110 Culture and trust in technology-driven organizations
9.3 Case study 1: Dysfunctional management
Alex, the manager of special projects, works for a national technology
rm and is having a complex year meeting commitments for his team
and organization. As a result, he enlisted the assistance of his program
manager Pauline to help in getting one of his high-prole projects back on
track. The project Alex is planning on transferring to Pauline had received
a lot of attention from his senior management team because of the proj-
ect’s importance to the success of the company. One of the reasons the
project is signicantly behind schedule is that Alex has not completely
bought into the project and its value to the organization.
During the transfer of the project to Pauline, Alex provided very little
information on the many outstanding issues, strategies, and resources
needed to get the project back on track. However, he did communicate
to her that the project was behind schedule, complaints on the lack of
progress were being voiced by the customer, and that he expected that she
would resolve all issues and get the project back on track expeditiously.
Alex attached no value to the project and believed that the project could
not be salvaged therefore he did not want to be directly associated with its
failure. The project was in a state of failure because Alex did not provide
the attention and resources needed early on or act on issues associated
with the project when they occurred.
Pauline, amazed with the information she had received from her man-
ager, began analyzing the project and the associated issues and devised
a strategy for success. She realized that if she had a chance of being
successful with her new assignment she needed additional resources
to assist her. She began to identify and select the appropriate resources
she needed to turn the project around. Pauline hired two highly experi-
enced professionals with a great deal of experience and knowledge of the
technical aspects of the project.
Months passed and her manager still was uninterested in the project’s
progress or whether Pauline needed any assistance from him. Pauline
continued working the strategy and within approximately six months the
project was thriving, receiving awards and accolades from many includ-
ing the customers. Immediately Alex got on board and began taking what
credit he could for the success of the project. He then told Pauline, “I knew
you could do it.”
After the project was completed Pauline received positive feedback on
her performance as a leader from many including the senior executives
in her company and her external customers. Her performance impressed
Alex’s boss to the point that he offered her an opportunity of higher
authority on the team. The position that Alex’s boss offered Pauline was
the position that she had expressed an interest in during many conversa-
tions with Alex. Pauline was excited about the opportunity and accepted
111Chapter nine: Manager’s toolkit
the position. Alex had worked hard over the years to ensure that Pauline
continued to work directly for him. It was well known that Pauline
essentially ran the organization and Alex received credit for her work.
Therefore, he had a vested interest in keeping her nearby. On one occa-
sion, Alex told Pauline that she was his “best-kept secret.” Alex believed
that as long as he could keep her under the radar the risk of his losing
her through promotion or reassignment was low. Although Pauline con-
tinued to work in the same organization with Alex as her manager, she
excelled in her new leadership role, meeting and oftentimes exceeding the
expectations and needs of her customers.
Case Study 1 Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. How should Alex have handled his discussion with
Pauline?
2. How did Alex most likely view the manager/employee
relationship?
3. Describe Alex’s boss leadership skills.
4. What good leadership traits were displayed by Alex in
handling the reassignment of Pauline?
5. What good leadership skills did Pauline display?
6. Describe the characteristics exhibited by Alex that makes
him a trusted manager.
7. What do you supposed Alex meant when he referred
to Pauline as his “best-kept secret”? How do you
think this comment may have affected Pauline (career,
perceptionsetc.)?
9.4 Case study 2: The absent manager
Donna is a dedicated employee who is always willing to assist with
projects and business transactions. She is well known for being a self-
starter, an excellent project manager, and strategist. Donna is viewed by
many as a good leader who has the ability to inspire the people she leads.
She has held essentially every technical and leadership position in her
current department. Donna has had numerous discussions with her man-
ager concerning new opportunities in another department. She believed
that for the most part, these discussions had fallen on deaf ears because
she had not received feedback from her manager. Being persistent, she
thought that she would have another discussion with her manager about
moving into another position in a different department. The discussion
with her manager did not go as well as Donna had expected. Patricia, her
112 Culture and trust in technology-driven organizations
manager was agitated and noncommittal during the discussion. After the
discussion, Patricia initiated discussions with the human resources man-
ager and others communicating that Donna had not been meeting her
expectations in managing her group effectively. Patricia had not previ-
ously provided feedback to Donna that she was not meeting expectations
and previously rated Donna high on her annual performance review. In
addition, Patricia convinced her management that Donna was critical to
the organization and should not be permitted to leave the department at
the time of the request.
One month later Patricia reassigned Donna to a position of lesser
authority. Approximately three months in her new role, Donna was pre-
sented with yet another opportunity to move into a position of greater
responsibility and authority in another department. Because Donna
was no longer in a critical role, Patricia could not justify denying her the
opportunity to take advantage of the new position. Therefore, Donna
was permitted to move into the new position. As you can imagine, she
was excited and quickly accepted the new challenge. Donna reported to
her new manager approximately two weeks later and spent approximate
three years as the manager of the new group. Her new management was
extremely happy with her performance as a leader and her ability to man-
age resources and achieve results. She was rated high by her new manager
on performance reviews as she had been by all of her previous managers
including Patricia.
Approximately three years later Patricia posted a managementposi-
tion that Donna thought would be a good leadership opportunity.
Therefore, Donna submitted her resume to the human resources depart-
ment expressing her interest in the position. During the initial screening
process, she was informed that her resume would not be forwarded to
the hiring manager as she did not meet the minimum requirement for
the position. Donna requested that the screening committee take another
look at her credentials. After re-evaluating her resume, the screening
committee agreed with Donna that she was qualied for the position and
that her resume would be forwarded to Patricia, the hiring manager for
consideration. Two weeks later, Donna was scheduled for an interview.
Days before the interview, Donna was informed by Jim, her current man-
ager, that Patricia (Donna’s previous manager) requested that he sit on
the interview panel for the position in which she was interested. After
receiving the make-up of the interview panel she became perplexed and
reluctant to go through with the interview. Although reluctant to partici-
pate in the interview process, Donna proceeded to prepare for and was
interviewed by the panel consisting of her current boss (Jim) and her pre-
vious boss, along with two other panel members. Donna was contacted
by Patricia a day later letting her know that she was not selected for the
position.
113Chapter nine: Manager’s toolkit
Case Study 2 Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. What type of leader is Patricia?
2. What type of leader is Donna?
3. Did Patricia make any mistakes as a manager? If yes, list
them
4. How should Patricia have handled Donna’s new
opportunity?
5. What would you recommend Patricia do to improve her
leadership skills?
6. Describe the relationship between Patricia and Donna.
7. Describe the appropriateness and fairness of the inter-
view process.
8. List the actions taken by management that can serve as a
hindrance to trust.
9. Discuss Patricia and Jim in terms of their ability to gain
and maintain trust with Donna and the people they lead.
9.5 Case study 3: The art and
importance of relationships
Samantha has just accepted a high-prole position in another part of the
country. She is apprehensive yet excited and is looking forward to starting
her new position. After the announcement was made that she would be
joining the staff she began corresponding with some of the key people in
her new organization. She gathered and studied key information such as
policies, procedures, and practices; organizational structure; and known
outstanding issues. Upon arrival at her new location, she immediately met
with her senior leadership team. During that discussion she talked briey
about her professional background, provided general information on her
immediate family, and discussed her expectations for the organization.
Samantha also scheduled and held introductory meetings with her
customers internal and external. These meetings were well received and
provided a platform for Samantha to begin building a relationship with
her customers.
Samantha found her new job to be challenging yet rewarding. She
quickly began realizing the importance of relationships in inuencing
decisions when dealing with both internal and external customers.
Realizing that she needed to build a trusting relationship with her
new staff she began scheduling team-building sessions with the entire
senior leadership team. These sessions were well received by her new
staff. Samantha also instituted one-on-one meetings with each of her
114 Culture and trust in technology-driven organizations
direct reports to ensure that she kept abreast of progress and issues as
well as to provide them the support they needed to be successful. She
also met frequently with her manager to keep her informed and to get
feedback.
Case Study 3 Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Discuss Samantha’s leadership style and skills.
2. What activities did Samantha engage to get to know her
new staff and the customer?
3. What actions did Samantha take to build trusting rela-
tionships with her new team?
4. What was Samantha’s purpose for discussing her
personal background and family with her new staff?
9.6 Case study 4: Diversity matters
Paul and Cassandra are colleagues working for a top engineering rm.
Cassandra has an impressive resume with a wide array of experience
in the eld of engineering. She also has a PhD in systems engineering.
Paul has a bachelor’s degree in system engineering with some expe-
rience in system design. The management team for the engineering
rm consists of twenty males and one female. The male:female ratio
for the workforce is approximately 80% males and 20% females. The
company posted a management position with the intention of lling
the job within 30 days from a pool of internal candidates. Both Paul and
Cassandra applied for the position and believed that each of them had a
shot at successfully landing the position. Cassandra’s current boss told
her prior to the interview that he did not believe that she would per-
form well on the interview and that she probably would not t in with
the current leadership team.
The next week Cassandra went through the interview process
and felt comfortable that she performed well during the interview.
Three days after the interview Cassandra was contacted by the hiring
manager and was informed that although the team thought she
performed extremely well during the interview process she would not
be offeredthe position. Later that day she discovered that the
position
was offered to Paul. After accepting the position Paul approached
Samantha and told her that he was surprised that he was offered
theposition because everyoneknows that she is better qualied and
has consistently demonstrated superior performance since joining the
rm.
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