Leadership 5th Edition by Larry Siegel, Robert Lussier, Robert Lussier, Christopher Achua, Christopher Achua

Exercise 37

Latoya Washington, an African-American woman, was highly sought after receiving her PhD in marketing. Today, she is a tenured professor of marketing at a small teaching college in the Midwest. 85 The Department of Marketing (DM) has nine faculty members; it is one of five departments in the School of Business (SB). The marketing department chair is John Carl, who is in his first year as chair. Six faculty members, including Latoya, have been in the department longer than Carl. Carl likes to have policies in place, so that faculty members have guides for their behavior. On the college-wide level, however, there is no policy about the job of graduate assistant. Carl has asked the dean of the SB about the policy. After a discussion with the vice president for academic affairs, the dean told Carl that there is no policy. The vice president and dean suggested letting the individual departments develop their own policy regarding what graduate assistants can and cannot do in their position. So, Carl has made developing a policy for graduate assistants an agenda item for the department meeting.
During the DM meeting, Carl asks for members' views on what graduate assistants should and should not be allowed to do. He was hoping that the department can come to a consensus on a policy. It turns out that Washington is the only faculty member using graduate assistants to grade exams. Two other faculty members speak out against having graduate assistants grade exams. They believe it is the professor's job to grade exams. Washington makes a few statements in hopes of not having to correct her own exams. Because her exams are objective, requiring a correct answer, Washington believes it's not necessary for her to personally grade the exams. She also points out that across the campus, and across the country, other faculty members are using graduate assistants to teach entire courses and to correct subjective papers and exams. Washington states that she does not think it fair that she can no longer use graduate assistants to grade objective exams when others are doing so. She also states that the department does not need to have a policy, and requests that the department not set a policy. However, Carl states that he wants a policy. Washington is the only one to speak in favor of allowing grad assistance to grade exams, although three others made no comments either way. But, after the meeting, one other member, Eddie Accorsi, who said nothing during the meeting, tells Washington he agrees that it is not fair to deny her this use of a graduate assistant.
There was no department consensus, as Carl hoped there would be. Carl says that he will draft a department policy, which will be discussed at a future DM meeting. The next day, Washington sends a memo to department members asking if it is ethical and legal to deny her the same resources as others are using across the campus. She also states that if the department sets a policy stating that she can no longer use graduate assistants to correct objective exams, she will appeal the policy decision to the dean, vice president, and president.
Support your answers to the following questions with specific information from the case and text, or with other information you get from the Web or other sources.
1. (a) What source of power does Carl have, and (b) what type of power is he using? (c) Which influencing tactic is Carl using during the meeting? (d) Is negotiation and/or the (e) exchange tactic appropriate in this situation?
2. (a) What source of power does Washington have, and (b) what type of power is she using during the meeting? (c) Which two influencing tactics is Washington primarily using during the meeting? (d) Which influencing tactic is Washington using with the memo? (e) Is the memo a wise political move for Washington? What might she gain and lose by sending it?
3. What would you do if you were Carl? (a) Would you talk to the dean, letting him know that Washington said she would appeal the policy decision? (b) Which influencing tactic would this discussion involve? (c) Which political behavior would the discussion represent? (d) Would you draft a policy directly stating that graduate assistants cannot be used to grade objective exams? (e) Would your answer to (d) be influenced by your answer to (a)?
4. (a) If you were Washington, knowing you had no verbal supporters during the meeting, would you have continued to defend your position or agreed to stop using a graduate assistant? (b) What do you think of Washington sending the memo? (c) As a tenured full professor, Washington is secure in her job. Would your answer change if you (as Washington) had not received tenure or promotion to the top rank?
5. (a) If you were Washington, and Carl drafted a policy and department members agreed with it, what would you do? Would you appeal the decision to the dean? (b) Again, would your answer change if you had not received tenure or promotion to the top rank?
6. If you were the dean of the School of Business (SB), knowing that the vice president does not want to set a college-wide policy, and Washington appealed to you, what would you do? Would you develop a school-wide policy for SB?
7. At what level (college-wide, by schools, or by departments within each school) should a graduate assistant policy be set?
8. (a) Should Eddie Accorsi have spoken up in defense of Washington during the meeting? (b) If you were Accorsi, would you have taken Washington's side against the other seven members? (c) Would your answer change if you were or were not friends with Washington, and if you were or were not a tenured full professor?
C U M U L A T I V E C A S E Q U E S T I O N S
9. Which level(s) of analysis of leadership theory is (are) presented in this case (Chapter 1)?
10. Is it ethical for graduate students to correct undergraduate exams (Chapter 2)?
11. Which of the four Ohio State University leadership styles did Carl use during the department meeting (Chapter 3)? C A S E E X E R C I S E A N D R OL E - P L A Y
Preparation: Read the case and think about whether you agree or disagree with using graduate assistants to correct objective exams. If you do this exercise, we recommend that you complete it before discussing the questions and answers to the case.
In-Class DM Meeting: A person who strongly agrees with Washington's position volunteers to play this role (can be male) during a department of marketing (DM) meeting. A second person who also agrees with the use of graduate assistants correcting exams plays the role of Eddie (or Freddie). However, recall that Eddie/Freddie cannot say anything during the meeting to support Washington. One person who strongly disagrees with Washington-who doesn't want graduate assistants to correct exams, and who also feels strongly that there should be a policy stating what graduate assistants can and cannot do-volunteers to play the role of the department chair (Carl) who runs the DM meeting. Six others who are neutral or disagree with graduate assistants grading exams play the roles of other department members.
The ten role-players sit in a circle in the center of the room, with the other class members sitting around the outside of the circle. Observers just quietly watch and listen to the meeting discussion.
Role-Play: (about 15 minutes) Carl opens the meeting by simply stating that the agenda item is to set a graduate assistants policy stating what they can and cannot do, and that he or she hopes the department can come to a consensus on a policy. Carl states his or her position on why graduate students should not be allowed to correct exams, and then asks for other views. Washington and the others, except Eddie/Freddie, jump in anytime with their opinions.
Discussion: After the role-play is over, or when time runs out, the person playing the role of Washington expresses to the class how it felt to have everyone against him or her. Other department members state how they felt about the discussion, followed by observers' statements as time permits. A discussion of the case questions and answers may follow.