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Essay / paper - 1022
Donna Dubinsky worked at Apple, Inc., as director of distribution and sales administration throughout the mid-1980s. She enjoyed great success during his first two years with the company and was in charge of six warehouses, inventory, distribution and customer relations. However, problems began to arise when the president and CEO of the company's Macintosh division, Steve Jobs, proposed changing the distribution system to the "just-in-time" method. The move threatened Ms. Dubinsky's job, primarily because it proposed eliminating the six distribution centers that were under her control. This is where the problems started to arise. Dubinsky attempted to cite his experience with distribution centers; Still, Mr. Jobs's proposal continues to gain traction throughout the company. While this was happening, Ms. Dubinsky attempted to prove that she had power within the company. One source of power she believed she possessed was expert power. She believed she held expert power, which is described as the individual's ability to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills valued by others. This form of power fits Ms. Dubinsky well; mainly because she considered distribution to be her area of expertise. Additionally, she believed that her background within the company would carry full weight when her judgment was tested. To her surprise, it didn't hold up when she and Debi Coleman, director of manufacturing, had a conflict over the company's distribution. Ms. Dubinsky failed to relay her message throughout the company and thought her clout and experience would be enough for people to trust her. This proved ineffective when she had a conversation... middle of paper... maybe she could have defended the distribution system. If Ms. Dubinsky had had a network of friends and colleagues made up of several different groups of people and linked together by her, she might have been better able to defend the system. According to the article, these connections can stimulate creative problem solving, which would have been helpful during any deadlocked meetings. Dubinsky should have used her power to make herself visible and heard, which would have helped prevent the ultimatum. She assumed she had more power and influence than she actually did, which turned out to be a problem when upper management started wanting a reason why her way was better than the way just in time. Additionally, she had many sources of power, but refused to use them properly, thus reducing the power she actually had..