case analysis/leadership Challenge --------4-6 page

Challenge LDR6120 Organizational Leadership 0% COMPLETE

Three vertical lines aligned to the leftNavigating Organizational Transitions Challenge LDR6120 Organizational Leadership 0% COMPLETE Home Lesson 1 of 1 Navigating Organizational Transitions

The CEO of Callan Games Inc. has hired you as a consultant for a series of employee transitions that they anticipate facing over the next few years. You have been tasked with investigating their options.

Callan Games Inc. logo

Company Profile

Callan Games, an established toy company, is becoming one of the nation’s fastest growing educational board game company, producing up to 50 educational board games for adults and children.   They have a presence in North America, Europe and India.  This is an exciting time for the company - Callan Games is experiencing tremendous growth!

However, it is also experiencing some key employee transitions as many of the company’s key executives are nearing retirement.

History and Facts:

One of the keys to the company’s growth has been the innovative toys that it has created.  Many of the toys are STEM based, and both parents and teachers can’t seem to get enough of them.  All the toys have received favorable reviews.   One of the most recent games was highlighted by a Youtube reviewer as a “must buy”. The company’s innovation is based on its talented team, it’s strong analytical work which has identified untapped markets, and it’s strong presence with social media.  The company has been identified as one of the best places to work in Massachusetts and in Bangalore.   The company has a strong recruiting pipeline as candidates see it as a fun and desirable place to work. 

The company’s marketing team is highly respected.  It’s key players, Mateo Baker,  Aparna Fields and Nafissa Chambers often speak at industry conferences.   The company is looking for leaders who are strong talent managers and can enhance the analytical and social media skills that the company is known for. Midcareer candidates with extensive experience within a particular industry- for example, sports team management-may find that their insider's insight gives them a boost over the competition for a marketing role within their industry niche, and this is particularly true for Callan Games has been focusing on STEM toys.

Note:

The global toy industry is a billion-dollar industry dominated by five main players: Mattel, Namco Bandai, Lego, Hasbro and Callan Games*. American toy manufacturing company Mattel is the industry leader with the highest revenue amongst the major toy companies in 2016. Danish company Lego, known for its interlocking plastic bricks, closely followed Mattel with about 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. Tokyo-based Namco Bandai, strong in its domestic market, ranked third in terms of revenue; Hasbro and Callan Games complete the top 5.

*Callan Games Inc. is a pseudynom.

You have received a new email from Lynne.+ Mateo Baker Profile Overview Interview

Meet the Current International Director of Marketing

Mateo has been with Callan Games for over 25 years and has been the Senior Marketing Manager for the last 10 years. Mateo spends a significant part of each day working with cross-functional teams and often provides feedback on the functionality and features of upcoming games.  His ability to work with others is often cited as one of his key strengths and has made an important difference in the company’s ability to roll out new products successfully, despite a team that is spread out in Massachusetts, Bangalore, Poland and the UK.

Mateo has been given the responsibility to oversee the succession and development of his team.  He currently has a team of 14 including 2 Senior Associate Marketing Managers: Aparna Fields and Nafissa Chambers.  Mateo is particularly concerned with development of Aparna and Nafissa as he expects to retire in 1-2 years and one of these two managers would succeed him.   He plans to pick a successor and have them shadow him for his final year so that they would have the skills and institutional knowledge to take on his role successfully.  In addition, he just hired an analyst, Jin Seok, who worked with the team a year ago as part of a coop from Northeastern.  Mateo needs to put together a development plan for Jin as one of the steps in the New Hire program.

A major component of Mateo’s role has been to work with product management teams to understand the changing demographics of Callan’s customer base. As social media has played an increased role both in marketing to the customers, and in the components of the educational games themselves, Mateo has been challenged to keep up.   He has relied heavily on Nafissa’s skills in social media to add value in this area and she often works with the product managers to build highly successful campaigns.

One of the areas that Mateo feels is important for all members of the team is the ability to make data driven decisions.  The team frequently completes brown bag lunches to help them further understand the types of data that is available to them in marketing, how to complete data analysis, and how to use this data in marketing decisions (and product) decisions.  Mateo recognizes that one of the most important skills he brings when making recommendations and decisions is the ability to leverage his insights from the data and “make the leap” when not all desired data is available.  This is a challenging skill to learn and he has seen the strongest application in Aparna, who is comfortable in working in an environment with ambiguity.  

 

Interview Questions:

What is something you would like to see continue after you leave your position?

“One of the initiatives I started that I would love to see carry over is the ‘Community Box’. As our team grew and the distance grew as well, we started sending a care package box to each of our headquarters in other countries to share some items from our homes as a way to get to know each other. Each team that had the box would open it during our scheduled monthly check-in’s and we would spend some time in the beginning sharing stories about items in the box. I found it enjoyable and I know the team members appreciated care packages from different parts of the world. Building rapport remotely can be difficult and this was one of the ways I wanted everyone to feel connected to a team.”

Where do think the Marketing Dept could see some improvement/growth?

“This is an exciting time in the company, we are growing and expanding in so many directions. I think we can and will be able to reach a broader audience. I believe we can have a much stronger social media presence - there are so many ways we can utilize some of the tools that are out there - it was something that was on my radar but I never quite got it.”

How do you manage your responsibilities now versus 10 years ago? Do you have advice for the next International Marketing Director?

“10 years ago I would have told myself to pace myself, which is the advice I can offer now to the next International Marketing Director. As a younger man, I was eager to get started and scheduled quite a number of meetings in different countries a little too close together. Jet lag is a very real thing! There is a lot of work to be done, but the highest quality comes when you are prepared, rested and balanced so I would say learn to pace yourself.”

Nafissa Chambers Profile Overview Interview

Meet the Current Associate Marketing Manager in North America

Nafissa began her career with Google in a marketing role.  After two years, Nafissa left Google to return to school for a graduate degree with a dual major in Marketing and Biology. Nafissa joined Callan Games about 9 years ago.  She has published peer reviewed papers on marketing archetypes for the next generation and is highly regarded for her creative analytical abilities.

Nafissa currently has a team of 3, all located in Massachusetts.  All 3 members of the team tend to be strong introverts who share a love of analytics.  The work tends to be independent and they function more as a group of individual contributors than a team.  Each team member has indicated that they highly respect Nafissa and demonstrate strong loyalty to her. The work they have completed has resulted in company-wide recognition.

About 4 years ago Mateo felt that Nafissa should expand her team and build her leadership skills.  Mateo suggested she add to her team two Marketing Analysts from Bangalore that shared her deep love of analytics.  At first, Nafissa resisted, noting she struggled to give feedback to team members.  Aparna mentored her through the first feedback sessions and Nafissa felt that everything was going well.  However, one of the Marketing Analysts felt that there wasn’t enough communication between him and Nafissa.  Mateo ultimately played a role in trying to smooth things out as they escalated, but the Analyst ultimately left and, at Nafissa’s suggestion, the second Analyst moved to Aparna’s team so that they wouldn’t be isolated from other members of the Bangalore team.  Nafissa loves to take on new responsibilities but since the Bangalore issue, she has sought out activities that challenged her analytical skills and avoided expanding her team.  

In addition to analytics Nafissa has exceptionally strong social media skills.  In fact, her blog about marketing analysis is highly successful and she has been sought out to speak about how to implement social media campaigns effectively.  Nafissa often is consulted from a variety of cross-functional teams within the company on social media tools.

Mateo has discussed career aspirations with Nafissa.  She has told Mateo that her preference would be to continue to limit her role in managing people but she wants to be able to move to the next level.  Mateo believes that Nafissa could make a good manager and has encouraged her to take additional classes and has offered to hire a coach to help her further develop these skills.  However, Mateo is concerned that Nafissa has not followed up on these recommendations.   Nafissa has mentioned recently that she would like to think about exploring additional education opportunities and perhaps pursuing a PhD if she could do it concurrently with her current role.  Nafissa noted that she does not want an academic career but is interested in expanding her learning so that she can take the next step.

Interview Questions:

Tell me about something you are proud of from the last year.

“I feel like I’ve had a really good year - one of the things I really enjoyed this year was starting the ‘Callan Games Blog’. I have been wanting to be more creative with my work and this blog has given me that opportunity. I think sometimes aspects of my job are so group oriented, which can be great in it’s own way, but having a project I can work on solo has been really great.”

Tell me about some area of your job you would like to improve.

“I have been working with Jin, our new intern and I haven’t quite figured out what projects I want him working on. I think I have been a little distracted with my own work and haven’t dedicated enough time to giving him as much feedback as I would like.”

What are your aspirations for the future?

“Honestly, starting this blog showed me that I want to work on more creative projects - I taught myself Wordpress and have been learning HTML in my spare time. I would really like to take on some of the bigger creative projects. We don’t have a presence in social media for our educational board games and I think we are missing out on connecting with a whole demographic of people.”

Aparna Fields Profile Overview Interview

Meet the Current Associate Marketing Manager in Bangalore

Aparna joined Callan Games 10 years ago, after 5 years of significant marketing experience with Mattel.  She brings a breadth and depth of knowledge to the team in the toy and gaming area and has often times been sought out by the product management team to lead focus groups when gathering complex marketing data or to provide insights on product development.

Aparna was initially promoted to team lead after just one year with the company.  Mateo asked her to help resolve an issue between the budding teams in Bangalore and Poland about 7 years ago.  Aparna was able to learn about the different cultures, and through visits to the locations, turned the situation around and built a strong partnership between the two offices.  Ultimately, Mateo promoted her to managing the teams in Bangalore, Poland and the UK. Mateo was confident Aparna’s strong people skills, and saw this as an opportunity to deepen Aparna’s experience and advance her career.  Aparna currently has a team of about 20 and consistently receives high marks from her team’s employee engagement surveys.  About 5 years ago Mateo provided her with the opportunity to be the official liaison between product development and marketing and has received excellent feedback.

Aparna has strong analytical skills but it is not her preferred way to spend her time.  She tends to let the team complete the analysis, and is able to quickly glean insights and can “make the leap” when the data is incomplete.  Aparna completed her MBA through an Executive Marketing MBA program about 6 years ago.

Mateo has discussed Aparna’s career aspirations with her and she is hungry for more challenges.  The product development team has requested that Aparna expand her liaison role so that they can leverage her insights and expertise as they work to develop a new product.  Mateo has also discussed building her skills in social media (where her knowledge is limited) and looking at next steps in marketing team.  Aparna seems excited about the idea (and always interested in learning more) but has also noted that the idea of moving into the product development team, with new challenges and opportunities for growth, intrigues her.

Questions:

Tell me about something you are proud of from the last year.

“This past year has been extremely productive. We launched a new educational board game campaign here and managed a successful partnership with some of the local schools and Universities. When I switched from the London office, to here in Bangalore, I was eager to get started, albeit a little apprehensive about my new team. I had only met some of them via conference call but I felt connected to them because of the ‘Community Box’ we share at our meetings. Once we got into the groove of working together we were all able to cultivate some great connections with local businesses and schools - it’s been exciting to be part of the new direction of the company.”

Tell me about some area of your job you would like to improve.

“I still feel like there are connections to be made and I would love to be a part of making these connections on a global scale for the company. My work in both London and Bangalore has been similar and I feel because I have worked with both teams I am able to bring them together and work collaboratively. I hope to establish a working relationship with some of the other offices so we can share some ideas - even if it’s just brainstorming sessions about projects. We’ve had such great success with schools here I’d love to keep going with this idea in our other markets.”

What are your aspirations for the future?

“I definitely feel like I am ready for some bigger challenges - working internationally has been extremely rewarding and I feel like I am only starting my journey in this role. I know there are places we can expand and improve and I’m hoping to have some influence in these decisions. I love working with the teams and feel I can see their potential in each project they work on - I want to be a part of helping each team member realize their potential.”

Jin Seok Profile Overview Interview

Meet the New Hire Intern

Jin worked with the Callan Games Marketing team as part of his coop from Northeastern when he was pursuing his undergraduate degree.  He worked with both Nafissa and Aparna and received strong reviews from both.  

Jin spent most of his time as an intern researching top competitors and putting together spreadsheet data for the team.  In his discussions with Mateo he mentioned that he loved the research but would like to be more involved in some of the design discussions.  He is particularly excited about the new re-branding  that the company is going through.  He suggested, and Mateo agreed to, the opportunity to shadow a number of people within the department, to better understand the role each person plays.

Jin has a lot of energy and is highly motivated.  He is excited about working with the company and embraces all new opportunities.  He has followed every recommendation that Mateo has suggested, eagerly absorbing articles, happily attending classes, and meeting with at least one person every day in his networking plan.  One of the challenges that Mateo has observed is that Jin sometimes struggles to fully finish a project before starting a new one.  Jin is also ambitious and has already spoken to Mateo about the opportunities for promotion and how long he should expect to be in the current role before he moves up (Mateo wasn’t completely surprised by this since he experienced this with another intern).

Jin completed a self-assessment against the company’s competency model and was fair in his reflections.  He has put together a draft development plan but Mateo feels it lacks focus (it contains too many skills and underestimates how much time is required to build skills.

Mateo wants to help Jin think through an effective plan and doesn’t want to diminish his enthusiasm.

Interview Questions:

Tell me about something you are proud from your work here.

“It’s been really great getting to know the team and understanding everyone’s role. I’ve been mainly researching our top competitors in the educational learning market and putting together spreadsheet data for Nafissa.”

Tell me about some area of your job you would like to improve.

“Although the research is obviously really necessary and I am happy to learn I really want to be more involved in some of the design discussions. I hoping to learn more about the re-branding we are going through - I know there are so many incredible people who work here and I would love a chance to see what each of them does and maybe help with more projects.”

What are your aspirations for the future?

“This position has been so eye-opening for me. Working in a large company and seeing how everything comes together. I think in a couple of years I would like to get my MBA but I am hoping to get some experience first to really know what direction I’d like to go in. I have a side business where I screen print t-shirts and sell them online and I love the design aspect of that work and would love to combine that passion with a future career.”

You have received a new email from Lynne.+

Action Plan

Action Items:

1. Development Plan for Nafissa

Please write and submit a development plan for Nafissa Chambers.

2. Development Plan for Aparna

Please write and submit a development plan for Aparna Fields.

3. Succession Plan

Based on your findings of the employees you conducted interviews with, write a succession plan on how best to proceed with professional development/training for these employees. Please indicate what you think each employees strengths and areas for improvement are and outline the next steps for improving and addresses these issues.

Learning Resources

• SMACKing Talent Aquisition: an article by Cognizant Business Consultants

• What the Best Mentors Do

• How Retiring Baby Boomers Affect the Job Market

• How to Manage Different Generations

• How to Make 9 Box Succession Planning Work for You