...BOB KNOWLTON CASE MBA 633: Case #2 Bellevue University December 18, 2012 DESCRIPTION This case centers on Bob Knowlton, a newly appointed project head who was promoted through a former project leader, Dr. Jerrold. Everything was going well for Knowlton until a new and brilliant addition was added to the team, Simon Fester. DIAGNOSIS The cause of the problem in this case is Knowlton’s passive characteristics. As project leader, Knowlton sees that there is tension building within the group as a result of Fester’s determination. Throughout the case we are confronted with many instances where Fester’s initiative to achieve results causes Knowlton to feel threatened and aggravated. Instead of acting as a leader and confronting the distracting nature of Fester’s behavior, Knowlton simply nods his head and agrees with everything that transpires. Fester is simply continuing his prevalent path because he feels that he is contributing progress to the project. This entire scenario could be remedied if Knowlton were to step up to the plate and act in a fashion that is consistent with his job title, leader. No one is going to hold Knowlton’s hand and correct the Fester dilemma, because it is Knowlton’s job to administer action. THEORY When provided the opportunity to confront Fester’s theories and group cooperation, Knowlton became a victim to his own passive behavior. Instead of taking charge and correcting the discrepancy of Fester’s action towards the team and himself...
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...Bob Knowlton Case: 1. Diagnose and evaluate the entire problem situation. List the problems. 2. If you were in Dr. Jerrold’s position: what can you learn from the mistakes that have been made how would you go about creating the learning organisation? Devise a strategy. Summary: Some might feel Bob Knowlton acted irrational without voicing his feelings to Dr Jerrold. Some might feel that his EQ, is weak, in terms of Fester, making him feel inferior, doubt his capabilities and also allowing Fester to take over as leader in the meetings. Dr Jerrold lacked open communication and transparency therefore as a result; he lost a good employee, Bob Knowlton. Bob is a team player and believes in using each other as resources through collaboration. “Bob Knowlton calls a meeting, however Fester, voices his opinion that he is not at all averse to meetings…” Fester is not a team player, and one can assume he likes the credit and wants to be centre of attention. Fester was very sharp and competent and had solved some old problems. He felt that Fester was slowly taking over leadership. Very confident about himself and his ideas. Aggressive in his approach to solve a problem and well as put forth his ideas Problems: Organisational culture seems work orientated with little focus of interpersonal relationships and communication. No feelings are discussed openly, therefore the assumption that the team is functioning well is false. Unable to discuss his opinions/feelings/conflicts...
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...After reviewing the Bob Knowlton case study, many concepts that are affecting the communication skills are apparent. Different factors [age, beliefs, culture, gender] were taken in to consideration while reviewing the case. Bobs self concept tells the unique story of the case study. Bob begins his story with a positive self concept and ends with a negative one. Towards the beginning of the case Bob gains self confidence in his work knowing he is a productive worker. During the time Fester arrives and begins working, Bobs self concept fades. During the case, Bob allows Fester to take over the group meetings and even take over his primary meeting as the project head. Eventually Bobs self concept plummets to next to nothing and Bob seeks a new job. Bob let social comparison steer him on to another career path in result to his “private me” being perceived as “not good enough.” The roles of the characters of the case study affect how each and every character interacts with one another. Bob approaches Jerrold with loyal work information, however he never felt comfortable disclosing his own discomforts with Fester being present in fear of showing weakness in his position. As the group began to break up Bob confronted Oliver and Davenport to get a sense of the reason for the splitting, yet did not confront Leak due to his role as a close colleague to Fester. Social needs affect the communication within the characters of the case study. Bob Knowlton loses his sense of control over...
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...Running Head: Bob Knowlton Case Study Bob Knowlton Case Study Introduction The Bob Knowlton case highlights various challenges faced by contemporary organizations, indicating the need for organizations to adopt appropriate strategies that would create favorable work environments and promote harmonious relations among the workforce. The management level of any organization plays a leading role in ensuring that organizations operate effectively. Strong leadership skills are essential in boosting the performance of employees without creating negative feelings among them. On the other hand, weak leadership is likely to create undesired outcomes in the workplace. Such developments may lead to increased burnout and dissatisfaction, which reduce employees’ morale. As a result, such organizations are likely to report increased turnover rates and high costs involved in hiring and training new employees. In the Bob Knowlton case, various issues are evidently undermining the performance of the organization. Acting as Jerrold, I would seek to address and control such issues in order to achieve optimal output from the Photon Lab. This paper examines the various issues presented in the case and recommends interventions to rectify the situation. Findings of Fact Faulted due process The introduction of a newcomer in the Photon Lab was the main reason that led to the exit of Knowlton. When introducing a new employee, it is essential to ensure that such individual is introduced...
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...The Bob Knowlton Case Study The problem Bob Knowlton quit his job suddenly and found a better position with more salary. But, Jerrold and Fester felt shocked on Knowlton’s decision. No one knew that why Knowlton wanted to leave. • Bob Knowlton was an introvert. He did not discuss his opinions/feelings/conflicts with his teammates. • He could not become an effective leader. He could not exercise authority and control when the unity in the team was disturbed. As a result, his self-confidence in his capabilities reduced. • He lacked communication skills. He should have communicated his roles and responsibilities. • The was an alliance between Jerrold and Fester – negative impact a. This lead to the resignation of Bob Knowlton – felt threatened by Fester. b. Bob taught that Jarrod has placed in him in his department to see Bob fail in his position. c. The alliance was not only work related but personal as well. d. The alliance between Jerrold and Fester grew stronger as the problem grew bigger. • The was an alliance between Jerrold and Fester – Positive impact a. By Jerrold placing Fester in the lab his intensions was good and to see the lab grow. b. Jerrold knew that Fraser was and expert and will boost the department. c. Fester was there to perform and not to play the political game and his intensions was not to make Bob feel bad but to do his work to the best of his ability. d. Fester impressed many people both internally and externally. Mistakes by Jerrold ...
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...Bob Knowlton Case Dennis Dougherty Bob Knowlton Case Description Bob Knowlton was promoted to project head. He was leading a diverse team in building Knowlton’s idea of a Photon Correlator. Dr. Jerrold, the lab manager, introduces a new employee to the firm and pairs Simon Fester with the group led by Knowlton. Knowlton’s confidence associated with his accomplishment soon vanishes when Fester starts to take over the project. This left Knowlton questioning his abilities and eventually leads to his resignation. Diagnosis Bob Knowlton seems to be threatened immediately after Mr. Fester joined his project. Simon Fester appears more qualified and very eager if not overeager to solve the problems of the team. Knowlton’s insecurity has grown continually as Simon Fester has excelled in his position and has brought forward innovative ideas and solved problems that were not seen as solvable previously. When the project had to be presented to investors so much of the project was orchestrated by Fester that he had to be there to answer questions about the project that Knowlton did not know. The insecurity that Knowlton had toward Fester stemmed from a comment that Dr. Jerrold had said to him several years ago, “people who produce results get ahead in this outfit”. This quote although it seemed innocuous at the time, set Knowlton up for failure when he took the quote to heart and felt like only if he was generating all the ideas could he get ahead in the company...
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...Final Case Study – Bob Knowlton Finding of Facts 1: Attribution Process Knowlton notified Jerrod by mail that he was leaving the laboratory because he had found a better position. Recommendation/Justification Attribution process in chapter 4 is referred to as the ways in which people come to understand the causes of their own or others’ behavior. Knowlton felt that Fester was brought in to take his position as project head. With all the questions and research analysis that Fester completed on his own, Knowlton felt betrayed since his friend and mentor Jerrod never took the time to explain to him what was happening. When Knowlton did approach Jerrod to question why Fester was there, Jerrod replied, “We’re taking him on [.]”Jerrod also replied that, “I don’t know yet where he will finally land …I thought he might spend a little time with you by way of getting started.” I believe that Knowlton should have gone back to talked to Jerrod again. Knowlton should have got his point across about the way that he and his team was feeling about Fester questions the work that he and his team had completed over the last six months and how calling his home at 2 o’clock explaining how Link’s patterning problem could be solved among other things. Jerrod could have then explained that Fester was brought in to be the project head for another department. In 1996, my husband and I were transferred to Korea for one year by the Army and our two kids that were 15 months old and 3 ½ months...
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...Research Paper Human/Computer Interaction By Robert Schooley Business Finance 320 Rick Powell Columbia College Human/Computer Interaction This paper should provide an overview of human-computer interaction. It is interesting the methods humans have been using to interact with computers, and the relationship has been on a long journey. This journey has not ended however, in fact, it continues as new designs of computers utilize new technologies. New computer systems manifest on the market ever growing, every day, and the research of the human/computer interaction has been a rapid growing field in last twenty years. The development of adaptive interfaces instead of command and action-based ones was a big enough breakthrough. However, the active interfaces instead of the passive ones, is a major step forward. The growth in the field of human/computer interaction has been related to the quality of the interaction as well as the different branching areas experienced in its history. Rather than just designing normal interfaces, in the past the differing researching branches often had multiple focuses concerning the concepts relating to multimodality. This multimodality comprises an inter-disciplinary attitude which understands the communication and the representation is not just about language. For the last ten years it was developed to answer the questions, and address the much debated changes the society undergoes...
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...The Bob Knowlton Case Study Summary Bob Knowlton is the head of the Photon Lab when a new member, Simon Fester, was introduced to his lab. He begins to feel inferior to his new member and feels that he cannot voice his concerns to his superior, Dr. Jerold. After a period of events and insecurities, he finds a better position with more salary and takes the job immediately. Dr, Jerrold and Fester were shocked by Knowlton’s decision. The lab took a large hit as Fester went on to work on another project as planned. No one knew that Knowlton wanted to leave as he did so very suddenly citing fictional 'personal' problems. Analyze the roles of those involved The main characters in the Bob Knowlton case were: Bob Knowlton - the team leader of Photon Lab - collaborative team leader - hard working man - confidence easily wavered by insecurities - does not voice out problems Dr. Jerrold - the supervisor of Bob Knowlton and his team - has very high expectations of those working under her - not observant - no instinctual perception Simon Fester - a new comer to the company and Photon Lab - confident - aggressive - competitive - opportunist - highly intelligent - non paticipative Discuss the reasons as to why what happened happened. The bringing in the newcomer: Bob Knowlton - was threatened by the newcomer that was not properly introduced to him - Fester just showed up without warning and began looking into things Dr. Jerold - did not introduce...
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...Description The case “Bob Knowlton”, by Alex Bavelas explains what happens between Bob Knowlton head of the Photon Lab and new member, Simon Fester, when he is introduced into the lab. Bob Knowlton was the newly appointed head of the Photon Lab and he was still getting accustomed to leading the team when Bob Knowlton’s boss Dr. Jerrold added a bright up in comer to their team Simon Fester. Bob Knowlton feels inferior to Simon Fester and since Dr. Jerrold had some kind of relationship with Simon Fester he felt he could not tell him how he felt. As a result of this Bob Knowlton finds a better position with more salary and takes the job immediately shocking both Dr. Jerold and Simon Fester. Diagnosis During the entire case one thing stood out as the underlying reason for Bob Knowlton leaving the Photon Lab and that was lack of communication which ultimately led to Bob Knowlton perceiving that his position as team lead was in danger. Before Simon Fester was even introduced to the team Dr. Jerrold should have spoken to Bob Knowlton and informed of his plans and what Simon Festers duties are as it pertains to the team. This would have changed the outcome of the case tremendously. Theory After reading this case I believe that there are two main theories that ultimately caused Bod Knowlton to resign. The first one is that the Photon Lab Team was in the norming stage of their team development. Since Bob Knowlton was newly appointed the head of the Photon Lab but had been there...
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...Bob Knowlton Bob Knowlton A Case Analysis INTRODUCTION The Case revolves around the professional lives of the three main employees of Simmons Laboratories. The so-called protagonist is a person by the name of Bob Knowlton, who is the lead on one of the projects at Simmons Labs. Bob reports to Dr Katherine, another important part of Simmons Labs. The third important person in this case is Elliot Haywood. He is a new recruit into Simmons Labs and at the outset, expresses interest in joining Bob’s team. Bob Knowlton: Bob is someone who has been with the Simmons Labs for about nine years when the case is prepared. He is shown to be someone who thinks like old school scientists who believe in the trial and error method. He tests rigorously before coming to any conclusions and is meticulous about the details. He does not hesitate spending time and poring over any analysis or decision. At the same time, even after being a nine year veteran, he still seems like someone who is still finding his foothold in the firm. However, he is not very open about his inner feelings and internally hurts. Elliot Haywood: Elliot comes across as a “Type A” personality. He was always in an urgent need to complete his work and did not care if in this process he was disturbing or annoying others. In the case it is mentioned how Elliot called Bob at 2 in the morning to explain a new approach to certain lab problems without apologizing to Bob once for disturbing his sleep. Elliot was very organized...
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...Bob Knowlton at Simmons Securities Bob Knowlton was sitting alone in the conference room of Simmons Securities. The rest of his group had left. One of the secretaries had stopped and talked for a while about her husband's enrollment in graduate school and had finally gone home. Bob, alone on the floor, slid a little farther down in his chair, looking with satisfaction at the results of the first computer simulation of the newest Millenium derivative. He liked to stay after the others had gone. His appointment as project head was still new enough to give him a deep sense of pleasure. His eyes were on the graphs before him, but in his mind, he could hear Dr. Alan Jerrold, the director of research, saying again, "There's one thing about this place you can bank on. The sky is the limit for a person who can produce!" Knowlton felt again the tingle of happiness and embarrassment. Well, dammit, he said to himself, he had produced. He wasn't kidding anybody. He had come to Simmons Securities two years ago. While testing some proposed derivatives, he had stumbled on the idea behind the Millenium family of derivatives, and the rest just happened. Jerrold had been enthusiastic: A separate project had been set up for further research and development of these derivatives, and he had gotten the job of managing it. The whole sequence of events still seemed a little miraculous to Knowlton. He shrugged out of the reverie and bent determinedly over the sheets of paper when he heard someone come...
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...Presentation 2: Bob Knowlton Case Study Characteristics Bob Knowlton; - low self-esteem - insincere - untruthful - good leadership skill Simon Fester; - insensitive - straight forward - individualistic - intelligent Doctor Jerrold; - not an observer - ignorant Questions 1) Discuss the reasons why what happened happened. Low self-esteem; - Basically, what happened in this case is that Bob Knowlton resigned because he felt threatened by his own colleague which is Simon Fester. He felt that he can't perform his work good just because he feels that Fester is a bit more faster in getting the work done, spot some flaws and grabbing opportunities. Knowlton also tend to easily get annoyed whenever his boss, Jerrold, praises Fester on his work. The problem with Knowlton is that he has a very low self-esteem. He doubted his own abilities as a leader of a small group in that particular organization. It seems like he is the kind of person who would prefer if the boss praises him or as a group, since he is the leader. So that he'll be more motivated and enthusiastic in doing his job. I see that he is at the level where esteem and prestige is in need for him at that moment. Insensitive; - As we all know, Simon Fester is the "new guy" in that organization. There are a lot of times that we saw Bob Knowlton felt uncomfortable whenever he is around Fester. Simply because Knowlton knows the capabilities that fester can do, but of course he has his...
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...Bob Knowlton A Case Analysis INTRODUCTION The Case revolves around the professional lives of the three main employees of Simmons Laboratories. The so-called protagonist is a person by the name of Bob Knowlton, who is the lead on one of the projects at Simmons Labs. Bob reports to Dr Katherine, another important part of Simmons Labs. The third important person in this case is Elliot Haywood. He is a new recruit into Simmons Labs and at the outset, expresses interest in joining Bob’s team. Bob Knowlton: Bob is someone who has been with the Simmons Labs for about nine years when the case is prepared. He is shown to be someone who thinks like old school scientists who believe in the trial and error method. He tests rigorously before coming to any conclusions and is meticulous about the details. He does not hesitate spending time and poring over any analysis or decision. At the same time, even after being a nine year veteran, he still seems like someone who is still finding his foothold in the firm. However, he is not very open about his inner feelings and internally hurts. Elliot Haywood: Elliot comes across as a “Type A” personality. He was always in an urgent need to complete his work and did not care if in this process he was disturbing or annoying others. In the case it is mentioned how Elliot called Bob at 2 in the morning to explain a new approach to certain lab problems without apologizing to Bob once for disturbing...
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...Bob Knowlton at Simmons Securities Bob Knowlton was sitting alone in the conference room of Simmons Securities. The rest of his group had left. One of the secretaries had stopped and talked for a while about her husband's enrollment in graduate school and had finally gone home. Bob, alone on the floor, slid a little farther down in his chair, looking with satisfaction at the results of the first computer simulation of the newest Millenium derivative. He liked to stay after the others had gone. His appointment as project head was still new enough to give him a deep sense of pleasure. His eyes were on the graphs before him, but in his mind, he could hear Dr. Alan Jerrold, the director of research, saying again, "There's one thing about this place you can bank on. The sky is the limit for a person who can produce!" Knowlton felt again the tingle of happiness and embarrassment. Well, dammit, he said to himself, he had produced. He wasn't kidding anybody. He had come to Simmons Securities two years ago. While testing some proposed derivatives, he had stumbled on the idea behind the Millenium family of derivatives, and the rest just happened. Jerrold had been enthusiastic: A separate project had been set up for further research and development of these derivatives, and he had gotten the job of managing it. The whole sequence of events still seemed a little miraculous to Knowlton. He shrugged out of the reverie and bent determinedly over the sheets of paper when he heard someone...
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