Case Study of Lisa Benton: Analyzing Competence Deficits and Providing Recommendations

Contents
1. Executive Summary...................................................
2. Introduction.............................................................
3. Problem identification & Analysis..................................
4. Alternatives Analysis...................................................
5. Recommendations......................................................
6. Implementation.........................................................
7. Conclusion...............................................................
8. Reference.................................................................

1. Executive Summary (NEED TO BE DONE)
The main aim of the present report is to study a real life case scenario and apply
theoretical concepts within this real life situation to develop analytical thinking and
problem solving skills. For the purpose of the present report, the case study of “Lisa
Benton” is considered where Lisa is a recent graduate from Harvard Business School
and working as an assistant manager in a leading consumer product company. After
receiving an unsatisfactory performance review Lisa was worried for her future career
prospects and sought help to understand why have she found in such situation and
what can be done in future to avoid the same. Here the business report performed a
rigorous analysis of the case and identified some of the key competence deficits
which have led Lisa to similar situation. Further, by utilizing the theoretical concepts
these issues were analyzed respectively. The major competence deficits of Lisa found
are lower emotional intelligence, lack of managing power and office politics and poor
conflict management and assertiveness skill. For each of the four competence deficits
identified, alternative methods and their advantages and disadvantages are
summarized along with recommendations for the same. At the end of this report it is
finally recommended for Lisa to initiate communication with the manager, collaborate
and communicate with team members to maximize mutual benefits, fix the
relationship between Linton and between Scoville and also get feedbacks from others
by gaining a good understanding of herself and mindset to express idea. These
recommendations will help Lisa in moving forward effectively in her career and also
less likely to repeat same mistakes there or at other company.
2. Introduction （NEED TO BE DONE 150-200WORDS）
The present report is based on the case of “Lisa Benton” where Lisa Benton is a
recent Harvard Business School graduate. After working in a leading consumer
product company for four months as an assistant product manager, Lisa receives an
unsatisfactory performance review. Consequently Lisa is worried about her future
career and is looking for an effective solution to move out from this stressful
situation. The report primarily outlines the analysis for her competence deficits and
current circumstances which have mostly contributed towards her unsatisfactory
performance review. Further, the report will recommend on what can be done by her
to prevent herself from finding in similar situation. By focusing of Lisa’s management
competencies, three distinct competence deficit areas will be identified for
demonstrating effective recommendations. Lisa’s key competence deficits will be
identified from a rigorous analysis of the case and engaging into several meetings
with Lisa. The report will identify the key issues and then analyze these issues by
applying theoretical concepts. Some alternative course of action will be considered for
making a recommendation to Lisa and prevent herself from finding in a similar
situation. Additionally, short and term recommendations will be provided along with
an action plan to Lisa.

3. Problem identification & Analysis
3.1 Emotional intelligence and relationship
People with high emotional intelligence can regulate and control their emotions.
Compared with people who have lower emotional intelligence, they are less likely to
erupt and experience depression and anxiety (Carlopio & Andrewartha, 2012).
In the case, it is clear that Benton has lower emotional intelligence in some
scenarios. For example, while Benton was tidying up her office area, Richard, a
product manager who interviewed Benton, didn’t recognize her and Benton was
disappointed. And another one is about the Typing Incident, Benton felt angry and
annoyed when she was criticized by Linton for doing word processing. In addition, in
the Copying Episode, Benton was upset when Scoville asked her to do some copying
for him in a bad manner. What’s worse, Benton lost temper and complained to Linton
about this situation. And then she was even more upset because Linton was mad at her
for the first time. So it is obvious that Benton can't manage her emotions well and can
easily get out of control.
With regard to the Relationship, although Benton seems to get along well with
many of her colleagues in other departments, she has some problems with Linton and
Scoville, which seems the most important relationship she should focus on. In the
process of Benton and Linton getting along, Benton failed to let her ability be seen by
Linton because she rarely express her opinions at the meeting and she spoke in a way
with a sense of self-distrust. As for her relationship with Scoville, despite Scoville's
own insolence, Benton never tried to initiate a conversation with him to fix the
relationship, but always relied on Linton to mediate her relationship with Scoville.
3.2 Conflict Management
From the case of Benton, it can be learned that she has got deeply stuck in her
workplace. Also, the reasons, which have caused and intensified her awkward
situation, can be categorized into different forms of conflicts. The first conflict is

caused by her education background, as an MBA. Her boss and colleague, Deborah
Linton and Ron Scoville, both stand antagonistic to MBAs, which works to build the
primary obstacle and prejudice for them to develop effective communication.
Unfortunately, Benton reacts by submitting to their priority and avoiding showing her
talents, in fear of acting like an arrogant MBA. The second conflict lies in their
different stands for benefits and values. Benton intends to get professional marketing
training and self-development, but Linton is devoted to her own business and treats
Benton with indifference. Scoville acts overbearingly, but he actually feels depressed
and discontented with no promotion. Benton fails to identify the causes of the
conflict, only feeling disappointed and frustrated under this circumstance. The third
conflict comes from the confrontation of her “true self” and her intention to cater to
others. Benton totally gives up to show her talents and fails to assert and initiate
herself. Besides, there are more conflicts, such as the copying and typing incident,
which are mostly caused by different stands of different parties.
Conflicts are always there and inevitable. All people will encounter this problem,
as long as they work in teams and deal with others, since different people hold
different stands, values, and opinions (Kiling, 2008). However, team members can
usually build trust and set rules to settle conflicts (Kiling, 2008). Moreover, they can
even make benefits from conflicts through minimizing the contrary stands and
maximizing mutual benefits (Bordone and Moffitt, 2006). Benton feels depressed but
does not analyze and evaluate the problems objectively. She complained but did not
resort to the right person for advice. Furthermore, lastly, she lost her temper and
patience, which intensified the conflicts. Therefore, Benton lacks the competence of
conflict management, eventually got stuck by conflicts.
3.3 Power and Politics
Benton’s several interactions with Linton and Scoville have shown that she was
not good at managing power and the office politics. On one hand, Benton didn’t have
a clear understanding of her boss and colleagues’ power. Benton was influenced by

positional power of Linton and Scoville. During her first meeting with Linton and
Scoville, she was disappointed by their impression on MBA. Being told of the affair
rumors between Linton and Scoville, it has become more difficult for her to say no for
the unskilled task assigned by Scoville because of her recognition for Scoville’s align
power. The accelerating of her compliance to Scoville has led the ‘copying incident’
to happen. Neither Linton nor Scoville has assigned Benton the appropriate
responsibility. The ignorance and the lack of communication between Linton and
Benton broadened the barrier between Benton and Linton and increased Linton’s
power over Benton unconsciously.
On the other hand, Benton failed to recognize her own power. When asking by
Vernon about her experience in Houseworld, had she been honest and opened about
her apprehensions, he would have been able to help. But Benton has been shying
away from using this important resource she has in the organization to her advantage.
In the ‘Typing Incident’ between Vernon and Linton, those conflicting messages from
Linton and Vernon is an issue of office politics.
3.4 Assertiveness
Assertiveness is also a competence that Benton has to improve. The reason why
assertiveness is important is that Linton pointed out this in performance evaluation.
Assertive person always feel free to express their feelings, thoughts, and desires. They
can control anger and talk about their feelings in a reasoning manner
(“Assertiveness”, 2019). Benton is not doing well in Assertiveness. She has been
behaving the way people are telling her she should behave. Based on performance
evaluation given by Linton, Benton is a person who is lacking of assertiveness, she
won’t make her opinions known by others on her own initiate, and being too quiet in
meetings. That’s because Scoville tells her that she should act in “learning mode” and
then she decide to be quiet in meetings and act like a learner even though she has
some ideas. However, express her ideas is her personal rights. So, she should feel free
to express her opinions and make contribute to her teams. Also, Benton is not good at

control her anger. Scoville challenged Benton’s assumptions in an analysis. Benton
felt frustrated and ordered Scoville to get out of her office. If she can be more
assertive, she will control anger and talk about her feelings in a reasoning manner.
4. Alternatives Analysis
The following summarizes the alternative methods and their advantages and
disadvantages. In addition, we quantifies them in four aspects including time,
feasibility, suitability and flexibility to choose the best solutions. We set the score
from 1 to 3. For the factor of time, 3 points represents the shortest time, and for other
3 factors, 3 points represents the best performance in this area. Thus, the highest total
scores offer the best alternative solutions.