For the exclusive use of N. KESRI, 2019.

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Andrew Inkpen
Christine Pearson

Steve Jackson Faces Resistance to Change

Despite the work piled high on Steve Jackson’s desk, he couldn’t help thinking about Luke Williams’ comments:
“You have got to get Barnett on board. If he comes at this with his usual cynicism, he’s going to kill the new BSO
software project.” Jackson was stymied. He knew that he had his boss’ support on this; even Abu Dija, his boss’s
boss, had made it clear that he liked the BSO software that Jackson was recommending. What was he supposed
to do? After all, he had extended personal invitations to Mike Barnett for each of the two demo meetings. Barnett
had failed to show at either one. Certainly, they couldn’t expect Jackson to force Barnett to attend.

Jackson was one of 34 project professionals in the Project Evaluation Group (PEG), which was led by Luke
Williams. Their role at Western Construction (Western) was to assess strategic, organizational and financial fac-
tors to determine feasibility of potential projects. Financial modeling and risk assessment weighed heavily in this
process. As supervisor of software implementation and training for PEG, Jackson’s primary responsibility was to
ensure that the evaluation professionals had the right tools and training to do their jobs.

The PEG reported to Abu Dija, who led the Project Development Group, working with sector vice presidents
(e.g., government, energy) to execute project construction from Western’s facilities around the globe. Barnett and
his team of 12 dealt primarily with international bidding and contracting and reported directly to Dija. Barnett
worked very closely with Luke Williams and with the project professionals in the PEG, including Jackson.

To outside observers, reporting relationships looked pretty straightforward on Western’s organization chart
(Exhibit 1), but according to a veteran manager at Western, the chart was “more a guide than a roadmap.” In
reality, people and information at Western were pulled from one department or job to another as needed because
no two projects were alike. Despite what seemed like a standardized process flow, to successfully address the
engineering, construction and project management requirements of Western’s clients around the world required
agility, adaptability and rapid response. To complicate matters further, Western’s portfolio included projects in
energy, transportation, communications, mining, oil and gas, and government services, often delivered from
dozens of Western facilities worldwide.

To distract himself from his concerns, Jackson checked his e-mail: more bad news. This time he found a
forwarded message that Barnett had written to Williams: “Steve Jackson doesn’t have his facts right about the
latest software designs. We’re heading down the path to an inferior product. You really need to replace him.”
Jackson wondered why Williams would have forwarded this, and why he had not included any explanation.

Jackson rarely lacked confidence, but he could feel himself starting to second-guess his recommendation
of BSO. Maybe there was no need to make the change. After all, it would be time-consuming for all involved,
costly for Western, and of course there would be unforeseen glitches, regardless of the amount of planning and
preparation.

Previous discussions about the decision started spinning in Jackson’s head. After his initial meetings with
the BSO consultants, he had carefully presented all the pros and cons to Williams. He remembered clearly how
impressed Williams had seemed, especially when he learned that Western’s major competitor was using BSO

Copyright © 2011 Thunderbird School of Global Management. All rights reserved. This case was prepared by Professors Andrew
Inkpen and Christine Pearson for the purpose of classroom discussion only, and not to indicate either effective or ineffective
management.

This document is authorized for use only by Nassim KESRI in MET 8406 - ESG UQAM taught by Philippe Marchildon, Universite du Quebec A Montreal from Feb 2019 to Jun 2019.
 For the exclusive use of N. KESRI, 2019.

already. Williams had quickly agreed to support a demo session where Western’s project professionals could test
BSO themselves. That session had already taken place back in March. As Jackson’s thoughts drifted back to that
week, he was reminded of the personal invitation he had made to Barnett when they ran into each other in the
hall. Barnett had mumbled something about not understanding why Western would even consider BSO. Jackson
distinctly remembered reminding Barnett that BSO would have better capabilities than their current software. And,
he remembered encouraging Barnett to attend the BSO demo so that he could see for himself. He also recalled
that Barnett had been careful to make no firm commitment: “I’ll check my calendar” was Barnett’s exact response.

Almost all of the evaluation professionals who would be using BSO had attended the first demo meeting.
The only significant no-show was Barnett. Everyone in attendance seemed impressed with the software. In fact,
Williams and his boss, Abu Dija, even stopped by Jackson’s office after the demo to congratulate him on the
meeting. They suggested that a second demo be scheduled since the first one had been so well received.

This time, in addition to the e-invitation for the second demo, Jackson decided to appeal to Barnett di-
rectly and sent him a personalized e-mail message. Barnett’s e-mail response baffled Jackson: “BSO is the wrong
product for us. It will increase problems. Our current software is working just fine.” Surely Barnett knew that
BSO was a product designed specifically for their industry, one that could put better detailing at the fingertips
of the decision makers and do so more quickly. A couple of days later, Jackson had been surprised to hear that
Barnett was actually angry about the whole BSO decision.

After the second demo meeting, Jackson worked with the BSO consultants to fine-tune product specifi-
cations and projected costs for Western. Following additional meetings and discussions with BSO executives,
Dija approved the switch to BSO and announced that the roll-out would take place in late June. The next day,
Barnett appeared at Jackson’s office.

Barnett: BSO is a huge mistake, and I told you that three months ago.

Jackson: Everyone who has seen the BSO software thinks it will be a big improvement. Look, I don’t deny
that we’re going to have to do some additional work, but our people are smart. They’ll be up to
speed before the end of the year. And there are so many benefits in the data that BSO will give us.

Barnett: I’m going to Abu about this.

Jackson: Mr. Dija has seen the software. He even has a demo version on his laptop. He likes it.

Barnett: We’ll see about that.

Barnett and Dija were about the same age. They had started their careers together at Western decades ago
right after graduating from the University of Michigan’s engineering school, when the firm was in fledgling stage.
They had been through many successful projects together, and had spent three years working side-by-side in
Western’s Dubai office in the late 1990s. Even after all these years, they golfed together on weekends and traveled
in the same social circle. With so much in common, their conversation usually flowed easily. Today it was heated.

Barnett: Abu, what on earth are you thinking? I just talked to Jackson. Doesn’t anybody realize how badly
BSO will slow things down? It’s way too complex.

Dija: Mike, I believe we did our due diligence on this one. And, besides, I trust Jackson. He’s a steadfast
guy. In the decade he’s been with us, I’ve never known him to be rash about his recommendations.

Barnett: Well, he’s dead wrong on this one. I’ve been telling him this for months now. That guy refuses
to listen.

Dija: We all had a say in this, Mike. I’m using BSO on my laptop now and haven’t had any major problems.
Have you put it on your computer?

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 For the exclusive use of N. KESRI, 2019.

Barnett: I don’t need to. I know it’s wrong for Western.

With that comment, Barnett stormed out of Dija’s office. Within minutes, Dija received an e-mail from
Barnett: “One more thing. Jackson is not competent to be in his position and I would advise you to replace him
as soon as possible. This BSO shift is going to cost us time, money and maybe even a few of our best people.”

Dija e-mailed Jackson: “You need to get Barnett on board. He’s fuming and we both know that his lack of
support for BSO could derail the whole effort. I need you to fix this ASAP.”

Jackson appreciated the influence that Barnett could wield. If the bid professionals saw that Barnett didn’t
support BSO, it could increase their resistance to the change. Jackson decided to approach his boss again.

Jackson: Luke, I know that Barnett could really slow us down. But, honestly, I’ve tried and at this point, I
can’t figure out what his problem is. I need your help. Can you talk to him?

Williams: I tried, too, a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t want to listen. Steve, you have got to get this guy
on board. If he comes at this with his usual cynicism, he could kill the whole BSO project. Look,
I thought about talking to him when we had lunch together earlier this week, but Barnett was
already steamed about the Algerian project. I was afraid that bringing up BSO would provoke
him even more.

Jackson: So, what do we do?

Williams: I’m not sure…

With that, Williams’ phone rang and Jackson headed back to his office. Why does Williams always shy
away from confrontation, he wondered. Jackson’s thoughts quickly turned to the tight relationship between Dija
and Barnett. Could Barnett’s continued resistance stall Jackson’s steady career ascent at Western? At this point,
Jackson was hoping to get back into the field in another international position. Dija would certainly have a say
in that and, unfortunately, so could Barnett. Jackson could feel his blood pressure rising as he reread Williams’
latest e-mail message.

Exhibit 1. Western Construction Organization

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This document is authorized for use only by Nassim KESRI in MET 8406 - ESG UQAM taught by Philippe Marchildon, Universite du Quebec A Montreal from Feb 2019 to Jun 2019.