WRITTEN ANALYSIS AND

COMMUNICATION
IIM INDORE

Instructor: Prof. Madhushree Shrivastava

Submitted By:
Amit Kumar Rath
2011IPM013
Section - H

Letter of Transmittal
Ms. Madhushree Srivastava, Professor
Business Communication Area
IIM Indore
Pithampur- Rau Road
Prabandh Shikhar
Indore 453 331
February 10, 2015
Subject- Written Analysis and Communication- Individual Assignment
Dear Maam,
As advised, I am submitting the attached report entitled Gen Y in the Workforce.
This report examines and analyses the hierarchy and relationship between Sarah Bennett and her
associate Josh Lewis. It puts forward the details of the conflict created. The report presents the
alternatives and recommendation regarding the same. Based on various evaluation criteria I
recommend Sarah to Go ahead with Joshs idea but make him understand the importance of
organizational hierarchy and chain of command as it would be beneficial to all the stakeholders.
I hope you find this report satisfactory. Please let me know if any clarifications are required.
Yours Sincerely,
Amit Kumar Rath
2011IPM013
Group 8, Section H
IIM Indore

Executive Summary
Rising Entertainment, a large multimedia production and distribution house is
looking for ways to promote and market its new Five Force Five film. Sarah Benett
the marketing head suggests going forward with the traditional marketing plan
while her associate Josh Lewis has novel ideas of promoting the movie through the
online platform. Joshs ordeal with the CEO, Sam Smithstone has led to a huge
upheaval with Sarah clueless on how she should go ahead with the meeting of the
executives. Based on various evaluation criteria I recommend Sarah to Go ahead
with Joshs idea but make him understand the importance of organizational
hierarchy and chain of command. This would result in a win-win situation for all the
stakeholders of the decision.

Situation Analysis
Rising Entertainment, one of the top three multimedia production and distribution
houses in the world is coming up with the sequel of its successful Five Force Five
film. The responsibility of prepping the promotions, advertising and branding plan
for the film is on Sarah Benett, the marketing chief of the movie division of Rising
Entertainment who in turn has assigned the task of crunching U.S. and international
film sales, attendance and merchandising to Josh Lewis, a marketing associate. The
presentation to the CEO, head of distribution and other unit leaders is due on the
coming Friday and with very few days left on her hand, Sarah is trying her best to
make sure her ideas are accepted at the meeting and that the films launch would
be a great success.
Sarah Benett an MBA from New York Universitys Stern School of Business had
climbed up her way in Rising Entertainment from an entry-level copywriter, to a
marketing associate, to the marketing head over a span of 10 years. Being from
Gen X and an experienced stalwart at the studio she understood the importance of
hierarchy and the chain of command in an organization and was pretty risk-averse.
She had discouraged Joshs idea of going online with the promotional plan citing
reasons of past failure and low budget and wanted to present her traditional
marketing plan at the meeting. She was looking at this as an opportunity to step up
the corporate ladder as EVP of international business development or family films.
Josh a recent graduate of University of Southern California had majored in business,
communication and films and had a vision of making films that offered strong social
commentary. Josh had joined Rising Entertainment with the belief that the
multinational studio would offer plenty of excitement and opportunity to learn new

things and tackle challenging tasks being assigned to him. But with most of his time
being spent on mundane and ancillary projects for the last 10 months at Rising
Entertainment, he did not feel motivated anymore. He is bored with the current data
crunching task for the Five Force Film assigned to him and is not on board with the
traditional marketing plan as put forward by his boss, Sarah Benett. Being from Gen
Y he cares less about the organizational hierarchy and chain of command and
believes on his ideas. He even mocked her idea to go ahead with aggressive TV and
Print ad campaign for the movie and subsequently got his idea of going online with
the promotion plan for the movie rejected by Sarah and her team.
Josh had accidentally crossed paths with the CEO of Rising Entertainment, Sam
Smithstone. He leveraged this opportunity to present his ideas of going online with
the promotional and marketing campaign for the film to Sam. Sam being reminded
of his daughter and impressed by Joshs ideas invited him to present them at the
meeting with proper forecasts. Just before the meeting he congratulated Sarah for
nurturing upcoming talent and informed her about Josh. Sarah being clueless about
the whole ordeal had to decide her further course of action just 10 minutes prior to
the meeting.

Problem Statement
What should be Sarahs further course of action with just 10 minutes left for the
meeting?

Options
1. Go ahead with Joshs idea and encourage him to come up with such creative
ideas in the future.
2. Go ahead with Joshs idea but make him understand the importance of
organizational hierarchy and chain of command.
3. Politely ask Josh to withdraw his idea but assure him that his ideas will be
taken into consideration from next time.
4. Report Joshs disobedience and get him fired and go ahead with her own
ideas.

Evaluation Criteria
1.
2.
3.
4.

Success of the film

Impact on organization
Impact on Sarahs career
Impact on Joshs career

Evaluation of options:

Option
Option
Option
Option

1
2
3
4

Success of the
film
Positive
Positive
Negative
Negative

Impact on
organization
Negative
Positive
Positive
Negative

Impact on
Sarahs career
Negative
Negative
Positive
Positive

Impact on
Joshs career
Positive
Positive
Negative
Negative

Option 1:
If Sarah goes ahead with this option then it will have a positive impact on the
success of the film as the external environment has changed a great deal. People
dont watch local TV channels anymore whereas there has been a great shift of
people towards the online media channels and thus it will ensure greater
viewership. Impact on organization will be negative as junior associates would no
longer respect their bosses and would report to higher level executives on every
objection or idea they have. Sarah would no longer be able to leverage this
opportunity for her future growth thus having a negative impact on her career. Josh
would get a great career start with the acceptance of his ideas and thus the option
will have a positive impact on his career.

Option 2:
If Sarah chooses this option then it will definitely ensure the success of the film.
Disciplining Josh after the meeting would ensure that no other subordinate breaks
the chain of command at the studio and everyone understands the organizational
hierarchy clearly. Although it will be a temporary setback in Sarahs career but it
would give her chance to bond properly with the associates. This option will also
lead to a positive impact on Joshs career.

Option 3:
Asking Josh to withdraw his ideas might not result in success of the movie as
traditional marketing plan would not attract the audiences much. It will have a
positive impact on the organization as it would send a direct signal that respect
should be earned through proper means. Sarah might be able to jump the career
ladder this way but it would be a discourage Josh to a great extent.

Option 4:
This option would again put the success of the movie in question and would mean a
career end for Josh. It would send a signal that upcoming talent is not motivated at
the studio thus negatively impact the companys image. But it might result in a
promotion for Sarah.

Recommendation
As per the above evaluation of options, I recommend Sarah to go ahead with option
2 i.e. go ahead with Joshs idea but make him understand the importance of
organizational hierarchy and chain of command as it results in maximum benefits.

Action Plan
1. Sarah should go through Joshs work prior to the meeting with a fine comb so
as to ensure his plan is feasible.
2. She should encourage Josh to present his ideas to the senior executives and
support him throughout the meeting.
3. After the meeting she should communicate directly to Josh the rules he broke
at workplace and suggest him to channel his ideas through her before
presenting it to the executives in the future.
4. She should give Josh a warning to keep him in control, but at the same time
she should communicate to him that she would be receptive to his ideas in
the future.