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THE CASE OF JULIA DOBBINS

(Excerpt from the 2nd ed. of The Portable MBA in Management, Ch. 5 Power, Politics,

and Influence: Savvy and Substance in Organizations by Anne Donnellon.)

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Julia Dobbins has been the manager of systems engineering for APEX, Inc., a medium-sized software manufacturer, for the five years since graduating from her MBA program.

(See Fig. 5.2 for an organization chart of the company.) Dobbins first performance in

that position made her a logical choice to lead the team being assembled to develop and

market software systems for the financial services sector. She knows that herpresentation at the upcoming management retreat could be critical to the decision of

whether to give her the high-profile assignment. Her analysis will have to be perfect and

her recommendations thorough to counter the inevitable criticism from Bart Evans,

manager of systems design. However, until Julia has resolved the heated dispute betweenher engineers and the marketing professionals, she cannot give full attention to the

presentation.

Lately, conflict seems to flare up regularly between the systems engineers who are

designing new software products and the marketing professionals who translatespecialized customer needs into product specifications. Customers are becoming more

price conscious and demanding higher performance in their software. Although APEX

enjoys a dominant position in the market, the recent entry of many new competitors has

resulted in a shift of strategic emphasis from technological innovation to meetingcustomers special requirements. For the systems engineers, who report to Julia, the shift

means that their jobs are no longer as innovative and challenging as they used to be.Furthermore, because recent cost-control measures have led to some layoffs, theengineers have to do more work in less time.

Julia understands the frustration and resentment they feel when the marketing staff keepsinsisting on adding new features without altering product delivery dates. When Andy

Mazur, her top designer, complained about the pressure tactics from marketer Rachel

Hoffman, the situation was serious. But Dobbins also knows that the engineers are

having a hard time adjusting to their new, subordinate role in the organization.Eventually, they will have to learn how to cooperate with marketing. In the meantime,

she wonders if she should intervene directly with Vince Novello, the marketing manager,

to work out a means for resolving these disputes once and for all.

She hesitates before picking up the phone: Vince is not the easiest person to get along

with. He always seems overworked and defensive. His response to this matter willprobably be that he will order his people to cooperate more and Julia should do likewise.

Perhaps she should take the matter with Linda Behan, Vinces boss. As two of the most

senior women in the company, Julia feels that she and Linda have a special relationship.

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Linda would probably be more understanding of the engineers concerns than Vince,

Julia says to herself. Besides, I could use this issue as an opportunity to ask her if she

knows who will become the financial services team leader.

Julia feels certain that Linda and Tom Hurdy, her own boss, will be supporting her.

However, she is less sure of Dwight Kidder, the division vice president. He seems toavoid her though he is always pleasant when they meet and she knows from her bonuses

over the past few years that he has been pleased with her contribution to the organization.

Andy Mazur had told her that many people believe that Dwight favors Bart for theposition because they play golf together. Although Julia found the rumor hard to believe,

she is troubled by the fact she had also heard it from someone outside the company. Don

Culvert, Julias brother-in-law and also one of APEXs big financial services clients, told

her that Dwight had introduced Bart to him at the golf course as the newest star at APEXand as someone he would soon be seeing frequently.

Even more disturbing to Julia than the prospect of her losing the team leader appointment

is the idea of Barts getting it. Not only is he arrogant and uncooperative, but hissuperficial understanding of the technical dimensions of the work and his tendency to

make unrealistic work projections could create significant problems for the clients, thecompany, and the employees. Surely, Tom understands all this and will exercise his

authority to get the most competent person named team leader. Julia will just have to be

certain to show her competence in her presentation to the top management at the retreat.But first, she needs to decide what to do about the conflict between Andy in systems

design and Rachel in marketing.

Questions:

1. What course of action should Julia Dobbins do? Justify your answer.2. Who are the parties she needs to talk to and negotiate with? Why?

3. Which of these is the most critical? Why?

4. Prepare a negotiation strategy for Julia Dobbins.

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Fig. 5.1 Partial Organization Chart for APEX, Inc.

Bart Evans

Manager of Systems

Desi n

Julia Dobbins

Manager of Systems

En ineerin

Vince Novello

Manager ofMarketing

Tom HurdyDir. of Systems

Engineering

Linda BehanDir. of Marketing

Dwight Kidder

Div. Vice President

Rachel Hoffman

Marketer

Andy Mazur

Design Engineer