Rick Stallsworth as a Narcissist - Case Study Example

Individual Case Study Name: University: Date: Managing Under Uncertainty Introduction Rick Stallsworth is the founder and the current chief executive officer of the Games Forum, and his decisions will be critically analysed in this case study. The first perspective used to analyse Rick decisions is the personality and value based with much focus on the Big Five Model. Personality, as mentioned by Maccoby (2004), includes individual’s relatively unchanging feelings, behavioural patterns, as well as thoughts. Personality has a considerable impact on the way leaders think; feel as well as associate with other people. The Big Five Model entails five dimensions of personality; conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, extraversion, as well as neuroticism. These dimensions of personality will be utilised to analyse Rick decisions. In this case, Rick exhibits an extraversion trait, which is typified by quick-temperedness and assertiveness, while being low in conscientiousness he is less responsible and unreliable in decision-making. The second perspective that will be used to analyse decisions made by Rick is the psychological perspective, especially by concentrating on perceptual biasness (stereotyping), and attributional biasness (Egocentric Bias). With regard to perceptual biasness, Rick exhibits some aspects of stereotyping, when he compares the marketing director’s behaviour to American behaviour. Rick exhibits Egocentric Bias whereby he thinks of the business world from his own point of view as well as self-perception and disregarding other directors’ view. The reason for choosing Rick is as a consequence of his monocratic way of making decisions based on his own judgment and his inclination of hardly considering other directors’ views. Basically, every leader has a matchless personality, which distinguishes him/her from other leaders and so comprehending Rick personality will help in understanding his decisions. Analysis With regard to the Big Five Model: Rick exhibits extraversion traits, and this can be evidenced by his traits such as quick-temperedness, decisiveness and high levels of emotional expressiveness. As stated by Kennedy and Kennedy (2004), extraversion is a fondness to concentrate on the world outer oneself, and people with this trait are keen, talkative, self-confident, as well as active. Basically, extraverted leaders seem to be more successful because they more forceful in their views and talk more. Besides that, they consume more time in team discussions and exert their dominance to seek support for their decisions. Rick exhibits his extraversion trait when he forcefully compels the executive team to agree to his plan of expanding the business to China. Rick exhibits no agreeableness trait, considering that this dimension of personality consists of attributes like unselfishness, trust, kind-heartedness, and affection, behaviours, which are evidently missing in his Behaviour. As stated by Barrick and Mount (1991), people with agreeableness value getting by with others, and they are normally thoughtful, compassionate, trusting, generous, as well as dependable, accommodating, and ready to listen to others. Raad and Perugini (2002) study shows that agreeableness positively relates to the relationships’ quality with other team members. In the case study, Rick is not prepared to compromise his decisions for the interests of other members; rather he forced them to agree to the plan. Rick exhibits a low conscientiousness trait because he is less reliable when it comes to group decision-making. Moreover, Rick is less persistent, more impulsive, and less detail-oriented. As stated by Barrick and Mount (1991), conscientiousness are rooted in levels of thoughtfulness, and individuals high on it have goal-directed behaviours and are inclined to be mindful as well as organize of details. Low conscientiousness as stated by Raad and Perugini (2002) strongly predicts low procrastination and individuals with this trait hardly abide by the rules. Rick disregards reports by the Ashish and Salleh that highlighted risks that would arise when the company expand into the Chinese market; this proves that he is less detail-oriented. Rick also exhibits neuroticism trait: this is because he suffers from emotional instability, whereby he gets angry quickly is and full of bad-temperedness. Neuroticism, as mentioned by Maccoby (2004), is the inclination to experience negative emotions, like anxiety, anger, or despair. Narcissists as, mentioned by Maccoby (2004), are self-centred, often problematic to cooperate with, and are very arrogant. In this case, Rick has low emotional stability because he astonishingly makes faster and better decisions when in a bad temper as compared to people with high emotion stability. When the marketing director questions his decisions, he angrily rebukes her in front of other board members. Rick also exhibits openness trait, because he came up with the idea to expand into the Chinese market. Openness is related to technical knowhow and innovativeness. As mentioned by Raad and Perugini (2002), openness is based on coming up with ideas, art, imagination, variety of experience, as well as curiosity. People with this trait are always willing to try novel things, and they are intellectual and creative. Rick Openness trait is exhibited with his plan to expand into the Chinese market while his intellectual and creative ability is exhibited by his plan to penetrate into a new market. Rick refutation of the marketing director outburst as a ‘typical’ of an American, is a form of stereotyping. As stated by Khan, Benda, and Stagnaro (2012), stereotyping is the act of crediting certain traits to a group of people or person based on perceptions’ of their culture. When stereotypes are prevalent in the place of work, some people decisions’ are disregarded, working teams fail to function appropriately, and may result in erosion of corporate culture. Rick judged the marketing director because he comes from a different culture, while the marketing director was educated in the American culture. Perceptual biases, as stated by Schwenk (1988), are systematic errors in how people perceive others. Basically, perceptual bias may somewhat be harmful to persons within the society, and significantly, perceptions are the main cause of conflict. Stereotyping, in this case, emerges from the verity that Rick failed to consult the marketing director, because of her gender. This aspect further materialises when he publicly rebuked her in front of other executive member, and none of the members directly supported her. As indicated by Gupta, Turban, and Pareek (2013), in line with prevailing theory, biased decisions concerning women may flow from negative or positive traits attributed to women. Feminine stereotypical traits are inclined to be inconsistent with the traits thought to be vital for business success. Rick also exhibits attributional biasness, especially egocentric bias; for instance, he never involved other directors in any plans concerning the future of the company. According to Kelley and Michela (1980), attribution connotes the manner through which persons illuminate their individual behaviour with that of others. In this case, attribution bias takes place when a person steadily under- or overuses the existing information when talking about the behaviour (Kelley & Michela, 1980). In this case, Rick exhibits egocentric bias in allocating responsibilities; he concentrates exceedingly on his contributions and scanty on contributions of other directors. As stated by Kelley and Michela (1980), inability to recognise decisions of others by egocentrically concentrating on one’s own may generate huge conflict amongst group members, and this is the case at the Games Forum. Eliminating an egotistical focus on one’s decisions needs one to consider others’ decisions, and so whether egocentrism within the workplace worsens or reduces, conflict will rely on what people perceive when their decisions are considered. At the Games Forum, Rick believes he had done more work as compared to other members of the executive team, and for this reason he disregards other members’ decisions and considers his own, thus heightening perceptions of unfairness as well as inequity. Critical Discussion Rick’s Narcissism personality traits illustrate strength in his decision making process. As mentioned by Maccoby (2004), individuals with this trait have attention-grabbing and compelling visions for their company, and also can attract a lot of followers. Narcissists who are productive comprehend the significance of the vision, since they naturally see the big picture. Maccoby (2004) posits that individuals with these traits are not analysers, and cannot fragment big questions into problems that can be managed; rather they try to create the future. Narcissists often believe they are invincible, and this confidence and energy, inspires their followers further. According to Maccoby (2004), productive narcissists are not just risk takers ready to finish the job, but are also enchanters capable of changing their followers with their oratory. By having a great vision, Rick is certain about succeeding in the Chinese market in spite of the disapprovals from other executive members. With regard to weaknesses, Rick decisions exhibit some form of egocentric bias. As stated by Libby and Rennekamp (2012), a bias associated with egocentrism is the inclination of decision makers being overconfident in their judgment, and often results in unrealistic success expectation. Ashish and Salleh business plans outlined some cautions regarding the strategy sustainability and also underlined the additional resources required so as to implement the expansion plan. In spite of these cautions, Rick was overconfident and dismissed Ashish and Salleh as cynical. Rick stereotyping on the Marketing Manager exhibits another weakness. As stereotypes are unfair and harmful in daily life, Berdahl and Min (2012) posits that they can rapidly damage productivity as well as morale in the place of work. Stereotypes have been described by Berdahl and Min (2012) as generalisations concerning a group of persons whereby a particular set of attributes are attributed to this group. Basically, such generalisations are mostly negative especially when stereotyped based on their culture. In this case, Rick compares the reaction of the marketing manager as that of a typical America, and this is unfair treatment that possibly made the marketing director feel less appreciated. Rick Narcissism personality trait also illustrates a weakness, especially with his quick-temperedness behaviour. Narcissism according to Maccoby (2004) can become unproductive; especially when, they lack self-knowledge as well as confining anchors. Persons with this trait support grand schemes and also hold the view that only enemies or circumstances obstruct their success. Narcissists, as mentioned by Maccoby (2004) are highly distrustful as well as emotionally isolated and when threat is perceivable, they become angry. When the marketing director tried to question Rick decision, Rick being sensitive to criticism rebuked her, and did not want to listener to her viewpoints, and also lacked empathy. Recommendations To reduce negative stereotypes impact, Rick should have exhibited institutional dedication to equality by taking into account contributions from other members of the executive team. Rick should adopt a growth attitude that will benefit every person, particularly for people who feel discriminated. Besides that, Rick should set the behaviour standards through his actions and words, in consort with procedures as well as policies. More importantly, Rick should learn to relate with members of the executive team on a more personal level. This can help him open his mind to diversities as well as expand his perceptions. Moreover, Rick should interact with various professional contacts, so as to open up to learning concerning various organisational cultures and learn to respect other people views, decisions, and suggestions. To reduce issues brought about by biasness, especially egocentric bias, Rick should relentlessly look for potentially new or relevant disconfirming proof. Moreover, he should accept the “chief contrarian” to be part of the executive team, and search for diverse external opinion so as to counter his overconfidence. Moreover, he should reward the process of decision making and desist from penalizing errors when the efforts as well as intentions are sound. Before making any decision, he should flip or reframe the issue at hand so as to understand if they are viewing the situation in either negative or positive framework. Besides that, he should have developed systemic review processes that leave him with a possibility of commitment when he tries to implement new ideas. Importantly, he should shun the possibility of a growth or extra emotional investment in out of order decisions stimulated by impatience. Being a narcissist, Rick should have avoided finger pointing, and instead he should have exerted collective effort in learning and improving decision making process in the executive team so as to mitigate any possibility of crisis. Rick should have evaluated the impact of his decisions and search for a well-adjusted approach for collective intelligence aimed at improving the whole executive team performance rather than a strategy intended for exploiting a number of areas without regard for others (Bonabeau, 2009). Being a narcissist, should be able to foresee compelling strategies and concepts for the company that will benefit all people within the organisation, and not him. He should have shared his vision with other team members for collective decision, instead of forcing it to them. References Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). 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