Road Rage at the DMV

Andrew  Wasynczuk; Katherine Baldiga Coffman; Karim  Sameh

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

Road Rage at the DMV

by Andrew Wasynczuk, Katherine Baldiga Coffman and Karim Sameh

Abstract

When Hewlett-Packard Enterprise notified the Rhode Island's Governor's Office that it wouldn't be able to deliver a "fully-functioning" technology upgrade for the Department of Motor Vehicles, both parties had reached a breaking point. While HPE argued that it would need more money to complete the system, the Governor's cabinet was convinced that HPE was violating its contractual obligations. The case covers Rhode Island's perspective of the strategic maneuvering each side made in preparation for anticipated adjudication.

Keywords: Rhode Island; Department of Motor Vehicles; Hewlett Packard; Hewlett Packard Enterprise; HP; HPE; negotiation; dispute resolution; litigation; Governor; government; dispute; Negotiation Process; Conflict and Resolution; Technology Industry; Rhode Island;

Language: English

Format: Print

11 pages

Educators

Citation:

Wasynczuk, Andrew, Katherine Baldiga Coffman, and Karim Sameh. "Road Rage at the DMV." Harvard Business School Case 918-013, February 2018.

We run an experiment that features a novel task with deliberation to explore how stereotypes shape group decision-making. We find that women are less likely to be rewarded for their ideas in male-typed domains when gender is known. This is partly due to discrimination, and partly due to differences in self-promotion. External analysis of the chat data provides further insights. Though men and women do not vary in their communication styles, coders display pervasive stereotypes, associating warmth with women and competence and negativity with men. We also find that warmer participants, particularly warmer women, are under-rewarded by their groups.

We explore how beliefs respond to noisy information about own ability across a range of tasks, with a particular focus on how gender stereotypes impact belief updating. Participants in our experiments take tests of their ability across different domains. Absent feedback, beliefs of own ability are strongly influenced by gender stereotypes. We then provide noisy feedback about own absolute performance to participants and elicit posterior beliefs. Gender stereotypes have significant predictive power for posterior beliefs, both through their influence on prior beliefs (as predicted by a Bayesian model) but also through their influence on updating. Both men and women’s beliefs are more responsive to information in gender congruent domains than gender incongruent domains. This is primarily driven by differential reactions to exogenously-received good news about own ability: both men and women react more to good news when it arrives in a gender congruent domain than when it arrives in a gender incongruent domain. Our results have important implications for understanding how feedback shapes gender gaps in self-assessments.

This case follows Amira Rashad as she founds BulkWhiz, a Dubai-based buy-in-bulk grocery delivery platform. Following its launch in September 2017, BulkWhiz experiences rapid growth of 30 percent per month in the United Arab Emirates. Despite this initial success, Rashad finds herself at a critical juncture just nine months later, with a number of internal and external negotiations awaiting her. First, she is eager to convince her Chief Technology Officer to come on-board full-time, and needs to finalize details on his transition and compensation. Second, she is wrestling with how to expand her business beyond the UAE market. Finally, she is seeking series A fundraising, to fuel the company’s growth. How should she approach and sequence these negotiations, and what obstacles might loom?

Faculty & Research

Road Rage at the DMV

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