The case study of “The challenge”

Essay by mpmraUniversity, Master'sB+, October 2010

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The case study of "The challenge"

The case study of "The challenge"

In the business world it is usually said that executives from within the ranks know the challenges and politics of a company, while newcomers face a corporate minefield. Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins write in their book "Right from the start" that "Leadership is never easy" and that "This is never truer than when a new leader enters an organization from the outside and must change its culture in fundamental ways". The "Andy" Case describes the errors he made that led to his demise and for this reason it has been characterised as a guide for survival for leaders that are newcomers in their company.

When we examine the story we see that Andy felt that he was the best candidate and that he surely had a chance pursuing the position of CEO. But he made some mistakes.

He should focus on not repeating them. Successful executives should first take responsibility for their actions. It is clear that he should have spent some time learning more about the assets of the company, getting to know the people that worked with him and under him and use them as resources for the "growth" his was aiming to achieve, instead of making decisions unilaterally.

If he had developed some measures for a baseline and gave them to his reports he would have been able to measure their performance, he could easily explain to the board and back up his decision for firing the executives, without permitting anyone to question his evidence of inadequacy and hence his reason for dismissing them.

Andy should have learned more about the workplace culture, especially his position. For example, he should have tried to inform himself about the relationships these executives had with...