Case Analysis Report

OB I

Case Analysis Report Case Analysis Report

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander Group 5 16th August 11

Group Members:
Lakshay Mahna Madhusudan Chharia Monika Nidhi Gupta Nitish Agrawal Piyush Kukreja 2011101 2011108 2011115 2011122 2011129 2011137

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Case Analysis Report

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Contents:I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Introduction Objective Question Discussion Background Case Analysis Problems 3 4 4 5 6 8 8

VII. Possible Solutions i. ii. Advantages of Possible Solutions Disadvantages of Possible Solutions

VIII. Best Possible Solution IX. Managerial Learning

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Introduction:Alex Sander, age 32, is a new product manager at Landon care products Inc. which is a cosmetics products company headquartered in Connecticut. It has recently been acquired by a European Beauty company. In just one year, he has rebranded two national products. Sander is leading the launch of a European skin care product into the U.S. market, which requires working with a multinational product development team. Sander is getting his first 360 performance review which is done first time in the company. But he is not giving much of the weightage to it. He finds compensation as the only measure of the performance. Sander's interactions with peers and direct reports in the case paint a picture of a tough, inflexible high achiever who uses temper as a management tool. He sees the fear in the members as a reinforcement which when given will enhance the productivity. He is a self starter who knows how and when to launch the product. He is smart and has high potential to do things correctly. He lacks in the leadership skills. His peers and subordinates dont see him as leader. He does not know how to get things done by others. When members does not do their job on time or as per his standards then he takes the responsibility on his own and dismiss the member. He ignores his team members need for approval and fails to recognize the work of those around him. If they dont complete their work to his standard, then they fall subject to his temper and are belittled by his harsh criticism.

PGDM 2011-13

Sec C, Group - 5

Case Analysis Report

OB I

Alex is not shy to show his sense of entitlement and slight arrogance. Because of this, his performance is suffering. It is hard for Machiavellianism and narcissists to be team players. Alex needs to show more concern about the feelings and insights of his peers, as well as take the 360r review seriously as use it as a tool to improve his weaknesses.

Objective :y Impact of an individual behavior in an organization. y How to influence it so that it may have positive impact on the organization. y Importance of appraisal and feedback of performance.
y

How to handle stress.

Question Discussion:The Case Study, A day in the life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products, tells us about the behaviour of the protagonist, Alex, in the organizational context. Alex is portrayed to be a very tough-going and aggressive man who achieves his goal by any means, and while doing so, tends to take a lot of stress and giving it to his co-workers at the same time. A 360r performance review is being conducted in the organization which reveals both positive and negative sides of Alexs traits. The main questions that will be discussed in the following case analysis are
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1) As a manager, how could Sam Glass, Alexs boss, channel Alexs talent and ensure success, for their product group, and for Alex himself? 2) How could the 360r performance review programme be improved to help the company-Landon Care Products develop leadership talent long term?

Background:Alex Sander was a product manager in the Toiletries Division at Landon Care Products Inc., headquartered in Connecticut. In just a span of one year, Alex had successfully rebranded two nation skin care products and was in charge of launching another one in the U.S. Alex was a very hardworking and an enterprising individual. But at the same time, he was a workaholic and was very aggressive at times. In the process of getting his work done, he used to be overly harsh and critical with his subordinates. He also used to create a stress filled environment where it would be very difficult for anyone to work. Despite these, the top managers at Landon use to value Alex and his efforts in taking the company forward. They knew that Alex, as an individual was different and had a different approach to his job altogether. In one way, he was a perfectionist, and that is why he was still a part of the organization. He had performed his job very well, though he might have been very rude and harsh to his fellow employees. Observing all this, the management wants to take steps so as to modify this behaviour of Alex, so that keeping his excellent working abilities intact, they can improve his people, so that he can prove to be an efficient leader.
PGDM 2011-13
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Sec C, Group - 5

Case Analysis Report

OB I

Case Analysis:Alex Sander is the product manager at Landon Care Products, Inc. Alex is smart and self-driven. He is an asset to the company as he successfully rebranded two national skin care product but he seems to be lacking the ability to lead and direct his teams to complete the work assigned to them. He does not give importance in directing the team. He is easily frustrated when team members do not complete the task according to him or if it takes longer than he thinks. Most of the time, he takes on the task of his team members himself because he thinks that he can do better than the rest. He gets irritated when anybody asks same question more number of times. Sam Glass, one of the three product supervisors in the toiletries division of Landon care products, had conversation with Sander regarding 360 performance review. He does not pay attention to the 360 performance review. He only sees compensation as a measure of performance. He is overconfident regarding his work and job performance. Alex has identified fear as a powerful motivator for his team and uses his bad temper to instill fear into the team members. He thinks that this negative reinforcement increases the productivity of the members. This also creates work environment more stressful for others to work in which may lead to job dissatisfaction. He does appear to be aware that his quick temper is a flaw, but seems little inclined to attempt a remedy for this. Instead, he makes excuses for his behavior and indicates that there is little he can do to change it.
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Alex has low emotional intelligence, he doesnt take others feelings into account when making decisions and delegating assignments. This we have seen in the case when he belittled the senior sales analyst and dismissed her from the task which she was previously doing, saying that it would take longer to explain to her than do it himself. He ignores his team members need for approval and fails to recognize the work of those around him. If they dont complete their work to his standard, then they fall subject to his temper and are belittled by his harsh criticism. Alex has the personality characteristic of Machiavellianism which means that he is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends justify means. For example, Alex admits that, if being pushy and commanding is the only way to get the job done- to get two new products out in one year- then its worth it to me. Even if I have to steamroll over someones feelings, or ignore the way a colleague would like to handle a project. Alex is emotionally disconnected from his teammates and obviously believes that ends justify means.

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Sec C, Group - 5

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OB I

Problems:One of the main problems depicted in the case is that Alex had a highly unprofessional behaviour towards his co-workers. Doing ones work is one thing, but then becoming over-ambitious while doing it is bad. Some of the main problem areas are as follows: y Overall bad behaviour of Alex with employees. y Creating hostility in the working environment. y Perfectionist, but then excess of anything good is harmful. y Failure to understand the human mind. Alex neglected the fact that all individuals are not uniformly capable. y Excessively workaholic.

Possible Solution:Following points are being put forward for the problems discussed above: 1) Meditation: Alex seems to be in a state of complete mental chaos. He thinks about work, work and work alone. He is a perfectionist, no doubt, but then he must distinguish between his work life and personal life. We do not know much about his personal life but as one of his co-workers commented, he has no work-life balance. He needs to take up meditation classes. By doing so, he
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will reduce his stress by an enormous amount and as a result, will stop troubling his subordinates to a certain extent. His boss should take initiatives to let Alex go for such classes. Advantages y Alex will become more and more mentally calm and serene. y He will be able to handle pressure without taking excessive stress. Disadvantages y Alex might not take the meditation classes seriously. y Furthermore, Alex might take the whole point of going for meditation classes in a wrong way, because already he is extremely aggressive.

2) Taking up a Communication Course Sam Glass, Alexs boss, should arrange for proper business communication classes for him. It is important that Alex learn to establish a cheerful formal rapport with everyone in the organization. Though he has been considered as very entertaining by one of his colleagues, the general notion is that Alex is very arrogant and cares very little about other people and their opinions. Advantages: y A communication course would emphasize to him the importance of human mental make-up in the communication process. This would help him change his attitude towards others. y There are very less chances of misunderstandings occurring afterwards. Hence, Alex wouldnt have to repeat the same thing again and again to an employee, which is one of the primary ways by which he gets irritated easily.
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3) Sending Alex on an all- paid foreign trip Alex had already proved his mettle by successfully rebranding two products in the market. No doubt, he was a very special and hardworking employee. So it is perfectly fine if the management awards him an all-paid foreign trip once a year. Advantages y Alex will get a break from the monotonous and stressing work environment. y His mind will be refreshed and will feel happier, thereby communicating effectively with other employees. Disadvantages:

y This might be very expensive to the employers.

PGDM 2011-13

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Sec C, Group - 5

Case Analysis Report

OB I

Best Possible Solution:Alex sander works a lot. He is more of a perfectionist and likes the work to be done according to his own choice. He does not have a work/life balance. In an attempt to be successful, he overdoes his work and expects the same standard to be followed. He is not considerate of the feelings of others and can go to the extent of humiliating them if the need comes. This creates stress and mental problems which can be rectified either by meditation or vacations. Since it is in the personal interest of Mr. Glass to keep Alex in the business, he can take the initiative to provide on regular basis classes for such recreational activities helping him to reduce his stress. He may even give paid vacations which would give him some time off the work and help him in being more relaxed.

PGDM 2011-13

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Sec C, Group - 5

Case Analysis Report

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Managerial Learning:1) Emotional stability: - Since we are a part of an organization, there might be incidents when things dont go as per our standards. In such situation, we should not loose control over our anger as seen in the case of Alex where, if he sees lack of commitment from the other side, he would humiliate them causing long term problems. 2) Trusting team members: - There should be trust among the team members and some level of freedom must be given to them. As seen in the case, Alex keeps questioning the abilities of his team members, thus, demotivating them. 3) Work/life balance: - There should be a balance between the personal and the professional life. Work should be given in reasonable time limits so that the members can also enjoy their personal life. As seen in the case, Sander gives projects to his team members even after mid night causing high level of stress among them. 4) People skills- Knowing how to manage people in an organization is the most important requisite in any profession. People should be valued for their work so as to encourage them. As seen in the case, Alex does not value the diversity in the approaches and the attitudes of the team member reducing their creative skills. 5) Feedback: - A study of the feedback form can help a person know where he lacks and can help them improve on them. Thus such performance review report should be taken in good spirit to improve the working conditions.

PGDM 2011-13

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Sec C, Group - 5