Case Study week $3$:

Tim Walker looked over the recent sales data with satisfaction. As the vice president of marketing at Moo Delights, inc, a major northern mik products producer, he was thrilled to note that the campaign to rejuvenate the sales of Moo Delights' luxury ice cream range was proving effective. Sales volume and market share had seen a noticeable uptick in the last two quarters when compared to the year before.

The surge in sales for Moo Delights' luxury ice cream was largely attributed to Elise Matthews. Matthews had come onboard less than two years earlier as an assistant brand manager after leaving a similar position at another food company. One of the few women of color in marketing management at Moo Delights, her trajectory within the company looked promising. Walker was consistently impressed by Matthews' efforts and always made it a point to highlight her contributions in annual performance assessments. The departure of a colleague from the role of market research analyst offered him the perfect chance to reward Matthews. While the role came with a slight bump in pay and was more of a lateral move, the experience of working as a market research analyst would offer Matthews valuable insights and potentially elevate her career at Moo Delights. Many were unaware that Walker's own climb up the corporate ladder had started in a similar position years ago.

Elise Matthews had also seen the positive numbers for the luxury ice cream sales and anticipated a call from Walker. Walker, starting the conversation with the good sales news, quickly moved on to the crux of the matter $-$ offering her the position of market research analyst. Matthews was taken aback. She thrived in brand management, relishing the responsibility that came with handling products pivotal to the company's bottom line. The role of a market research analyst, in her eyes, was more of a support role and was quite distant from activities that directly impacted revenue. This wasn't the typical path to the C$-$suite in many firms, and Matthews felt she'd been sidelined.

Taking a moment to collect herself, Matthews could only muster a faint, "Thank you, Mr$.$ Walker." She wanted time to process and understand where she might have erred. Additionally, she wasn't familiar enough with Walker to challenge the decision on the spot.

Walker noticed Matthews' surprise and mistook it for delight, assuming she was excited about this new phase in her career. He had experienced a similar transition early in his career, and it had been beneficial. "This transition will be mutually beneficial for both you and Moo Delights," said Walker, leading Matthews out of his office.

Reflecting on the day later, Matthews was torn. As one of the prominent women and one of the few minorities in brand management at Moo Delights, she worried she was being sidelined because of her gender or ethnicity. Her past employer had indicated that women weren't cut out for aggressive marketing roles and often shuffled them into support roles after a short stint in brand management. it seemed to Matthews that Tim Walker and Moo Dellights had a similar mindset. Now, Matthews faced the tough decision of whether to confront Walker and challenge Moo Delights' potentially biased practices or to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Questions:

How do personal experiences and biases influence employee and manager?

What communication strategies can be employed by senior management to avoid misunderstandings

What perceptual errors are apparent in this situation?

What can organizations do to minimize misperceptions in decision$-$making and communication processes?