Case Study A- Malcolm Eyes the Executive Suite
Malcolm Gupta come from a family whose members include many successful business executives, including his parents. Since he was a teenager, Malcolm has been fascinated with the prospects of becoming a corporate executive. In addition to more typical teenage interests, Malcolm would frequently read the business section of his local newspaper, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. He also enthusiastically read biographies of business executives including Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, and Martha Stewart. Malcom studied industrial engineering as an undergraduate, thinking that such a program would give him a solid base for understanding the operations of business. He followed up his undergraduate degree with an MBA, with an emphasis on leadership and organizational behavior. Malcolm said to himself, his family, and friends repeatedly, "I know I have what it takes to get to the corner office."
With first-rate interpersonal skills to match his solid education, Malcolm was well received by an on-campus recruiter for a major player in the high tech field, a manager of computer equipment and services. He was chosen to a management training program in which he would be given approximately one-year assignments in several business functions. His initial assignment was a member of a team whose purpose was to help reduce the manufacturing costs of desktop computers.
Six weeks after being assigned to the team, Malcolm informed his team leader that he was developing his skills in Mandarin Chinese, a language he had studied in college. As Malcolm explained to his team leader, "Chinese is going to help me because so much of our manufacturing is outsourced to China. And besides, a second language can only be an asset for a future executive leader."
After about fifteen months of the team, Malcolm was appointed as the supervisor of an order-fulfillment group within a distribution center of the company within the same manufacturing complex. Upon accepting the distribution-center assignment. Malcolm told hi new manager, "I will do my best to be an outstanding performer here. But I am wondering if spending time in a distribution center will really enhance my credential for becoming an executive in this company."
Upon completing his eighteen-month supervisory assignment, Malcolm's performance was evaluated. His boss noted that his performance was slightly above average but that he seemed a little too focused on his career ambitions and not focused enough on the good of the company. Malcolm's nest assignment was as a team leader of a logistics group that kept track of the flow of equipment that manufactured overseas. Given that about 80 percent of the company's manufacturing was globally outsourced, logistics was highly valued at the company.
A few weeks after Malcolm began his new assignment, he met with his company assigned mentor, Jessica Magnum, manufacturing executive. Asked how his work was going at the company, Malcolm replied: "Maybe you can help me. I'm enjoying my work, but I think that my career is inching along, when I should be making big strides, I would like to be assigned to a strategy team, or maybe a new product development team. In this way I would get the experience and the visibility I need to move more quickly into the corner office."
Jessica responded. "Malcolm, I think highly of you, but your idea of career progress is old fashioned. You need to focus more on performance than promotion."
Questions
In what way is this case about leadership development?
What would you recommend that Malcolm do to facilitate his path to an executive position?
To what extent do you think Jessica's comment is justified?
FYI
In reading this case study I found the key issue the things that Malcolm is doing in attempts to reach the top in the corporate world. Also with this definition in mind of leadership development (Teaching of leadershipqualities, including communication, ability to motivate others, and management, to an individual who may or may not use the learned skills in a leadership position), use this as a key issue also. The first two questions above this are usually the key issues. Of course, reword it but also expound on them in the root causes, options and advantages/disadvantages
Comments made by the Professor:
This was the Mary Briggs Superintendent Case Study:
Your analysis of the key issue that you framed was pretty good. The problem is that you didn't frame the issue correctly. This key issue of this case study has to do with the effectiveness of Ms. Briggs' strategic leadership approach. That's what you needed to focus on. The issues concerning the school board are in the background, but they're not your key issue. Look to the questions at the end of the case study to help you frame the issues better. All three of those questions focused on Ms. Briggs' strategic leadership approach. Your analysis should have done the same.