Presentation 2: Case question- Bob Knowlton










Analysis of the roles.


Bob Knowlton- He is a newly appointed team leader who is team oriented, capable and conformed to his superior, but he is insincere about his feelings.


Simon Fester- He is a recently employed  newcomer who is competent and experienced in the field, as well as confident, but he is more of a soloist in getting his work done.


Dr. Jerrold-  She is the employer who takes no concern with his employees' feelings and she holds high expectations towards her employees in getting supreme results.














1. Discuss the reasons why what happened happened.




-Bob Knowlton who held the position as the leader of the photon lab had successfully brought magnificent results to the companies.

-However, since the participation of Simon Fester in the team, discomfort and awkwardness have begun to arise.


-Fester is an individual who is talented and expert in the field who was in good relationship with the superior Dr. Jerrold has in a few situations conflicted with Bob Knowlton's sets of values.


-Despite the fact that Fester just joined the company no long ago, he has been getting compliments and great support from Dr. Jerrold, such as the important meeting that was held just before the leave of Knowlton.


-Moreover, Knowlton did not have a honest and open discussion about Jester's position and adaptation to the team and himself, therefore, Knowlton made an inaccurate underlying assumption was made upon Dr.Jerrold's thoughts and actions.

-On the other hand, Dr. Jerrold did not handle the interpersonal relationship and communication well among herself, Jester and Knowlton, as due to his managerial position, she should have thought of the possibility of misunderstandings.

-In summary, Knowlton felt insecure of that his position in the company was greatly threatened. Therefore, he chose to leave the company due to the underlying assumption, however, not on the desire of getting a higher pay.

2. Consider the personalities involved, especially those of Knowlton and Fester, and the organizational characteristics.




Bob Knowlton

1) Team-oriented - He focuses much on teamwork, for example, he strongly encourages all of the colleagues, including the secretary, to join the meetings to share the progress of their work. There was also a situation in which that Knowlton aggressively insisted Jester to join the meeting.


2) Introvert - He did not do well in expressing his feelings and thoughts honestly to Dr. Jerrold despite that he understood Fester's mindset collided with his in managing a team totally due to his objectivity towards team-working. 


3) Excellent leadership- He seeks to communicate with all of his subordinate and helps them with their problems in every single step and makes them work altogether as a team efficiently.








Simon Fester


1) Lone ranger - He prefers to complete his task alone, for example, when he was asked to join a meeting, he reluctantly agreed to Knowlton's insistence, but he continued doing his analysis on the work alone while the meeting was going on around him.


2) Goal achiever & talented individual - He is very keen on completing his task regardless day or night. On top of that, he is also able to create some fresh ideas towards his work. For example, he called Knowlton at 2a.m. in the midnight to explain the new approach to a certain problem of the photon lab that was previously unsolvable in the past experiments.


3) Opportunity seeker- He is also a person who constantly seeks for opportunity. For example, Fester quit a few past jobs for more opportunities available in other companies.








Organizational characteristics


As a whole, the company practices a more conventional way of managerial system and it is run with a team-based structure under the lead of Bob Knowlton. On top of that, the organization lacks of good leadership in the sense that Dr. Jerrold was not able to critically approached and handled the predicament effectively.










3. Imagine yourself in the position of Dr. Jerrold at the end of the case, reflecting back over the events. Is there anything you could have done, on the basis of what you knew or could have known at the time, that would have led to a more favorable outcome? State your reasoning.




If I were Dr. Jerrold, I would do my best to understand the ways of Fester and Knowlton completing their tasks. In such case, I would have then understood that both of them carry different perspectives towards their work. In addition, I would discuss with Knowlton beforehand in order to inform the difference in their personalities and the intention of I hiring Fester into the company. Upon hiring Fester, I would be watching over their collaboration in work and be prepared all the time to step up when there is conflict and misunderstanding. During the process, I would have some private sessions with both of them to solve the misunderstanding and unwanted interpersonal communication problem. In that way, I could then assure that both of them are working together at their best possible potential.