Jerrold And Knowlton Case Study Summary

Key Issues:

1. Communication between Jerrold and Knowlton was not open and honest.
2. Knowlton possessed a lack of sincerity in expressing his concerns and insecurities with Jerrold.
3. Jerrold’s inability to communicate his vision and goals with Knowlton contributed to the tension.
4. Jerrold did not have an accurate assessment of Knowlton’s work group due to Knowlton’s divergence from the truth.
5. Knowlton should have addressed Jerrold’s condescending interaction with the group during the first hint of discomfort amongst his subordinates.
6. Fester’s inability to assess his tone and overbearing attitude often undermined his co-workers ability, and his strong sense of individualism perpetuated a hostile work environment.

Diagnosis:
Additionally, there is a hint of cultural differences presented in the case study as Fester criticizes American “emphasis on team ideas” (p. 459).

As I allude to above in the key issues, Knowlton’s lack of leadership in addressing the interaction between Fester and other subordinates contributed to the breakdown of the team concept promoted by Knowlton. Additionally, the text explains the behavioral issues that can ensue in the work place when an employee’s self-esteem is lowered (the book describes them as procrastination, stress, conflict, and poor working conditions). This led to a lapse in contributions from the group in pursuit of the “photon correlator.”

In regards to Jerrold’s responsibility as a leader, he could have been more vocal in his vision for the organization and his expectations of his employees. Hellriegel & Slocum (2011) express the importance of leaders in managing the attitudes of “hope, job satisfaction, and organizational commitmment” as these are important to job performance. Thus, Jerrold failed to communicate to Knowlton his vision for his team and Fester’s role as only to support Knowlton’s overall success. This does not escuse Knowlton from openly commuicating with his superior, but could have curtailed Knowlton’s self-esteem