Leah was happy to find a position as a scanning technician at a business process outsourcing company, Expert Resource, Inc. A major part of Expert's business was converting paperwork related to human resource management into digital form. Clients would mail their forms, such as medical claims, to Expert. Scanning technicians would then insert the claim forms into large scanning machines to make the conversion to digital. Clients would then have digital instead of paper documents for health claims and other human resource records. The scanning technicians had to interact with other employees in several ways. Many of the claims received contained illegible identifying information, so they had to be sent to a security department that attempted to obtain the proper identification for the forms. The scanning technicians were expected to help level the workload among the technicians. For example, if one of the technicians was overwhelmed, and another was caught up, the latter was supposed to help out the former. Also, the company frequently held small celebrations in the office. A typical celebration would be to hold a brunch in honor of a new employee joining the company Leah believed that if she performed well in her position as a scanning technician, she would be eligible for promotion to the information technology department. Eventually, being promoted to a supervisor position was also within the realm of possibility. Leah also recognized that having good skills and speed in scanning documents were not sufficient to be promoted to a supervisory position. Her size up of the situation was that being a good team player would be required to be considered for promotion. Leah then set out to develop the reputation of being a good team player. The next Monday morning, Leah arrived at the office with a box of donuts that she placed in the break room, with a note attached that said. "Enjoy your coffee or tea this morning with a treat from your coworker Leah." Several of the other scanning technicians thanked Leah, however, one technician said to her, "Why did you bring us donuts? You're not our supervisor. A week later, Leah implemented another tactic designed to boost her reputation as a team player. She sent an e-mail to the other technicians informing them that they were free were overloaded with documents to scan. Leah said that she would help the overloaded coworker so long as she was caught up on her own work, send her an e-mail or an IM anytime they A week later, Leah reflected, "I think I am developing a reputation as a good team player, but I can't give up yet. I think I know a way to really cement being regarded as a strong team player." Leah then wrote an e-mail to the other scanning technicians, as well as her supervisor. The e-mail read in part: "We all know that it takes a village to raise a child. But did you also know that it takes a group of friendly and cooperative coworkers to get a scanning technician up to speed? I want to thank you all for your cooperation and friendliness. You have been very helpful to me." Case Questions 1. How effective do you think Leah's initiatives are in helping her develop a reputation as a strong team player? 2. If you were Leah's supervisor, how would you react to the e-mails she sent to the group? 3. What advice might you offer Leah to help her advance her reputation as a team player?