Q1) Ting works for an export company in China. Last year, Ting encountered a financial difficulty because her bank required her to have a large deposit in order to buy a house. Ting approached the owner of the company and requested to receive her salary for the next half year in advance. The owner listened to her situation and convened a meeting with other high-level managers.

After discussion, the company decided not only to pay for her salary in advance but also to assign a team of people to help her move into her new house. Afterward, Ting became even more dedicated to her job and the organization. She was already a good performer, but she became one of the best employees in the company. She proactively advocated and protected the reputation of the company outside the organization.

For example, an unsatisfied customer once complained about the service of the bank during a dinner party Ting was attending. Noticing the customer's dissatisfaction, she interrupted the customer and promised that she would take him to lunch where they would talk and solve his problem.

Lisa had recently graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in accounting and landed her dream job as an accountant/analyst at a financial services company. Lisa was excited about the new opportunity to showcase her skills and contribute to the company. On her first day, Lisa arrived early to make a good impression. Her new boss, Samantha, didn't give Lisa a tour of the department. To make matters worse, no one in the office acknowledged her presence or introduced themselves to her.

Samantha quickly put Lisa to work, however. Her first task was to prepare a bank reconciliation. She had completed similar tasks in class, but this was more complex. Lisa began working on it but got stuck. She went to Samantha for help, but Samantha told her to figure it out by herself.

Lisa was shocked at Samantha's response and felt overwhelmed by her new job. She returned to her desk and continued to work on the reconciliation, which took her 3 days to complete. Although she was proud of herself for completing it, she was still hurt that her boss wouldn't help her and worried that she was not capable of handling her new position. Over the next year that Lisa worked for the company, Samantha never provided Lisa feedback on her work or provided any training beyond the videos on harassment and discrimination required by corporate headquarters. As a result, Lisa spent most of her days in her office alone. After a year, she took a job at another company.

Questions

1. Compare the experiences of the two employees (Ting and Lisa). Which boss would you rather work for? Why?

2. Think about the leadership theories that were covered in this chapter, and determine which leadership styles are exemplified in the two scenarios. Which ones should have been used?

3. What steps could Lisa have taken to develop a higher-quality LMX relationship or "manage her boss" more effectively? Do you think this would work in this case? Explain.

4. What were the outcomes for each of the employees and companies in these two scenarios? Thinking about these outcomes, why is it important for organizations to have effective leaders?

Q2) One important statistic in baseball is a pitcher's earned run average, or ERA. This number represents the average number of earned runs given up by the pitcher per nine innings. The following table lists a portion of the ERAs for pitchers playing for the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles as of July 22, 2010; the complete data, labeled ERA, are available on the text website.

a.  Calculate the mean and the median ERAs for the New York Yankees. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

New York

Yankees

Mean

Median

b.  Calculate the mean and the median ERAs for the Baltimore Orioles. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

Baltimore

Orioles

Mean

Median

c. Based solely on your calculations above, which team is likely to have the better winning record?

New York Yankees

Baltimore Orioles