Managing Organizational Behavior 2nd Edition by Timothy Baldwin,Bill Bommer,Robert Rubin

Exercise 22

Making the Case for People Management Skills
You have been asked to serve on a committee at your firm and make recommendations for cutting costs in response to a weak economy and a downturn in revenue. The very first meeting is kicked off by your company president who goes around to each committee member with the goal of identifying any "untouchables"-that is, those areas that committee members feel should be off limits to cuts or at least targeted as a last resort. Unfortunately, you are seated at the immediate right of your president and he asks you to go first. You take the opportunity to suggest that the firm should do nothing that would detract from the quality of people management you have or erode the people-oriented culture. You even quote from your long-lost organizational behavior textbook (burned in a weenie roast celebration years ago) that " few things matter more to the success of a firm than the way people feel about how they are managed. " The president seems to accept this.
But the VP of Research and Technology is so angry he is about to burst a blood vessel. He rises and in an angry tone says, "With all due respect, I have to say that all this stuff about the importance of people management strikes me as nonsense. I have nothing against our management development efforts, but if you give me the same amount of money for new technology and research funding, I will turn it into far more of a benefit for this firm than we will get from trying to improve our managerial performance. In fact, I have two specific problems: (1) I see no connection between the quality of our people management and important outcomes that relate to our "bottom line," and (2) good people management is so fuzzy that there really is no way to determine who is doing a good job and who is not, anyway."
The president nods. "Hmm, he may have a point." He then looks at you and says, "I suspect you disagree. So go ahead and make a business case for me as to why we should devote significant resources to building better people management and a people-oriented culture. But I don't want any soft 'touchy-feely' babble. Be specific and use examples."