Question 1

Following two are the major instances that left Lisa disappointed in the first few weeks of her
joining Houseworld :

● On Lisa's very first day in office, she felt that she did not receive a warm welcome. The
reason being Linton mentioned that she does not like MBA's as they act like they know
everything.
● Scoville acted in a condescending manner during the lunch on the first day and made
sure that Lisa was not assigned any important or high-skilled work. He also mentioned
that he does not like Harward MBAs.
● Lisa felt like she was not given the needed importance to her opinions.

Question 2
Write your answer for Part A here.

Trait Level: High/Low Example supporting the answer

Openness to High Scoville moved from Operations to Marketing

Experience with his competency. He openly expressed that
he had an aggressive, no-nonsense style and
didn't like politics.

Conscientiousness Low He lacks proper planning of his work to meet

the timelines and always rushes in at the last
moment, which resulted in friction during the
copying instance with Lisa.

Extraversion Low He doesn’t mingle well with people and he

considers himself smarter than most other
people. This causes difficulty in getting the
tasks done that are dependent on other
departments.

Agreeableness Low He doesn’t agree with the credentials of an

MBA and often looks down on Lisa’s opinions.
Also he doesn’t get along with other people in
the organization as he doesn’t value and agree
with others' opinions.
 Neuroticism High He disagreed with Lisa with the pricing
analysis of the brand and went on to shout on
the floor in an arrogant manner.

Write your answer for Part B here.

As Scoville is high on neuroticism, Lisa needs to keep her cool and can try the following

● Appreciate the strengths of Scoville frequently according to the situation and slowly
gain his trust and collaboration
● Seek help from Linton in getting the bifurcation of tasks and responsibilities between
Scoville and her
● After gaining some trust, gently motivate him towards work planning, moving with
people, etc
● Along with this Lisa needs to get the confidence of other team members so that,
Scoville becomes cautious in his behavior with Lisa

Question 3

Write your answer for Part A here.

Lisa’s situation represents Hidden Area of the Johari window

Write your answer for Part B here.

Lisa can try the following to reduce her hidden area with respect to Linton.

● Lisa should not contain herself to learner mode.

 ● She must exhibit her strengths like analytical skills and organizational capabilities by
expressing her opinions and asking the right questions in the meetings.
● She needs to request Linton for responsibilities/tasks that are better suited with her
skills and strengths.
● She can seek help from Vernon in resolving her conflicts with Linton and improve the
relationship.

Question 4

Write your answer here.

Linton can do the following.

● She can appreciate what all Lisa has accomplished as per the tasks assigned to her.
● She can give an opportunity for Lisa to express her challenges, aspirations and career
plans.
● She can suggest Lisa about her improvement areas in a motivating manner.
● She can then mentor and help Lisa to align her goals with the goals of Houseworld and
define the path to accomplish the goals.

Question 5

Write your answer here.

Following could help motivate Lisa to work at Houseworld.

● Lisa can be assigned the responsibilities which are suited for her skills and strengths.
● She can be encouraged to express her opinions freely without fear of criticism.
 ● She can be appreciated for completing the tasks assigned to her.
● During her induction, appraisal period and performance review meeting, she can be
given the opportunity to present her skills, opinions and accomplishments.
● Linton can guide and mentor her to plan her career path at Houseworld.

Question 6

Write your answer for Part A here.

Soft tactics:

1. Lisa can use tactics like persuasion and emotional connect by having more personal
discussions wherever possible with Linton and Scoville, which will help create a sense
of belonging between the team.
2. Lisa can take initiative in the meetings and present her views and suggest useful
solutions to improve Linton’s confidence in her.

Write your answer for Part B here.

Hard tactics:

1. Lisa can answer assertively for the comments from Linton and Scoville that they do not
like MBAs. She can share assertive feedback about Scoville’s despicable attitude. This
way she can reduce the negative experiences.
2. Lisa can seek help from Vernon, another Harvard MBA, and gather support from other
colleagues for dealing with her challenges.
Question 7

Write your answer here.

Yes, there has been a breach of ethics by Lisa’s co-workers.

1. Linton did not extend a warm welcome into the team for Lisa. She did not take Lisa for
lunch on her first day in office, also she did not introduce Lisa to the team formally.
2. Scoville has intentionally assigned menial tasks to Lisa during his onboarding
knowledge transfer.
3. Scoville even shouted at Lisa on the floor in an arrogant manner.
4. Linton supported Scoville and yelled at Lisa, after the incident, in spite of knowing that
Scoville was at fault.

Question 8

Write your answer here.

In my opinion, Lisa should not quit her job at Houseworld but continue.

1. She can try to establish a working emotional connect by using tactics like persuasion,
mutual appreciation with Scoville and Linton.
2. She can change her working pattern to reflect her true style, skills and strengths by
which she can gain trust and visibility.
3. She can seek help from Vernon and other colleagues to handle her challenges and
resolve her problems with Linton and Scoville.
4. Also, ‘Pure & Fresh’ brand is just a temporary assignment for her. So she can try and
move to a different project after a few months.
5. Lisa has to learn to deal with these kinds of situations, as no workplace is ideal and
will have some or the other challenges. Rather than running away from the problem,
she has to sail through them leveraging all the different opportunities she has.