Domestic Violence Attack Case Study Bill Simmons

(1) Present Details

Bill Simmons, a former outspoken analyst for ESPN, was suspended last September for his critical comments of Rodger Goodell surrounding his handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident. Goodell claimed to have not seen the graphic footage of Rice knocking out his then Fiancé in a hotel elevator. Rice was handed a two game suspension for the domestic violence incident. Simmons, who was outraged by this decision, went on the air to call Goodell a liar, and said that his statement was “f—— b——-“. ESPN responded swiftly to Simmons’ remarks, handing him a three-week suspension. It is important to note that the prompt asks for an individual manager using his power to influence actions of any employee, but for this example if the entity ESPN is seen as an individual, the example will work. To analyze this, Simmons has two personality traits that are both on the extreme side, agreeableness and extraversion, which were contributing factors to his suspension. By suspending Simmons, ESPN sent a strong message to him to change his behavior, and speaking out against Goodell, and more broadly, the NFL, is not acceptable. There could possibly be several negative implications for ESPN following the suspension. First, fans of Bill Simmons could protest the network by no
longer watching. Additionally, the public could see the suspension as ESPN supporting the (minor) two-game suspension for such a horrific act. Lastly, and most important for me, ESPN is taking away the voice of their hosts. After all, it is entertaining to watch commentators offer a wide variety of opinions; no one wants to watch a bunch of robots voice the same opinion. I agree that Simmons’ rhetoric was inappropriate, however, punishing him for voicing his opinion, one that specifically denounces domestic violence, well as Simmons put it, is “f—— b——-“.

(2) Apply Concept

One trait for Bill Simmons that has helped his career up to this point, but hurt him in this specific situation is his agreeableness. The book states that higher levels of agreeableness are associated with lower levels of career success. Simmons scores very low on the agreeableness scale, however, contrary to the book, his career was affected negatively by this. Speaking his mind openly regardless of the consequences, Simmons appeals to people with his brute honesty. A trait that also leads to his negative performance (in the eyes of ESPN) was his level of extraversion, which he scores very high on the scale. The book describes extraverts as being more emotionally expressive, which describes Simmons perfectly. His high level of extraversion allows him to voice his opinion, on air, something that an introvert would not be able to do. Additionally, if he was not an extravert, his low level of agreeableness would still exist, but it would not show because of his inability to voice it.

This example depicts a power relationship being that A (ESPN) has to influence the behavior of B (Bill Simmons) so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. It is pretty straightforward, the coercive bases of power is used by ESPN to influence Bill Simmons. As the book describes, coercive power is based on the fear of negative results from failure to comply. ESPN displayed that if Bill Simmons wants to go against them by speaking out against their partner, the NFL, then he will be suspended and possibly lose his job. Upon Simmons return, assuming he is rational, he will comply with ESPN by not bad mouthing the NFL. This results in a positive outcome for ESPN because they maintain their relationship with the NFL by reprimanding Bill Simmons.

(3) Critique the Concept:

Power can be used for great benefit, to positively influence an organization and it’s employees. However, it can also be abused to negatively affect an organization. If a manager is exploiting his/her power for personal benefit, then it can be toxic to the organization. But, if a manager uses power for a transparent benefit to the company that will also serve the best interest of the employees and stakeholders, the organization will strengthen as a whole. Analyzing power can give us a better understanding of the benefits/drawbacks of utilizing it. For example, if we see that exploiting coercive power has a negative effect on employee morale, we can see if another method of power, such as the reward system, works better. In my opinion, incentivizing good behavior seems to work better than de-incentivizing bad behavior. However, employees must be held accountable; hence a coercive system for enforcing power exists. As the book explains, expert and referent power are more positively associated with employee performance a satisfaction. Also, expert power gives employees a sense of belonging and purpose.

In order to formulate a complete opinion of the use of power within organizations, the cons must be analyzed to see if they outweigh the benefits.
An obvious con is that managers may exploit formal power for personal gain, which in turn loses the respect of their employees. Additionally, those do not have formal power can exploit expert or referent power to get what they want for their own personal gain. All types of power are often used in cases of sexual harassment in the workplace, where managers try to get favors from an employee in return for career advancements or to even keep a job. This occurs more often when an employee has a greater dependence on another coworker or
manager.

After analyzing the use of power, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. Although negative consequences come from the use of power, the pros far outweigh the cons. Power is an essential tool for strengthening the workplace and incentivizing employees to reach their full potential.

I received information for my topic from my favorite news site, Vox.com in an article titled “ESPN opinion columnist suspended for having opinions about the NFL” written by Todd VanderWerff. I also used an article on MSNBC.com titled “ESPN suspends Bill Simmons over NFL rant” written by David Taintor.