Case Study

James Win was no longer speaking to Stuwart Walt. He had been wary of him since his first day at Alton Products; he had always seemed distant and aloof. He thought at first that he resented his MBA degree, his fast rise in the company, or his sense of purpose and ambition. But he was determined to get along with everyone in the office, so he had taken him out to lunch, praised his work whenever he could, and even kept track of his son's Little League feats. But all that ended with the appointment of the new Midwest marketing director. James had had his sights on the job and thought his chances were good. He was competing with three other managers on his level. Stuwart was not in the running because he did not have a graduate degree, but his voice was thought to carry a lot of weight with the top brass. James had less seniority than any of his competitors, but his division had become the leader in the company, and upper management had praised his lavishly. He believed that with a good recommendation from Stuwart, he would

get the job.

But Walt Murdoch received the promotion and moved to Topeka. James was devastated. It was bad enough that he did not get the promotion, but he could not stand the fact that Murdoch had been chosen. He and Stuwart had taken to calling Murdoch "Mr. Intolerable" because neither of them could stand his pompous arrogance. He felt that his being chosen was an insult to him; it made him rethink his entire career. When the grapevine confirmed his suspicion that Stuwart had strongly influenced the decision, he determined to reduce his interaction with Stuwart to a bare minimum. Relations in the office were very chilly for almost a month. Stuwart soon gave up trying to get back in James's favor, and they began communicating only in short, unsigned memos. Finally, William Attridge, their immediate boss, could tolerate the hostility no longer and called the two in for a meeting. "We're going to sit here until you two become friends again," he said, "or at least

until I find out what's bugging you."

James resisted for a few minutes, denying that anything had changed in their relationship, but when he saw that Attridge was serious, he finally said, "Stuwart seems more interested in dealing with Walter Murdoch." Stuwart's jaw dropped; he sputtered but could not say anything. Attridge came

to the rescue.

"Walter's been safely kicked upstairs, thanks in part to Stuwart, and neither of you will have to deal with him in the future. But if you're upset about that promotion, you should know that Stuwart had nothing but praise for you and kept pointing out how this division would suffer if we buried you in Topeka. With your bonuses, you're still making as much as Murdoch. If your work here continues to be outstanding, you'll be headed for a much better place than Topeka." Embarrassed, James looked at Stuwart, who shrugged and said, "You want to go get some coffee?" Over coffee, James told Stuwart what he had been thinking for the past month and apologized for treating him unfairly. Stuwart explained that what he saw as aloofness was actually respect and something akin to fear: He viewed him as brilliant and efficient. Consequently, he was very cautious, trying not to offend him. The next day, the office was almost back to normal. But a new ritual had been established: James and Stuwart took a coffee break together every day at ten. Soon their teasing and friendly competition loosened up everyone they worked with. Case Questions

1. Do you think the decision of the organization regarding the promotion was fair?

2. If you were inWilliam Attridge's position, which approach of OB you would choose in this scenario? Justify your answer.

3. Which model of OB will work in this scenario?

4.What are your suggestions to improve the promotional activities in the coming future for the company?