Case Study Analysis: Give Your Colleague the Rating He Deserves or the One He Wants?
Introduction
In modern business, performance evaluation is the key factor that helps define the degree of
reaching employees' objectives, provide feedback, and decide on their career paths. More often
than not, this is not the case in the real world due to social relationships, culture, and ethical
issues. The key player in this case study is the manager, Jamie, who has to assess his peer, Pat,
and choose between writing a truthful report and the report the latter would like. This analysis
will look at the players involved in the scenario, understand the core of the business challenge,
identify strategic factors in the company, and examine the importance of case analysis in the
DBA program. The Case Study Analysis Template helped me follow these steps while
completing the analysis and ensured all these elements were considered.
Key Players and Their Roles
The two key players are Jamie and Pat. Jamie, the manager, should assess Pat based on facts.
However, the complication in this case would be that giving a rating on a more positive note to
keep a good relationship with Pat, who is deemed a good worker, is a factor of consideration in
this case.
The employee that has to be reviewed is Pat; for the increase in rating as well, which would
imply career growth regarding money as well as getting higher placement; therefore, with such
issues at stake, even an ethical dilemma comes about regarding Jamie, as to how his judgment
could be fair related to the performance of Pat's working skills and his ability as his manager to
manage it amidst their personal dynamics with one another.
The less direct but significant players are HR and Senior Leadership. These expectations of the
HR and senior leadership regarding performance evaluations form the organizational culture and
influence Jamie's decision. Further, their need to ensure that the evaluations are fair, consistent,
and merit-based adds to the strategic importance of the case in the overall performance
management system at the company.
Essence of the Business Challenge
Fundamentally, it is a conflict of interest in that you are forced to weigh your relationships with
people against your responsibilities in your job. Evaluating Pat's performance causes two issues
for Jamie: the possibility to rate Pat strictly based on the objective assessment of the performance
and the need to take into account that increasing the rating can have positive effects on the work
relationships but will negatively affect the fairness of the evaluations. Suppose Jamie gives a
higher rating to Pat, which is not deserved. In that case, this will have implications for the
performance management system and, in future, will cause problems in the organizational
culture and employees' trust.
This area fits squarely in the grey area of 'friendship' rather than 'professionalism'. Leaders face
issues when some management decisions involve personal promotion and corporate ethics. This
Introduction
In modern business, performance evaluation is the key factor that helps define the degree of
reaching employees' objectives, provide feedback, and decide on their career paths. More often
than not, this is not the case in the real world due to social relationships, culture, and ethical
issues. The key player in this case study is the manager, Jamie, who has to assess his peer, Pat,
and choose between writing a truthful report and the report the latter would like. This analysis
will look at the players involved in the scenario, understand the core of the business challenge,
identify strategic factors in the company, and examine the importance of case analysis in the
DBA program. The Case Study Analysis Template helped me follow these steps while
completing the analysis and ensured all these elements were considered.
Key Players and Their Roles
The two key players are Jamie and Pat. Jamie, the manager, should assess Pat based on facts.
However, the complication in this case would be that giving a rating on a more positive note to
keep a good relationship with Pat, who is deemed a good worker, is a factor of consideration in
this case.
The employee that has to be reviewed is Pat; for the increase in rating as well, which would
imply career growth regarding money as well as getting higher placement; therefore, with such
issues at stake, even an ethical dilemma comes about regarding Jamie, as to how his judgment
could be fair related to the performance of Pat's working skills and his ability as his manager to
manage it amidst their personal dynamics with one another.
The less direct but significant players are HR and Senior Leadership. These expectations of the
HR and senior leadership regarding performance evaluations form the organizational culture and
influence Jamie's decision. Further, their need to ensure that the evaluations are fair, consistent,
and merit-based adds to the strategic importance of the case in the overall performance
management system at the company.
Essence of the Business Challenge
Fundamentally, it is a conflict of interest in that you are forced to weigh your relationships with
people against your responsibilities in your job. Evaluating Pat's performance causes two issues
for Jamie: the possibility to rate Pat strictly based on the objective assessment of the performance
and the need to take into account that increasing the rating can have positive effects on the work
relationships but will negatively affect the fairness of the evaluations. Suppose Jamie gives a
higher rating to Pat, which is not deserved. In that case, this will have implications for the
performance management system and, in future, will cause problems in the organizational
culture and employees' trust.
This area fits squarely in the grey area of 'friendship' rather than 'professionalism'. Leaders face
issues when some management decisions involve personal promotion and corporate ethics. This
