MGT430 Assignment 1 Case Studies
MGT430 Assignment 1 Case Studies
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1
CASE STUDY 1
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MGT430—INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1
Discussion Questions
1. Apply your knowledge of stereotyping and social identity theory to explain what went wrong
here.
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MGT430—INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1
CASE STUDY 2
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MGT430—INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT 1
for anyone, for whatever reason. A few months ago, for example, she had to fire three otherwise
good employees who decided to try a new customer service tactic—a so-called innovation they
dreamed up—rather than complying with the established process. As the general manager, it
was her responsibility to make sure that the restaurant was managed strictly in accordance with
the operations manual and she could not allow deviations. This by-the-book approach to
managing had served her well for many years. It got her promoted in the past and she was not
about to jinx that now. Losing a few employees now and then—particularly those who had
difficulty following the rules—was simply the cost of doing business.
During a recent store visit, Julie suggested that Diana might try creating a friendlier work
environment because she seemed aloof and interacted with employees somewhat
mechanically. Julie even told her that she overheard employees refer to Diana as the “Ice
Maiden” behind her back. Diana was surprised that Julie brought this up because her boss
rarely criticized her. They had an unspoken agreement: since Diana was so technically
competent and always met her financial targets, Julie didn’t need to give her much input. Diana
was happy to be left alone to run her restaurant without needless advice.
At any rate, Diana rarely paid attention to what employees said about her. She wasn’t
about to let something as childish as a silly name cause her to modify a successful
management strategy. What’s more, even though she had recently lost more than the average
number of employees due to “personality differences” or “miscommunications” over her
directives, her superiors did not seem to mind when she consistently delivered strong bottom
line results every month.
As she waited in the conference room for the others, Diana worried that she was not
going to get this promotion. Julie had sounded different in the voicemail message she left to
inform her about this meeting, but Diana couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was. She
would be very angry if she was passed over again and wondered what excuse they would have
this time. Then her mind wandered to how her employees would respond to her if she did not
get the promotion. They all knew how much she wanted the job and she cringed at how
embarrassed she would be if she didn’t get it. Her eyes began to mist over at the sheer thought
of having to face them if she was not promoted today.
Julie and Tom entered the room then and the meeting was under way. They told Diana,
as kindly as they could, that she would not be promoted at this time; one of her colleagues
would become the new district manager. She was incredulous. The individual who got promoted
had been with the company only three years—and Diana had trained her! She tried to
comprehend how this happened, but it did not make sense. Before any further explanation could
be offered, she burst into tears and left the room. As she tried in vain to regain her composure,
Diana was overcome with crushing disappointment.
Discussion Questions
1. Apply your knowledge of the four emotional intelligence dimensions to discuss the likely
reasons why Diana wasn’t offered a promotion.