Report on the case

Wendy Peterson
In partial fulfilment of WAC course

Submitted to: Prof. Madhusri Shrivastava

Submitted by:
Antariksh Shahwal 2015PGP010

Memo of transmittal

Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

To: Prof. Madhusri Srivastava

From: Antariksh Shahwal
Date: 02 Feb 2016
Sub: Report on Wendy Peterson
As per your instruction on January 10th, this document is submitted in partial fulfilment of the
WAC course and contains my analysis on the case Wendy Peterson as official submission
towards the individual-assignment component.
Report includes illustration of various options to solve the defined problem statement. Each
option is evaluated on various criteria and recommendation is made.
I earnestly hope this report will be a help to you and would be delighted to furnish you with any
clarification if required.

Antariksh Shahwal

2015PGP010

Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

Executive Summary
Wendy Peterson Manager at the AccountBack has some concerns with one of her employees of
the team Plano, Fred Wu. Wu who has landed one client within his first year of her career which
was within the Chinese market. There is some disconnection between Wendy as Wu is someone
who doesnt fit Petersons style, he doesnt maintain any daily contact, works outside of the
office hours, believes in more number of meetings. Lastly Wu requests for an assistant which is
not as per the usual 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.

Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Situation Analysis
Problem Statement
Options available
Criteria for evaluation
Evaluation Options
Recommendation
Action implementation Plan

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Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

Situation Analysis
Role of salesperson at the AccountBack is to land new clients and maintaining existing
relationships. While service team was responsible for day to day-to-day and changes to accounts.
Wendy Peterson a former Ivy Leaguer joined firm after her graduation and excelled as junior
manager. Meanwhile she moved from managing clients to sales and she describes her as a
Doer. She is the youngest VP at the firm and leads a sales team Plano which has 11 sales
people and 3 sales assistants. She is overzealous, believes in hands-on, approachable and
encouraging.
In Plano, there exists a cluster of businesses owned by Chinese entrepreneurs. In order to
penetrate this market, she needs to hire the right salesperson. No one in the firm is familiar with
the Chinese market, although there is plethora of choice for this new position.
Fred Wu who is hired by Peterson at the firm has no experience in related field but is
born and raised in china. He has strong success as an entrepreneur and has great eager to learn. In
the first month of his job Wu was very engaged with his colleagues and a dedicated learner. He
was the first to come to office and last to leave. Over the time he was praised across the company
and he enjoys the role of being an expert. After a month, Peterson after meeting Wu, Peterson
altered sales target of $250,000 for Wu. As she believed that AccountBacks short term goals
would conflict his approach to landing clients.
After this initial meeting Peterson observed many performance inconsistencies with Wu.
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 the first meeting, firm signed $400,000 account within the Chinese
market. Two months after this sign Peterson was updated by service manager that Wu was overly
involved with this client hindering the teams efficiency. Also Peterson feels Wu isnt exploring
new opportunities.
Months after, when Peterson inquired increases in the revenue from Wus account it was
because of expensive add-ons that Wu approved. This was against the companys policy. When
Peterson questioned the Wus intensions Wu had legitimate proof that it was upon request by his
client. Peterson reminds Wu that any future changes in the client service plan would need
approval from her.
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
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Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

responsibilities in the future without an assistant.

Problem Statement
How should Wendy Peterson handle Wus demand?

Options:
Cave to Wus demands
Fire Wu

Criteria for Evaluation

Impact on culture of workplace
Impact on existing clients
Impact on future opportunities

Evaluation of options
1. Cave to Wus demands: It will create impression on other employees that it is not
necessary for you to handle multiple accounts to get an assistants. All you need to do is to
maintain a large account. It will create a bad impression that you can force management
to accept your demands if you are overly involved in a large account. This option will
motivate Wu to serve the existing clients with more zeal and energy. Also it will make
Wu more power full in the organization which may be risk to Peterson. 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 demotivate employees to put that extra efforts. Also companys Chinese account
will be severely impacted, because no one else 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.

Antariksh Shahwal
2015PGP010

Recommendation
Caving to Wus demands seems to be most reasonable option as his demand is genuine
looking at the size of account he handles.

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.
Explain Wu that how important it is for the company that he concentrates on future
opportunities also along with maintaining existing clients.