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JENSEN SHOES: LYNDON BROOKS STORY

1.What were Brooks assumptions about Kravitz abilities, attitudes and motivations? On
what were these assumptions made?

Assumption He assumed her attitude to be positive and learned. Brooks thought of


Kravitz as a reasonable person to work for.
Basis of assumption Brooks assumed this from a committee work that even Janes
was a part of.

Assumption Brooks assumed Janes as an ally to work with and expected that she
will help him get a new job.
Basis of Assumption When brooks accepted that he wanted to be in a
management job and lead the environmental project as a part of organisation. Jane
supported the idea and replied saying that, she can help getting him a new job as she
was working in the company for 12 years and knew quite a few people.

Assumption Brookss assumption on engagement related attitude.


Basis of Assumption The discussion between Brooks and Jane on the time
requirement of environmental project and two s.o.s was vague. Still Brooks
assumed that Janes will allow him to not cover the two s.o.s.

Assumption Expectation that Jane will back Brooks up after his conversation with
Chuck.
Basis of assumption Jane was on board and had a constructive conversation when
Brooks proposed the idea of environmental project. Also, both were aware that he
has done a good job for the project.

2 List some of the strengths and weaknesses of Brooks.

Some of the strengths of Brooks were

He always strived to his best and was extremely hard working. As a result, he stood
the topper of his class throughout his education. This led to him getting a full
scholarship from several universities.
He was determined. The proof of this can be seen by the fact that he was constantly
promoted in the span of his 8-year career.
He was a team player and a good leader. When he realised that most of his team
mates were inexperienced he made it a point to unleash their hidden potential. As a
result, he discovered the raw talent and energy in them.
He was optimistic. Even though the whole situation was going against him, he did
not lose hope. He tried to make good of the resources he was provided. Even after
being assigned an inexperienced staff and suffering the deepest budget cut , he still
didnt lost track and completed whatever he could have.
He was quite patient as a person. Even after going through so much trouble with his
agenda ,his team and the budget cut, he still tried to hold on and did not go to Chuck
to complain.
He was an understanding person. When Jane lashed out on Brooks after he asked for
the s.o.s to be cut down to one, he realised that maybe her behaviour is so because
she was under immense pressure herself.

Some of the weaknesses of Brooks are:

He was not open to changes. When he was assigned an area, he had no prior
knowledge in, he was reluctant to take it up and even tried to avoid it. He was not
flexible in his approach.
He was only focussed on advancing his career and did not want to learn anything
that would not help him with it. He was hesitant when he was shifted to the strategic
marketing team as it did not align with his long-term plan. He even tried to convince
Jane about a change in job.
Brooks started doubting himself when he was unable to perform. He started
doubting his ability to perform in his job after constant rebuke from both Chuck and
Jane.
He was not committed to the company. He took the s.o.s very casually and even
thought that not achieving all the s.o.s will not be a big deal. In the later part of the
case study, he was seen planning a trip to San Diego to check out some job leads
outside the company amongst other things.
He had a negative attitude towards feedback and setbacks. When Chuck told him to
step back in order to get more training, he immediately thought that he had a
personal vendetta against him. Instead of seeing it as an opportunity, he thought
that he was being demoted because of his inability to achieve all the s.o.s.

3. What would Brooks and Kravitz have had to do differently to result in a more
effective working relationship?

The following steps can be taken in order to construct an effective working


relationship:
Better Communication- The vague references given by James on the projects
to brooks were somewhat misleading. This brought James under pressure
and made Brooks doubt the situation that he was into.
Better interpersonal relationship: The changing attitude of James towards
Brooks was a negative aspect. If acted otherwise, it would have improved the
trust relationship among employees. Also, if James would have backed
Brooks, the motivation and productivity would have increased.
Better leadership skills: Proper distribution of projects among employees
with clarity will help eliminate the misunderstandings. If James would have
made the target clear earlier Brooks would have worked accordingly. And if a
project could be adjusted with another employee, it should be done in an
early stage.

4- List the perceptual distortions in this case.

The following perceptual distortions observed in the case were:


1. Stereotype
Stereotyping is defined as a process of attributing certain characteristics and
behaviour to a person by linking the person to a category.
In the case it is very clear that Brooks have been a victim of stereotyping. He was
constantly put in charge of the African-American and Latino markets even though
he had no experience in them. One can only wonder if this was because of his
African-American descend. Maybe it was just assumed that since he belongs to
that community he will have better knowledge of the market. He has been
repeatedly being observed as saying that these were not the markets of his
choice. Also in the end when he has to pick one of the two s.o.s, he picked the
Latino market (as he had some prior research in that area).
2. Selective Perception
It is defined as the tendency to single out one of the characteristics of the target.
Brooks needed an ally in the company and hence he was actively seeking that.
So, when he got to know that Jane was his new boss he perceived certain
characteristics in her. He assumed that Jane is a reasonable person to work with.
He also assumed that he would appreciate her management style and that
because she had a good track record he would have a pleasant time working
under her.
3. Projections
It is a process where we attribute our personal values and attributes to others
and feel that they have similar ones.
This could be observed throughout the case. We can observe that Jane was
constantly pressuring Brooks to complete all the tasks. As she was under the
pressure to report to Chuck, she was projecting her pressure onto Brooks. At one
point she blamed him for jeopardizing her career.
4. Golem Effect
Golem effect works in the way that if the manager is telling an employee that he
has low expectations of him, then the employee is likely to underperform.
When Brooks went to Chuck to discuss his troubles about the task, he gave him a
passive reply indirectly implying that he had low hopes of Brooks completing the
s.o.s. This in turn reflected in Brooks performance as he was unable to achieve
all the s.o.s.

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