Human Relations Paper 1

Human Relations Paper # 1

Student - Daniel Shalik

Instructor- Jerry Thomas

Interpersonal Relations Case 2.2 "We've Got to Make Our Numbers"

1. The type of values that Lucille Whitman is demonstrating in case 2.2 are:

• Appreciation of hierarchy
  
• Loyalty to an organization
  
• Willingness to accept orders from higher ups
  
• Importance of a formal discussion (Robert McGarvey)
  

  Although these values usually are associated with generational age groups the characteristics that Lucille exhibited accurately reflect the importance of such without knowledge of her generational background. Lucille also incorporated "the end justifies the means" (Gloris) school of thought where she placed her values on completing the task at hand specifically the directives from corporate headquarters on attaining the sales goals setting aside moral and ethical choices.
  

  The assumption that Bruce Malone would incorporate the same values attributed to Lucille's need to make the numbers was a judgment error on the part of Lucille. Bruce exhibited some traits of being a high self monitor (David Day) and showed signs of organizational citizenship behavior (Jeff Joireman)by achieving his quota by over 1 percent, but the way that Lucille tried to implement her agenda based on her values was not in compliance with Bruce's moral and ethical value system. Lucille's values that she placed on her own personality assessment of Bruce did not take into account that Bruce was not willing to make a short term sacrifice to achieve the sales goals of corporate headquarters. A person-role conflict (Dubrin 38)was the result of the interaction at the Monday morning meeting.
  

  2. Recommendations for Bruce to work his way out of the problems he was facing:
  

  • Consider the advantages of organizational citizenship behavior (Jeff Joireman)
    
  • Become more cognizant of the values of a high self-monitor (David Day)
    
  • Re-evaluate his own personal value system
    
  • Fully consider all workable solutions to accomplish company goals
    
  • Work out a plan that would not sacrifice his core ethical value system
    

  My recommendations to Bruce would also include scheduling an open ended meeting with Lucille to outlay his plans of reaching the company goals without sacrificing his own value system. Bruce should emphasize his positive contributions to the company and his willingness to work as a team to accomplish company headquarters goals. I would also try to prep Bruce for the meeting and inform him not to let personality conflict issues get into the way of a successful meeting and to make him more aware of interpersonal relationship skills.
  

  I would also recommend that Bruce use his relationship management skills when dealing with Lucille including the art of communicating clearly to disarm conflicts, and apply a technique of persuasion to win over his ideas with Lucille for the future meeting that Lucille wanted to "get back with (him) soon" on. (Dubrin 43)
  

  3. Is Bruce too naïve for a career in business?
  

  I do not believe that Bruce is too naïve for career in business. There are many areas of business that Bruce would be an asset in an organization. I would categorize Bruce as a traditionalist where his work ethics as described in the case problem is "Serious, quite, practical, logical, dependable, (Good for work requiring careful attention to detail such as accountant or auditor"). (Isabel Briggs Myers)Bruce is very self aware of his personal goals that are required of him evidenced by analyzing his sales to estimate his performance. Although he is acutely aware of his own personal performance, his statement of "There isn't much I can do about the company as a whole" (Dubrin 43) shows a lack of willingness to focus on the overall big picture and is not open to new ideas. This could also indicate a personality that consists of low self esteem and self worthiness in relation to his importance to the company as a whole. I believe this could be corrected by his supervisor Lucille simply by acknowledging his worth to the company because Bruce is a conscientious person and pays attention to details.
  

  Bruce's personality types also consist of a sensing-type person (Dubrin 29)where he responds to logic more than emotional appeal without sacrificing his own personal values. Bruce's self evaluation of himself indicates the he feels he is a "professional" (Dubrin 43)but this assertion of being a professional is primarily based on his own value system of ethics regarding the new tasks that was assigned. This caused a person-role conflict (Dubrin 38) during his meeting with Lucille.
  

  Judging by the information provided in Case Problem 2.2 Bruce's strengths are:
  

  • Traditionalist personality type (analytical intelligence)
    
  • Sensing- type person(logical focuses on details)
    
  • Conscientiousness (organized ,reliable)
    
  • Value driven(strong sense of values)
    
  • Strong ethical behavior (trust worthy and honest)
    

  Bruce is well equipped with these strengths to enter an organization and have a successful career in a business organization. If Bruce could become more aware of his weaknesses he might be able to succeed in different aspects of an organization. Bruce's naive unawareness to his shortcomings is based on his generational background that was either inherited or learned from his own personal cultural history. Changes to one's faults can sometimes be learned but usually are inherent to one's own personality and makeup and cannot be changed. This is what makes us individuals and learning to succeed successfully in the business world through a variety of interpersonal relationships.
  

  
   

  Bibliography
  

  David Day, Deidra Scheleicher,Amy L. Unclkless, Nathan Hiller. "Self Monitoring Personality at Work: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Construct Validity." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Columbus, Ohio, 2009. pg. 25.
  

  Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills. Tenth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
  

  Gloris, Aeria. "The End Justifies The Means." 8 February 2009. http://www.aeriagloris.com/. 8 Februrary 2009 <http://www.aeriagloris.com/UnrestrictedWarfare/TheEndJustifiesTheMeans.htm>.
  

  Isabel Briggs Myers, Katharine D. Myers. "Introduction to Type 6th edition." DuBrin, Andrew J. Human Relations 10th edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. page 27 of the textbook.
  

  Jeff Joireman, Dishan Kamdar, Denise Daniels, Blythe Duell. "Good Citizens to the End? It Depends: Journal of Applied Psychology pg. 1315." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Pearson Pretice Hall, 2009. pg. 25.
  

  Robert McGarvey, Joanne Glenn,Gregg Hammill,Sommer Kehrili,Trudy Sopp,HR Magazine. " Value Stereotypes for Several Generations of Workers." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. 36.
  

  
   

  
   

  
   

  Works Cited
  

  David Day, Deidra Scheleicher,Amy L. Unclkless, Nathan Hiller. "Self Monitoring Personality at Work: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Construct Validity." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Columbus, Ohio, 2009. pg. 25.
  

  Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills. Tenth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
  

  Gloris, Aeria. "The End Justifies The Means." 8 February 2009. http://www.aeriagloris.com/. 8 Februrary 2009 <http://www.aeriagloris.com/UnrestrictedWarfare/TheEndJustifiesTheMeans.htm>.
  

  Isabel Briggs Myers, Katharine D. Myers. "Introduction to Type 6th edition." DuBrin, Andrew J. Human Relations 10th edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. page 27 of the textbook.
  

  Jeff Joireman, Dishan Kamdar, Denise Daniels, Blythe Duell. "Good Citizens to the End? It Depends: Journal of Applied Psychology pg. 1315." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Pearson Pretice Hall, 2009. pg. 25.
  

  Robert McGarvey, Joanne Glenn,Gregg Hammill,Sommer Kehrili,Trudy Sopp,HR Magazine. " Value Stereotypes for Several Generations of Workers." Dubrin, Andrew J. Human Relations Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills . Upper Saddle River ,New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. 36.