As the Great Recession continued, Jason, a project manager for the past six years with a large general contracting firm, NewBuild, pondered the burden of being an effective leader and manager in such trying times. He had to make a choice of which of his two most recently hired engineers, Brad or Kerry, would be assigned to the next big construction project. Both were direct reports to Jason for the past nine months. Unfortunately, there was a strong possibility that if the economy continued downward, the one not chosen to be on the new project team could be terminated due to lack of work. Jason, a project manager at NewBuild a large general contracting firm was faced with a staffing dilemma that confronts many managers in tough economic times. He had to decide whom to promote among his two most recently hired engineers to the next big construction project. Unfortunately, there was a strong possibility that the one not chosen to be on the new project team would be terminated due to lack of work. His charge was to take a comprehensive view of the situation and make a decision that was best for Brad, Kerry and NewBuild. As is always the case, a manager has a finite amount of information from which a decision must be made. Complicating matters was the gloomy economy for NewBuild as well as the prospect of providing a challenging job in a no growth environment. This note focuses on issues such as the psychological contract between NewBuild and the new employees as providing a context that serves either to fully engage new employees or which provides a milieu which only ensures physical presence on the job. Jason also needed to consider the extent to which Brad and Kerry engaged in the important skill of upward management. He wanted to stretch his understanding of Level 3 leadership (Clawson, 2009) by carefully sifting through what he knew about Brad and Kerry in order to identify important values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations, (VABEs) arising at the unconscious level that nevertheless direct employee behavior. Finally, he needed to assess the significance of written email communication of lessons learned through Tannen's (1995) lens for understanding stylistic communication differences. Performance appraisal data was also available as were observations of both engineers on a negotiation simulation. Jason had to synthesize this information to form a clear picture in his mind about whom to promote to the project team and who by default is left in limbo perhaps awaiting the pink slip to downsize. This decision critical incident which is based on a true incident in a disguised organization, may be used in the following courses: Management, Leadership, Career Development, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resources Management.
Project management in environmental construction