Report on the case

Wendy Peterson
In partial fulfillment of WAC course

IIM Sambalpur
Submitted to: Prof. Madhusri Shrivastava

Submitted by:
Anshu Kumari (PGP 08)

Roll Number:08

Memo of Transmittal
Sub: Submission of report on Wendy Peterson
This document has been submitted in partial fulfillment of WAC course and contains my analysis of
the case Wendy Peterson, which is followed by the options that I considered would be feasible as per
the problem statement defined. I have evaluated these options on the basis of certain criteria and come
up with an action plan. As per my recommendation, Wendy should provide Wu an assistant but under
certain conditions.
If you need any further information, please let me know. I will be happy to discuss.

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Table of Content

Executive summary

Situation Analysis

Problem Statement

Options

Criteria

Evaluation of options

Recommendation

Action Plan

Contingency Plan

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1. Executive Summary:
Wendy Peterson, sales manager at AccountBack, just finished the annual review of her sub-ordinate, Fred
Wu. Wu was hired by Wendy to attract the Chinese clients. Wu acquired the largest client and concentrated
his efforts on this client instead of trying to add more clients. In the annual review, Wu asked Wendy for a
personal sales assistant which was highly impossible as only senior sales associates own personal assistant.
So, she conveyed this to Wu. Wu denied and said he may join other firm if his request is not fulfilled.
After evaluating the various criteria, it is recommended that Wendy should provide Wu an assistant
under certain conditions.

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2. Situation Analysis:
Wendy Peterson, sales manager at AccountBack, is looking after the Plano account in Texas. She just
finished the annual review of one of her sub-ordinates, Fred Wu. Wu was hired by Wendy to attract the
Chinese clients. As his job was little different, Wendy gave him ample time to settle and start working.
His targets were set differently compared to other clients. After 8 months of joining, Wu acquired the
largest client in the downtown office. Wu, then mostly concentrated his efforts on this new Chinese client
instead of trying to add more clients. Other teams complained Wendy regarding Wus behavior. In the
annual review, Wu asked Wendy for a personal sales assistant to handle his workload has increased
(according to him). This put Wendy in dilemma as only senior sales associates, who handled more than
30 accounts got their own personal assistant. So, Wendy conveyed this information to Wu.
Later, Wu came to Wendy and told her that a competitor had approached him with a job offer. He said he
would be unable to perform his sales work without an assistant. He said he enjoys the work at
AcoountBack but he cant continue further without the assistant.

3. Problem Statement:
Should Wendy provide Wu with an assistant and retain his services or should she terminate him?

4. Options:

Provide Wu an assistant

Let Wu leave AccountBack

Provide Wu an assistant but on some conditions

Persuade Wu to share an assistant with other sales executives

5. Criteria for Evaluation:

Sales target of Wendy

Equality among the employees

Impact on Chinese market

Effect on other teams

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6. Evaluation of Options:
a. Provide Wu an assistant: If Wendy provides Wu an assistant then he will resume his
work as before. As Wu is very persuasive and had shown great prior performance, he
will definitely help in improving the sales target. Also, he will continue to penetrate the
Chinese market, which was what Wendy wanted to concentrate on. But, this would lead
to a feeling of favoritism among other employees. Also, the other teams had complained
Wendy regarding the interference of Wu in their task. This will be a matter of concern
for her. Also, in future, Wu may again demand something infeasible and threaten to
leave if not provided.
b. Let Wu leave AccountBack: This option will be challenging for Wendy. Wendy will
have to start from scratch. She may lose the Chinese client, which was the biggest
account for her. Sales target may be affected and she will have to concentrate on other
accounts. But being a strong and confident manager, Wendy will definitely manage the
target set to her. She may also lose the Chinese market share if Wu leaves. The equality
among employees will be maintained and other teams work will not be affected.
c. Provide Wu an assistant but on some conditions: Putting some stipulations in place
and then providing Wu with an assistant can also be done. These conditions are:
1. Not to leave the company for atleast 3 years.
2. Assistant can be provided only during busy schedules and not always.
3. Report to Wendy regularly and perform routine tasks, just like other employees.
4. Focus on new clients and not the older ones.
5. No complaint shall come from the other teams regarding Wus interference.
These actions will lead to better sales and newer Chinese clients will be attracted. Also,
hindrance for other teams because of Wu will be reduced. Although it will still lead to
favoritism.

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d. Persuade Wu to share an assistant with other sales executives: This will not lead to
favoritism and rest of the criteria can be fulfilled as well. There will be no effect on
sales target and the Chinese market. But this option will hardly work, as Wu wanted a
full-time assistant for himself.
Options
Criteria

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Criteria 1

Feasible

Feasible

Feasible

Feasible

Criteria 2

Not Feasible

Feasible

Not Feasible

Feasible

Criteria 3

Feasible

Cannot be said

Feasible

Feasible

Criteria 4

Not Feasible

Feasible

Feasible

Feasible

7. Recommendation:
I recommend that Wendy should go with option 3 i.e. Provide Wu an assistant but on some
conditions (5 conditions mentioned in the evaluation). This will help her retain the Chinese
client. Also, with the impositions, Wu will be more careful and try and bring new clients.

8. Action Plan:

Agree to Wu to provide him with an assistant but let him know the five conditions on which
the approval is given.
Keep a watch on Wu regarding the fulfillment of the conditions.
His targets should be monthly just like other employees and no levy should be entertained.
He should sever ties with the previous clients and should work only when asked by the
client, that too by taking permission from Wendy.
The frequency of getting new clients should be measured continuously to check the
improvements made on Wus side.
If any new client has been added then all the details should be conveyed to Wendy, which
Wu never used to do before. This will help Wendy to understand his way of working and
ambiguities can be sorted.

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9. Contingency Plan:
If Wu doesnt agree to Wendys proposal then let him leave the company. If he leaves, Wendy
can hire another Chinese salesperson and train him to do his job of attracting Chinese clients.
Also, the past mistakes can be avoided by making him report everyday and setting up a
monthly sales target. This will take sometime but the results will be fruitful. At the same time
Wendy can focus on other clients to maintain her sales target.

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