BUS6203 Project Management Case Study 3 Sample

BUS6203 Project Management Case Study 3

Assignment Brief

Case Study Analysis

The written assessment is based on given case study and students to analyse the case study and answer questions given using the theory and application.

Student to analyse the case study and submit answers with an analysis. Lecturer will provide further guidelines related to the assignment in class discussions/webinars. This case study describes a medium-size firm named Codeword that designs and manufactures electronic systems for the mass transit industry. Most projects range from $10 million to $50 million in cost and from one to three years in duration. A new employee to the company, with eight years of experience, is having trouble with the way her project manager is treating her.

You can check case study at this source;

Source: Jack Gido, Jim Clements, Rose Baker, Successful Project Management, 7thEdition, Cengage 2018.

Your Task

As the director of Straight Arrow Systems Corpyou you are asked to evaluate Bob Slug (the team leader for the hardware development work package) behaviors and peproduce a response to show the benefits and the importance of valuing diversity. You must address the below Questions:

Case Questions

1. Bob is demonstrating what behaviors with respect to valuing team diversity? What are some alternative choices for what Brad can do next? What should he do?

2. What should any of the team members do?

3. What could be done to improve the climate for diversity in this case?

4. What do you think Bob’s direct supervisor would do if she were aware of Bob’s actions?

Solution

Introduction

In this modern-day business environment, valuing team diversity is important. Organisational leaders must focus on practicing workplace diversity because it helps in enhancing career opportunities for both women and other members who belong to the minor communities (Ng & Sears, 2020). This report aims at analysing a case study that focuses on valuing or embracing diversity. The findings of the case study suggests that Bob Slug who is the team leader of an organisation introduce his team with a new team member. However, the process of introduction is unprofessional. Bob has stereotyped each of his team members. Such unbiased behaviour can have serious impact on the workplace productivity for MBA assignment expert.

Question 1

The behaviour of Bob is not acceptable in a modern-day business environment. The objective of the following part of the report, is to highlight behaviour of Bob based on his comments.

Offensive verbal communication

Poor and offensive verbal communication at workplace can lead to organisational failure (Yusof & Rahmat, 2020). For example, he is commenting on Brenda’s weight and is identifying her as a blimp. Moreover, Brenda is not included by Bob during client meeting because of her weight. Such derogatory comments and discriminatory attitudes conclude that Bob is not valuing diversity within the workplace.

Stereotyping and biasness

Stereotyping within workplace may lead to biasness in evaluation and assessments Therefore, it is the responsibility of the organisational leaders to avoid stereotyping (Strinić, et.al., 2021). While analysing Bob’s comments towards his team members, it can be understood that he stereotypes his team member based on their background and show biased behaviour. For example, Jad is an employee who has a tattoo. Bob thinks that a person who is having a tattoo does not respect their body. Therefore, they can also be disrespectful towards their authorities. Since personality of a person is not defined by a tattoo, therefore, Bob’s comment can be considered as stereotypical. Moreover, Tanya is another team member who is having two kids. Bob considers Tanya to be less productive and his productivity is assessed based on her kids. This remark of Bob is also biased and stereotypical.

Unfriendly work environment

The primary responsibility of a leader is to create a friendly and safe work environment for their team members. Hostility or unfriendliness in the work environment can destroy the organisation and can increase employee turnover (Nisar, et.al., 2021). The findings of the case study suggests that Bob’s attitude towards his team member is negative and this is making the work culture toxic and unfriendly. For example, Bob has problem with the lunch of Yoko who is an Asian lady. Moreover, Bob thinks Autumn is a cute employee. He should not share his feelings or perceptions to a newly joined employee. This shows unprofessionalism. Moreover, Bob is reluctant to evaluate the task of Autumn and is not supportive. Poor relationships with staffs and lack of support can create an unfriendly work environment (Mbakaya, et.al., 2020). This can further lead to major dissatisfaction among employees.

Unprofessional attitudes

Managers within the workplace must show professionalism. Behaviour that supports organisational and interpersonal trust is known as professionalism (Dabekaussen, et.al., 2023). However, the behaviour and attitude of Bob is extremely unprofessional. He has body shamed one of his colleagues named Brenda. Moreover, an employee named Jay wears turban. This is a part of their culture. Bob still makes comment on the attire and culture of Jay which is unprofessionalism and has no link with the organisation’s productivity.

Therefore, from the above discussion it can be suggested that Bob does not value team diversity. In such situations, Brad to whom Bob has introduced his team members can take relevant actions. These actions might change the attitude of Bob.

Alterative actions

Brad must focus on assessing team members before taking any major actions. For example, according to Bob, Jad is an employee who is disrespectful towards authorities. Brad should make sure to communicate with Jad and develop a bond with him. This can help Brad understand his personality. If comments of Bob mismatches with Jad’s actual personality, then Brad can take relevant actions against Bob.

In addition to this, Brad should focus on sharing Bob’s perception towards his employees and attitudes to a trusted person before directly visiting the top-level management team. An effective communication with a trusted employee in the workplace can help Brad to understand Bob’s actual personality. This can further help him to take relevant actions.

Recommendations

The objective of the following part of the report is to recommend appropriate actions to Brad. This can help Brad to avoid workplace politics and take appropriate actions against Bob.

• The primary responsibility of the Brad is to report actions of Bob to senior HR managers of the firm. Human resource management is related to social exchange theory. This means investment of HR managers towards the employees of the firm is necessary because it leads to positive employee return (Mousa, 2021). Therefore, HR managers within the firm can take necessary actions against Bob.

• Brad should focus on recording comments and behaviour of Bob as witnesses. Once, Brad makes the complaint, he can receive backlashes and threats from Brad. However, valid witnesses like audio-visuals and statements of victims can help Brad to prove his claim and can help me to avoid negative actions from Bob.
Thus, from the above discussion it can be understood that identifying reasons behind unfriendly work environment is important. Moreover, it is the responsibility of each employee within the workplace to ensure diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

Question 2

Bob Slug has been displaying discriminatory and stereotyped attitude and behaviour towards his subordinates, which is clearly evident from his communication with the new team member Brad (Gido, et al., 2018). The team members can take various individual actions, formal actions and legal actions against this behaviour.

Individual Actions

Individual actions involve focusing on individual strengths, thinking clearly, seeking support systems and looking for professional help. Here, the team members can focus on their core values, perceived strengths and beliefs for reducing negative effects of stereotype and bias while overcoming hurdles by being more resilient (APA, 2024). They can also seek support from their peers, friends or family members by sharing their experiences and feelings with them. Embracing the strong emotions of embarrassment, discontentment, anger and sadness is essential for reducing psychological responses and thinking clearly with a calm mind (APA, 2024). These team members can also seek professional help if they start suffering from symptoms of depression. Thus, psychologists can help them to deal with those negative emotions by coping with stress and depression through healthy ways (APA, 2024). Thus, these individual actions can be undertaken before considering any formal actions against Bob Slug.

Formal Actions

Team members can consider some formal actions like reporting to human resources (HR) department, whistleblowing and collective actions. The first and foremost action can be reporting about various discriminatory incidents and negative behaviours or attitudes of the manager to the HR (AHRC, 2024). In this regard, team members can document incidents for reference and further keep records of consultation with the HR managers. Furthermore, whistleblowing policy can be utilised for disclosing various wrongdoings towards the team members through bias, discrimination, stereotyping and prejudices (Kenny, 2019). These malpractices and unethical behaviour can be disclosed to whistleblower policies alongside providing protection to the team members. Besides, various team members are facing such discriminatory and unethical behaviour and treatment from Bob Slug in the team. This provides them with the opportunity of undertaking a collective action for reporting this behaviour and similar incidents through a group complaint to the HR (Dessler, 2020). Thus, the HR department will not be able to dismiss individual grievances and will have to emphasise on this matter with utmost priority.

Legal Actions

When both individual and formal actions fail to act against discrimination or bias in the organisation, employees can resort to legal entities or external agencies for gaining justice. Team members can file a discrimination charger against Bob Slug depending on the discrimination that they suffer and the size of their employer. This charge can be filed with either the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) (USCIS, 2024). While the charges with IER must be filed within 180 days of the incidents’ occurrence, deadline of complaint with EEOC varies with location of discrimination, which is also 180 days. This discrimination can be based on national origin, citizenship, immigration status under IER and based on sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, colour, age, genetic information, religion, disability and others under EEOC (USCIS, 2024).

Question 3

Improving the team climate for diversity is essential for addressing various discriminatory and toxic behaviours of Bob Slug alongside enhancing productivity and performance of the members. In this regard, various strategies can be undertaken for improving such climate. Leadership plays a significant role in enhancing team climate for managing workplace diversity. Effective leadership strategy can set the tone for the entire organisation by identifying and acknowledging various cultural differences, which can be useful for developing sound workforce management and generating positive outcomes (Arumugam, et al., 2021). Here, leadership accountability is essential for recruitment and representation of societal variation in the organisational workforce, diversity trainings for establishing diversity perspective, fair workplace and fostering inclusivity (Jabeen, 2022). This indicates that leadership can help in managing diversity through recruitment, training and fostering climate. Inclusive leadership is also essential for fostering belongingness and supporting uniqueness within diverse teams (Ashikali, et al., 2021). This strategy helps in considering team members’ differences by acknowledging their contributions instead of only driving them towards collective needs or goals. Thus, inclusive leadership motivates team members to express their diverse ideas, perspectives and opinions.

Furthermore, diversity-oriented HR practices can be utilised for conducting diversity training for both managers and employees (Luu, et al., 2019). This diversity training can help team members of Straight Arrow Systems Corp in leveraging awareness about fair treatment practices and understand how the employer supports them from diverse backgrounds. On the other hand, managers or leaders like Bob Slug can better understand the value of diversity and inclusion at the workplace (Luu, et al., 2019). This can encourage him to materialise diversity practices in the team and distributing resources fairly to the team members despite their differences.

Besides, promoting effective communication amongst team members is also essential for improving diversity climate (Wolfgruber, et al., 2021). Communication can act as a significant antecedent of inclusion. It helps in including employees in the decision-making processes, providing them access to relevant information and letting them get involved in various activities (Wolfgruber, et al., 2021). Here, both interpersonal and mediated communication are important for fostering an inclusive workplace environment. This indicates that involving all employees in inclusion by setting clear standards of behaviour, treating everyone with respect and dignity and empowering them to challenge discriminatory behaviour can be helpful.

The firm should ensure that senior managers display strong commitment towards enhancing diversity and inclusion (CIPD, 2022). Here, people professionals must work with senior leaders and managers like Bob Slug for embedding inclusion into the ways of doing tasks and activities, developing their self-awareness and understanding their own biases and encouraging them to display role-model inclusive behaviour. It is also essential to evaluate existing policies and practices of diversity and inclusion at the case study company (CIPD, 2022). All formal and informal mechanisms must be taken into account for improving inclusion for the team members. Here, specific policies and practices must also be developed for supporting minority people and their individual needs (CIPD, 2022). This also involves strengthening of anti-discrimination policies current undertaken at the workplace and having zero-tolerance for such behaviours.

Question 4

Bob Slug has been undertaken various unethical actions by showing his discriminatory and racial behaviour towards his team members at the workplace which could have significant impact on the employee morale and their productivity and performance. These actions could bring serious repercussions to Bob if his direct supervisor became aware of them.

Disciplinary Actions

Potential disciplinary actions could be undertaken against Bob for correcting his behaviour. These include verbal warning, written reprimand, suspension or termination (Mathis, et al., 2017). In the initial stage, he would have received verbal warning from the direct supervisor because of complaints from team members. Here, the supervisor would monitor Bob’s actions and behaviours to determine whether they were unacceptable and unethical based on company’s values and ethics.
Furthermore, when verbal warning fails to work, written reprimand is undertaken. Here, Bob would have received a documented warning from his immediate supervisor for not changing his discriminatory behaviours and unethical actions towards his team members (Mathis, et al., 2017). This is more serious than verbal reprimand as it becomes permanent in the personal records.

Besides, the third action would be suspending Bob from the job for weeks or months depending on the seriousness of his actions. This would be undertaken when no change in his behaviours could be observed by the supervisor (Mathis, et al., 2017). Moreover, even if this action failed to bring positive changes in Bob’s attitudes and behaviours, he would ultimately be terminated from the job on the account of his actions. However, this would be considered only when all the other three disciplinary actions fail.

Clear Communication

This is another strategy that the direct supervisor could have undertaken for correcting behaviours of Bob. Effective communication about company’s values and ethic by engaging in a personal discussion with him could be essential. In this regard, reminding Bob about various anti-discriminatory and harassment policies alongside consequences of engaging in such actions would be suitable (Trevino & Nelson, 2021). It would also be fruitful in enhancing Bob’s understanding about diversity and inclusion vision of the company for respecting all organisational members irrespective of their backgrounds.

DEI Training

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training has become essential for both managers and employees working in a diverse environment. Bob is one such team leader working with team members from diverse backgrounds. His stereotyped, prejudiced and discriminatory behaviour towards his team members has been causing employee discontentment and unhappiness (Kraus, et al., 2022). His direct supervisor can engage Bob in mandatory DEI training for enhancing his cultural sensitivity. This training is further essential for removing such preconceived beliefs, discriminatory attitudes and unconscious bias from his personality. Instead, it would be beneficial in enabling him to value diversity of his team members and treat them with respect and dignity (Kraus, et al., 2022). This would ultimately improve his interpersonal relationships with the subordinates and create team cohesion for increased productivity and performance.

Conclusion

This report focused on analysing a case study company named Straight Arrow Systems Corp. The findings of the case study suggests that discriminatory behaviour of superiors and managers can increase employee turnover. Therefore, it is the collective responsibility of each employee to value diversity, practice ethical behaviour and ensure professionalism within the workplace. Employees must report unethical actions or behaviours to senior managers. Such actions of employees can help in improving the climate of diversity and it can also decrease the turnover rate of employee. This can also help in creating a friendly and safe work environment.

References

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