Analysisi of Harvard Case - Essay Example

? Harvard Case Study The most critical problem in the case under examination seems to be the fit of the specific person, Lisa Benton, in the particular organization. More specifically, Lisa Benton has all the requirements necessary for her current position in Houseworld’s Home Care Division. However, it seems that her skills and qualities are not adequately appreciated; on the contrary, it seems that her skills have led their supervisors to develop a negative attitude towards Lisa – for instance, the continuous references to her educational background which is related, as supported by her supervisors, to specific professional behaviour while there is no such case. Additionally to the continuous conflicts with her supervisors, Lisa has not been given the chance to participate equally in the development of projects in the design of which she had a crucial role (Keyton 95). Instead, she feels that she has no chance of developing her skills – a fact that seems quite logical taking into consideration the behaviour of her supervisors towards her. As the first year within the organization has passed for Lisa, the following issue needs to be addressed: since the chances for professional development of Lisa in the specific organization seem to be limited, alternative plans of action need to be developed. Lisa should consider her leaving from the organization and her return to Right-Away – at least this would be the most appropriate solution for Lisa having in mind the challenges that Lisa has to face on a daily basis in her current position. The identification of the reasons of the problem would help to suggest a series of measures that Lisa could take before deciding to leave the firm. After examining the events described in the case study it is made clear that the particular problem is related with a series of facts: a) Lisa was not adequately prepared for her position in Houseworld’s Home Care Division; in accordance with the case study Lisa was not offered particular training before being hired in the specific position; rather, she just visited the firm twice and was informed on certain issues related to the prospects of employees within the particular organization. The problem regarding the lack of recognition of Lisa’s skills seems to begin at this point. Even if Lisa was told that she would have the chance to be promoted in accordance with her skills, she was hired in a position which was rather inappropriate for her – taking into consideration her professional experience and her background – it should be noted at this point that in her previous firm Lisa was offered the position of the director of market, a position which is clearly differentiated from the assistant product manager position which Lisa currently holds; perhaps, the problem would have been avoided if Lisa had met with her boss before her hiring in the particular organization; if the dialogue between her and Mrs. Linton had held before the hiring of Lisa in Houseworld’s Home Care Division, Lisa would have thought for a second time her decision to leave her job in Right-Away; b) both her boss, Mrs. Linton, and the associate product manager, Mr Scoville, avoid recognizing the efforts of Lisa within the organization; their close relationship – as another employee informed Lisa – would result to problems for Lisa in case she would decide to discuss with Mrs. Linton the challenges she has to face daily because of the negative comments that Mr. Scoville addresses to her on a daily basis, c) Lisa had not worked in this organization in the past; she is not aware of the organizational culture and practices – referring especially to the nature of the tasks in which the employees of its job position are obligated to be involved – as noted to her by Mrs. Linton; in other words, the problems of communication that Lisa has within the organization may be related to her lack of knowledge on the organizational ethics and practices. The above assumption could be verified by the following fact: in Right Away Lisa felt very comfortable – referring to the tasks allocated to her daily; no communication problems had reported in that particular firm before Lisa and her colleagues; however, Lisa had worked in that firm for a particular period of time and was aware of organizational processes and ethics; d) on the other hand, no problem of such level existed between Lisa and the employees in Right Away – no such problem is mentioned in the case study; it can be assumed that the problem of communication developed between Lisa and her supervisors is not Lisa’s faults – since Lisa had not faced such problems in the past. Therefore, it is a problem of attitude of her supervisors, i.e. it is a problem related to their personal perceptions and for this reason it would be quite difficult to be resolved; on the other hand, the motives of the above behaviour would be identified in the failure of the bosses to achieve specific personal targets – as Mrs. Linton admitted to Lisa she didn’t manage to get an MBA – as Lisa did; moreover, Mr. Scoville admitted to Lisa that he is quite stressed waiting his promotion in another organizational department; e) Lisa has not the option to ask to be transferred to another organizational department – since such practice is not aligned with the firm’s operational ethics; a solution would have to be identified – shortly – in regard to this problem; otherwise, the only solution available to Lisa would be her resignation from her current job position.; the lack of option available for the resolution of the problem could cause extra stress to Lisa (Mathis & Jackson 227), f) in any case, it is made clear in the case study that Lisa’s decision to enter the particular organization was quite rapid – the time spent by Lisa on the evaluation of the new position’s responsibilities and challenges has been quite short – compared to her previous job for which she was appropriately trained and supported; the emphasis that Lisa paid on the infrastructure available in her current organization has led her to a severe mistake: instead of a well-paid job for which she was fully trained and for which she would be fairly treated – in terms of her access to the higher levels of the organizational hierarchy – she preferred a less promising position where severe communication problems appear between Lisa and her supervisors appear quite regularly. At this point the following issues should be taken into consideration: a) there is no issue of lack of skills – referring to the skills of Lisa in terms of educational and professional background; rather, her existing skills are quite satisfactory at such level that they can justify her hiring in a position high in the organizational hierarchy – for example, the position of the director of marketing – offered to her by her previous boss, b) Lisa has already made many efforts in order to improve communication with her supervisors; however, there has been no particular result apart from a slight improvement in her communication with Mr. Scoville – after their discussion on the perceptions of Lisa on the challenges of her position; however, still, Lisa is not given the opportunity to show her skills, c) the pressure which has Lisa to face on a daily basis is severe; from one side she has to avoid taking initiatives since they are likely to be regarded as an effort to prove her educational background – referring to the statement of Mrs. Linton that Lisa tries to make clear that she has an MBA, a comment also made by Mr. Scoville; on the other hand, when Lisa asked Mrs. Linton on her performance – a right given to her by the existing organizational rules, Mrs. Linton replied that Lisa has not reached a satisfactory level of performance avoiding stating her opinion – a clear contradiction, to the comments made to Lisa in regard to her performance, is clear. In accordance with the issues discussed above, the following recommendations would be made to Lisa: a) after completing her first year in the specific organization Lisa has already a first view on the organizational culture and practices; at this point, she would decide whether she prefer continue working in the particular firm or search for another position – there are many chances that the position offered to her in Right Away is still available; Lisa should not spend more time on thinking the aspects of the specific problem; she would decide regarding the benefits and the negative aspects of her job position and take a relevant decision, b) Lisa should discus her decision with her boss, Mrs. Linton; in the case that Lisa would decide to stay, this decision should be based on the following term: that Lisa would be given the opportunity – in practice – to improve her position in the organization; otherwise, there would be no reason for her to continue working in the specific organization, c) In any case, Lisa should develop a plan of action setting the dates by which each of the initiatives taken has to be completed (Bohlander & Snell 255); the most important issue is that Lisa avoids making the same mistake with the past; she should avoid entering a firm in order to expand her skills; she would primarily search for a position where her existing skills are appreciated. Her preference for a position that offers learning instead of a position where her skills could be fully developed led Lisa to a crucial problem – as examined above: to be excessively engaged in learning and have no chance for promoting her ideas. In regard to the above the following comment would be made: the issue of fit in the particular organization seems to be problematic in both of its aspects: in regard to Lisa, she is not given the chance to fit in the organization and her skills are of no particular value for the tasks delegated to her; for the position itself, there is also an issue of fit: there is no provision for the specific role to be used as a means for the professional development of the employee involved. Rather it is a job position with standardized and quite simple duties – which can be developed with the use of certain common skills. Works Cited Bohlander, George, Snell, Scott. Managing Human Resources. Mason, USA: Cengage Learning, 2009 Keyton, Joann, Communication & organizational culture: a key to understanding work experiences. London: SAGE, 2005 Mathis, Robert, Jackson, John. Human resource management. Mason, USA: Cengage Learning, 2007 Read More