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Report on the case

WENDY PETERSON
In partial fulfillment of WAC course

Submitted to: Prof. Madhusri Shrivastava

Submitted by:
Anjali Shekhar (2015PGP006)

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Memo of transmittal

To: Prof. Madhusri Srivastava

From: Anjali Shekhar
Date: 03 Feb 2016
Sub: Report on Wendy Peterson
As per your instruction, this document is submitted in partial fulfillment of the
WAC course and contains our analysis on the case Wendy Peterson as official
submission towards the individual-assignment component.
The report includes illustration of various options to solve the defined problem
statement. Each option is evaluated on various criteria and recommendation is
made.
I sincerely hope this report will be a help to you and would be delighted to
furnish you with any clarification if required.

Anjali Shekhar

2015PGP006

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Executive Summary:
Wendy Peterson faced a dilemma whether to accept Wus demand for an
assistant or not. Completely denying Wus demand might lead to his
resignation. This will be a loss for the company as Wu was a star performer.
This might also lead to losing some existing and potential strong clients of the
company. But accepting the demand might leave other employees with a sense
of unfair treatment. She must come up with a new plan which will cater to all
the constraints involved and also help her retain Wu in the company.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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7

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

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Situation Analysis:
Wendy Peterson was Vice President of sales at AccountBacks office at Plano.
There was a cluster of businesses owned by Chinese entrepreneurs. In order to
penetrate this market, Peterson wanted to hire the right salesperson. No one in
the firm was familiar with the Chinese market. Fred Wu was hired by Peterson.
He had no experience in related field but was born and brought up in China. In
the first month of his job, Wu was very engaged with his colleagues and proved
to be a dedicated learner. But he didnt make daily contact with Peterson, did
various meetings with clients which conflicted AccountBack activities and
meetings. His conduct at office was not in sync with the Petersons
expectations. Wu wasnt exploring new opportunities.
The firm successfully signed $400,000 account within the Chinese market due
to Wus effort. This client was the single largest client of the town.
The dilemma for Peterson arises when Wu demanded an assistant to answer his
phone calls and manage administrative tasks. But only few senior executives,
who juggled more than 30 accounts, were given personal assistants.

Problem Statement
What should be Petersons course of action to tackle the situation?
Options:
Accept Wus demand for personal assistant.
Reject his demand.
Delegate with him and come up with a new solution.

Criteria for Evaluation:

Impact on existing and potential Chinese clients.

Impact on other employees.
Impact on companys revenue
Time involved in hiring new employee.

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Evaluation of options:
1 Accept Wus demand for personal assistant:
Wus demand can be accepted on this ground that though he was dealing
with just one client, but it contributed a major chunk to companys
revenue. Accepting his demand would mean that the company wont be
losing their existing Chinese client and Wu also expected to get three new
clients in the coming quarter.
Companys revenue will also increase. As they will be retaining Wu, there
would be no need to search for his substitute.
But this decision might instigate the feeling of partiality amongst other
employees. The work culture will be affected.
2 Reject his demand:
Wus demand was unjustified according to companys policy. Only senior
executives who were involved with more than 30 clients were given
assistants. Others had to share assistants. On this ground Peterson can
reject Wus demand. She can look for hiring a new sales executive. But
Wu had very strong network with the Chinese community. He knew how
Chinese entrepreneurs and businesses operated. Searching for a substitute
as talented as Wu was difficult. Also for the coming quarter, three major
clients were lined up. Losing Wu would mean deal with existing as well
as potential Chinese clients will be at stake.
As far as other employees are concerned, they might not be that much
affected by this decision. But it is also possible that they might feel
discouraged to increase the revenue and doing something unconventional
because Wo tried to do so but even then his demand was rejected.
3 Delegate with him and come up with a new solution:
Peterson can talk to Wu in an informal manner and try to come to a
conclusion on this. She should try to know the reason behind his demand.
She can explain him the consequences of accepting his demand on other
employees. She can set a sales target for all the employees for a quarter
with the condition that all those who will fulfill that will be promoted.
And with promotion, an assistant will be provided if there is a
requirement. In this way she can make everyone work more. Wu might
also be impressed with the idea as he has already talked to three major
clients. Being confident in achieving the target, he might accept the offer.

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This will not only increase the companys revenue, but it will also satisfy
Wu without offending other employees.

RECOMMENDATION:
Since Peterson is already under the pressure of achieving 40% growth in
revenue, she cant afford to lose her strong clients by offending Wu. She also
cant make her other employees unhappy. Considering all there constraints,
third option seems to be the most viable and profitable option.

Action Plan:
1. Call a meeting with Wu and try to make him understand the situation.
2. Come up with a new promotion and incentive scheme.
3. Announce about the scheme and set sales target for all employees.
4. After a quarter, check progress report and incentivize those who
performed well as it was promised.

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