Managing a Public Image: Rob Thomas

Submitted By:
Group No: 3 Sec: B

Group Members:
2012066: Ankit Jhunjhunwala 2012071: Anshul Chaudhary 2012077: Ashish Dhar 2012083: Avisha Shukla 2012090: Anubha Bhatnagar 2012097: Chakradhar Shah 2012108: Dhilon Priyadarshi Dash

Submitted To:
Dr. Saleena Khan

OB-1

Group-3, Sec-B

INTRODUCTION The above case Managing a public image deals with people who have different perception towards the same situation and person. The case is about Rob Thomas, a managing director at a Chicago based consulting firm The Baird Group, and the difficulties he faces to bring about a change in his organization.

CASE ANALYSIS CASE INTRODUCTION Rob Thomas was the managing director of a small management consulting firm The Baird Group. He had been promoted to the position of managing director, since his promotion the performance of the firm had been very consistent. Even though the firm was performing well still Rob was not very happy with the lack of diversity in the firm. He knew that greater diversity in the workforce of the firm is what was needed in the organization. He did this analysis after examining his own values. The firm had a poor track record of hiring and promoting women and minorities. Though most of the members of the board would support his decision of diversification, but there were some senior partners who were afraid of any changes in the firm. After going through a couple of available diversified opportunities Rob was indecisive himself, so, first he made a decision on which path he wanted to follow, whether he wanted to fulfil his dream of having a diverse work environment or whether he wanted to please his seniors by following the traditional way of doing things. After making the decision of helping Kraus he left no stone unturned to help her. But even after many efforts Kraus was not promoted, so, he counselled her to withdraw her bid for partnership and accept the offer of employment at another firm. To avoid embarrassment Kraus followed Robs advice. Rob on the other hand felt that even though he had lost this cause he was able to take a stand on the situation. But in the end he was at war with his own conscience thinking that whether he was an effective leader or not.

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Group-3, Sec-B

ANALYSIS

Perception of partners: Senior partners were not in favor of bringing the change as they perceived that this action will lower the standards of staff in the firm. The senior partner had a stereotype perception that women and ethnic minorities are not efficient enough to work in their organization. Diversity: The Baird Group was lacking diversity in staff at both the associate and partner level as compared to other prominent consulting firms. The existing women and ethnic minority employees were not treated well and were provided with fewer opportunities for their professional growth. This resulted in lowering the job satisfaction of the employees and also hampered the companys growth by not able to attract more nontraditional employees. Leadership skill: Rob Thomas was not successful in influencing the concerned person so that his goal of bringing the racial and gender diversity could be achieved. He was passive and was never upfront to his company. This attitude of his is responsible for not being able to help Linda Kraus in her promotion. He did not handle the situation effectively. Had he formed an opinion beforehand about what kind of changes he wanted in the firm, he would have been successful in achieving his vision for the company. Lack of self confidence: Rob Thomas was aware that the senior partners would not accept the changes. So, he decided not to be highlighted by opposing them. He worked quietly behind scenes. The constant criticism lowered his morale too. Due to this lack of self confidence he was not able to change the perception of the senior partners about diversification in the firm. Had rob Thomas been able to bring in changes and act faster, he could prevent losses. The new changes in the firm would have benefitted the firm in attaining future growth rather than being stagnant.

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Group-3, Sec-B

Image Management: Rob wanted to have a good image in public for which he compromised on his values. Also, this resulted in delayed action on his part and few years later this in turn created a pressure on him which he could not handle. Rob was a leader and a visionary with a lot of new ideas but he was not able to implement them successfully. He was unable to take a stand and did not come out strong with his ideologies. He did not want to upset his seniors as it may pose a danger to his career and job. These were some of the reasons for not being sucesfull in implementing his ideas.

MANAGERIAL LEARNING

1. A manager should do a self analysis in context of the situation based on his values. He should understand as to which values he can relate to himself and accordingly come out with a firm and effective plan of action. 2. A perception of a person plays a critical role in decision making process in an organization. Though in reality, its difficult for the person entrusted with the decision making to be a rational decision maker, his perception of the situation will lead him to select the source of information from the information received from multiple sources. In addition, a manager needs to develop alternatives and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of each and individual decision makers perceptual process will have a large bearing on the final outcome. Finally, throughout decision making process, perceptual distortions often surface that can bias analysis and conclusions. 3. There are situations in real life where a manager is tested for his leadership qualities and the manager who has developed a Halo Effect regarding his leadership often fails to act effectively at these situations. 4. A manager should not be emotionally influenced at critical junctures. He should take an unbiased and rational decision, critically evaluating the pros and cons of the decision. In addition, after taking a decision, he should execute the same will full conviction. 5. We see that the values and beliefs affect a persons attitude. This attitude is what affects the decision-making at critical junctures. Having strong values would ultimately enable a manager to take a firm decision in these defining moments and mould his character. 6. Many a time in building a favorable Public Image, Managers compromises his vision and integrity. Also, sometimes this result in delayed action on his part.

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Group-3, Sec-B

References: Robbins, Judge and Vohra; Organizational Behaviour, 14 th edition; Person Perception; pg. 164.

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Group-3, Sec-B