what a star what a jerk case study solution

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What a Star-What a Jerk: Harvard Business Review Case

As a team leader, Jane has already touched based with her group and recognized everybody’s role: Tom is “the joker,” Jack is “the intellectual,” Caroline is “the mom ” and Andy is “the top performer and troublemaker. ” She understands that all of them are high-paid employees and have been working as a group for a while, at least much longer than she has.

As far as the performance, Jane believes that they are high performers and make up a very interesting and strong group; although there is no evidence of it since the company has been trying to keep the top 80% of employees, so all the members but Andy could be still working because the management like them and also be considered as average performers or even lower-level.

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What is true and seems to be temporary: Caroline, the oldest member, is currently having a questionable efficiency because some personal issues.

Moreover, Jane has made up her mind with the idea that Andy has not only the best performance but also a nasty and irreversible behavior, so the team is pretty much split in two sides: Andy and the rest. Based on her first impressions about the company’s too-nicey-nice atmosphere, should she also think about that as Andy and the company? There is no way to know this. But what it seems to be obvious, is that the latter leader couldn’t fix this whole situation up either. Andy’s behavior is always affecting the group with his frequently signals of nastiness.

Since Jane’s start, he’s been stepping all over each member: Jack and the too-long-to-explain-flawed idea, Caroline and the “big mistake” with Andy’s 8-month important prospect, Tom and some kind of hot discussion. Even over Jane’s assistants, Maureen and Danielle, because of some “routine” mistakes (scheduling and customer’s information request, respectively). Hitting almost one month of e-mailing with Rick (an outside adviser, who acknowledged her as “softie” with routine mistakes), she’s still taking her time to explore the group and trying to figure things out.

Maybe she has no sound experience in leadership, lacks of training, or her action plan usually has sort of long time of collection data. Nonetheless, her team is still being taken care of by itself, assuming the same roles, getting the same outcomes, and not finding a truly leader’s identity and team’s solution on her.

Instead an invisible and bully leader: Andy. The message she’s been transmitting to them is fade and not strong enough. She has treated Andy with a very soft style in each opportunity, and he seems to be really stronger and smarter than her.

Being the highest performer, has he perhaps been waiting to get promoted and take the leader position before and now he became crazy for Jane’s hiring? The reality is that everybody talks about Andy’s intellectual skills. With the best numbers in the company, he has to be anyhow good at people skills and completely nice with clients –out of the organization–, doesn’t he? He can be also a good “performance reference” for the rest of the team, and sure Jane has realized that (she has mentioned everybody’s mistakes to her advisor and reaffirmed Andy’s position about those), so she should think of this to help things work out.

Talent is a moving target and is not completely fixed, it depends on a person’s motivation and experience, and how a person is managed or led. For the group’s health, she has to come out with a firm reaction about all this as soon as possible, coaching Tom, Jack and Caroline in order to increase their performance (goals and feedback and identification of training needs) and working on Andy in a one-to-one manner.

Then she has to think about enhance the cohesiveness of the group, which considering Andy’s current behavior could be at least expecting a more civilized dynamism between these 2 “groups. ” There is a chance that things get better. But if not, she can start thinking in different avenues on what to do with her nightmare employee, either firing him (which sounds a pretty “scary” idea for the higher levels and their profitability) or transferring him on a different team or project. That way, she would be keeping her team as a unit. ——————————————–

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What A Star What A Jerk Case Study Solution

The following academic paper highlights the up-to-date issues and questions of What A Star What A Jerk Case Study Solution. This sample provides just some ideas on how this topic can be analyzed and discussed.

1.What are the facts (note: do not include opinions, observations, or assumptions)?

The facts are as follows: the study is focused on a series of email between former coworkers Jane Epstein and Rick Lazarus of BCP that took place from 5/14/01 through 6/12/01. Jane just began to work at TechniCO, based in Minneapolis, as a group leader.

Her new team consists of four team members: Caroline-who has been employed at TechniCO the longest, is going through a divorce, and has a sick mother, Tom-who works in sales, Jack, and Andy. Andy has on multiple occasions verbally accosted some of the team members and the administrative assistants (AAs). Andy has achieved positive numbers. Andy sent an email scolding Caroline about backing out of a meeting last minute. Jane held a meeting with Andy to discuss his behavior with his coworkers and in the meeting she told Andy to be nicer.

Andy agreed to try to listen better and stop insulting the AAs. Eleven days after talking to Andy about his behavior Jane asked him to chair a meeting until she arrived. When Jane arrived she observed Andy sneering and using dismissive language towards the group. Upon entering his office after the meeting, Jane looked at Andy and he shrugged and shook his head

Jerk For Jane

2. What can be inferred from the facts (e.

Proficient in: Behavior

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

g., attitudes, values, group/individual relationships, relative power/influence)?

Based on the facts of the case, attitudes, values and perceptions of the employees in the organization play important roles in building group or individual relationships and differences in these aspects can trigger conflicts and problems in the relationships established within the company or department.  Moreover, the culture and norms reflect and mold the personality of each and every individual.  In the business setting, employees work to meet a common goal and to effectively achieve such, the differences in values, culture and preferences must be tolerated and surpassed.

A good working relationship can motivate the employees to work harder and enjoy the doing the job at the same time.  Evidently a problematic relationship among employees can affect the productivity of the employees and the revenue of the company.  Hence, it is essential to ensure a good and professional relationship among employees.  To ensure such, the roles of each employees and the expectations of the company must be clearly defined.  Office decorum, rules and regulations must be implemented to govern and control conflicts. Moreover, a manager or supervisor is appointed not only to monitor the productivity and performance of his subordinates but also to oversee other factors that affect both.  Consequently, it is the job of the manager to ensure that  harmonious and professional relationships exist among his subordinates.

3.  Which expert’s approach do you agree with and why (note: more than one expert or portions of more than one expert’s approach may be selected)?

Each of the four expert opinions use approaches that I would agree with in some regard. The situation between the manager, Jane, and her employee, Andy, is common in most corporate structures. When an employee shows strong numbers and pleases external clients, managers may turn their heads away from internal interaction issues .Ms. Rowe’s approach came from a neutral position, and it can be important to ask for input from a similar source. Ms. Rowe’s neutrality allowed her to suggest that Jane should quickly collect information and analyze the situation. An effective manager should always ask all the questions first and analyze the data collected to determine the best solution for the whole team, including your personal interest. Ms. Jordon goes even further and believes that “clear expectations” should be set. Ms. Jordon thinks that it needs to be explained to Andy that not only numbers will be a measure of his success, but his behavior will also contribute to the measurement of his success. Though it is often much more difficult to quantify behavior compared to numbers both should measure ones success with a company. Mr. Waldrop suggested some very good points to analyze whether Andy’s behavior is acceptable according to societal standards. Mr. Waldrop also suggested setting clear expectations and lay them out on the table to what type of behavior is acceptable in a workplace. Although Mr. Waldrop’s approach was a bit dramatic and focused more specifically on a single employee, it might work better to set the expectations and examples of acceptable behavior with all employees in a more standard setting.

The approach that I would most agree to if I had to only choose one approach and not a combination of the various approaches is that of Mr. McKenzie. Due to Andy’s performance it would be a bit foolish for any company in this situation to fire an employee that pulls their own weight and tends to perform in the top ranks. Bottom line, revenue is one of the most important aspects of a business so as long as the company comes off as transparent to their external clients, internal issues should not be the highest concern. The best suggestion is to put Andy in a role that is the most suitable toward his personality and allows him to continue to succeed for the company. People are extremely difficult to “re-shape”, so instead an effective manager often needs to reorganize and adapt the team to “best fit” the company’s needs. Jane is in a difficult situation. On one hand Jane needs to prove that she is a team leader, but on the other hand she has a disruptive member on her team. If Jane is able to pull from the expertise, and suggestions of each Jane will be able to shape her team to maximize productivity both internally and externally.

4.  Discuss why you disagree with each of the remaining perspectives (note: discuss the remaining perspectives individually).

Ms. Mary Rowe’s perspectives are focused on gathering information which is essential in formulating corporate strategies and decisions.  However, if her suggestions are closely scrutinized, the objectives of her perspective is more on the protection of Jane’s position in the company.  Moreover, it is fixated at controlling an individual employee and not on improving the relationships of all the employees of the group which should be prioritized in the first place.

On the other hand, Ms. Kathy Jordan’s perspectives require Jane to act as quickly as possible.  Although a manager must be decisive, sometimes the need to study and contemplate the situation must be done.  Otherwise, unfavorable results will be achieved due to impulsiveness.  Her suggestions are a bit vague but simple.  What is impressive about her opinion is the fact that she recognized the hidden agenda that Rick Lazarus might have against Jane.  She was only the one who mentioned something about it.  However, she failed to notice that Jane should also respect her subordinates’ and company’s right to privacy and confidentiality by not divulging information to outsiders.

James Waldroop’s outlook, on the other hand, were more practical and hands-on.  The tips he provided in handling Andy were really helpful and simple.  He provided ways and tactics on how to handle a person like Andy by citing examples and providing a profile and background about the type of personality that Andy has.  However, the suggestions failed to spot that the problem is not solely focused on Andy’s attitude and personality.  Although it is apparent that his attitude is affecting the performance of the group, the core problem and concern of this case is on improving the employee relationships to achieve the goals of the company.

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What a Star What a Jerk by Sarah Cliffe Case Study

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Business Finance

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In this 4-5 page analysis, you will read the business case presented below ("What a Star, What a Jerk") and identify the various communication issues throughout.

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Kindly check the file for the complete response to your question. Let us know in case you require revisions or anby inquiry.Cheers!👍 CASE ANALYSIS 1 What a Star-What a Jerk by Sarah Cliffe Case Analysis Student’s Name Institution Instructor Date CASE ANALYSIS 2 Executive Summary Jane is faced with a dilemma due to Andy’s dismissive behavior towards other workers despite his excellent performance in his job position. The behavior has continued to worsen because Jane has failed to intervene and confront Andy concerning his behavior. Derivable facts from the case reveal that the attitudes of workers contribute to the success or failure of a firm. Andy’s actions have made it difficult to create a collaborative team in the organization. The alternative of firing Andy from his position is constrained by the fact that the company would lose a considerable amount of revenue. The most effective solution for Jane would be establishing a cultural change in the organization to shape the way workers relate with each other. However, Jane should perform ensure a gradual change process to prevent resistance from team members. CASE ANALYSIS 3 Problem Statement The issue identified in this case is that Andy, one of the employees has exhibited dismissive behaviors towards his fellow employees. However, Andy has shown an exceptional performance with regards to numbers, driving the organization's productivity over the period. As a result, Jane is in a dilemma because Andy has created a negative environment within the team, despite his significant contribution to the firm. Case Analysis/Theory-dri...

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What a Star--What a Jerk (Commentary for HBR Case Study)

By: Sarah Cliffe, Mary Rowe, Chris McKenzie, Chuck McKenzie, Kathy Jordan, James Waldroop

After a long stint in consulting, Jane Epstein has just become a manager at TechniCo. She's trying to get a fix on the various personalities and roles of her new coworkers, and by and large, she…

• Length: 8 page(s)
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2001
• Discipline: Human Resource Management
• Product #: R0108Z-HCB-ENG

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• Educator Copy

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After a long stint in consulting, Jane Epstein has just become a manager at TechniCo. She's trying to get a fix on the various personalities and roles of her new coworkers, and by and large, she seems to have inherited a pretty good team. One's got a lot of social capital built up; another seems to be a natural salesperson. Something about Andy Zimmerman, though, has her worried. At first she can't put her finger on it--maybe he's a bit too aggressive? But as time passes, she watches Andy's mean streak show itself again and again: He belittles administrative assistants for minor mistakes, ruthlessly cuts down colleagues when they present ideas that aren't fully developed, and makes everyone in the group feel small and stupid. But Andy has another side: He's usually right, and he's very, very good at his job. In fact, in terms of pure performance, he's the best Jane's got. She'd be crazy not to want him in her group. And yet, she can't deny that Andy's behavior is undermining morale and hurting the team's financial performance. Now Jane's feeling frustrated. When she left her consulting job for this position, she expected to focus on numbers, products, customers--on building something. Instead, she finds that people issues are taking up most of her time. This fictional case study explores the dynamics that occur when a star performer has a highly abrasive personality. In R0108A and R0108Z, Mary Rowe, Chuck McKenzie, Kathy Jordan, and James Waldroop advise Jane on how she can curb Andy's bad behavior without hurting the team's bottom line.

For teaching purposes, this is the commentary-only version of the HBR case study. The case-only version is reprint R0108X. The complete case study and commentary is reprint R0108A.

Sep 1, 2001

Discipline:

Human Resource Management

Harvard Business Review Digital Article

R0108Z-HCB-ENG

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