Hy's Dairies Case Study
| Case Study 3.1 | Hy Dairies, Ltd. | |
Rochelle Beauport, Assistant Brand Manager at Hy Dairies, is a member of a visible minority group. She enjoys her position with the company as she finds it both challenging and it has the ability to directly impact the company’s profitability. During her most recent annual performance review, Beauport was offered a new position as a Market Research Co-ordinator. This position is a lateral move. Syd Gilman, the Vice President of Marketing, is offering Beauport the position as a reward for her efforts in improving the sales of Hy Dairies’ Gourmet Ice Cream. While the market research co-ordinator position is not typically thought to be a route to top management, it is a position that Gilman held as part of his career development. He feels it helped him greatly when he moved into senior management. Gilman believes that Beauport will benefit from the experience and exposure of the position within Hy Dairies.
Although Gilman feels that this is an opportunity that Beauport should feel very excited about, Beauport has a very different perception of the situation. Beauport feels that the opportunity for future advancement will be stalled if she accepts this new position. She feels that the Market Research Co-ordinator position is typically a support position that does not have any direct impact on the company’s performance. Beauport feels that this is happening due to the fact that she is both female and a member of a visible minority. Although Beauport thanked Gilman, she was expecting a reward for her contribution to the line’s success and feels that she has been ‘sidelined’ from advancing into senior management. She now needs to decide if she should leave Hy Dairies as it appears they will not be offering her opportunities for advancement, or stay with the company and see if she can change what she perceives to be their practices regarding women and minorities.
Two issues contributed to the misperceptions
Rochelle Beauport, Assistant Brand Manager at Hy Dairies, is a member of a visible minority group. She enjoys her position with the company as she finds it both challenging and it has the ability to directly impact the company’s profitability. During her most recent annual performance review, Beauport was offered a new position as a Market Research Co-ordinator. This position is a lateral move. Syd Gilman, the Vice President of Marketing, is offering Beauport the position as a reward for her efforts in improving the sales of Hy Dairies’ Gourmet Ice Cream. While the market research co-ordinator position is not typically thought to be a route to top management, it is a position that Gilman held as part of his career development. He feels it helped him greatly when he moved into senior management. Gilman believes that Beauport will benefit from the experience and exposure of the position within Hy Dairies.
Although Gilman feels that this is an opportunity that Beauport should feel very excited about, Beauport has a very different perception of the situation. Beauport feels that the opportunity for future advancement will be stalled if she accepts this new position. She feels that the Market Research Co-ordinator position is typically a support position that does not have any direct impact on the company’s performance. Beauport feels that this is happening due to the fact that she is both female and a member of a visible minority. Although Beauport thanked Gilman, she was expecting a reward for her contribution to the line’s success and feels that she has been ‘sidelined’ from advancing into senior management. She now needs to decide if she should leave Hy Dairies as it appears they will not be offering her opportunities for advancement, or stay with the company and see if she can change what she perceives to be their practices regarding women and minorities.
Two issues contributed to the misperceptions