Management and leadership

MINI CASE STUDY:

ANALYSE THE CASES AND PICK TWO (2) CASES IN WHICH YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMPLETE

YOUR RESEARCH AND CASE ANALYSAIS ON!

PLEASE REMEMBER TO ONLY PICK 2.

Also: Do not Cut/Copy the whole case. Use only the questions and refer back to either the Minicase with the

number or the title when answering.

GOOD LUCK!!

1) Mini-case: Laura Yeager Assumes Command of an Army Infantry

Division

In June 2019, two-star Major General Laura Yeager became the first woman in American history

to assume command of a U.S. Army infantry division, a force of more than 10,000 soldiers.

Yeager, daughter of a (famous) retired general, joined the army to make money for college. She

entered active-duty in 1986 after commissioning as a second lieutenant from the university’s

ROTC program. She completed military helicopter training in 1989 and served as a Black Hawk

pilot for aeromedical evacuation.

Yeager left active duty after eight years when her first son was born, but eventually returned to a

military career. She served in a combat aviation unit in Iraq in 2011 and was promoted to

brigadier general in 2016. In taking command of the 40th Infantry Division, she now leads a

combat unit founded in 1917 and containing a rich history.

The historic milestone of Yeager becoming the first woman to command an American combat

division came nearly a quarter century after a government-financed study determined that

women could serve in the armed forces.

The integration of women into combat roles continues to be the official policy of the U.S.

Department of Defense, but that does not mean it is easy. The military services face an uphill

battle to recruit women for combat roles and they each approach the challenge in their own ways

because of their unique service identities.

1. Do you think there may have been inappropriate political influences contributing to

Yeager’s selection to command the 40th Infantry Division?

2. Do you think her “command style” is fundamentally any different from the men

who have commanded the division in the past?

3. Do you believe women have served effectively in combat situations at any time

throughout history?

4. Do you think others in the division might experience any particular challenges

because their commander is a woman?

2) Mini-Case: Ann Fudge’s Success in Y&R Company’s Management

How do you rescue one of the largest advertising and media services firms in the world from a

downward spiral? That is the question Martin Sorrell faced when his London-based WPP Group

acquired Young & Rubicam in 2000. After many years on top, Y&R was starting to lose

momentum—and clients. Kentucky Fried Chicken, United Airlines, and Burger King had all

decided to take their advertising dollars elsewhere. Sorrell needed to stop the exodus, but how?

Sorrell decided a fresh face was needed and started a search for a dynamic new CEO to revitalize

Y&R. He found such a leader in Ann Fudge.

Ann Fudge was formerly president of Kraft Foods. At Kraft she had been responsible for the

success of the $5 billion division that included well-known brands such as Maxwell House,

Grape Nuts, Shredded Wheat, and General Foods International Coffees. Fudge’s reputation as a

charismatic leader who listens was a major issue for Sorrell when he went looking for a new

CEO for Y&R. Among the talents Fudge had to offer was an ability to interact effectively with

all constituencies of a consumer business. Mattel Chairman and CEO Bob Eckert was Fudge’s

boss when he was president and CEO of Kraft. Of Fudge, Eckert says, “She is equally

comfortable with consumers at the ballpark, factory workers on a production line, and executives

in the boardroom. She could engage all three constituents in the same day and be comfortable.

She is very comfortable with herself, and she’s not pretending to be someone else. That’s what

makes her such an effective leader.” Fudge’s commitment to her work and the people she works

with is evident in the lessons she offers to other leaders:

1. Be yourself; do not feign behavior that you think will make you “successful.”

2. Always remember it’s the people, not you. A leader cannot be a leader if he/she has no

followers. Be honest with people. Give them feedback. Put the right people in the right jobs.

Surround yourself with the smartest people you can find—people who will offer differing

perspectives and diversity of experience, age, gender, and race.

3. Touch your organization. It’s easy to get stuck behind your desk. Fight the burden of

paperwork and get out in the field. Don’t be a remote leader. You cannot create a dynamic

culture if people can’t see, hear, and touch you. Let them know you as a person.

4. Steer the wheel with a strategic focus, yet maintain a wide peripheral vision. Know when to

stop, speed up, slow down, brake quickly, swerve, or even gun it!

Fudge had a difficult decision to make when she was approached by Sorrell about the position at

Y&R. She was in the midst of a two-year break—after 24 years working for corporate America,

Fudge had decided to take some time for herself. She had left her position as president of Kraft

Foods in 2001 based not on her dissatisfaction with her job, but on a desire to define herself by

more than her career. “It was definitely not satisfaction, it was more about life,” says Fudge

about her sabbatical. During her two-year break she traveled, cycling around Sardinia and

Corsica; she took up yoga; and she wrote a book called The Artist’s Way at Work— a manual

for improving creativity and innovation on the job.

Fudge took on the challenge and has not looked back. In her tenure at Y&R she has worked hard

to get Y&R back on top. She has traveled the globe to visit Y&R employees. She frequently puts

in 15-hour days pushing her strategy to focus on clients, encouraging teamwork, and improving

creativity. A major undertaking for Fudge is to bring together the various business entities under

the Y&R umbrella to better meet client needs. She’s also trying to institute a Six Sigma method

for creativity—looking for ways to increase productivity so employees have more time to be

creative. Fudge’s hard work is paying off. Y&R has recently added Microsoft and Toys R Us to

its client list, and if Fudge has her way, the list will continue to grow until Y&R is back on top

Question 1: Where would Ann Fudge be placed in each of the five-factor model (FFM)

categories?

Question 2: Consider the three components of the triarchic theory of intelligence. How did

these components come into play over Ann Fudge’s career?

Question 3: Ann Fudge decided to take a sabbatical to focus more on her personal life.

Based on her experience, what are some of the benefits to such a break? What might be

some of the drawbacks?

3) Minicase: Clif Bar Inc. Balancing Priorities Case Study

Balancing Priorities at Clif Bar Gary Erickson is a man of integrity. In the spring of 2000

Erickson had an offer of more than $100 million from a major food corporation for his com-

pany Clif Bar Inc. He had founded Clif Bar Inc. in 1990 after a long bike ride. Erickson, an avid

cyclist, had finished the 175-mile ride longing for an alternative to the tasteless energy bars he

had brought along. “I couldn’t make the last one go down, and that’s when I had an epiphany—

make a product that actually tasted good.” He looked at the list of ingre- dients on the package

and decided he could do better. He called on his experience in his family’s bakery, and after a

year in the kitchen, the Clif Bar—named for Erickson’s father—was launched in 1992. Within

five years sales had skyrocketed to $20 million. He considered the $100 million offer on the

table and what it meant for his company and decided against the deal. He realized that the vision

he had for the company would be compromised once he lost control, so he walked away from the

$100 mil- lion deal. He has stuck to his vision and values ever since. His commitment to

environmental and social issues are evident in everything he does. On the environmental front,

his company has a staff ecologist who is charged with reducing Clif Bar’s ecological footprint on

the planet. More than 70 percent of the ingredients in Clif Bars are organic. A change in packag-

ing has saved the company (and the planet) 90,000 pounds of shrink-wrap a year. And the

company funds a Sioux wind farm to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from its factories. On

the social side, Erickson launched a project called the 2,080 program (2,080 is the total number

of hours a full-time employee works in one year). Through the 2,080 program em- ployees are

encouraged to do volunteer work on company time. Recently Erickson agreed to support (with

salaries and travel expenses) employees who wanted to volunteer in Third World countries.

Erickson is also committed to his team. He thinks about things like, “What should our company

be like for the people who come to work each day?” He sees work as a living situation and

strives to make Clif Bar Inc.’s offices a fun place to be—there are plenty of bikes around; a gym

and dance floor; per- sonal trainers; massage and hair salon; a game room; an auditorium for

meet- ings, movies, and music; dog days every day; and great parties. As the company grows,

however, maintaining such values may not be easy. Clif Bar already has 130 employees, and

revenue has been rising by more than 30 percent a year since 1998, according to Erickson.

“We’re at a point where we have to find a way to maintain this open culture while we may be

getting bigger,” says Shelley Martin, director of operations. “It’s a balancing act.”

1. Without knowing Gary Erickson’s age, where would you guess he falls in the four

generations of workers as delineated by Zemke?

2. Consider the key work values. Recalling that leaders are motivated to act consistently

with their values, what values appear to be most important to Gary Erickson?

3. Clif Bar Inc. possesses a definite set of organizational values. If you visit the company

Web site (www.clifbar.com), you will see evidence of these values: “Fight Global Warming”

and “Register to Vote” are just as prominent as information about the product. Knowing

some of the values of Gary Erickson, how closely aligned do you think the organizational

values are to the way the company operates?

4) Minicase: The Prime Minister’s Powerful Better Half

Ho Ching’s power has been recognized by many. As chief executive officer of Temasek

Holdings, she ranked number 18 on a list of Asia’s most powerful businesspeople and number 24

on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women. How did a shy, Stanford-educated

electrical engineer end up with this kind of power? Ho was a government scholar who started off

in civil service and ended up working for the Defense Ministry in Singapore. There she met and

married Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s current prime minister and the son of Lee Kwan Yew—

one of modern Singapore’s founding fathers. Ho’s experience, education, and connections led to

her appointment as chief executive of Temasek, where she oversees a portfolio worth over $50

billion and influences many of Singapore’s leading companies.

Temasek Holdings was established in 1974 in an attempt by the Singapore government to drive

industrialization. Through Temasek Holdings the Singapore government took stakes in a wide

range of companies, including the city-state’s best-known companies: Singapore Airlines,

Singapore Telecommunications, DBS Bank, Neptune Orient Lines, and Keppel Corp. The

company’s Web site describes Temasek’s “humble roots during a turbulent and uncertain time”

and its commitment “to building a vibrant future [for Singapore] through successful enterprise.”

Ho’s appointment to Temasek in May 2002 caused some controversy; as prime minister her

husband has a supervisory role over the firm. Ho denies any conflict of interest:

The issue of conflict does not arise because there are no vested interests. Our goal is to do what

makes sense for Singapore, I don’t always agree with him (Mr. Lee) and he doesn’t always agree

with me. We have a healthy debate on issues.

In her role as CEO, Ho is pushing for a more open policy and an aggressive drive into the Asian

market. Under Ho’s leadership Temasek has decided to publicly disclose its annual report with

details of its performance—details that have formerly remained private and been known only to

Temasek executives.

Ho is concentrating on broadening Temasek’s focus beyond Singapore, most recently opening an

office in India. At a recent conference of top Indian companies, Ho appealed to investors to look

to India for opportunities for Asian growth:

Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the word Asia had lost a bit of its sparkle. But that

sparkle is beginning to return. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Asia economic miracle referred to

East Asia, specifically Japan. The 1970s and 1980s saw the emergence of the four Asian Tigers

of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Now is India’s turn to stir, standing at an inflexion point, after 10 years of market liberalisation

and corporate restructuring. Since 1997, Singapore’s trade with India grew by 50 percent, or a

respectable CAGR of about 7.5 percent. Confidence is brimming in India, and Indian companies

began to reach out boldly to the world over the last five years

All these waves of development have shown that Asia, with a combined population of 3 billion,

has been resilient. If Asia continues to work hard and work smart, honing her competitive

strengths and leveraging on her complementary capabilities across borders, the outlook in the

next decade or two looks very promising indeed.

Question 1: We have described power as the capacity to cause change and influence as the

degree of actual change in a target’s behaviors. Ho Ching’s power as a leader has been

recognized by many, but would you describe Ho Ching as an influential leader? Why?

Question 2: Based on the excerpt from Ho Ching’s speech, what types of tactics does she

use to influence the behavior of others?

Question 3: Ho Ching has been named one of the most powerful leaders in Asia. What are

her major sources of power?

5) Minicase: Developing Leaders at UPS

UPS is the nation’s fourth-largest employer with 357,000 employees worldwide and operations

in more than 200 countries. UPS is consistently recognized as one of the “top companies to work

for” and was recently recognized by Fortune as one of the 50 best companies for minorities. A

major reason for UPS’s success is the company’s commitment to its employees. UPS

understands the importance of providing both education and experience for its next generation of

leaders—spending $300 million annually on education programs for employees and encouraging

promotion from within. All employees are offered equal opportunities to build the skills and

knowledge they need to succeed. A perfect example of this is Jovita Carranza.

Jovita Carranza joined UPS in 1976 as a part-time clerk in Los Angeles. Carranza demonstrated

a strong work ethic and a commitment to UPS, and UPS rewarded her with opportunities—

opportunities Carranza was not shy about taking advantage of. By 1985 Carranza was the

workforce planning manager in metropolitan Los Angeles. By 1987 she was district human

resources manager based in Central Texas. By 1990 she had accepted a move to district human

resources manager in Illinois. She received her first operations assignment, as division manager

for hub, package, and feeder operations, in Illinois in 1991. Two years later, she said yes to

becoming district operations manager in Miami. In 1996 she accepted the same role in

Wisconsin. By 1999 Carranza’s progressive successes led UPS to promote her to president of the

Americas Region. From there she moved into her current position as vice president of UPS Air

Operations, based in Louisville, Kentucky.

The $1.1 billion air hub she currently oversees sprawls across the equivalent of more than 80

football fields. It can handle 304,000 packages an hour, its computers process nearly 1 million

transactions per minute, and it serves as the lynchpin for the $33 billion business that has become

the world’s largest package delivery company.

Carranza attributes much of her success to her eagerness to take on new challenges: “The one

error that people make early on in their careers is that they’re very selective about opportunities

so they avoid some, prefer others,” she says. “I always accepted all opportunities that presented

themselves because from each one you can learn something, and they serve as a platform for

future endeavors.”

It has also been important, she says, to surround herself with capable, skilled employees who are

loyal to the company and committed to results. After nearly 30 years with UPS, Carranza says

teamwork, interaction, and staff development are the achievements of which she is proudest:

“Because that takes focus, determination, and sincerity to perpetuate the UPS culture and

enhance it through people.”

Carranza’s corporate achievements, determination, drive, innovation, and leadership in business

have earned her the distinction of being named Hispanic Business Magazine’ s Woman of the

Year. She credits her parents, both of Mexican descent, with teaching her “the importance of

being committed, of working hard, and doing so with a positive outlook”—principles she says

continue to guide her personal and professional life. These principles mirror those of the

company whose corporate ladder she has climbed nonstop, an organization she says values

diversity and encourages quality, integrity, commitment, fairness, loyalty, and social

responsibility.

Among Carranza’s words of wisdom: “Sit back and listen and observe,” she says. “You learn

more by not speaking. Intelligent people learn from their own experiences; with wisdom, you

learn from other people’s mistakes. I’m very methodical about that.”

1. What are the major skills Jovita Carranza has demonstrated in her career at UPS

that have made her a successful leader?

2. Consider the spiral of experience that Carranza has traveled. How has her

experience affected her ability as a leader?

3. Do you think Carranza would have been equally successful had she worked in any

other organization?

6) Minicase, “Initech versus The Coffee Bean,”

Consider Peter Gibbons, an employee of the fictional Initech Corporation from the

movie Office Space. Peter has been asked to meet with efficiency experts (Bob and

Bob) to discuss his work environment. One of the Bobs is curious about Peter’s

tendency toward underperformance and confronts him about his lack of attention to

office policies and procedures. It seems Peter has been turning in his TPS reports late

and without the company mandated cover sheet:

Peter: You see Bob, it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care. Bob: Don’t? Don’t care?

Peter: It’s a problem of motivation, alright? Now if I work my butt off and Initech ships a

few extra units, I don’t see another dime, so where’s the motivation? And here’s

another thing, I have eight different bosses right now.

Bob: Eight?

Peter: Eight, Bob. So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different people

coming by to tell me about it. That’s my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that

and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work

just hard enough not to get fired.

The environment at Initech is an all too familiar one to many office workers. It is an

environment in which success is directly proportional to how busy you look, where

questioning authority is taboo, and where meticulous attention to paperwork is the

only way to get promoted.

Contrast Initech to The Coffee Bean-a chain of gourmet coffee shops. In an effort to

boost employee morale and increase productivity, the management team at The

Coffee Bean decided to pursue the FISH philosophy. FISH is a management training

program that stresses fun in the workplace. It espouses four principles:

Play-“Work that is made fun gets done.”

Make Their Day-“When you make someone’s day through a small act of kindness or

unforgettable engagement, you can turn even routine encounters into special

memories.”

Be There—“Being there is a great way to practice wholeheartedness and fight burnout.”

Choose Your Attitude-“When you learn you have the power to choose your response to

what life brings, you can look for the best and find opportunities you

never imagined possible.”

Stores in The Coffee Bean chain were encouraged to use these principles to make the

stores a fun place for employees and customers. The stores have created theme days

where employees dress up for themes (NFL day, basketball days, pajama day)-and then

give discounts to customers who dress the same. There are also trivia games in which

customers who can answer trivia questions get discounts on their coffee purchases:

Nancy Feilen, a Coffee Bean store manager explains: “We tried to come up with

something that would help strike up a conversation with guests and engage fun in the

stores for team members and guests.” In other stores, customers play Coffee Craps. If

a customer rolls a seven or an 11, he gets a free drink.

Some stores have done Fear Factor Fridays-if the store sells a certain number of drinks

one of the baristas will agree to some act. In one case a barista ate a cricket.

The results? One store increased the average check by 12 percent in six months,

turnover has decreased significantly-general managers typically left after 22 months

with the chain but now stay an average of 31 months-and the turnover rate for hourly

employees dropped to 69 percent from more than 200 percent over a three-year

period.

So, where would you rather work?

Question 1: How would you gauge Peter Gibbon’s achievement orientation? What

are some of the needs not being met for Peter at Initech? What changes might

improve Peter’s motivation?

Question 2: Would you judge the leaders at Initech as more likely to invoke the

Pygmalion or the Golem Effect?

Question 3: What about the environment at the Coffee Bean? Pygmalion or Golem?

Question 4: Why has the Coffee Bean seen such a significant reduction in its

turnover?

7) Minicase: The Case of the Troubled Casino

The Upper Midwest of the United States has lagged behind the economic recovery enjoyed by

much of the rest of the nation. With an economy built largely on the steel, lumber, agriculture,

and manufacturing industries, local businesses were hit by the triple challenges of declining

commodity prices, globalization, and automation. Countries such as China and Canada offer

cheaper steel or lumber, crop prices have been falling, and many manufacturing jobs either were

replaced by robots or moved to China, Southeast Asia, or Mexico. Finding thriving businesses in

this region can be difficult, and one of the few standouts has been in the gaming industry.

A small group of Native American tribal leaders opened the Brown Bear casino about 30 years

ago. The facility was built on tribal land and as such is not subject to local, state, or federal

taxes. Initially started as a relatively small stand-alone casino, the complex has grown to include

2,000 slot machines, 25 black jack tables, a bingo hall for 600 players, a convention center, a

400+-room hotel, three restaurants, and a golf course. Over the years it has become a destination

location for those wanting to play golf, see shows, enjoy good meals, and gamble without having

to travel all the way to Las Vegas to make it happen.

The Brown Bear casino complex is now a $50 million business headed up by a general manager,

who in turn oversees 11 different department heads, such as the chief financial officer, head of

security, director of gaming operations, and so on. These 11 leaders manage the 1,200 employees

working at the casino, hotel, convention center, and golf course. Although the casino enjoyed

strong growth during its first 20 years of existence, it has not recovered fully from the economic

recession of 2007-2009. Many of the good-paying jobs in the area disappeared, and as a result

the local population has become considerably smaller and older. Compounding this problem is

the fact that the gaming industry is facing increasing competition for customers’ entertainment

dollars. The chief marketing officer has implemented a number of campaigns to bring more and

younger customers into the casino and increase their average spend per visit, but so far these

efforts have yielded negligible results.

Although the casino is the largest employer in the area, staffing and employee engagement have

been chronic problems. Many long-term employees appear to be completely checked out at

work, biding their time until retirement, and they go out of their way to disparage those who put

in an honest day’s work. Despite paying a competitive wage and the relative scarcity of good-

paying jobs the casino averages 30 percent annual turnover, with some positions reporting

turnover rates over 100 percent. Turnover is not only taking a toll on the employees who remain

(as they often have to pick up the slack for those who leave), but it also has an impact on the

casino’s customer satisfaction and financial results. Newer and less experienced staff do not

know how to handle more complex customer issues, and it costs the casino $1,000–$5,000 in

recruiting fees for each new person hired. With 400 new staff being hired each year, these

staffing fees are having a material impact on the company’s bottom line.

The general manager has asked you to help reduce staff turnover, create a more engaged staff,

improve the casino’s customer satisfaction ratings, and ultimately have a positive impact on

revenues and profitability.

Question 1: How could you use the Curphy and Roellig Followership model described in

the introduction to Part 3 to assess employees at the casino?

Question 2: How could you use the five approaches to motivation (Chapter 9),

organizational justice, or the two-factor theory to reduce turnover and improve employee

engagement?

Question 3: What role do you think top, middle, and first-line management have on

employee turnover? How would you assess the impact leadership has on employee

engagement and turnover at the casino?

8) Minicase: Case Study You Can’t Make Stuff Like This Up

Steve once worked as a regional sales director for a large health insurance company called Blue

Star Health. Blue Star Health was once quite successful but had become complacent over the

past five years. Competitors gained market share using aggressive marketing and sales tactics,

and Blue Star was selling antiquated products and using inefficient processes for settling claims.

With falling revenues and margins, Blue Star became an acquisition target and was bought by

Anthum, a Fortune 100 company. At the conclusion of the deal Anthum brought in an injection

of cash, a reputation for operational excellence, and a new vice president of sales, Jim Blaylock.

The CEO of Anthum described Jim as bright, experienced, successful, and “more energetic than

the Energizer Bunny.” Jim had joined the corporation immediately after college; because of his

“potential” the company sent him to law school and rapidly promoted him into increasingly

responsible positions. Senior management had tremendous confidence in Jim’s leadership

abilities and appointed him as the vice president of sales in Blue Star Health, even though he had

no previous sales experience. Steve was initially impressed with Jim’s freshness and energy; he

was constantly touting “Midwestern values” and the “work ethic of the Mid- west.” However,

the sales management team soon became disenchanted with his views: Steve and his sales team

were working 70 to 80 hours a week and becoming exhausted and frazzled. Moreover, Jim’s

interactions with internal and external clients were lessons in poor human relations. He seemed

to seek confrontations, and as time passed, his behavior became steadily more extreme. Jim

harangued people, ignored appointments and made no excuses for missing them, made promises

he never kept, called sales directors at 6:00 a.m. with insignificant questions, and abused brokers.

Those who questioned Jim’s leadership were summarily dismissed. One day Jim asked Steve to

arrange a meeting with a broker at 9:00 p.m. The broker was from a large benefit house and was

older, and the meeting time was late. However, he was a longtime personal friend of Steve’s and

as a courtesy agreed to the meeting. Jim did not show up for the appointment and would not

answer Steve’s calls to his cell phone. After an hour, Steve and the broker went home. When

Steve asked Jim why he missed the appointment, he said he was drinking with a friend and did

not think the meeting with the broker was important. Jim refused to apologize to the broker and

was surprised when business with the broker’s organization came to an end. Jim loved working

on high-visibility projects and landed an opportunity to convert the membership of another

acquired company to Anthum. This was an important project for Anthum, and shortly thereafter

Jim set up an elaborate “war room” in which all sales planning and action would take place. He

asked Steve to lead the conversion project, repeatedly announcing that the acquisition was to

garner new contracts and to bring quality employees into the organization. At this point Steve

had over 70 direct reports in five different locations across the state and some aggressive sales

targets. It would be impossible for Steve to hit his revenue numbers and run the conversion

project. But Jim cut Steve no slack, and the computer system intended to convert the contracts

did not work. Jim spent no time with any of the newly acquired sales team members, and as a

result they showed no interest in working for Anthum. Yet Jim made grandiose statements about

the quality of the sales force at the acquired company, which implied the current sales employees

were unsatisfactory and fostered a sense of mistrust in both sales organizations. Because of Jim’s

shoddy treatment, the long hours, and poor sales and invoicing processes, the morale of the sales

team began to plummet. Tantrums and tears occurred frequently, and Steve spent a lot of time

smoothing feathers and telling team members that things would get better over time. But there

was only so much Steve could do, and as team members began to quit, Jim blamed Steve for the

decline in department morale. As the situation continued to deteriorate, Steve requested that Jim

meet with the remaining staff to talk about their frustrations with Anthum. Jim opted to set up an

all-employee breakfast at a local restaurant to address their concerns. The night before the

meeting a major snowstorm hit the city, and the streets were covered with a foot of snow. Some

employees had to drive 40 miles to attend the meeting, but everyone made it to the restaurant.

The only person missing was Jim, and Steve started calling him 10 minutes before the meeting

start time to check on his status. Jim did not answer, so Steve began to call and leave messages

every five minutes. Jim finally answered his phone 30 minutes after the meeting start time and

told Steve that the reason he was not at the meeting was that he decided to go skiing and people

would have to meet with him another day. He also asked Steve to quit bugging him by leaving

messages every five minutes. Steve could do little to put a positive spin on this message, and the

employees left the restaurant bitter and hurt. Of the 60 people who showed up for the meeting,

only one was still with Anthum six months later. Jim never acknowledged his behavior and was

“shocked” at the turnover in the sales group. Despite the turnover and declining sales revenues,

Jim was still considered the company’s darling, and it was commonly believed that the CEO

tacitly condoned his behavior.

Question 1: Was Jim Blaylock a destructive, incompetent, successful or effective leader?

What data would you use to make this determination?

Question 2: If Jim was an incompetent manager, what do you think were the underlying

root causes of his incompetence?

Question 3: Why do you think Jim was seen as a high-potential candidate? Why did the

CEO still think he was a high performer?

Question 4: What would you do if you were Jim’s boss and heard about the information

described here?

Question 5: What would you do if you were Steve?

9) Minicase: Integrating Teams at Hernandez & Associates

Marco Hernandez is president of Hernandez & Associates Inc., a full- service advertising agency with clients across North America. The com- pany provides a variety of marketing services to support its diverse group of clients. Whether called on to generate a strategic plan, create interactive Web sites, or put together a full-blown media campaign, the team at Hernandez & Associates prides itself on creative solutions to its clients’ marketing challenges.

The firm was founded in 1990 with an emphasis in the real estate in- dustry. It quickly expanded its client base to include health care, as well as food and consumer products. Like many small firms, the company grew quickly in the “high-flying” 1990s, but its administrative costs to obtain and serve businesses also skyrocketed. And, as with many businesses, the agency’s business was greatly affected by the terrorist attacks of Septem- ber 11, 2001, and the economic downturn that followed. Clients’ shrinking budgets forced them to scale back their business with Hernandez & Associates, and staff cutbacks meant that clients needed more marketing support services as opposed to full-scale campaigns.

Hernandez & Associates now faced a challenge—to adapt its business to focus on what the clients were asking for. Specifically, clients, with their reduced staffs, were looking for help responding to their customers’ re- quests and looking for ways to make the most of their limited marketing budgets. Its small, cohesive staff of 20 employees needed to make some fast changes.

As president of Hernandez & Associates, Marco Hernandez knew his team was up for the challenge. He had worked hard to create an environment to support a successful team—he recruited people who had solid agency experience, and he consistently communicated the firm’s mission to his team. He made sure the team had all the resources it needed to succeed and constantly took stock of these resources. He had built his team as he built his business and knew the group would respond to his leadership. But where to start? Getting the team to under- stand that growth depended on a shift in how it served its clients was not difficult—each of the employees of the small firm had enough con- tact with the clients that they knew client needs were changing. But making significant changes to the status quo at Hernandez & Associates would be difficult. Group roles had to change—creative folks had to think about how to increase a client’s phone inquiries and Web site visits; account people needed a better understanding of the client’s desire for more agency leadership. And everyone needed a better sense of the costs involved. The company as a whole required a more integrated approach to serving clients if they hoped to survive. Marco needed a plan.

1. Like many leaders, Marco has a team in place and does not have the luxury of

building a new team to adapt to the changing business environment his firm now

faces. Use the TLM to help Marco diag- nose the problems faced by the firm and

identify leverage points for change.

1a. Consider the major functions of the TLM—input, process, and out- put. Where do

most of the firm’s challenges fall?

2b. What are the team’s goals for outputs?

2. Identify potential resources for Marco and his team in implementing a strategy to

change the way they do business at Hernandez & Associates.

10) Minicase: Who Shall Rule?

Carlsson Systems Ltd. (CSL) is a $4 billion, 50-year-old manufacturer of headlights,

taillights, and dashboards for trucks, vans, SUVs, and cars. Over the years, CSL formed

strategic partnerships with car manufacturers around the globe and currently enjoys a 15 to

22 percent market share in these three major product lines. The company is made up of

22,000 employees, most of whom are working at 30 different parts manufacturing plants. All

of the plants are located near major automotive production facilities in Europe, China, Japan,

Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. The ideal contract for CSL is one in

which it supplies all the headlights, taillights, and dashboards for a vehicle platform, such as

the Chevrolet Impala or Toyota Tundra. However, most automotive manufacturers do not

want to become overly dependent on single-source suppliers, so they often award dashboard

contracts to one supplier or partial taillight contracts to another.

The company has performed at a much higher level than other automobile parts

manufacturers and generated 10 to 13 percent margins for the past eight years (the industry

average has hovered around 4 percent). Because of its financial success, CSL had the

resources to invest in autonomous self-driving car research. CSL’s Technology Division

formed joint ventures with several major car companies and bought a number of small

companies with hardware or software capabilities in this area. CSL’s initial investments

started quite small but now total over $400 million. The joint venture partners also invested

heavily in this research, and together with this additional funding, CSL’s Technology

Division (90 percent of which is dedicated to self-driving cars) has become a $1 billion

entity.

CSL’s board of directors felt shareholders would see greater benefit if the Technology

division was spun off into a separate company. The spin-off was overwhelmingly approved

by shareholders, and the Board began the formal process of divesting the Technology

division from CSL. It was going to take about a year to work through the regulatory approval

processes with different countries around the globe, and during this time, the Board asked the

12 members of the Executive Leadership Team whether they wanted to stay with CSL or go

to AutoDrive, the Technology division spin-off. The CEO and nine of the other Executive

Leadership Team members opted to take positions at AutoDrive; only the general counsel

and vice president of technology decided to stay with CSL.

This turn of events was a big surprise and an even bigger problem for CSL’s Board. CSL was

doing quite well, and its profitability fueled AutoDrive’s ability to become a stand-alone

company. But in nine short months, CSL was facing the prospect of being rudderless, as it

would not have a CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CCO, CHRO, or the four presidents needed to run

the Europe, Americas, China, or Asia-Pacific divisions. CSL had also not done a particularly

good job with succession planning. The top leaders had put little effort in grooming

successors, readiness tables included a large number of the same names, and many of those

listed were taking positions with AutoDrive. The Board had no idea who had the potential to

move into the top leadership roles or whether they had to hire from the outside to fill these

positions.

Question 1: What education, background, and work history would you want ideal CEO

candidates to have? What information would you need to determine their job performance

and unit effectiveness over the past three years? What information would you need to

determine their potential for the CEO position? What would cause you to recommend that

the Board go outside of CSL for the next CEO?

Question 2: What education, background, and work history would you want deal CHRO

candidates to have? What information would you need to determine their job performance

and unit effectiveness over the past three years? What information would you need to

determine their potential for the CHRO position? What would cause you to recommend

that the Board go outside of CSL for the next CHRO?

Question 3: One of the other positions that need to be filled is the president of the Asia-

Pacific division. CSL APAC has eight plants located in Japan, Korea, India, Vietnam,

Malaysia, and Indonesia. What education background, and work history would you want

ideal candidates for this position to have? What information would you need to determine

their job performance and unit effectiveness over the past three years? What information

would you need to determine their potential for the division president position? What

would cause you to recommend that the Board go outside of CSL for the next division

president?