Case study: 1

Michael is an intern at a law firm. He is hired for a two-month internship programme which
includes assisting advocates, interacting with their clients and attending court sessions.
However,  after a few days, Michael’s performance suffered greatly which led to inefficiency
and client dissatisfaction. Upon examining Michael’s work habits closely, the manager
realized  that he lacked interpersonal skills.

Case study: 2

FEAR OF SPEAKING

Chen Li has worked for Smith and Fields Industry for several years. An opportunity
came up for Chen to be promoted to a division director. Chen felt qualified for the
position and was excited about the opportunity. His one concern was that he would be
expected to give monthly oral reports to the upper management team. The thought of
speaking to a group of 20-25 people terrified Chen.

1. Would you encourage Chen to turn down the promotion if he doesn’t feel
comfortable with accepting all of the duties of the position?
2. Who could Chen talk with about his concerns about speaking to groups?
3. What suggestions and support would you give Chen if he came to you for help?

Case study: 3

Jim’s Mistake

A case study on virtual teams, hierarchy, and direct versus indirect communication styles.

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Jim is has been managing a software development team in
Pune for the past two years. He has been working closely with Aruna, the Indian team
leader, to develop a new networking program. While Jim has over 25 years of experience
in software development, Aruna knows the program inside andout.

While reviewing his work from the previous week, Jim discovers that he made a mistake
in the programming code. He notices that Aruna corrected his error, but wonders why
Aruna did not bring it to his attention so that he could avoid delays and keep from
making the same mistake in the future.

Reflection…

1. Should Aruna have informed Jim of his mistake? Why or whynot?

Case study: 4
 Rebecca works with United Technologies, a Chicago based company. She is talking on
the phone to Abhinav, the manager of one of United Technologies vendors for customer
service outsourcing.

Rebecca: We really need to get all of the customer service representatives trained on our
new process in the next two weeks. Can you get this done?

Abhinav: That timeline is pretty aggressive. Do you think it’s possible?

Rebecca: I think it will require some creativity and hard work, but I think we can get
it done with two or three days to spare

Abhinav: Ok.

Rebecca: Now that our business is settled, how is everything else?

Abhinav: All’s well, although the heavy monsoons this year are causing a lot of delays
getting around the city.

Two weeks later…

Abhinav: We’ve pulled all of our resources and I’m happy to say that 60% of the
customer service representatives are now trained in the new process. The
remaining 40% will complete the training in the next two weeks.

Rebecca: Only 60%? I thought we agreed that they all would be trained by now!
Abhinav: Yes . The monsoon is now over so the rest of the training should go
quickly. Rebecca: This training is critical to our results. Please get it done as soon
as possible. Abhinav: I am certain that it will be done in the next two weeks.

Reflection… 1 .Did Abhinav agree to the initial timeline requested by Rebecca?

2. What might Rebecca be thinking aboutAbhinav?

3. What might Abhinav be thinking aboutRebecca?

Case study: 5

1. Lydia is a new salesperson at Gold’s Department Store. She is working in the men’s
clothing department with five other employees. Lydia was informed that all price tags
from sold merchandise were to be saved and then sorted at the end of the day. It took
approximately 20 minutes to sort the tags. Lydia felt this was a stupid process. She
designed a box with punched holes that made it easy to sort the tags after each sale. She
presented the process to the other employees and encouraged them to begin using it
immediately. The other employees did not accept the idea as they liked the overtime after
store hours. They also felt that it slowed down the selling process and took time away from
the customers. Lydia and her ideas were ignored. Lydia did not like this type of treatment
and quit.
 1. Did Lydia (who needed the job) do the rightthing?
2. Was the new method of sorting a good idea? Why or whynot?
3. How could Lydia have gained acceptance of the newidea?
4. What steps could Lydia have taken to be accepted again as a part of the salesteam?

Case study:6

Communication gap
It was 9:30 a.m. .When two trucks brought some large crates to assembly shop .Everyonesaw
truck crew unloading the boxes quickly , leave them piled near the gate of the
storesdepartment and drive away . Mohan ,a worker ,watched and approached the foreman
and pointed to the boxes . The foreman stopped , shrugged his shoulders and walked
way.Mohan came across another worker who asked:”What’s in the boxes?” “ I don’t know
“,was the reply , “and the foreman doesn’t know either or at least ,he doesn’t
want to tellme.” Mohan went over his work but continued to wonder.”What could be in
those boxes?And why does not the foreman want to tell us? May be it is new machines …
say , that’s probably what is, those new automatic machines .All you have to do is
push the buttonand the machine will do the rest . There won’t be many jobs in
they assemble shop if these machines are installed.”Mohan became very nervous . He
got up and went over to the water cooler where two other workers were gossiping.”
The foreman doesn’t want to tell us what’s in those crates because it is new automatic
machinery . That will mean fewer jobs for us.” Mohan saw fear and anger creep
across the workers” facesWords spread like a wildfire. Soon no one was working, all were
talking and their voicesgrew angrier and angrier. Finally, a worker stood on his bench and
shouted,” If this is theway the management treats us, then let’s teach them a lesson. If they
fire us , We’ll firethe boxes.”Just then the superintend came running and stood in the
middle of the men.”What’s the matter “What’s happened?”“You are trying to replace us
with new machines.”“What new machinery?”“The new machinery in those boxes”“Oh, my
god! That’s equipment for our new plant. We’re only keeping these here for a few
days Every one looked very foolish and tempers quickly cooled.” you should have
told us”,one man said dejectedly. Mohan quietly slipped away.

Questions:
1. What is the problem in this case?
2.Who is responsible for this episode?
3.Do you feel that the workers would have not agitated if there 
w e r e   t w o - w a y communication between the management and the workers