Thomas Green
Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis
Individual Case Analysis
Kay Saeteurn
BUSA 305-01
Dr. Catherine Pratt
November 17, 2008
Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis
Individual Case Analysis Power is the capability that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes,[1] especially dependency power where a certain individual has something of importance, scarcity, and non substitutable, that another person seeks for. Thomas Green and Frank Davis both display individual power over one another causing a conflicting relationship without completing their task, which lead to a political war involving outside group members. In March of 2007, Thomas Green was recruited by Dynamic Displays for an account executive position. In just four months, Green completed a contract for Journey Airlines. Four months after the completion of his contract, he attended a week long training session at Dynamic Displays’ headquarters for promotion opportunities. After meeting with Shannon McDonald, Travel Division Vice President, she promoted Thomas Green to Senior Marketing Specialist. Within one week, Green met Marketing Director, Frank Davis. On October 8th, Green attended Davis’ Budget Plan meeting. After a disagreement about Davis’ regional sales goals, Davis emailed McDonald regarding Green’s personality issue. Green and Davis’ rocky relationship continues to escalate after Davis gives Green a poor informal evaluation. There was nothing left for Green to do except to express his negative feelings about Davis to people outside the group while avoiding Davis. The main problem becomes obvious that Frank Davis and Thomas Green both believe that they posses the power to perform their job better in accordance from one another. Frank Davis becomes dependent upon Thomas Green because in order for Davis to perform his task, he needs information from Green, who is responsible for identifying industry
Individual Case Analysis
Kay Saeteurn
BUSA 305-01
Dr. Catherine Pratt
November 17, 2008
Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis
Individual Case Analysis Power is the capability that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes,[1] especially dependency power where a certain individual has something of importance, scarcity, and non substitutable, that another person seeks for. Thomas Green and Frank Davis both display individual power over one another causing a conflicting relationship without completing their task, which lead to a political war involving outside group members. In March of 2007, Thomas Green was recruited by Dynamic Displays for an account executive position. In just four months, Green completed a contract for Journey Airlines. Four months after the completion of his contract, he attended a week long training session at Dynamic Displays’ headquarters for promotion opportunities. After meeting with Shannon McDonald, Travel Division Vice President, she promoted Thomas Green to Senior Marketing Specialist. Within one week, Green met Marketing Director, Frank Davis. On October 8th, Green attended Davis’ Budget Plan meeting. After a disagreement about Davis’ regional sales goals, Davis emailed McDonald regarding Green’s personality issue. Green and Davis’ rocky relationship continues to escalate after Davis gives Green a poor informal evaluation. There was nothing left for Green to do except to express his negative feelings about Davis to people outside the group while avoiding Davis. The main problem becomes obvious that Frank Davis and Thomas Green both believe that they posses the power to perform their job better in accordance from one another. Frank Davis becomes dependent upon Thomas Green because in order for Davis to perform his task, he needs information from Green, who is responsible for identifying industry
References: Beckham, H., & Sasser, E.W. Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Judge, T., & Robbins, S. (2009). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education. ----------------------- [1] Definition provided in chapter 14, page 451 of Robins and Judge’s Organizational Behavior text book. [2] According to a market specialist who had accompanied Green on his meetings said, “Thomas is great when it comes to selling the clients on his idea. He is very charismatic and can think quickly on his feet.” (p.5, “Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis.”) [3] Robbins and Judge ( p. 456 to 457) [4]Robbins and Judge (p. 458)