case 4 entrepreneurship

7/27/2019 Case 4 Entrepreneurship

1/4

ENTR 351: Entrepreneurship

Case Assignment #4To Leave, or Not to Leave: The Choice of an Unfulfilled Employee

1. In relation to the career development of employees, what role did

the organizational culture at BDS play in Ashleighs decision to

leave the company?

- According to the Chapter 19 of the textbook, Staffing and

Leading a Growing Company, the company culture is the

distinctive, unwritten code of conduct that governs the

behavior, attitudes, relationships, and style of an organization.

In essence, it is the way we do things around here. Ashleigh

in a sense had unfulfilled expectations of her job at BDS-Austin,

which left her unfulfilled. There were two main organizational

culture factors that ultimately led to her decision to pursue

other opportunities and leave the company.- The Austin branch had a different work environment than

her internship in Poughkeepsie. The Poughkeepsie branch

was more diverse as far as employee race and age, where

the Austin branch had more of a stagnant culture, with

older male workers who were nearing retirement and were

more concerned with job security than grooming new

employees. The employees at the Austin branch were set in

their ways and they didnt even like managers to provide

too much input. This was not a conducive learning

environment for a young rising professional like Ashleigh.

Companies that are progressive encourage and support

learning

- Additionally, the department wasnt a good fit for her career

goals, which was admitted by Pat Thomas, her 1st manager.

Her work responsibilities werent as challenging as her

duties in Poughkeepsie, and she was under the impression

that her job duties would be similar, which is why she took

the job. Ashleigh felt like she wasnt developing any useful

skills for her future career as an engineer. She attempted tobe a diligent worker, but she found herself finishing up her

tasks early. And when she went to ask for more

responsibilities, there were no opportunities for her, which

made her frustrated and looking for a way out.

Ashleigh had certain expectations of the organization. She

expected to gain work experience, security, and advancement.


2/4


She also probably expected to have an opportunity to meet

people, make friends, and form social relationships. With BDS

not adequately satisfying her expectations, friction developed,

which couldnt be solved, and culminated with Ashleigh leaving

the organization.

2. How could the level of communication between manager and

employee be improved?

- Fortunately, Ashleigh is a great communicator and spoke her

mind when she had the chance. Her 1st manager, Pat Thomas

was open to communicating with her at any time, which was

also an advantage, but there were some areas that needed

improvement. The case didnt discuss who Ashleigh

interviewed with before she started at the organization in

Austin. Obviously, it wasnt her current manager Pat Thomas,

because he would have known from interviewing with her that

with her education and background, she wasnt a good fit for

the position. Pat Thomas brings this to her attention 6 months

into her position, only after Ashleigh came to him with her

challenges.

- Also, Ashleighs manager could have assisted her in

communicating with his peer manager, Kirk Powell. Being that

she is new and there is some obvious gender and age

uncomfortability in this department, it could have made adifference in the answer Ashleigh received from Kirk.

Nevertheless, Pat did a good job in facilitating empowerment

within Ashleigh by giving her the authority, freedom, and the

responsibility to venture out into the organization and build her

own networks.

3. What issues can be observed in the case that relate to gender and

age diversity?

- The issue is first observed in the way Bill Blodget, Ashleighs 1st

job manager interacts with her. He is very distant, not

engaging, appears to be always busy, and not helpful. This

could possibly be for the reasons Pat mentioned that Bill is

used to working alone, and being out of his comfort zone by

taking on a mentee. The issue was later confirmed by several

of the individuals Ashleigh conversed with about her

challenges. Mark her office mate mentioned that not too many


3/4


guys on the team are going to be happy about being assigned

a new hire, especially a female. This was also confirmed by

her career mentor, Audrey, who informed her that women tend

to face various challenges working in the male-dominated

environment at BDS, She was the individual who encouragedAshleigh to get involved with the BDS Women Inventors Group.

Thirdly, Ashleighs conversation with Richard was also affirming

of the lack of gender and possibly age diversity at BDS. Richard

kept pointing out the fact that she was a female by calling her

maam, and even having to confirm that she did not know how

to operate a simple screw driver. For someone who has two

engineering degrees, Im sure that was a bit insulting, and

probably would not have come up if she was a male.

4. The structural changes that were executed at BDS were prompted

by the need to improve business sales. How did the

reorganization of the BDS Technology Group and subsequent

reduction in workforce impact Ashleighs perception of job

security and her decision to leave the company?

- Ashleigh was already feeling worried about her position at BDS,

and this made her feel even more vulnerable. She didnt feel

like she had a secure place at BDS, because not she was new,

the youngest member with the least amount of experience,

and on top of that, her manager knew she was not being fullyutilized by the team. She had a weakened sense of job security,

and she knew it was time to intensify her job search and find a

place where she will be fully utilized, and she felt she was

useful.

5. If you were employed by BDS and also worked in the same

department with Ashleigh, what advice would you give her about

her situation? Could Ashleigh have done anything differently to

prevent being placed in the situation, or was she merely a victim

of circumstance.

- Ashleigh took the necessary steps that she needed to take, and

she stuck with her gut with finding what was right for her, i.e.

she did not let the advice from the new manager influence

what was right for her. She was honest with her supervisors

and herself. She was proactive in finding a position, and she

never gave up.


4/4


- I think in this case she was the victim of circumstance. She

could have asked more questions before taking the position,

but I see it more as a valuable experience that will allow her to

understand what to look for in the future to expand her career

growth.

case 4 entrepreneurship

Documents