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Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Self-Assessment Exercise
Refer to the text for the self-assessment exercise.
Exercising Strategy:
Leadership Development at Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a San Diego based world leader in next generation mobile technologies. The
company has received kudos for its products, work culture and employee practices. One of the
reasons for the company’s success is its unusual approach to leadership development. The
company’s philosophy is to use development to help as many employees as possible develop
leadership skills.
Questions
1. What other types of development activities should Qualcomm consider for its leadership
development program? Explain the rationale for your recommendations.
In addition to the business issues that employees who participate in the Leadership Skills
program examine, they would be well served to study some leadership theories,
2. How would giving a manager a project such as helping a health clinic in the small
isolated mountain valley Peruvian village of Coya, which serves as many as 500 patients
This sort of assignment could help a manager improve in many ways. First, the manager
would acquire some cross cultural awareness as he or she works in this type of
Managing People:
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Management Development Helps Fatten Chicken, Beef, and Pork Business
Tyson Foods, Inc., headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, is one of the world’s largest
processors and marketers of chicken, beef and pork. The company produces a wide variety of
protein-based and prepared food products and is a recognized market leader in the retail and
foodservice markets it serves. Tyson Foods created a two-year development program known as
Leaders into Champions (LINC). The objectives of LINC were to create a group of managers
who were ready to take executive management positions.
1.1 Questions
1. Tyson uses “stretch assignments” as part of the development program. How can stretch
assignments help managers develop? What type of job experiences might be considered
“stretch assignments”?
A “stretch assignment” forces managers to experience new challenges and exposes them
to different parts of the business. The stretch assignments involve important roles that
2. Would the development activities for LINC participants vary from the development
activities used for successful managers who do not have high potential and/or interest in
top leadership positions at Tyson Foods? Why? Explain the similarities and differences.
Student responses may vary but should identify the fact that activities for high-potential
HR in Small Business:
Employee Sabbatical Benefits Others at Little Tokyo Service Center
Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) work to provide a range of social services targeting Asians
and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County. The organization’s focus is on the needs of people
in financial difficulty, with physical disabilities, or struggling with language or cultural barriers.
Services include counseling, transportation, translation, and consumer education.
1.2
1.3 Questions
1. Based on the information given, how well did Little Tokyo Service Center follow the
development planning process described in Figure 9.1 Which elements of that system, if
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
any, were missing?
Based on the information presented in the case, it appears that this organization did not
2. Imagine that LTSC has called you in as a consultant before Watanabe is to start his
sabbatical. The agency has asked you to help obtain the maximum developmental benefit
from the sabbatical arrangement. How would you recommend that Watanabe, the board
of directors, and the second tier of management proceed?
Answers will vary, but should generally recommend some assessment of current skills of
3. Keeping in mind that an agency like LTSC would have funding and just a few senior
managers, suggest two additional development activities that are likely to be most
beneficial to the organization, and explain why you chose them.
Here again, answers will vary but should point to the student’s understanding of
Additional Activities
Twitter Focus
With more than 100 employees, the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) in Los Angeles,
California, provides a range of social services for Asians and Pacific Islanders. The center’s
executive director, Bill Watanabe, was encouraged to take a sabbatical—not because he was
“burned out”--but because his absence would help other LTSC employees learn to operate more
independently. After a three-month break, Watanabe felt personally restored and found his
absence also provided developmental opportunities for others who worked at the center.
Question:
What is a sabbatical? What is the difference between a sabbatical and a vacation?
Manager’s Hot Seat Exercise: Personal Disclosure: Confession Coincidence?
-Please refer to the Asset Gallery on the OLC for Hot Seat videos and notes.
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
I. Introduction
This scenario demonstrates how disclosure of personal information and how friendships
between managers and employees can create difficult situations. Management and
Organizational Behavior students will enjoy analyzing this case and discussing the pros
and cons of various actions. This case could also be used in a Human Resources course
when discussing the Americans with Disabilities act, as the situation deals with a
recovering alcoholic and potential discrimination.
II. Learning Objectives
1. To assess students’ understanding of the self-disclosure process in the workplace.
2. To analyze and evaluate the “friend/manager” role in the workplace.
3. To analyze organizational downsizing strategies.
III. Scenario Description:
Overview: Kathleen Doerder has set up a meeting with an employee, Janeen Winthrop,
who has a recent record of poor performance. Although Kathleen has met with Janeen on
two prior occasions to discuss the issue, the poor performance and frequent absences and
tardiness, have continued. Janeen’s behavior has disrupted workflow, negatively
affecting a number of colleagues within the department.
Profile:
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Kathleen Doerder is the Manager of a 65-employee marketing department at
Gen-Y.net, an internet travel agency selling customized surprise adventure trips
around the world.
Janeen Winthrop works with the creative marketing department to produce radio
and print advertisements. She works within a team of 15, generating concepts
and assisting in the implementation and layout of designs.
References: The references included in the DVD are:
Components of Self-Disclosure (PPT 11-3)
Benefits of Self-Disclosure (PPT 11-4)
Elements of Trust (PPT 11-7)
Tips for Developing Trust (PPT 11-8)
Back History: Janeen has never been known for her punctuality, which has never been a
big deal – it’s actually become one of the running jokes in the department. But now it is
becoming a big deal – very big. Janeen has been showing up later and later, more and
more frequently over the course of six weeks. It is becoming problematic – Kathleen is
quite torn: she feels she should be lenient, knowing Janeen is truly devoted to
maintaining an enthusiastic and content staff and is always persistent in her efforts to
make things work out.
Janeen is a recovered alcoholic and has been sober for eight years. Over the past six
weeks, she’s had a few relapses. Janeen has been very close-mouthed about her
alcoholism and has shared it with no one – on social occasions, she claims to never have
had any interest in alcohol and simply prefers to not partake. As of two weeks ago she’s
been going to AA twice a day. She’s not drinking and is over the hump.
Scene Set-up: Kathleen meets with Janeen to discuss her tardiness and performance
problems.
Scene Location: Kathleen’s Office
The Meeting - Summary: Kathleen explains to Janeen that she has noted increased
tardiness and poor performance. Kathleen tries to get Janeen to divulge what is going on
in her life personally that could explain this sudden downturn in performance. Janeen
breaks down in tears and reveals that she is a recovering alcoholic who had a relapse in
the past six weeks but she is returning to AA and is getting back on track. Kathleen is
sympathetic to this issue and suggests that she take the rest of the week off and then
return on Monday. Kathleen indicates that if Janeen continues to be late, she’ll have to
report the issue to HR, otherwise, she will not share this information with anyone.
Two months later – The company has suffered financially and needs to lay off
employees. Kathleen explains that Janeen is being laid off because of her seniority, not
her performance. Janeen is outraged and accuses Kathleen of using the personal
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
information she divulged against her. She threatens to sue and storms out.
Afterthoughts – Summary: Kathleen says that it was hard not to get emotionally
involved with Janeen when she broke down and cried but she had to stay even-keeled.
Kathleen says that being friends with her employees is a strategy she uses to improve
relations among co-workers. Being Janeen’s friend made it hard to tell her she was being
laid off. If she didn’t lay her off, others would think it was because of nepotism. When
she did lay her off Janeen thought it was because of the personal information Janeen
shared.
Dossier: The specific artifacts included in the DVD are:
1. J. Winthrop Performance Notes: 4/8/02
2. J. Winthrop Performance Notes: 6/7/02
3. Company-wide Notice on Layoffs
IV. Discussion Questions:
The References and related Discussion Questions may be found in PowerPoint slides 11-1 to
11-10 on the instructor’s side of the text’s Website.
Learning Objective #1: To assess students’ understanding of the self-disclosure process in the
workplace.
1. Review the Components of Self-Disclosure (PPT 11-3). Based on Janeen’s behavior in
the scenario, what basic steps and tips did she exemplify or violate?
Janeen did share her feelings and focused mainly on the present by indicating what she
was doing now to solve the problem. It’s unclear what level of disclosure she had
Student’s answers will vary as to the appropriateness of the disclosure at this point in
2. What benefits of self-disclosure (see PPT 11-4) did Janeen realize? What were the
disadvantages of her self-disclosure?
Janeen probably enjoyed many of the benefits listed on the slide. Specifically, she was
given time off to continue to make progress on her recovery. Janeen perceives that her
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
1. What is Kathleen’s strategy [in the initial meeting]?
2. Janeen’s disclosure [about her relapse] is:
Learning Objective #2: To analyze and evaluate the “friend/manager” role in the workplace.
1. What tips for building trust did Kathleen employ in this scenario? Provide examples
from the scenario to support your answer. (see PPT 11-7 and PPT 11-8)
She kept the lines of communication open by soliciting information with Janeen and by
2. How did the friendship with Janeen affect Kathleen when the company decided to
downsize?
Kathleen was stuck in a very difficult situation because she had used her friendship with
3. Kathleen’s response [that she will have to write Janeen up and tell human
resources if she doesn’t improve] is:
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Learning Objective #3: To analyze organizational downsizing strategies.
1. After reviewing the “Company-wide Notice on Layoffs”, do you believe Kathleen made
the right decision in laying off Janeen? Why or why not?
The memo says that the first round of lay-offs will be based on performance, not
seniority. Then, seniority will be the determining factor if more layoffs are required.
4. Kathleen’s delivery [regarding Janeen’s layoff] is:
5. Janeen’s argument [that she is being discriminated against] is:
She seems to jump to conclusions without asking for more information which
6. Is there a discrimination case?
It’s definitely possible because individual’s who are recovering from a drug or
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Teaching Suggestions
Several interesting topics in this chapter lend themselves to additional activities, such as diversity
training, mentoring, and so on. A couple of in-class activities are suggested as well as a possible
library assignment.
1. The following statements can be given to student groups (three to five students per
group), and they can be asked to agree or disagree and prepare the rationale for their
decision.
1.4 Diversity
(Raymond Noe, Michigan State University)
"For diversity training to work, it requires employees to explore values and stereotypes
they hold about different ethnic, racial, and gender groups. This may actually result in
even more alienation between groups. Why? One of the potential negative aspects of this
approach is that it highlights the difficulty that employees will have in trying to determine
the 'right' way to communicate and work with others from ethnic, racial, or religious
backgrounds with whom they are not accustomed to dealing. Also, discussing stereotypes
may expose the company to potential lawsuits due to the fact that the training is very
personal in nature and may expose discriminatory practices and libelous and slanderous
information."
"Our company attempts to manage a diverse work force, not through training, but through
affirmative action and strict adherence to the Civil Rights Act of 1991. We ensure that
employees are treated fairly in terms of compensation, selection, development
opportunities, and promotions."
"Because diversity training is such a sensitive issue, we will use it only in response to
incidents that occur that warrant attention."
1. Mentoring is a subject that can be used for class discussion. An interesting article on
mentoring is "Mentoring Takes a New Twist" by Beth Rogers, HR Magazine, August
1992, pp. 48-51. What are the advantages and problems with formal mentoring
programs? What are the advantages and problems with informal mentoring programs?
What are the advantages and problems with the person serving as a mentoring? As the
person being mentored?
2. Part of dealing with diversity for most organizations includes dealing with an increasing
number of women managers. Students could take a test called "Women-as-Managers
Scale" to determine their stereotypes and possible misconceptions about women
managers. This self-test can be found in Terborg, Peters, llgen, and Smith,
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Chapter 09 - Employee Development
"Organizational and Personal Correlates of Attitude toward Women as Managers."
Academy of Management Journal, March 1977, p. 93.
3. Library Assignment: Have students research examples of successful corporate mentoring
programs, diversity training programs, and assessment centers. Students could write up
their results and share them with the class.
4. Research Assignment: Have students research the "glass ceiling" issue. Two available sources
include "A Solid Investment: Making Full Use of the Nation's Capital" and "Good for
Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital." These are the two reports
from the federal Glass Ceiling Commission created by the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
Copies of these reports are available on the Internet at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library.
HRM Failures
Top
Case 9: Promoting without Discrimination
Laurie Chadwick, the mother of four children, worked as a claims specialist for a health
Chadwick sued her employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Maine
A district court dismissed the suit. It pointed out that, since her employer had not expressly
However, an appeals court reversed the lower court’s decision, saying that a direct
The court ruled that when employers assume a woman will perform her job less well
This case has important implications for employers regarding employee development.
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Education.
Chapter 09 - Employee Development
Question
You’re a supervisor and one of your direct reports—a mother with one-year-old twins—is
interested in applying for a job opening that represents a promotion for her. What do you
do?
Possible answers
If asked, provide details of the job description for the open position.
Case: Chadwick v. Wellpoint, 561 F 3d 38; 2009 U.S. App. Lexis 6426.
2 Source: James E. Hall, Mark T. Kobata and Marty Denis, ”Sex Stereotyping Claim of
Working Mother,” Workforce Management, May 2009, http://www.workforce.com.
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