Scene 1

 

The manager, Sara, has been with The Enterprise Solutions since the company was founded in 2002. She has work herself up from the receptionist desk to the lead manager of the Patent and Trademark Division. Sara has had the unique opportunity of seeing the company grow from a small firm of a dozen employees to a major corporation now employing over 70 individuals.

Sara:  Now that you have completed your New Hire Training, I would like to officially welcome you to my department as our new Manager Trainee at Enterprise Solutions. My name is Sara and I am your new manager.

 

Here at Enterprise Solutions, we cater to the Copyright and Trademark needs of small businesses to assure their products are ready to enter the marketplace.

 

I’ve selected three excellent members of our team who will help guide you through your Management Training program, which will help you understand leadership and organizational behavior on a personal level.

 

For your first task, please introduce yourself to Madison, Ethan and Ben and ask them to express their best attributes as a team-member.  Discover which of the three employees best expresses:

Technical;

Human; and

Conceptual skills.

 

Good luck and let me know if you need any help. 

Scene 2

 

Madison is fresh out of graduate school with a major in project management.

Madison:  Hi!  I’m Madison and it’s a pleasure to meet you. 

 

What are my best attributes as a team-member? 

 

Well, I enjoy working with my co-workers.  I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to and that I inspire them daily with my positive attitude. 

 

I take pride in knowing that I’m an employee that can build healthy relationships with my co-workers, as well as be someone they can trust.

Scene 3

 

Ethan is an intern in the MBA program at Strayer.

Ethan:  Hello, my name is Ethan.

 

My best attributes, you ask?  I’m really good at troubleshooting. 

 

I enjoy solving problems.  I like to take a problem head on and research the various ways to achieve a solution.

 

If there’s something that needs to be solved, I’m the guy to do it.

Scene 4

 

Ben, budding with enthusiasm, has been promoted to the “New Project and Development” division. He joined the company just one year ago as an intern. While not new to the company, he still faces a ninety-day probation in his new position.

 

Ben:  I’m Ben and it’s nice to meet you. 

 

I’m a hands-on type of guy. That’s my best attribute.

 

I like to get things done using the tools and resources available in the office. 

 

I’m always finding innovative ways to use different software and communication tools to decrease the amount of time it takes to complete a task. 

 

If you ever need someone to help you set up tools for your office, I’m your man. 

Scene 5

Sara:  Excellent.  I see you’ve introduced yourself to Madison, Ethan and Ben. 

 

Now, we need someone with technical skills to help create deliverables, someone with conceptual skills to help design a solution, and someone with human skills to help lead a project. 

 

Can you match each skill with each employee?

Interaction slide where the manager trainee chooses which employee has which skill.

 

Scene 6

Sara:  Perfect!  I see it’s almost time for lunch.

 

Can you help me solve an issue before we take our break? 

 

We’ve been receiving reports that some actions in this organization may have been performed unethically. 

 

Can you take a look at these reports and help me determine which reports are ethically immoral, amoral, and moral?

The student is presented 3 reports each containing a scenario that describes either an immoral, amoral, or moral decision.

 

INTERACTION:

Report 1

There have been reports that the third floor has had a shortage of supplies. It is believed that a co-worker on that floor is knowingly wasting supplies.

 

Report 2

The fifth floor has a fantasy football league where half the earnings go to charity.  Unfortunately, not everyone on the fifth floor knew about the league and didn’t have a chance to participate.

 

Report 3

HR has reported that instead of laying off workers, the CEO of the company decided to lower his salary and implement ways to cut back spending within the company.

 

After deciding that report 1 was an example of an immoral decision, report 2 was amoral, and report 3 was moral.

 

Sara: Here is the information for report number one!

 

There have been reports that the third floor has had a shortage of supplies. It is believed that a co-worker on that floor is knowingly wasting supplies.

 

Sara: And the second report is this…

 

The fifth floor has a fantasy football league where half the earnings go to charity.  Unfortunately, not everyone on the fifth floor knew about the league and didn’t have a chance to participate.

 

Sara: Finally, here is report number three!

 

HR has reported that instead of laying off workers, the CEO of the company decided to lower his salary and implement ways to cut back spending within the company.

Scene 7

Sara:  I believe you’re right! 

 

We will send a thank you note to the CEO, a warning to the third floor to discontinue the wasteful usage of supplies, and a reminder to the fifth floor to make the appropriate announcements so that the entire floor can participate in the next charity event.

 

It’s time for lunch.  Let’s go to the break room – most of the team is already there. 

 

During the break, the team begins a discussion on the topic of women as leaders.

 

Scene 8

Sara:   In the last few decades, unlike the more distant past, we have seen dozens of women in the most authoritative and powerful positions in the world.

 

More than eighty women were elected President or Prime Minister in countries around the world between nineteen-forty-five and two-thousand-and-eight.

 

Increasing numbers of women are entering State and National Legislatures, simply as a result of increasing interest and acceptability.

 

Women hold office as Senators; Governors; Corporate CEOs, including the new President of IBM; University Presidents; Heads of Foundations and Social Service Agencies; Rabbis; Generals; Anglican Priests; and Supreme Court Justices.

 

Madison:  If you just project that same trajectory forward, you might assume that the future will be one in which all top leadership posts finally become gender-neutral, and women are as likely as men to hold top leadership positions. What do you think, Ethan?

Ethan (almost rejecting their statement):  Sometimes you act as though we assume this is the obvious likely path, and the only question is how long it will take.

 

In my opinion, I think it will be centuries before women are as likely as men to become top managers in major corporations or achieve equal representation in the U.S. Congress.

 

Madison:  That may be your opinion, but eventually we may think, “We’ll get there”, because that’s the direction in which things seem to be moving. You might call this path convergence towards parity. Think of yourself as finding your way through a maze.

 

Ethan:  I disagree!  In the first place, I think women in almost all societies have primary responsibility for child care and homemaking.

 

If they are employed outside the home, they are expected to undertake what has been called “the second shift,” managing such responsibilities in addition to their professional occupations.

 

Few organizations or Nation-States have workplace policies that support family-friendly life-styles, including high quality, reliable, affordable child-care facilities; flexible work schedules while children are young; and support for anyone caring for a sick child or aging parent.

 

This makes things very hard for working mothers.

 

Sara:  True, women are also less likely to have mentors, and there are obstacles in the path to top leadership. Look at the statistics here.

This slide will show a chart titled:  The Top 16 Competencies Top Leaders Exemplify  Most

 

 

Scene 9

Ethan:  Well, I think leaders in organizations should look hard to find the talent they need to achieve exceptional results; they ought to be aware that many women have impressive leadership skills.

 

This chart shows these leadership skills are strongly correlated to organizational success factors such as retaining talent, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and profitability.  

 

What an eye opener!

 

Sara:  So what should we conclude from this data?  Corporations should be engaging and fully employing women as leaders? What should leaders and managers do with these findings? Let’s discuss this further in our Weekly Discussions.