CHANGE MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

BBA313 CHANGE MANAGEMENT Case Study

Business Simulation

Jill Brown has just been hired to manage the Marketing department of the Future Health

pharmaceutical company. Future Health was founded 80 years ago and is a well-respected and

successful company. She finished her Bachelor of Business Administration only two months ago so

she knows this is a great opportunity to start her career.

Jill is enthusiastic and hard working. Thanks to her BBA, she has much of the knowledge that the

department needs. Thus, although it is her first experience as a manager, she is convinced that she

can make significant contributions to the team and the company. She cannot wait to apply her

leadership skills into her new job.

The Marketing department was created 7 years ago and it employs 4 full-time employees.

One of the employees of the department is Gloria who has started working in the Marketing

department only a fortnight ago. Jill's first observations are that Gloria shows a great deal of

enthusiasm in her position and is genuinely interested in her job, the company, and customer issues.

Jill also found out that one of the reasons for hiring Gloria was that, prior to joining Future Health,

she had worked for a few months in the hospitality industry, which had built a good reputation for

service. Unfortunately, since she joined, Gloria has found herself without a clear direction. It seemed

obvious that Gloria still did not have a solid understanding of the aspects of her job directly related

to marketing. However, despite her lack of skills, Gloria shows a desire to learn. Because of her

commitment to becoming a trusted team member, she shows curiosity, hope, and enthusiasm.

The second collaborator is Sebastian who started in the Marketing department about 6 months ago.

Leafing through his file, Jill saw that that his previous boss had sent him to two specific training

programs, a common practice at Future Health. However, even though Sebastian understands the

fundamentals of marketing, Jill is under the impression that Sebastian finds his job more

complicated than she had expected. Although Sebastian knows more about marketing than a few

months ago and has already shown his competence, at times he seems overwhelmed and frustrated

which is seriously undermining his commitment. He has recently been late for work and on a few

occasions has called in sick. Jill wonders to what extent this setback in motivation is related to some

major mistakes Sebastian has made recently. Customers have repeatedly complained about

Sebastian. And Jill has overheard that last week Sebastian completely lost his temper on the phone

and that he was feeling quite discouraged afterwards.

The third member of the department is Joe. Joe has been with the department since its inception

seven years ago, so he knows all about its operation and his own responsibilities. Before working in

the Marketing department, Joe had worked for several years in the Finance Department. Joe is 59

years old, and both his many years of experience with the company and his personal contacts are of

great help when he needs the collaboration of other departments to solve thorny problems. Jill has

been told that no one can solve customer problems faster and cheaper than Joe. Lately, however,

Joe seems less involved and his work rate has slowed considerably. During the first days in her new

position, Jill has corroborated this impression through her own observations. Although his

performance continues to be satisfactory, he seems to have lost interest in the job. For example, in

the first two meetings Jill has called, Joe has barely participated. Despite his good skills, Jill has the

impression that he still doubts himself at times and wonders if he can walk on his own, without the

help or support of his boss. Jill is convinced that Joe is competent and knows what he is doing, but

lacks more confidence in his own judgment. He is sometimes hesitant to work independently and

tend to be overly self-critical or even reluctant to follow his own instincts.

The fourth person who works in the department is Carol, who has not opened her mouth since Jill

was formally introduced to her new team by the director of Human Resources Lisa William a week

ago. Carol has been in Marketing for three years and Jill quickly realizes that she is a key person on

the team. Not only does she master her job perfectly and possesses all the required skills, she also

deals successfully with the most demanding clients. She anticipates problems, is quick to offer

solutions, and rightly trusts herself as she has a good record. In addition, in the last year Carol has

developed six new projects on her own that have resulted in new sources of income for the

company. Carol is very energetic and uses her intelligence effectively. When Jill spoke with some

clients, she realized how much they respected and trusted Carol. In fact, some even said that if they

work with Future Health, it is because of Carol. Jill has noticed that Carol is somewhat distant with

her, for no apparent reason.

Since Jill doesn’t really know how to read the situation, she decides to discuss it with Lisa Williams.

Lisa tells Jill that Carol's former boss, had always treated Carol in a distant and rigid way, and Carol

felt controlled by Frank.