Bob Knowlton

Bob Knowlton – By: Alex Bavelas

Description

Bob Knowlton, head of the Photon Lab, and Simon Fester, a new member, was introduced in the lab after hours.  Bob Knowlton was newly appointed as the head of the Photon Lab and he was still getting accustomed to leading the team.  Dr. Jerrold, Knowlton’s boss, talked with Knowlton the next day about Fester.  Dr. Jerrold felt Fester was a bright up in comer and could possibly help with the problems they were tackling.  Bob Knowlton feels inferior to Simon Fester and because of the relationship Dr. Jerrold had with Simon Fester he felt he could not go to him or tell him how he felt.  Consequently, Bob Knowlton finds a better position with more salary and takes the job immediately.  This really shocked both Dr. Jerrold and Simon Fester.

Problem

The main problem in this case was Bob Knowlton felt inferior to Simon Fester.  Fester was very intelligent and understood the new results from the test Knowlton’s group were running.  Moreover, this made Knowlton feel uneasy and he assumed Dr. Jerrold was trying to replace him.  Knowlton felt his job was in jeopardy, and because of the relationship that Dr. Jerrold and Simon Fester had he did not discuss his feeling with him.

Theory

The two main theories that ultimately caused Bob Knowlton to resign are the team’s stage of development and the attribution theory.   The Photon Lab Team was in a norming stage of team development.  Bob Knowlton was newly appointed the head of the Photon Lab, but had been there for some time.  The team had been able to do the forming and storming stage of group development, and were in the norming stage prepping to move into the performing stage.  This should help explain the tension between most of the team members.  Lastly, the attribution theory plays a big role because of Bob’s relationship between his personal social perception and his interpersonal behavior.