Running head: TEAM CASE ASSIGNMENT 1

The case study, Diana’s Disappointment: The Promotion Stumbling Block

Gurjeet S.Brar
Joel Girma
Jaskeerat Hothi
Yongwoo Nam
Robin Singh
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The case study, Diana’s Disappointment: The Promotion Stumbling Block

I. Understanding the Case
A. Introduce the case and state why it is important in the field of Organizational Behaviour
The case study, Diana’s Disappointment: The Promotion Stumbling Block, is important in
the field of Organizational Behaviour as it covers emotional intelligence, where one is able to
recognize and manage their emotions and those of others (IEDuNote, 2020). Despite being
qualified for the job and meeting its requirements, due to Diana’s lack of emotional intelligence
(EI), it may be the reason why she was turned down for the role. Diana is a hard worker,
however, needs to work on the necessary requirements of the position, such as improving her
social skills. This case is important to Organizational Behaviour, as we are able to dissect
Diana’s behaviour in the Cobb Street Grille setting. She is a hard-working individual who moved
from server to manager; however, she is an individual with low emotional intelligence who lacks
the necessary social skills and coping mechanisms when triggered with disappointment.
B. Briefly summarize the case, including only the most important details
In the case of Diana’s Disappointment: The Promotion Stumbling Block, Diana Gillen,
General Manager at Cobb Street Grille, had a challenging time managing her emotional
intelligence, which in return affected her chances when applying for the role as a District
Manager within the organization. As a District Manager, Diana would have the chance to oversee
multiple stores within a region, train store managers, and ensure all goals are met by adhering to
the company regulations (Betterteam, n.d.). Diana believed that she was the most qualified, due
to successfully running a single restaurant, with twelve-years of seniority and progressing up the
organizational ladder from a server. However, Diana, despite believing she is qualified for the
role, and holding tenure, was disappointed to hear she was being passed over for the role and it
was being given to someone with a quarter of her seniority. Despite establishing herself with the
Cobb Street Grille for a number of years, she felt anxious and fearful to know the outcome of the
promotion. When the results were shared with her, before an explanation was given as to why
she was not promoted, she left the office tearfully. Diana has high self-awareness in terms of
knowing she wants to be a District Manager with the company, she has the desire to move up in
the ladder and has been since being promoted from server. As her sales grew, she rarely received
any customer complaints; this is from her knowing her own strengths and values, and making
decisions based on running a restaurant by adhering to the policies and procedures. Nevertheless,
despite meeting all sales targets, Diana’s restaurant experienced a high turnover rate related to
miscommunication and personality differences between her and employees who referred Diana
as the Ice Maiden, behind her back.
C. What are the main issues? What stood out to you?
The main issues were that Diana was not selected for the district manager although she
believes that she is more than enough to be qualified. First opportunity was due to corporate
politics. The CEO brought someone externally and got selected and Diana was not according to
Diana’s thought. Julie pointed out that she needed to improve her people management. However,
as per the case, it seems Diana did not improve it at all. This could be the main reason why she
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was not selected for the second opportunity. The fact that she believed those unofficial reasons
why she was not promoted got my attention as I personally witnessed a similar situation at work.
D. What are the problems identified in this case?
By reading the case, there are several problems identified in this case such as High
self-awareness, poor people management, and lack of social-awareness. When it comes to
socialising at work, taking advice from anyone is very critical especially when it comes to
promotion. Diana received advice from her supervisor at first opportunity. She should have
listened carefully and tried to follow the advice. She did not because she believed in herself a
little too much and forced herself to believe that she missed the chance due to other reasons. Her
people management was already pointed out by her supervisor. One of the main responsibilities
of a manager is managing staff efficiently. Results are performed by staff, not her. This is where
the people management shines. She should have managed the staff properly and paid attention to
the termination rate as it could raise a question from senior management. This is why the
reputation at work is important. No matter how good she is at work, if the whole team is
struggling with her, she should have noticed and tried to improve it. District manager position is
a multi-unit management position which requires a very high level of people managing skill,
time managing skill, and self-managing skill. This shows why Diana is not qualified and was not
selected twice. Besides, leaving the meeting without conclusion is very unprofessional. It is
understandable how she might feel about the result, however, she should have stayed for further
explanation. Unless she changes her attitude towards the workplace, it is very unlikely she will
ever be promoted for a higher position.
II. Analysis
A. How can OB concepts and theories be used to understand the case and why events
transpired the way they did?
Using an organizational behaviour approach gives us an insight on how organizational
problems diagnose and are solved, it is the comprehensive study of case studies. Using these
references enables organizations to enhance problem solving skills. In this case study for
example, we can see how Diana is not promoted twice and other people who are less qualified
than her are promoted on the basis of a special favour. We can clearly see how in an organization,
there may be special preferences or favours that give an advantage to people with connections
over those who are deserving of the job positions.
B. Could the problem(s) have been avoided to begin with?
Organizational behaviour studies are the traditional methods of assessment of problem
and problem solving. In the modern world, the problems change and problem solving skills also
change. The method of problem solving is different for different cases. This problem could have
been avoided if the appointment of the job position was done by a group like a board of members
of the company rather than just the CEO. The company should have accessed all of their
deserving employees and offered the job position to the most deserving one. A proper check on
favouritism could have eliminated Diana’s disappointment.
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III. Alternatives and Criteria

A. Looking ahead, what are the options to solving the problem(s) from the perspective of
each key stakeholder in the case?
As discussed in the case earlier after introspection and feedback there are a few options to
solving the problem from the perspective of each stakeholder. As for Diana she has been
successful at operating her branch and generating profits and has been trying hard to become a
District manager so she can handle multiple stores. She needs to work on her people skills as
stated by Julie and this can be achieved in a few ways. If we look at the incident where she fired
three good employees because they failed to follow the handbook, instead of letting them go, she
should have given them a warning and should have used this opportunity to get feedback from
employees on how to innovate and improve the existing processes and present them to the head
office for approval or test them as hybrid to ensure results. This could have been her opportunity
to train and develop her employees which would have proven her flexibility and open
mindedness as a branch manager to both employees and the corporate office.
Corporate office and Diana’s boss are satisfied with her performance as a branch manager
and are willing to ignore the turnover rates given that the sales targets are met.They should have
provided her the necessary feedback to make improvements in order to be qualified for the role.
Diana’s boss should have sent her for training with the regional manager to provide insight into
the role and perhaps get guidance from them in order to be successful and improve her people
skills.
B. How do you decide between them (what matters most)?
The feedback from head office and the required training and insight is the most important
factor that can ensure Diana will be ready for the role in the future. They should focus on
decreasing the turnover rate at Diana’s branch and train her to be flexible and tolerant in case any
employee makes a mistake and use her emotional intelligence to take it as an opportunity to
improve and not as an opportunity to set an example and rule with the iron fist.
IV. Solutions, Next Steps, Conclusion
A. What is the best option for all parties
The best option for both parties is for the Company to reward her in some sort of way whether it
be by a promotion in a different position or to increase her salary,people like Dianna are hard to
replace so they have to show that they have empathy and value for her or they could lose a very
valuable employee. Dianna needs to find a way to be more assertive in her tone and if possible
diversify her options so that she can threaten them by leaving the company if she is not
appreicated she needs to work on her self awareness.
B. How will I/we/they proceed
Dianna should proceed in understanding the value she brings for this company and not be
overwhelmed by emotions because she knows the nature of the business. The company should
proceed in rewarding Dianna for her hard work and use words of encouragement to motivate her
to keep trying.
C. What needs to be done
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Dianna needs a more well rounded EI she is already high in motivation social skills but
Dianna needs to improve her Empathy because getting rid of employees that don't follow word
for word the book could be stifling the creativity that the company might be seeking, and she
needs to improve her self regulation because even though she had been in a high stress situation
losing control of her emotions is not a wise decision. The Company needs to be more authentic
with its employees about the specific criteria that it looks for when selecting employees for the
district manager position. They also must learn to reward their employees for hard work
D. Concluding perspective on the case
My concluding perspective on this case is a word of encouragement for Dianna to
continue working hard even though it's disappointing that she didn't get the promotion. She's
closer to where she wants to get then where she started and that life is a marathon not a sprint.
Sometimes the things that take time are the most worthwhile and that she should be grateful for
what she has now.
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References

Betterteam. (n.d.). District Manager Job Description. Retrieved from

https://www.betterteam.com/district-manager-job-description
IEDuNote. (2020, April 16). Organizational Behavior: Definition, Importance, Nature, Model.
Retrieved from https://www.iedunote.com/organizational-behavior