Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis
Power, Office Politics, and Career in Crisis In this essay I will attempt to answer why the actions of Thomas Green were so different than what his boss Frank Davis expected of him. I will also address the individual agendas of the two bosses and how each person wants to be treated. In identifying the power bases that were used by each person, I will go to French and Ravens personal bases of power to see how each could have used them more effectively, while also identifying if any of those powers were abused. An old Yugoslavian Proverb states, “If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority!”
Actions Differ from Expectations From the information given Thomas Greens promotion given by Shannon McDonald was one that put him in a very difficult situation from the beginning. His new boss, Frank Davis, was promoted out of the very position that Green just assumed and Davis had not wanted to promote Green to this position in the first place. Then Thomas spent most all of his time during that first week reviewing the old sales reviews, after which during the following week, Frank Davis gave Tom a whirl wind review and tour of all the major airline clients he had contact with for the company. After which Frank told Tom that their meetings had gone good and the clients really liked his ideas. At which point Frank said, “I think we would have been more effective if we had been able to provide the clients with some market data.” (Sasser & Beckham, 2008) Frank even gave Tom some very specific things he needed to do like; spending a lot of time preparing to meet the clients and have proposals with supporting details that can be given to the clients. He also tasked him with developing the Market Strategy for his assigned area of responsibility. The back ground of Tom was that he is a guy that is able to keep it all in his head and this makes a great salesman, but his new position is one that requires him to have the documentation to back up what he is
Actions Differ from Expectations From the information given Thomas Greens promotion given by Shannon McDonald was one that put him in a very difficult situation from the beginning. His new boss, Frank Davis, was promoted out of the very position that Green just assumed and Davis had not wanted to promote Green to this position in the first place. Then Thomas spent most all of his time during that first week reviewing the old sales reviews, after which during the following week, Frank Davis gave Tom a whirl wind review and tour of all the major airline clients he had contact with for the company. After which Frank told Tom that their meetings had gone good and the clients really liked his ideas. At which point Frank said, “I think we would have been more effective if we had been able to provide the clients with some market data.” (Sasser & Beckham, 2008) Frank even gave Tom some very specific things he needed to do like; spending a lot of time preparing to meet the clients and have proposals with supporting details that can be given to the clients. He also tasked him with developing the Market Strategy for his assigned area of responsibility. The back ground of Tom was that he is a guy that is able to keep it all in his head and this makes a great salesman, but his new position is one that requires him to have the documentation to back up what he is
References: Sasser, W. E., & Beckham, H. (2008). Thomas green: Power, office politics, and a career in crisis. Informally published manuscript, Harvard Business Publishing, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, .