Name Deepika Chandrashekar

Question 1

Lisa felt disappointed during her first few weeks at Houseworld. What, according to you,
caused friction between her and her team members: Linton and Scoville? Mention at least 2
instances.

Ans: Lisa felt disappointed during her first few weeks at Houseworld for the following
reasons-

Instance 1 - Linton: On the first day Linton mentioned that she does not like MBA’s as they
act like they know a lot more than they do. Lisa did not feel welcomed during the orientation.

Instance 2 - 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.

Question 2

Part A:

Trait Level: Example supporting the answer

High/Low

Openness to High Scoville was smarter than most people at Homecare. Also
Experience he moved from operations field to marketing field showing
his creativity. Hence scored high on Openness to
Experience.
 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 Scoville does not work well with people and considers
himself smarter than most people in the company, he also
mentions himself as no nonsense guy, and he has no room
for office politics.

Agreeableness Low Scovile was very condemning in his approach towards the
MBA’s and also portrayed the same when he had an
interaction with Lisa on the first day and was very critical
in his approach.

Neuroticism High Scovile is high on Neuroticism as he started shouting on

Lisa on a small copying incident, this is evidence for his
low Neuroticism.

Part B: Using the results of the OCEAN framework analysis, suggest two ways in which
Lisa can improve her relationship with Scoville.

Ans: On the OCEAN framework analysis, Lisa can improve her relationship with Scoville by-

1. Lisa can initiate an emotional connect with Scoville, as this will help her to assess his
attitude and to understand what ticks him and what doesn’t by connecting with him
outside the office on an emotional level.
2. Lisa can make herself indispensable to Scoville by using her relationships with other
department colleagues in getting work done quickly for him.

Overall by these ways Lisa can improve her relationship with Scoville as these will increase
 the reliance on her.

Question 3

Part A: Which area of the Johari window does this situation represent?

Ans: This represents the ‘Hidden area’ in Johari window.

Part B: What can Lisa do to reduce this area and improve her relationship with Linton?
Give at least two relevant examples.

Ans: Lisa can reduce the hidden area by:

1. Lisa should use her conversational skills with Linton and develop a relationship with
her. The drivers for both Linton and Lisa are that they are both women who are
ambitious. Developing a camaraderie with Linton should be easier if Lisa connected
with her using this driver.
2. Lisa should come out of the learner-mode and take lead or initiative and present her
opinions to Linton see her analytical skills and organizational abilities as this will give
more opportunities to Lisa.

Question 4

In Lisa's performance review, Linton described Lisa as "unassertive" and "lacking in

initiative and confidence". What could Linton have done differently while giving the
feedback? Suggest two improvements.

Ans: Linton can improve the assessments by following below steps-

1. The I like, I wish and I wonder technique would have given Lisa a better clarity as
she being soft spoken in her attitude would have taken this as a point of improvement.
 2. The CEDAR technique where Benton could have told Lisa about Context, Example,
Diagnosis, Action and Review. Linton should have spoken about the things she liked
so far with respect to Lisa’s work and post that she could have told her the areas where
she can improve on, instead sharing her own perception about Lisa. Linton could have
also given her specific instances where she felt Lisa should have corrected or reacted as
per her skills to solve the situation.

Question 5

Suggest three engagement tactics that could have helped Lisa in feeling more motivated to
work in Houseworld.

Ans: Below are the tactics that could have helped Lisa to feel more motivated to work-

1. Emotional Engagement
2. Work Appreciation
3. Training, OJT & Coaching
4. Fun & Team bounding activities

Question 6

Part A: Mention 2 soft tactics that Lisa can use. Suggest relevant ways in which these can
be implemented.

Ans: Below are the 2 soft tactics that Lisa can use-

1. Lisa can use soft skills with Scoville such as persuasion that is emotionally opening up
as we have seen that Scoville is open to feedback. When Lisa took Scoville to drinks
 they discussed serious matters such as Scoville frustrations with the organization etc.,
2. Lisa can use impression management technique with Linton, as Linton believes that
Lisa does not take any initiative and she is not assertive. Thus Lisa can appear likable
& trustworthy by taking initiatives in project and offering her point of views on the
same.

Part B: Mention 2  hard tactics that Lisa can use. Suggest relevant ways in which these can
be implemented.

Ans: Below are the 2 hard tactics that Lisa can use-

1. As Linton’s boss Vernon likes the way that Lisa communicates & works and also he is
an MBA holder from Harvard Lisa can use the hard tactic of coalition formation to get
more responsibility on project so that she can showcase her talent to Linton.
2. Lisa can use assertiveness with Scoville as he is just a colleague and not her reporting
manager; hence she can assertively say no to menial jobs that Scoville was assigning to
her.

Question 7

Do you think there has been a breach of ethics by Lisa's coworkers?  Justify your answer by
giving reasons and mentioning instances from the case study.

Ans: Yes, there has been a breach of ethics from Lisa’s coworkers-
 1. Linton was Lisa’s reporting manager and it was Linton’s responsibility for the growth
of her team members, but she was always preoccupied with herself neglecting her team
members as it can be shown that Linton was supposed to take Lisa for lunch on her 1st
day and set the goals but she took her to lunch after 3 months that too on her 1st
performance evaluation.
2. Lisa was never given equal opportunity according to the skill she had, which actually
lowered her confidence.
3. She never had mutual respect and the incident where Scoville & Lisa had an argument,
Scoville went to Linton & she yelled at her.

Question 8

Should Lisa quit her job at Houseworld? Support your answer with at least 3 relevant
arguments.

Ans: According to me, Lisa should not leave her job at Houseworld. She may be unhappy due
to the unhelpful management, lack of team bonding; however, if she leave the job she may
regret her actions of not trying to solve the problems at Houseworld.

1. The main reason for Lisa to join Houseworld was that she would get to learn the
classical marketing training in a structured environment from an industry leader.
2. Lisa should think of conflict resolution methods as this would help her to grow for
bigger challenges. She should seek assistance of Vernon (Linton’s boss) & should
learn to work with Scoville making her a team player.
3. As Lisa already gets along with her peers & the management has increased the number
of Harvard & Management recruits, she has a better opportunity to advance in her
career at Houseworld.