Case: Self Competency
A Manager's Dilemma: Who Gets the Project?71
"It seemed like a real ego booster when I got to take over my boss's job during his vacation," thought Dave Peterson. "Now I'm not so sure. Both Seamus and Jeremy really want to be in charge of this new project. I have to decide between them and I will still have to work with them as a peer after this is all over."
Background
CMT is a leading innovator in the telecommunications industry. Rapid growth and persistence in the face of early company setbacks have generated a culture based on problem solving and meeting customer expectations. The primary guidelines directing action are "If you see a problem that needs to be fixed, it becomes your problem" and "Do what you have to do to satisfy the customer." This environment has led to frequent conflicts and job stress but also provided opportunities for job enrichment and advancement. Additional company characteristics follow:
- 10 years old, telecommunications industry, rapid History: growth, $50M/annual revenue
- innovative, encourages individual initiative, Culture: respect for technical expertise, conflict accepted as part of company life. Dave is the manager of Customer Software Support. His department provides support to customer and field staff when software problems occur. Dave had worked as a systems analyst in Customer Software Support prior to his promotion to manager. He and his staff have considerable experience with CMT's products and many contacts with CMT's software developers.
Seamus is in charge of the Technical Publications Department, which provides technical and user manuals and other materials for customers and CMT field staff. These manuals detail the technical operations of CMT Corporation's equipment and software. Seamus and his staff work closely with designers and have a good reputation for translating engineering terminology into more user-friendly materials that can be understood by those without engineering training.
Jeremy Olson manages the Software Training Department. This department offers courses that explain CMT Corporation's software products and trains customer and company employees on the proper use of the products. The Software Training Department utilizes documentation generated by the Technical Publications Department for its training courses. Jeremy and his staff members are especially good at designing courses that communicate technical information in a way that customers can readily understand. Course design and presentation are particularly important due to the high degree of modularity of CMT software.
The New Project
A new hardware product is under development with associated software. Due to the low target price for the product and the need for inexpensive training, CMT's Sales Department had requested that a CD-ROM self-study course be developed for customers of the new product. At this time, CMT Corporation has not yet begun using CD-ROM technology for training.
Both Seamus and Jeremy have been lobbying heavily to be allowed to develop the new course. Seamus argued that he and his staff had superior technical expertise due to their close working relationship with engineers during the development of technical manuals for the new product. In addition, some of his staff had previously developed CD-ROM presentations. Jeremy noted that the primary purpose of the course was to train employees and customers in a situation where there were no company consultants or trainers available to answer questions. Thus, he argued, the presentation of the material and the pedagogy used were critical for the success of the CD-ROM. Both managers presented their respective cases to their supervisor, Henry Mathews, the Director of Software Support. During the next two months, the lobbying intensified and the level of conflict escalated to the point where both Jeremy and Seamus openly declared that the other department simply "lacked the needed skills to get the job done" and "if the project was not assigned to their respective department, it would surely fail." Both managers had approached Dave asking for his support.
The culture at CMT accepts conflict that was based on doing the best job for the customer. In spite of this, Dave feels that the conflict between Seamus and Jeremy has gotten out of hand. If it goes on much longer, Dave feels the conflict might spill over into other areas where all three departments need to cooperate.
The Decision
Henry took a two-week vacation and when he left on Friday, he put Dave temporarily in charge of the entire unit. The following Monday, both Seamus and Jeremy informed Dave that a decision on the new project had to be made right away. The purchase order for the filming equipment needed to be placed immediately in order for it to arrive in time. They, of course, disagreed on the type of equipment that should be used so a decision needed to be made as to the long-term assignment of the project. Furthermore, the project was now behind schedule given the needed development time based on the projected product release date.
Dave realized that how he handled this decision would reflect on his management competencies and possibly influence his opportunity for advancement. "I know if I assign this project to either Seamus or Jeremy someone is going to be very upset," David pondered, "and I don't know if I can get these two to talk to each other, let alone to agree on a compromise. The only thing I do know is that I have to make a decision on this before Henry returns."
Questions
1. What examples of bounded rationality are evident in this case?
2. What examples of the political decision-making process can you identify?
3. How would evidence-based management help to address this situation?
4. What decision should be made by Dave? Explain.