Margulan Abzalov

Pre-Class Assignment
MGMT 614 Class XVII
December 4, 2015
Dr. Deidra Schleicher

MGMT 614 (Fall 2015)

EMBA Class XVII

Name: Margulan Abzalov

Wolfgang Keller Case Assignment

1.

What is your analysis of the situation facing Keller as he returns to Kiev?

Keller had some time off from Kiev operations and a chance to rethink his stands with his
employee Brodsky. The overall dissatisfaction with an employee has been there for a second year
now and he is unfortunately still seeking for an exit and has not made his mind.
It is seems like the relationship between Keller and Brodsky went south straight from the beginning,
so we may assume that Brodsky did not make a good first impression.
Both characters are way opposite from each other in all personality dimensions: agreeableness,
conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness and extroversion.
Brodsky is an introvert who has poor social skills, unable to easily open up and break the ice in new
relationships.
The diametric polarity of personality dimensions is probably one of the main reasons for the
continued tension in the relationship.
The situation is sensitive and Keller cant just get rid of unwanted employees, since the company is
very transparent and does not tolerate any mismanagement of human capital. The company also
has a very advanced and well documented performance review process, with records of each
interaction that are stored in personal files.
As of now, Keller does not question his coaching technics with Brodsky, but soon must find a way to
improve it. His own performance review feedback also sends him a signal for a need to revisit his
management/coaching style and leave behind some old habits and obsolete mental models.
2.

What is your assessment of Brodskys performance? Please be specific.

Well, sales are up and definitely Brodsky plays a positive role in that growth. His approach may be
not well accepted by some clients but definitely must be working with others.
He has a solid and tested by time strong personal position on the utility of efforts he must invest in to
each activity. He is not the type who will pursue miracle opportunities and waste organizational
efforts on them. He would chase customer for payment until his own experience leads him to believe
effort will be fruitful rather than futile. This will save company tons of resources, but of course will
leave some money on table in some occasions.
Brodsky is a great delegator and that alone helps Keller to develop a strong growing local team of
sales professionals.
Brodsky definitely has some shortcomings and got is somewhat complacent at work place. This can
clearly be seen in the example of poor follow-up efforts for the annual distributors meeting.
3.

How effective has Keller been as a coach to Brodsky? Why?

EMBA Class XVII

In my view Keller does a poor job coaching Brodsky even though the performance review process is
well presented and documented. At least both parties know their expectations and no games played
in the background.
While I can appreciate Keller is eager to get things done right, but he continues to interfere and
micromanages his subordinates work. I do not see anywhere in the case where Keller tried to really
understand Brodskys personality dimension and what motivates him. Keller still has no idea what
Brodskys goals, personal stand, and carrier inspirations are.
I am pretty sure Keller also failed to properly communicate with Brodsky on all his expectations and
performance metrics set up for a team.
4.
What are the underlying causes of Brodskys performance problems? Based on this,
What actions should Keller take upon returning to Kiev? Be specific.
Being local and more experienced, Brodsky has a much clear vison on amount of time required for
specific actions to take place, however this knowledge comes as a curse as it is leading his
decisions and somewhat reluctance to jump on to problems immediately. That reluctance is a sore
point with Keller and his style to jump on to problems straight away.
By calling everyone Vy, he is expecting the same respect and approach to his person. This will
continue to build a wall between him and surrounding people who are much younger and like to
socialize with each other.
Keller must improve poor coaching skills and must engage Brodsky to find some common grounds
and break the ice so that they can get to know each other better.
Keller definitely must stop any micromanagement habits and assure full trust towards his direct
reports.
Splitting some job functions /accounts and letting Brodsky to utilize his strong management skills
may be also a good idea moving forward.
4.

What are the implications for Kellers development as a leader?

The issue with Brodsky is a great opportunity for Keller to mature as a leader and revisit his
management style and ways of coaching. His micromanagement style is so obvious; that it is even
well known in corporate headquarters and his direct managers wants him to overcome it.
He should learn to recognize and embrace his new higher-management role requirements in this
bigger corporation and move away from his old habits and trends carried from the past.
Shall Keller make a mistake on handling Brodsky, it may have long lasting damaging implications on
his career, especially in a firm that has such well conducted and documented process on
performance reviews.

EMBA Class XVII