Report on the case

Wendy Peterson
In partial fulfilment of WAC course

Submitted to: Prof. Madhusri Shrivastava

Submitted by:

K M Natarajan 2015PGP021

Memo of transmittal
To: Prof. Madhusri Srivastava
From: K M Natarajan
Date: 02 Feb 2016
Sub: Report on Wendy Peterson

As per your request, this report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the WAC course and contains
an analysis on the case Wendy Peterson as official submission towards the individual-
assignment component.

Report includes analysis of various options to solve the defined problem statement. Each option
is evaluated based on various evaluation criteria and recommendation is made.

Kindly let me know in case of any clarifications so that we can have a meeting as per your
convenience and discuss regarding the same.

Executive Summary
Wendy Peterson, Manager AccountBack has some problems with one of her employee,Fred Wu.
Wu who has landed only one client within his first year of his career which was in the Chinese
market. There is a sense of disconnect between Wendy and wu as Wu is someone who doesnt fit
Petersons style, he doesnt maintain any daily contact, works outside of the office hours,
believes in relationship selling. Lastly Wu requests for a personal assistant which is not as per the
policy of the company. Because of these communication issues between Fred and Wendy, Wendy
is considering on many alternatives of cave, fire on find an alternative for the future working
relationship with Wu.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Situation Analysis 5
2 Problem Statement 6
3 Options available 6
4 Criteria for evaluation 6
5 Evaluation Options 6-7
6 Recommendation 7
7 Action implementation Plan 7

Situation Analysis
Wendy Peterson, Vice President- Sales, at the AccountBack Plano, Texas Office
is facing a dilemma. Fred Wu, a new sales executive, has offered his resignation.
Although Wu has been successful once his methods did not synchronize with Wendys
approach. His actions has always been very secretive and he has not been following
the norms set by Wendy for her direct reports. In Plano, there exists a cluster of
businesses owned by Chinese entrepreneurs.Wu is the best shot at getting to that
market. He doesnt make daily contact with Peterson, opposite to his first month at
office now he works outside of the office more than normal, does various meetings
with clients, which conflict with AccountBack activities and meetings. Also his office
conduct are not in sync with the Petersons expectations. He is very private with his
work though he has no hesitation in sharing the knowledge when asked. He doesnt
attend any social gatherings and talks about work only within workplace. Eight months
after getting the job he signed a $400,000 account within the Chinese market. Two
months after this sign Peterson was notified by service manager that Wu was overly
nosy with this client hindering the teams efficiency.

At the end Wu requests Peterson for an assistant to whom and informs her that
he has been approached by another competitive firm, and he wont be able to execute
his sales responsibilities in the future without an assistant.
Hence Wendy now faces a dilemma, whether she should accept Wus
resignation and put the existing and potential contracts with the Chinese businesses at
risk, or should she succumb to Wus demands and provide him with an assistant which
is against the companys policy and structure and may ignite problems from other office
members.

Problem Statement
How should Wendy Peterson handle Wus demand?

Options:
Give in to Wus demands
Fire Wu

Criteria for Evaluation

Impact on culture
Impact on existing clients
Impact on future expansion
Evaluation of options
Cave to Wus demands: It will significantly change the image of the management in the
eyes of the employees. All you need to do is to maintain a large account. It will create a bad
impression that you can blackmail management to accept your demands if you are successful
enough. This option will motivate Wu to serve the existing clients with more zeal and energy.
There will be positive impact on future opportunities as Wu would be motivated enough to look
for new clients with his assistant looking after service tasks.

Fire Wu: It will send a message to other employees that however successful you are in your
individual capacity, policies will be strictly followed by organization, which in turn would
motivate employees to put that extra efforts. Also companys Chinese account will be severely
impacted, because no one other than Wu is familiar with Chinese market. There will be no as
such impact on future opportunities in general, but company may loss few of the future
opportunities in Chinese market.

Recommendation
Caving to Wus demands seems to be most reasonable option as his demand is reasonable
considering the future oppurtunities.

Action Plan
In order to implement the chosen plan she should follow the following steps:

Let Wu know what organization expects from him.

Assign him assistant.
Change Wus designation to make it seem like management isnt bowing down to his
demands
Explain Wu that how important it is for the company that he concentrates on future
opportunities also along with maintaining existing clients.