I apologize.

USA SKULKEREWATHANA. JANUARY 2015

To Rajeshs surprise, Allen replied, but not in confidence. The email was copied Anita,
with all prior exchanges attached. Allen wrote a final word,
Rajesh, FINALLY, you admitted wrong. I hope this will not happen again as
it is not good for your record.

TROUBLES INFINITE!
Knowing that he had a different working style from Allen, Rajesh tried to avoid
interactions with him. Allen spearheaded a project that Rajesh had some part to work
on. However, Rajesh felt that the way Allen lead the project and put up the budget were
inappropriate. Rajesh told many people from other project teams that he did not agree
with his bosss directions.
I know myself well. If it is not correct, it is not correct! How to work and
follow something that you do not believe in! There is no more excitement in this
work. How could you expect me to produce good work out of those terrible
ideas?
Allen held another performance review with Rajesh, emphasizing on his continuing lack
of enthusiasm and his negative work attitude. After the meeting Allen sent a mail to
Anita outlining the issues. This mail was not copied to Rajesh. But while Rajesh was
rushing to finish his report of the day, he received a forwarded mail from someone.
From: Allen Brown allenbrown@coolbright.com
To: Anita Yan anitayan@coolbright.com
SENT: July31, 2014 3.12 pm.
Subject: Rajesh
On January 10, I sent you an email about my concerns with Rajeshs attitude and work
performance. On July 29, 2014, Rajesh and I had another performance review. I told him of his
continuing lack of enthusiasm and negative work attitude. His sense of team is still lacking
although I have tried ample times to bring him forward.
Rajesh finally admitted his mistakes and shortcomings. He promised to improve his work
performance for the next one month. If not, I reckon that none benefits from his stay and we
should quickly find his replacement.
Regards,
Allen

USA SKULKEREWATHANA. JANUARY 2015

THE BEGINNING OF THE END?

Rajesh was upset with the outcome of his meeting with Allen. It was another day of
dragging himself to work. As he shuffled into his office and began the day with checking
his emails, he was stumped:
From: Anita Yan anitayan@coolbright.com
To; Rajesh rajesh@coolbright.com
Cc: Allen Brown allenbrown@coolbright.com
SENT: August 1, 2014 8.02 am.
Subject: Your performance
I am disappointed to know from Allen that you have been underperforming lately due to your
work attitude and lack of enthusiasm. This is not what I expect from a young and intelligent
person like you.
I hope you would give it a good thought and resume immediately to your high quality work.
Regards,
Anita

Rajeshs jaws dropped.

Adapted from: Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis by W. Earl Sasser & Heather Beckham, Brief cases: Harvard
Business School Publishing, May 2008, 2095.

Discussion questions:
1. What do you think have led Rajesh to this situation?
2. What you do think Rajesh should do next? Support your ideas with theories and
concepts you have learnt in this module.
3. If you were Rajesh, how would you manage up?

USA SKULKEREWATHANA. JANUARY 2015