Martha Rinaldi Case Notes PDF

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Victoria Castagna Dr. Cooper MGT 620 September 4, 2019 Martha Rinaldi 1. Martha Rinaldi chose the position at Potomac Waters because they were a big company with a great reputation. She felt that her position there would give her thorough training in all areas of marketing. However, her first day on the job proved that feeling wrong. After finishing her orientation with human resources, which was only half a day, she reported to her desk where she received an email with absolutely no instruction from her boss, Natalie Follet. It was clear from the start that her superiors were too busy to train, impatient, and even insulting. They had no time to show her the ropes and expected Rinaldi to just catch on quickly. Rinaldi gave this job, as assistant product manager, her best effort. She tried to please her colleague, Jamie Vaughan, by dealing with his rude commentary and blatant disrespect for her workload. She also tried to establish a relationship with her boss Follet but that failed as Follet was also rude, disrespectful, and impatient. Overall Rinaldi was a good employee who chose a job looking to gain superb training when in reality she should have went with a company that offered her more money and a better work environment. 2. According to leader member exchange theory, the quality of the working relationship established by a leader with each follower determines who is in their “in group” and who is in their “out group”. Natalie Follet struggled at making the transition from a star performer to a manager, and this was seen by many members of the staff. It was not hard

to see that Follet had a preference for Vaughan, even though Vaughan and Rinaldi were both product managers. Clearly, Vaughan was in Follet’s group and Rinaldi was not. Follet, for the most part, was not a great leader. She was impatient, insulting, and disrespectful of what Rinaldi brought to the table. The only instance where Follet was an admirable leader was when she went to bat for Rinaldi when Bautista saw her helping out Anna Deutch. It showed that she cared about the people she oversaw, at least to a certain extent. She also gave some good suggestions to Rinaldi during her review which were valid and understandable. Follet should focus on the initial stages of her working relationships, tailoring her style to match employees, and be careful not to make anyone feel alienated. 3. The bases of power proven to be most effective are from personal sources. Rinaldi was skilled in analytics and this was seen in her return on investment projections. She should use those skills as expert power to influence Follet. Follet received great feedback on the presentation with Rinaldi’s calculations. Rinaldi should use this skill to her advantage to not only influence Follet but to create a better working relationship. The other option is to use referent power. Referent power shows that the follower has a desire to emulate the leader. While Follet may not be the best leader, she did move up in the company due to her star performance. Rinaldi could stand to learn something from Follet especially as to how she takes initiative and demonstrates assertiveness. 4. Rinaldi should take the position with the promotions team at Deep Dive Pizza because not only does it pay better but it would also give her more responsibility. She was doing menial work at Potomac Waters and not receiving the training she had hoped for. She would have a $15,000 increase in her salary and enjoy a better working environment

where her efforts would be appreciated. She should contact the CEO who took an interest in her at Deep Dive Pizza, since she still has a good reputation with the company. Rinaldi thought she made a well-researched decision by taking the offer at Potomac Waters, but she only learned the truth by working there. She gave that job her best effort, but it doesn’t seem like a good fit. She has more to gain at Deep Dive Pizza than she ever would Potomac Waters which is exactly why she should leave....