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Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
Case 7.1: His Team Gets the Best
Assignments
Case Synopsis and Analysis
Carly Peters directs the creative department of an advertising agency. Four leaders, Jack,
Terri, Julie, and Sarah, report to Carly.
Jack and his team excel at their work, are given extra resources and better assignments.
Jack’s group is often selected to produce the best product for the agency. Terri’s team
performs well, but Terri feels that Jack is in a favored group and given additional resources
and better assignments. Julie also feels that her team is not in the inner circle and wishes that
Carly valued her team’s work more. Sarah recognizes that her team is not as valued as Jack’s
but seems satisfied with that because she does not want to work additional hours.
This case study portrays a leader who clearly favors one group over others. The favoritism
impacts motivation and may impede the overall productivity of the organization. Some
students may argue that it is logical to favor Jack’s group since they regularly excel over the
others. This could lead to an interesting discussion for the class.
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to determine what group is in the “in-group.”
• Students should begin to appreciate how in-groups influence the motivation and
effectiveness of other followers and teams.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. Based on the principles of LMX theory, what observations would you make about
Carly’s leadership at Mills, Smith, and Peters?
2. Is there an in-group and out-group, and, if so, which are they?
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
3. In what way is Carly’s relationship with the four groups productive or
counterproductive to the overall goals of the agency?
The favoritism may help Jack’s group continue to flourish. Overall though, the
relationships are counterproductive to the goals of the agency.
4. Do you think Carly should change her approach toward the associate directors? If so,
what should she do differently?
Yes. Carly needs to allocate resources more fairly and distribute interesting
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on skill theory and Case Study 7.1:
• Consider Exercise 1 below.
• Read Case 7.1.
• Hold a lecture on LMX theory.
• Discuss Questions 1–4 in the case study as a class.
• Finally, the professor may choose to conduct other exercises listed below.
Exercises for this case study:
1) In small groups, students can discuss situations where they were part of an
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
2) Carly is playing favorites but has reason to do that. Jack’s group produces the best
results for the team, time and time again. Why shouldn’t they get better resources and
assignments?
Students should debate this topic: Half of the students argue that Carly is doing the
3) What should Carly do to truly be fair to each of these teams? In small groups,
4) In a short essay (200–250 words), outline what Carly can do to be an inclusive leader.
