Case 4.3: We Are Family
Case synopsis and analysis
Betsy Moore is the new director of marketing and communications for a college. She works for
Marianne, the vice president for college advancement, and is tasked with developing an
aggressive new communication and marketing plan. Four people work under Betsy. Two of
these individuals have a strong, personal relationship with Marianne and turn to her for support,
advice and counsel on work-related matters. This makes it difficult for Betsy to develop and
implement the new plan. To make matters worse, Marianne has recently taken the other two
subordinates under her wing and is serving as their personal mentor.
Learning objectives:
• Students should be able to apply the principles of behavior theory to a leader.
• Students should be able to apply Blake and Mouton’s grid to a leader.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. Marianne and Betsy do indeed have different leadership styles. What style would you
ascribe to Betsy? To Marianne?
Based on the information, it seems as though Betsy is task oriented and Marianne is
relationship oriented. Betsy wants to achieve strong results but is willing to socialize
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource
2. Does Betsy need to change her leadership style to improve the situation with Bridget and
Suzanne? Does Marianne need to change her style of leadership?
Bridget and Suzanne seem to thrive on strong relationships. They do not respond well to
3. How can Marianne and Betsy work together?
Marianne and Betsy need to discuss the problem frankly and develop new
communication procedures with the subordinates. Marianne can use her own strengths to
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on skill theory and case study 4.3:
• Hold a lecture on the behavioral approach and the Blake and Mouton grid
Exercises for this case study:
1) Debate: It is better to be relationship focused vs. it is better to be task driven. Students
2) Role-Play: Students are broken into groups of three. One student is the leadership coach,