Organizational Power and Politics case summary #1
The Roller Coaster Ride: The Resignation of a Star
20th – January - 2015
Term vi
Course Instructor: Prof. S. K. Ghosh
Submitted by: Group – 13, Section – B
ANJALI CHOWDRY
2013PGP043
MUNMI LASKAR
2013PGP231
NEHA SRIVASTAVA
2013PGP247
PURBALI DAS
2013PGP297
SHNEHA
2013PGP379
SNEHA JAIN
2013PGP394
VINEETA JHA
2013PGP444
Case Summary
The Roller Coaster Ride: The Resignation of a Star
This case is about power dynamics of attracting, retaining and compensating a star performer in a services firm. These are shaped by interdependencies between people and exogenous factors like labor market and competition.
In the case Peter Thompson’s informal source of power which resides in his star status and his relational power grows big enough to question Stephen, in whom the formal source of power lies.
Stephen Connor who is the director of research at investment bank RSH is faced with a threat of resignation by one of the best performers in the department, Peter Thompson. Peter had been consistently ranked in top five by Institutional Investor (II) magazine which made him all the more popular and helped RSH attract better deals and commission. Peter’s rise was partially due to rising semi-conductor industry and mentoring from senior analysts. However, seeing that he was indispensable for the bank, he decided to use his power and threaten the company with his prospects of resigning.
Stephen acknowledged the fact that Peter’s presence was important for the bank, especially for the upcoming PowerChip deal and hence he decided to talk to Peter about his reasons for leaving the firm. Peter, on the other hand, kept giving unreasonable explanations of why he wanted to quit, probably in the expectation of a counteroffer from Stephen which will increase his compensation. At first he said that he wanted to leave because there are more salespeople to market his products in the new