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Peer Graded Assignment - Week 4

The document describes a situation where an employee's company was struggling and at risk of losing their only major customer. The employee realized they needed to be honest with the customer about the issues. He openly communicated the problems and asked for more time to fix things. Through working tirelessly, the employee and his team were able to resolve all the issues and increase production. As a result, the customer was satisfied and expanded their order, saving the employees' jobs. The employee analyzes the situation using trait and behavioral theories to understand personalities and task management. He recommends maintaining a positive attitude, treating others well, and having clear expectations.

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shubham chatterjee
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1K views2 pages

Peer Graded Assignment - Week 4

The document describes a situation where an employee's company was struggling and at risk of losing their only major customer. The employee realized they needed to be honest with the customer about the issues. He openly communicated the problems and asked for more time to fix things. Through working tirelessly, the employee and his team were able to resolve all the issues and increase production. As a result, the customer was satisfied and expanded their order, saving the employees' jobs. The employee analyzes the situation using trait and behavioral theories to understand personalities and task management. He recommends maintaining a positive attitude, treating others well, and having clear expectations.

Uploaded by

shubham chatterjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Organizational Behavior: How to Manage People 

1. Please  describe  (max.  500  words)  a  situation  that:  (a)  actually  happened;  (b)  you 
personally  witnessed;  (c)  raises  an  issue  related  to  Managing  People;  (d) 
shocked/impressed/amazed you. 

I  was  working  for  a  new  company  that  was  having a rocky time with their only major 


customer.  Actually,  there  was  one  point  where  my  GM  told  me  he  liked  me  and 
suggested  I  should  start  looking  for  a  new  job  as  we  were  about  to  lose  our  only 
contract. 

One  night,  I  went  home  thinking  about  the  problems  and I honestly didn't know what 


to  do.  My  girlfriend  told  me  to  forget  about  work  and  go  see  a  movie.  We  went  and 
saw  "Jerry  Maguire".  It  was  during  the  mission  statement  part  of  the  movie  that  I 
realized  what  we  needed  to  do  to  fix  the  situation.  We  needed  to  be honest with the 
customer.  Upper  management  might  not  like  airing  the  dirty  laundry,  but  honestly  it 
didn't  matter  because  we  were  about  to  lose  the  contract  anyway,  either  way  there 
was a good chance I might lose my job. 

The  next  day  I  called  my customer to have a talk. I explained the issues as they were 


with  no sugar coating. I promised to do my best to resolve the issues if he would just 
give  us  some  time.  As  a  result  we  were  given  one  month  to  turn  the  operation 
around.  This  was  our  one  and  only  chance  to  correct  the  situation.  As  a  result,  I 
worked  day  and  night  with  my  team.  I  can  remember  working  from  6AM  and  not 
going  home  till  1:45AM  the  next  day  three  or  more  days  a  week.  It  was  do  or  die 
time. 

To  make  a  long  story  short  we  succeeded  in  resolving  all  of  the  issues  and  at  the 
same  time  increased  our  production  capacity.  The  customer  was  very  happy, 
management  was  happy  and  I  knew at that moment we had saved our jobs. Actually 
things  went  so  well  that  our  customer  ended  up  doubling  our  volume  and  over  the 
next  year.  We  later  expanded  the  facility and eventually helped launch another larger 
facility across town. 

When  the  year  end  review  came around, my department was awarded a Little Engine 


that  could  award.  It  was  a  made  up  award  based  on  the  lessons  of  the  book.  This 
book  is  more  than  a  kids  story;  it  is  a  life  philosophy  for  success.  This  book  as  an 
attitude  booster  that  will  change  your  life,  not  only  does  the story a fun read, but the 
moral  of  the  story  is  awesome,  "You  can  achieve  what  you  believe  as  long  as  you 
work at it and stay positive." 
2. Choose  two  theoretical  perspectives  from  those  we  discussed in the course, which 
you  consider  could  help  you  better  understand  this  situation.  Describe  the  two 
theoretical  perspectives  and  say  something  about  why  you  chose  these  two 
theories. (max. 500 words) 

The two theories I chose are Trait theories and Behavioural theories. 

The  reason  I  chose  these  two  are  because  Trait  theories  tell  you  the characteristics 
of  a  person  and  what  more  do  you  need  other  than  characteristics  to  assess 
someone.  And  the  Behavioral  theories,  It's  really  focused  on  managing  the  work, 
structuring  the  tasks  that  need  to  be  done,  providing  an  overview of who does what, 
caring  for  outputs  and  caring  for results. Behaviors that are relationship oriented. So 
these  are  the  types  of behaviors by which my manager showed consideration for me 
taking into account my specific circumstances, my needs, my specific interests that I 
have. 

3. Describe  how  the  two  perspectives  relate  to  the  situation  and  the  insights  that 
these allow him to apply to the situation. 

The  task  assigned  to  the  employees  in  our  company was task oriented but when we 


started  to  focus  on  behaviours  of  customers,  employees,  higher  officials  and  other 
stakeholders,  the  result  was  much  different  and  this time, it was better and changed 
the fate of our company. 

4. Based  on  your  analysis,  provide  three  actionable  recommendations  for  how  the 
people in the situation could act. 
● It's  a  necessity  for  everyone  to  go  through the different stages without losing 
hope in order to become a successful one. 
● Should be nice and polite to each other in all situations. 
● Should know what to expect from one another. 

  

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