Name Mahima Sharma

Question 1

Write your answer here.

The first instance which caused friction between Lisa and Linton was during her first day in
office. Linton remarked that “MBAs act like they know a lot more than they do. I’ve known
some Harvard MBAs, and I don’t like them”. This remark and the cool & disintegrated
welcome from her boss caused friction between them.

The second instance that caused friction between Scoville was Scoville’s condescending
manner in which he spoke to her and he was acting like a big brother. He assigned menial
tasks to her like copying reports.

Another instance that made Lisa feel ambivalent was with Richard Clarke the group product
manager who had impressed her during the recruitment process barely recognized her nor
welcomed her into the organization.
Question 2

Write your answer for Part A here.

Trait Level: High/Low Example supporting the answer

Openness to High Scoville had moved from operations to

Experience marketing department. He was much more
knowledgeable and skilled than others in
Houseworld.

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 He doesn’t mingle well with other department

workers. He doesn’t join them for lunch. It is a
challenge for him to getting things done from
other departments.

Agreeableness Low He was critical in his approach. This was

supported by the events of Lisa’s first day
interactions with him where he was extremely
critical of MBA graduates. He was also found
to be extremely irritable by other employees
who took Lisa’s side after their issues.
 Neuroticism High Scoville was nice to Lisa in the beginning by
answering her doubts. But he threw a tantrum
during his disagreement with Lisa on the
assumptions on assignment’s pricing strategy.

Write your answer for Part B here.

1.As both Lisa and Scoville are both high on openness, they both are creative in their own
ways and both are ambitions, they can work together on a single project and take different
responsibilities in the project, which would help them complement each other.

2.As both are opposite on extraversion, Lisa can handle the parts which involves teamwork
and people while Scoville can handle the internal parts of the projects such as analysis. Thus,
they can complement each other without competing
Question 3

Write your answer for Part A here.

The area of Johari window is the Hidden area.

Write your answer for Part B here.

Lisa should use her conversational skills with Linton and develop a relationship with her. The
drivers for both 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. Lisa can make
herself more visible by getting onto interesting projects that increases her visibility to Scoville
and Linton. This would make other colleagues mention good things about her, this creates a
network of influence for Lisa. Lisa should stop acting like a learner in the future and be
assertive with her recommendations and pitch relevant ideas during staff meetings.

Question 4

Write your answer here.

Instead of coming across and telling the negatives directly, Linton could have presented the
opportunities to Lisa where she can present herself assertively and empower her shine. When
Linton heard of how abhorrent Scoville’s management was, she could have given Lisa her
word that she would counsel him to alter his behavior.
Question 5

Write your answer here.

Lisa could have felt motivated to work at Houseworld by following engagements:

1. Linton should appreciate Benton on small victories thus motivating her to work harder, like
Vernon appreciated her work, but she never got any applause from Linton.

2. Benton should have been in a role which compliments her skills and strengths in the
organization.

3. Linton should have encouraged Benton to speak her mind without any fear of criticism or
judgment. Example Linton should have encouraged Benton to speak while she was giving her
performance review.

4. Linton should have provided a road map or her objectives to Benton, while motivating her
that she is an integral part of the organization in the first week

Question 6

Write your answer for Part A here.

The soft tactics that can show personal power are:

• Persuasion

• Exchange

• Impression Management

She can also exchange favors with Scoville. By helping him with tasks she can influence him
to accept her points of view
 Write your answer for Part B here.

1. As Linton’s boss Vernon adores Benton and he’s also an MBA from Harvard Benton can
use hard tactic of Coalition formation to get more responsibility on the project and from there
she can show her talents to Lindon.

2. Benton can use Assertiveness with Scoville as Scoville is a collogue and not her boss, she
can assertively say no to menial jobs that Scoville wants her to do

Question 7

Write your answer here.

Yes, there was a breach of trust.

1.Scoville was forcing Lisa to do his copying work. Lisa was busy on her task and she denied.
Then she got furious stating ‘Oh, I see, you’re too good at copying” Scoville immediately
complained to Linton stating the exact same words. This was going behind her back and a
clear breach of trust.

2. Linton was responsible for the growth of her subordinates, but she is always preoccupied
with herself thus neglecting her team members as it can been shown that Linton was supposed
to take Benton for lunch on the first day and she took her to lunch after three months on her
first performance evaluation.
Question 8

Write your answer here.

Yes, Lisa should quit the job at Houseworld.

Here are my arguments-

Lack of ethics – There is a clear lack of business ethics and personal moral values in her
seniors – Linton and Scoville. This clearly will not give her a fair opportunity in spite of her
giving her best. Also, she might pick up wrong principles, affecting her career later in life.

Lack of Team Bonding – There is a clear display of lack of team bonding and team
management from typing issues to copying incident. This is unhealthy and will hamper the
overall growth. This doesn’t foster a good breeding ground for growth.

Unprofessional – Scoville has many a times displayed unprofessional behavior and we see no
action taken against him. Other team members likewise raise similar issue but nothing
concrete against him has happened.