Analysis for Case

Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz Story

This case gives us indications that Jane Kravitz had negative core self-evaluations which are
explained below:
a. Self-esteem: After proving herself to be a well respected manager and individual
contributor for 18 months, she chose this line job for her career development and as an
opportunity for advancement to the next level. However, she was unable to motivate and get the
job done by Lyndon. As a result, the chances of the project being completed on time were less
and so her self-esteem was being hurt.

b. Self-Efficacy: During her 18 months of work tenure at Jensen Shoes, she had faced
challenging situations and had achieved success in her career. She was confident that she can get
the job done either by cajoling, nurturing, begging or even directing. However, despite of every
effort, she was unable to persuade Lyndon to complete the 2 s.o.s. Instead Lyndon compelled her
into a situation wherein he was supposed to finish only 1 s.o.s. Thus, Janes self-efficacy was
hurt.

c. Locus of control: Jane was happy about Lyndons accomplishment of the special project and
thought that he would be able to complete the 2 s.o.s on time. However, when she reported the
same to Chuck, he was less than impressed. Chucks urgency raised a flag for her which made
her realize that she needed to work harder with Lyndon. The above scenario shows that the locus
of control for Jane was hurt.

d. Neuroticism: Initially to persuade Lyndon and keep him focussed towards work, she used to
take him to lunch and appreciate his work. However, in the end, after putting in every effort,
when she wasnt able to motivate him enough, she had lost her cool and was at her wits end.

Attribution errors are present in the case which has been described below:
a. Fundamental Attribution Error: When Lyndon told Jane that he had plans to visit his
brother during his trip to San Diego, she assumed on her own that he did not want to do his job.
In this situation, Jane committed a fundamental attribution errorthe tendency to attribute
persons actions to internal factors while ignoring external factors that might influence the
behavior.
If not for this fundamental attribution error, Jane should have thought about why Lyndon wanted
to visit his brother: Is there an emergency? It was possible that Lyndon was unable to focus on
work because of external factors at home and Jane should have considered these things before
concluding about Lyndons behavior.

b. Self-Serving Bias: Jane had proved herself to be a well respected manager and individual
contributor for 18 months and she was confident that she can get the job done either by cajoling,
nurturing, begging or even directing. This confidence comes from the fact that she attributed the
success in her carrier entirely to herself.
However, when there were chances of the current project not being completed on time, she
attributed this to Lyndons inefficiency. She could have attributed this to herself as her inability
to delegate the work properly.

Perceptual distortions
1. Halo Effect: Despite the fact Jane had worked with Lyndon in the past and she thought that he
was a very charming African-American businessman who had a way about him that suggested
he could be a star if given the right situation and motivation. However, Chucks negative
comments about Lyndon affected her thought process regarding Lyndons ability to perform well
and meet expectations. As a result of Chucks negative comments, Jane develops a lack of
confidence in Lyndons performanceindicated by her constant monitoring of his progress.
This shows that only one negative comment from Chuck made every positive feeling vanish
from Janes mind about Lyndon.

2. Stereotypes: Jane (as a female) was under a huge pressure to manage the project well as she
stereotyped women as strong leader who can deliver results.

It is a common stereotype that African Americans are lazy. Since Chuck had little faith in
Lyndons performance, it is possible that Lyndon felt that he was being stereotyped by Chuck.
When Jane desired that Lyndon manage the strategic performance objectives for the African
American market, this could have come across as stereotypical if her feeling was that an African
American would be the best candidate to work with that particular market. Lyndon may have
perceived this situation as stereotypical on Janes part.

3. Selective Perception: Jane tried to help Lyndon find a new job in distribution and asked Ron
Johnsonthe head of that department for the same. Although, Jane tried to help Lyndon to get
the desired job, it might have been misconstrued by Lyndon as a gesture of attack on him.

4. Projection: Jane was pressurized by Chuck to complete her work on time and she transferred
that pressure on Lyndon although she was aware of the fact that he already had an extra project
to finish within the given time frame.