Dynamic Displays:

Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis

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Executive Summary (1 page)

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Situation Overview (2 to 3 pages)

A. Company Background

B. Situation Background

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Problem Identifications (1.5 pages) (5-6 problem)

1- Micromanagement vs. Macromanagement

2- Power and Influence

3- Building Networks

4- Working Styles

5- Miscommunication and Misunderstanding

6- Conflict in Organization

7- Organization Culture

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Solution / Alternative

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Analysis & Evaluation

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Recommendation

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References

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 Green’s issues:
Senior management hired without the blessing of the future manager who must work closely
with the new hire. McDonald took away Davis’ chance of choosing his own hire. (overstepping)
Green lacks managerial experience. Has sales background but no marketing experience
Green and Davis have profound differences in sales/management style, age
Green challenged Davis’ numbers in public and did not have hard data to back up his
argument (set before the meeting to agree on the numbers) (power and influence)
Lack of communication- Green did not keep Davis in the loop of travel changes, any
advances he was making. (misalignment)
Green did not build relationships with coworkers so now has no allies. (building your
network)
Davis:
Davis is angry that he did not have a say in Green’s hiring and may be taking out some of
this anger on him.
Davis did not set Green up for success. He was not clear with his expectations from the
beginning.

-McDonald did not allow Davis to choose someone for the new position and knowing he had
someone in mind, she chose someone else anyways. Her verbiage on page 3 even makes me
think she knew they would clash as coworkers.
- She CCed Green in the second email
-I think the biggest issue about Green saying something in the meeting was the fact he said
something in front of the entire meeting and tried he might’ve unintentionally embarrassed his
superior. I also feel that Green should’ve looked over these numbers before the meeting so that
he could make these assumptions in private. (power and influence)
-I think Green is not used to having a superior and this is a big issue for him as well. He is
not used to having to report to someone or having deadlines. And even if he is not, he doesn’t
respect those deadlines or Davis’ time. (working style and managerial style).
-Green took his concerns about Davis’ to managers outside of his group. (lack of exp,
culture)
-Green is a talker and does not back up a lot of things he says. For example, page 5 when
executives are asking for information he can’t give. (working style)
-I know in a work setting a superior doesn’t always need to help and give tips to the people
under him but I believe Davis could’ve gone a little easier on Green in the beginning. WIth this, I
believe McDonald should’ve allowed them a few days together to job shadow or just allow
Green to ask a lot of questions if he needed to. (managerial style, organization culture)
-I think that even though they met and discussed Green’s behavior, I don’t think the two ever
reached common ground in those discussions. I think that they should have talked about how
their work styles are different and things that both could have done to better the relationship.
(action plan, KPIs, managerial style, regular meeting)

Things to be noted

Green Expectation

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 "To Green, Dynamic Displays seemed to present a great chance for a fast climb up the
managerial ladder. Green had told a close friend, "I wanted to come in and dazzle them at
Dynamic Displays. This was no easy feat. But I wanted more than an account executive position.
I had heard there was a lot of opportunity for fresh talent at corporate headquarters, and I made it
my mission to get noticed immediately".
Green Education Background and Experience
He has a bachelor's degree in Economics. He was hired as an account executive in March
2007, and in September of the same year, he was promoted to senior market specialist.
Green Achievements
In his first four months as an account executive, he completed a contract for one of the
largest airline carriers, Journey Airlines, to accelerate the rollout of kiosks in 20 airports and
purchase upgraded software for kiosks in the majority of their locations.

Relationship with executives

Both Green and McDonald were University of Georgia alumni and Georgia natives. They
had an instant connection, and McDonald took Green under her wing.
McDonald saw Green proficiency gaps.
Gaps:
• Green lack of managerial experience
• He has only held sales roles
Position requirement:
• The senior market specialist position is very different
• This new job will require you to think strategically as well as tactically
• You will have to coordinate between several different functions and layers of corporate
management
Advice:
Seek out guidance from some of our more seasoned managers

Senior Market Specialists Requirement and natural progress

Senior market specialists were responsible for:
• Identifying industry trends
• Evaluating new business opportunities
• Establishing sales goals
• Developed general market and specific client strategies to help the account executives
obtain a sale

Natural progression
An account executive interested in joining the marketing team usually moved first to a
market specialist position and then put in a number of years in the field before reaching "senior"
status. The other senior market specialists in the division were in their 40s. (Gen conflicts)

Issues
1- Frank had expected to choose the new senior market specialist, and it would not have been
you. (power and influence)

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 2- Green missed important deliverables like (marketing data, supporting details, and
marketing strategies. Organization charts, brief reports, presentation, and memos) (working
style)
3- Assigning 2008 performance commitments for Green and his team without discussing
them with him. (power and influence)
4- Expressing concerns that the goals are impossible to achieve in front of everyone. (Davis
saw it as a negative attitude)." (Attitude)
5- Lacking the required skill to understand the requirement of the new position. It is not
about numbers and targets. It is about developing strategies. (Lack exp, compet..)
6- Misalignments and miscommunication
7- Different priorities and working styles.
8- Green starts a side project without aligning with his manager. ( miscommunication and
misalignment)
9- Even after three months, Green still telling people that he does not agree with his manager.
(managerial style, organization culture, attitude)
10- Green did not pay attention the office politics and did not build enough bridges with his
peers in the other LOBs. (building your network)
11- Promised to do a corrective measurement then fall to fulfill them. (bc they did not agree
on the action plan)
12- Micromanagement

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