Lisa Benton Case Study

Prepared By: 1. How did Benton get into this mess? Diagnose the power dynamics of Bentons situation(context, nature of specific interpersonal relationships) 1) Benton was hesitant from the beginning to join right away as she would directly report to VP operations. While the offer was glamorous but right away was a small company, with headquarters in a rundown warehouse section in Chicago, these are the reasons why she rejected the offer. 2) In contrast at house world she would receive classical marketing training in a structured environment. She presumed that the hygiene factors were better in house world. Although she was liked by everyone in house world but here relationship with Deborah Linton and Ron Scoville was not good as both of them were possessing stereotype attitude towards MBA graduates, that is MBA graduates are arrogant and they pretend to know everything. 3) Many a times Lisa Benton tried to please her boss by following Rons advice but she was unsuccessful in making an impact on her boss. Lisa Benton was also frustrated as she got a negative performance feedback. Also, she tried to act like a learner Power dynamics of Bentons Situation Power is understood as the ability to influence other people and events. It refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B, so that B acts in accordance with A's wishes. Deborah Linton as a boss used her authority and power to influence Lisa Benton by not giving her the appropriate responsibilities hencedepriving Lisa of her need for power. This created a breach in their interpersonal relationship. Lintons criticisms in her feedback broadened this gap. Ron Scoville as a senior to Benton Lisa used his position to alter Bentons behaviour; as a result Benton started acting like a learner. When Benton realised that she had done a mistake by acting like a learner she started to take initiatives, which did not go well with Ron which worsted the relationship.

2. What were the critical events or choice points Benton encountered over her four months at Household? What could she have done differently? 1. On the 1st day of work she offered to help and was given a stack to copy by Scoville. She could have refused such a menial task; instead she went ahead with it. 2. Since Scoville was easily available to answer Lisas queries, she started depending on him more; even though Linton had clearly specified that Lisa was expected to report to her. She could have pestered Linton for her issues.

3. Scoville had asked Lisa to get artwork approval forms signed off by all department heads, this was his responsibility and she should have put her foot down. 4. She could have asked for more responsibilities instead of fearing about her image. 5. During the third week, Lisa could have offered her opinions during the meetings instead of pretending to be I the learning mode 6. While analyzing the sales data and preparing an intra-office memo, she could have also recommended new strategies to Linton with respect to the data. 7. Instead of discussing her frustration with her colleagues, she could have shared her views about being under-utilized with Linton and asked for the objectives that had been promised to her on the first day of the job. 8. Typing Incident 9. Copying episode: She could have maintained her cool and managed the situation in a better manner 10. She could have confessed to Vernon about the issues she was facing with both Linton as well as Scoville, instead of just mentioning Scoville. 11. During the informal performance appraisal, she should have tried to talk openly with Linton and defended her position. 12. Instead of sharing her analysis ad recommendations with Scoville, she should have shared the same with Linton; this could have avoided the scene mentioned at the end. 3. What should she do now? Please be specific. ( Read: Evaluating an action plan) The first option which Lisa should try is:a) Have a joint discussion with Linton and Scoville. She should inform them that she had received conflicting messages from them ever since she had joined Houseworld due to which she had not been true to her own character. She should request them to give her the opportunity to demonstrate her usually assertive personality. She should also bring to their notice her major strengths such as analytical skills, intellectual capacity and organizational abilities. If the situation does not improve within 2 months, then Lisa should go for the next option:b) Approach Vernon and request him to switch her to another brand. She should ignore the fact that no assistant manager had ever done this at Houseworld. She would not be alienating her superiors or peers with this request. Lisa should explain to Vernon about her difficulties with Linton and Scoville and how she has tried tackling them to no avail. Vernon hadseemedgenuinely concernedafter the copying incident in August and should be sympathetic to Lisas cause and agree to her transfer. In case Vernon rejects Lisas request, then the last option before her is:c) Call Kingston at Right-Away and ask him if his offer was still open. Since it was only 6 months since she had joined Houseworld and Kingston still had a favourable opinion about Lisa, she should tell him that she was wrong in not accepting his offer earlier and was genuinely sorry.She should tell him that she was ready to quit Houseworld and join Right-Away at the earliest.Kingston had invested a lot of time and money in Lisa since he believed that she would be a perfect fit in Right-Away and will surely employ her.

LISA BENTON 1. What should she do now? Please be specific. ( Read: Evaluating an action plan) As her boss wants her to give opinions , she should actively participate in meetings and let Linton and Scoville know about her ideas and opinions. When Lisa gave feedback to Scoville, he tried to change himself and behave in a better way. So if Lisa has any problem she should convey her concerns to Scoville rather than venting her anger at last. Concerns related to her training should also be conveyed to Linton. If some clerical work is assigned to her by Scoville, she should inform him that Vernon doesn't want her to do clerical work. She should identify her short term objectives i.e. getting along with Ron and Deborah in order to make her work easier. It would also give her more opportunities to gain product knowledge. She should learn to accommodate the eccentricities and blemishes of her colleagues and learn to complement her strengths with theirs to realize her career goals. She should identify her long term goals: To grow in a prominent organization and pursue the prospects of a fast growing career. She should attempt to maintain good relationships with Vernon, and the other higher ups in the organization as well. She can also request for a department transfer. She should look for job opportunities at other companies as well.