A REPORT ON THE CASE GEN Y IN THE

WORKFORCE
In partial fulfilment of: Written Analysis &
Communication course

Submitted To:
Prof. Madhushree Shrivastava
IIM Indore

Submitted By:
Satyajit Behera
2011 IPM 093
Section-H

Memo of Transmittal

To:
Prof. Madhushri Shrivastava
Date:-February 12, 2015

From: Satyajit Behera, IPM2011093

Subject: Report on the case Gen Y in the Workforce

As per your instructions following the preliminary discussions in the class, I am

submitting a report on Gen Y in the Workforce that analyses the dilemma Sarah
faces between keeping the young employees motivated and maintaining the
organizational hierarchy.
The following pages will give a detailed situation analysis, alternatives available,
recommendations and the action plan. I will be happy to address any
clarifications required regarding the report.

Thanks and regards,

Satyajit Behera, Section H
IPM2011093

Executive Summary
Sarah Bennet, Marketing Chief of Rising Entertainment is facing a situation where
her subordinate Josh has surpassed her in the hierarchy and has presented his
ideas to the CEO of the company without informing her. Joshs ideas are
appreciated by the CEO and he has called him to the meeting to provide details
of his plans.
Josh had earlier tried to convey his ideas to Sarah in a meeting on companys
new release Fire Force Five series but was knocked down on account of soft
budget and infeasibility. Sarah has now to decide whether to support Josh or to
oppose Josh in the meeting and punish him for violating organisational hierarchy.
She is recommended to support Josh and at the same time caution him against
bypassing her in future.

Situation Analysis
Rising Entertainment is one of the top three multimedia production and
distribution houses in the world. The company boasted large film, television,
home video, music, and licensed merchandise units, with a catalogue of
thousands of properties. Josh Lewis a recent graduate of the University of
Southern California had joined the company with ambitions to realise his creative
potential and make a difference to society. Josh had expected the place to offer
him lots of excitement and at the same the opportunity to meet and enjoy with
industry stalwarts. But 10 months down the line he is frustrated with the
monotonous nature of the work he was doing. Joshs relationship with his
manager seems to be reasonably good on the surface but lacking understanding,
value congruence and trust. This is the reason why Josh does not share his
managers excitement about her current project. He complained to his friends
about how his views and out of the box ideas were snubbed by his manager
Sarah and instead she had resorted to an old and tried and tested plan that did
not guarantee if it is going to bring success to the company. Josh on one hand
was trying to make a note about how the market has changed and how the
current marketing strategy offered by Sarah would certainly not help in reaching
out to large number of audiences. Sarah on the other hand was pondering about
how restless the current generation of employees have become and how
different things were during her time.
Rising Entertainment is planning for the next release of the Fire Force Five (TripleF) series. Sarah is asked to prepare the branding and promotion plan for the next
Fire Force Fire film. Her plans involve the use traditional media channels such as
network TV ads and print media extensively which were key to the success of
previous release. Josh argues that instead of using traditional channels they
should use new media channels like Gaia, Hulu, etc. But Sarah snubs the ideas
and rather asks him to come up with numbers and projections for her plan.
Unhappy with the way he was treated, Josh finds a way to to pitch to the CEO
about his innovative ideas and succeeds in his endeavour. CEO Sam, asks Josh
to present his ideas and prepare the point by point comparison of P&L
projections of his plan and the plan using which they used to market. Just few
days before the presentation Sarah finds her boss praising her for cultivating the

new guys. She is perturbed with the fact that the CEO knows Josh and has asked
Josh to present in the meeting. With few hours to go, she calls Josh immediately
to the office.

The Problem Statement

How should Sarah respond to Josh so that they can work together more
effectively?

Options before Sarah

1.

Sarah should accommodate the ideas and views of Josh without getting
into any sort of
confrontation or argument. (Encourage Josh)

2.

Sarah should be strict in her approach and dismiss the ideas of Josh and
hence not inviting him to the meeting to present. (Discourage Josh)

3.

Sarah should be diplomatic in her approach by listening to his ideas but at

the same time letting him know that the organizational hierarchy in no
way should be tampered with. (Caution Josh)

Evaluation Criteria
1. Impact on Gen Y
2. Impact on Gen X
3. Impact on overall organization

Evaluation of Options
Impact on Gen Y

Impact on Gen X

Encourage Josh

Positive

Negative

Impact on
overall
organization
Conflicts

Discourage Josh

Negative

Positive

Poor Performance

Caution Josh

Positive

Positive

Cordial
Relationships

1. Encourage Josh
PROS: If Sarah encourages Josh and allows him to present the ideas in front of
senior members, he would be motivated to come up with new ideas. This will
enable him to contribute to the cause of the organization in a much better way
and his productivity will certainly increase.

CONS: Other employees would follow the example of Josh and would not hesitate
to bypass the hierarchy established in the organization. Secondly, they would
devote more time in their own ideas instead of task at hand. Senior managers
would feel lack of authority and sometimes ego issues might evolve and lead into
serious conflicts.

2. Discourage Josh
PROS: This could create impact in young employees to not take the
organizational hierarchy for granted. Young employees would learn the lesson
that seniority and praise are to be earned.
CONS: Young employees would be demotivated to come up with innovative
ideas. They would work with low morale and this would further have negative
impact on organizational performance.

3. Caution Josh
She should invite Josh to accompany her to the meeting. But she should remind
him that he needs to keep her informed so she can manage the details of the
project and the expectations of the CEO.
PROS: Josh would be motivated and other employees of the organization would
also be encouraged to have their own unique ideas. Employees would also
understand that it is in their favour to tell their immediate boss in case they have
such creative ideas as he/she would be able to ameliorate those ideas and give
them a better form. They would then see their own ideas implemented.
CONS: Josh might feel offended in the beginning and in remote possibility this
might create negative image of Sarah in front of other employees.

Recommendation
The analysis shows that Sarah should take his ideas into consideration and at the
same time caution him about his wrong doing. She should encourage young
employees so as to increase their motivation and enthusiasm to work for the
organization.

The Action Plan

1. Sarah should confront him and tell him about keeping her informed in future.
2. She needs to discuss the new ideas in detail and make the necessary changes
in her presentation.
3. She should let him present in front of officials to increase his moral and this
would also earn her attention in the CEOs eyes to encourage young talent in the
organization.

Contingency Plan
She have to herself present in case she finds Josh is ill prepared and is not able
to convince the senior executives.