MGT-525-BN Assignment 6

Case Studies – The Troubles with Bangles and The Suarez Effect
Pim Janssens - 0573037
The Troubles with Bangles

What is your initial reaction to this story? Why do you think you had this reaction?
My initial reaction was that Evans handled wrong. I had this reaction because I think that he
did not respect his employees and their culture, and therefore he did not act as a good leader.
Especially with different cultures within your organization, you have to be careful. Some
people can have a very strong culture with very strong principles. In this case, the Indian
women really value their bangles and it is very important to them and their husbands. If you
act like you do not take their culture and norms seriously, it can cause them to be really
unhappy within the organization. When the moral is decreasing because they feel not valued
and respected, their performance will most likely increase as well and it perhaps causes
employees to leave the company (Daft, 2018). Workforce diversity, where the workforce is
made up of people with different human qualities or who belong to various cultural groups,
can be very important for an organization. It can increase creativity, performance and give a
broader and deeper base of ideas, opinions and experiences (Daft, 2018). To achieve this, you
have to be a leader who can manage a diverse workforce. When I see Evan’s reaction, I do not
think he has the capabilities or the understanding of how to handle the situation and how to
approach these Indian women. He even compares them to the British women, who have a
totally different culture. You cannot compare these two cultures like they are the same.

Based on this limited information, how would you rate this organization in terms of
developing leadership diversity? Discuss.
I would rate them low since I think they did not handle the situation in a good way. As
discussed above, Evans did not respect the Indian women and their culture. This ignorance
can cause people to become really indifferent since they do not feel valued at all. When
employees do not feel valued, job satisfaction and morale will decrease (Daft, 2018).
However, after seeing the reactions of employees, even employees coming by individually on
instructions of their husband, they were less ignorant. Evans talked to the Asian Committee to
seek a solution for the issue. He did not really do this in favour of his employees, but in
favour of the organization since they could not afford any work stoppages. So, I still stick to
the statement that they did not handle well. This, since they are still not caring and respecting
their employees but lift the ban because they were told to do so. They just want what is best
for the organization, but at least they are trying to find a solution now with the Asian
Committee.

If you were a top executive at this company, how would you handle this problem?
Firstly, I would show my respect to the Indian women and I would never make them remove
the bangles without having a discussion with them. I would ask for their opinions since there
were some safety problems and how important the bangles are for them. When it becomes
clear it is really important for the Indian women, I would look for other solutions. A simple
solution would be to implement a uniform policy, so the hands and arms are covered in
clothes. In this way, they are still allowed to wear their bangles and bracelets and it will not
lead to any disturbance or stoppages. You will keep your employees happy and they will
respect you as a leader since you show empathy and think and care about them. As a top
executive, it is very important to use your cultural intelligence, especially in this case. This is
the ability to use reasoning and observation to interpret unfamiliar situations and devise
appropriate behavioral responses (Daft, 2018).
The Suarez Effect

Who do you think the CEO should appoint as CIO? Why?

Pat Talley and Carmelita Suarez, the subjects of this case study, each have a different style of
leadership. This case study explains that both Pat and Carmelita are well-qualified, despite
bringing different qualities to the table. It is clear that Pat places more value on technical
knowledge and skill, while Carmelita, although she is also sufficiently technically skilled,
clearly places a greater value on building relationships with her colleagues. Pat calls it ‘office
politics’, which sounds more negative than positive to me. He does not really see the value of
building relationships with colleagues, he thinks a CIO should know how to get the job done
and put emphasis on performance (Daft, 2018). At the same time, he begins to worry that he
is missing some skills or abilities, which is in this case building and maintaining relationships
with his colleagues. Because he is doubting himself, I think he is seeing that what Carmelita is
doing can actually be beneficial for an organization, but he just does not want to see it.

This said I think that Carmelita Suarez as CIO would be the best choice. Employees
deliver the best performance and their best work if they can work under a more
transformational leadership style (McMahon, 2010). Transformational leadership focuses on
intangible qualities such as shared values and ideas in order to build relationships, give larger
meaning to separate activities and inspire people to participate in the change process. It is
based on personal values, beliefs, and qualities of the leader and how he recognizes the
follower’s needs and desires (Daft, 2018). Since Carmelita puts emphasis on building
relationships, she can be described as a transformational leader, which makes her the best
option to be appointed as a CIO. Pat’s narrow focus on day-to-day work would make him less
effective in such an important position.

Is Pat sabotaging his career by thinking of relationship building as ‘‘office politics’’ that
takes the focus away from day-to-day work? What advice would you give Pat, who is not
a natural relationship builder?
I think that Pat, with his narrow focus, has a limited scope of leadership which holds him back
professionally. He is acting a bit stubborn since he is very sure his ways are the best and he
does not want to accept other ways can be good too. I think this is already a bad quality of a
leader since a leader must be open-minded and have the ability to listen to others and learn
from it (Daft, 2018). He believes that ‘our work and our reputation’ should be the only
considerations in choosing the new CIO, while there are many more skills a CIO needs. This,
since a CIO must know how to develop your team, which needs good communication skills.
Pat thinks building relationships with colleagues is a waste of time, which will limit his
opportunities for future promotions. Nowadays, communication skills and building
relationships of mutual trust and respect are very important. So, the best advice I would give
Pat is to work at building relationships. He must be aware of his colleagues’ strengths and
limitations, so he knows how to approach and guide them. Also, introverts like Pat can be
good leaders. I think he does not necessarily need to change his entire personality, but he
would be smart to find a way to use his expertise and experience in a more relational
direction. An introverted leader can be effective if, for example, the other members of the
team are extroverted so the leader can create an effective dialogue (Tasler, 2010). To create
this effective dialogue, Pat should definitely work on his communication skills and he has to
find the right balance between placing value on technical knowledge on the one hand, and
relationships on the other hand. He must be more open-minded and accept that there are more
aspects which are important when being a CIO.

What sources of power do Pat and Carmelita seem to use in the company? Which
person do you believe will be more influential as CIO? Explain.
Both Pat and Carmelita use some form of soft power. This is a power which is based on
personal characteristics and interpersonal relationships (Daft, 2018). The soft power Pat and
Carmelita both possess is expert power. Expert power is power based on a leader’s special
knowledge or skills. This causes people to trust and respect decisions because of a leader’s
expertise (Daft, 2018). Pat is considered one of the best at what he does, and he made
significant contributions to the company during the time he has worked for the company.
Furthermore, Pat considers it important to act as a fair but tough leader. He is not afraid to
punish people if needed but wants to act fair at all times. This refers to coercive power. This is
power based on a leader’s ability to punish or to recommend punishment, which causes
subordinates to follow orders to avoid punishments (Daft, 2018).

Although Carmelita is better at building relationships, she still has knowledge and
expertise in her area. In the case study, it becomes clear Pat has more technical knowledge
and skill, but Carmelita still knows how to get the job done and what she is doing. Since
Carmelita is very good at building and maintaining relationships, she also has referent power,
which is based on a leader’s personal characteristics. Followers admire and respect Carmelita
and like to be around with her, which will make them adopt her viewpoints (Daft, 2018).

Even though expert power, especially in an IT company, is very important, I still

believe that Carmelita’s charismatic and relationship-building style will be more effective.
She has found a better balance between a task-oriented and people-oriented style than Pat
(Daft, 2018).
Followers tend to respond better to a leader with whom they built a mutual relationship of
trust and respect than to a leader who simply gives orders and uses their positional power to
lead (McMahon, 2010).

References
Daft, R. L. (2018). The Leadership Experience. New York: Cengage learning.

McMahon, J. (2010). Leadership classics. Long Grove, Ill: Waveland Press.

Tasler, N. (2010). Five Secrets of Charismatic Leadership. Retrieved October 1st 2020 from
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-11-02/five-secrets-of-charismatic-leadership