Management Chapter 6 1 Instructor Resource Rowe Cases Leadership Sage Publications Inc Case Notes Case Carnegie

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Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

Case Notes

Case 6.1: Carnegie Industrial: The Leadership Development Centre

Professor Michael Sider wrote this teaching note as an aid to instructors in the classroom use of

the case Carnegie Industrial: The Leadership Development Centre, No. 9B08C002. This

teaching note should not be used in any way that would prejudice the future use of the case.

Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or

Teaching Note

Case Overview

Shannon Copley is the newly hired, thirty something director of leadership development at

Carnegie Industrial, a large, multinational business. The woman who hired Copley, Elizabeth

Silver, has asked her to develop and manage a program within leadership development that

equips new hires with the communication skills they need to succeed at Carnegie. Copley has

four eager young managers to help her with this job, as well as a part-time assistant director,

Eleanor Galvin. In fact, Galvin interviewed for Copley’s position and only unhappily accepted

Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

husband, in fact, hears Galvin telling others at a dinner party that she is the “co–director” of the

program.

Case Objectives

The Carnegie Industrial case teaches students to manage interpersonal conflict. Instead of

managing the conflict between the two women as it develops by openly discussing the

differences that separate them, Copley and Galvin allow tensions to build to the breaking point.

If they had established a process of open dialogue, they might have been able to work together to

Assignment Questions

Assignment questions should be designed to get students to explore who Copley and Galvin are

as people, what they want from their jobs, and how their differences might interfere with their

working relationship. For example:

1. What is the problem here? How did it develop? Who do you think is more responsible

for the problem?

2. Try to get inside Galvin’s and Copley’s heads: Putting yourselves in Galvin’s shoes,

why is she so angry at Copley? What charges would she level at Copley if she could?

How would Copley respond to these points?

Class Discussion

Opening

This case is easily taught within one to one-and-a-half hours. The instructor should begin by

asking questions that help students explore who the two women are, their needs as individuals,

and how these needs might create interpersonal conflict. The instructor will want the students to

give flesh to the two women; the more real the women are to the students, the more real the

conflict will be to them as they explore it.

Students often point out that both women are highly educated, and both seem eager to

develop a successful program. However, their leadership styles differ: Copley is egalitarian,

entrepreneurial and eager to take risks, while Galvin is hierarchical, conservative and risk-averse.

Students will likely draw early attention to these differences as they emerge in each woman’s

Attention should be drawn to the age difference separating the two women: Copley is a

Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

levelling and risk-embracing, is a typical generation Xer and whether Galvin, with her need for

titles and spaces, is typical of the baby boom manager. The point should be made that even if the

tension between the two women is partly generational, most workplaces have these generational

differences, and many do not find them an obstacle to relationships.

Middle

After having explored the differences between the two women, the instructor can ask what actual

problems resulted from the differences: “What were the warning signs that these differences

were going to create real trouble?” and “If you were Shannon Copley, when would you have

addressed these warning signs, and what would you have said?” Students will mention the

Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

warning signs presented a moment to Copley in which she could have had the difficult

conversation that would have allowed her to manage this conflict more successfully.

Having explored the differences between the two women, the troubles resulting from these

differences, and the very real need to address these troubles (albeit through a difficult

conversation) before they led to the damaging argument at the case’s end, the instructor should

introduce the “how to’s” of conflict management. In other words, the first part of the class

establishes the need for these two women to know how to handle their conflict—the need for

every leader to know how to handle conflict and face up to difficult conversations—while the

second part of the class examines how to manage conflict and the inevitable challenging

conversations that come along with it.

Different conflict management tools and various approaches to difficult conversations

could be used as templates at this point. This instructor has used the Harvard Negotiation

Project’s conflict management tools quite usefully with this case. It proves simple to administer

in a single class. The three tools are: (1) “Putting Yourself in the Other’s Shoes,” (2) “Pursuing

Shared Interests Rather than Positions,” and (3) Examining the Other’s Currently Perceived

Choice.

Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

End

An interesting question to wind up the case: “If the choice Copley presented to Galvin was so

untenable that it virtually forced the destructive argument to occur, why did Copley implicitly

offer this choice?” The question usefully returns the discussion to its beginning, where students

Instructor Resource

Rowe, Cases in Leadership 5e

SAGE Publications, Inc., 2019

hound Galvin thought her to be. If the second motive is correct, then Copley deliberately shaped

her offer to Galvin as an ultimatum, hoping that Galvin would, in fact, blow her top and resign.

At this point, it is important to reveal what actually happened in the case: Galvin did indeed

Possible Role Play

If time permits, or if the instructor desires to hold a second class based on this case, students can

be asked to prepare for the difficult conversation from both women’s points of view, using the

Suggested Readings

Ury, W. (1991). Getting past no: Negotiating in difficult situations. New York: Bantam.

Exhibit TN-1

Point-of-View Analysis

Points Galvin Sees as Central to the

Conflict

I am older and more experienced and have

had great success in my career. You should

leverage and acknowledge my experience.

You have intentionally subordinated me by

making sure you and not Silver control my

performance reviews.

You have created an approach to instruction

and leadership in the program that works

well for you but not for me, and maybe not

for other people in the organization.

You have insulated the managers by creating

a “circle of youth” from which I feel

excluded.

You’ve given me work to do that keeps me

How Copley Would Respond to These

Points

Age has nothing to do with it. You earn your

rights through merit in this program.

I’m just following the chain of command set

up by Silver: it’s nothing personal.

When I interviewed, I told them I would make

large-scale changes to instruction and

leadership, and I’m convinced these changes

point us in the right direction. It’s your

responsibility to get on board.

I’ve given you equal training time with the

managers. If they don’t respond well to you,

it’s not my fault.

Your work portfolios match your strengths and

balance my own weaknesses. It’s hard for me

Exhibit TN-2

Perceived Choice

Consequences if I/Galvin say YES

I continue to feel disempowered.

My accomplishments continue to be

undervalued.

I have to continue to work with a director who

doesn’t respect me fully or involve me fully in

the program’s affairs.

The conflict between my preferred

management and instructional style and

Copley’s continues—to my disadvantage.

I may have to finish out my career in a job that

offers little chance of advancement.

I must continue to cope with being older than

my boss.

But I still have my job.

Consequences if I/Galvin say NO

I may lose my job, but

I may force Copley to make changes to my

advantage, especially changes that incorporate

some of my own managerial and instructional

strengths.

I get a chance to air my grievances.

I may be able to involve Silver more fully to

my advantage, especially if I threaten to quit.

I can finally make all that I’ve done for this

program a real issue and ask for credit for my

accomplishments.

Forcing the issue at least makes me feel

empowered for once.

I get a chance at career advancement.