Recommendations: Describe briefly to Mr. Barney why your group's recommendations are important for Biotech's future.

Director of Finance

Location: Headquarters, Yonkers, NY

Answers to: Chief Financial Officer

This leader oversees the day-to-day operations of the finance department. This leader is expected to aid in strategic planning with the executive team of Biotech. Although a finance background is not required, this person is expected to bring a conservative approach to the strategic planning table, to balance out the high-risk tolerance of the rest of the leadership at Biotech. A “big picture” perspective is definitely needed here.

Candidate - Jackie Johnson – Current Position - Director of Purchasing

Jackie Johnson currently works as Director of Purchasing and obtained this job directly after serving in the military. She is a graduate of UMGC's business administration program. Johnson entered the interview room all smiles and with a firm handshake. The interviewer admitted to being impressed by the firm handshake and the constant eye contact throughout the interview. Johnson was very prepared to discuss her future with the company. She had completed extensive research on all four geographic divisions prior to the interview. Johnson had also spoken with current employees throughout Headquarters. Johnson indicated that, as Director of Purchasing, she had worked very hard to create a small business "subculture" within her department. She felt that her employees were empowered to make their own decisions, which freed her to think strategically about purchasing for Biotech. She admits that this "free-rein" approach to leadership has sometimes allowed her department to have missteps in distribution with divisions outside of North America. She has worked hard to overcome that image by altering her leadership style according to the situation or the employee she is dealing with.

Her approach to leading is to look for leadership opportunities and encourage employees to act upon them, if possible. Johnson believes she is positive about the future and while she admits to only having worked in the purchasing department, she feels that she can bring a big picture perspective to the company, having worked with both suppliers and customers in purchasing. When asked about her risk tolerance, she replied, "I believe that is demonstrated in the small-business, entrepreneurial subculture I created in purchasing. At the end of the day, I'm more risk-tolerant than cautious." Johnson said she sees herself as a transformational leader. She feels that good leadership is built on good relationships with followers. Relational Theory seems to make the most sense to her for the 21st century because people make change work and leading change in the future.

Position: VP of Headquarter Operations

Location: Headquarters, Yonkers, NY

Answers to: President and CEO

The Headquarters houses R&D, HR, IT, Purchasing, and Finance. Each of these departments has its own “subculture”, and each department is fairly distinct from each other. The young, youthful subculture of IT often clashes with the conservative subculture of the Finance department, for example. Many of the members of the Finance and HR teams are baby boomers and are near retirement. This leader oversees the smooth operation of all of these departments and ensures the coordination of these departments with each other and with each of the four geographic divisions across the world.

Candidate – Rafael Mendez – Current Position – Director of Sales, New Mexico Mendez currently is the Director of the New Mexico sales division at Biotech. He was Biotech's top salesman before taking over the Director position. Mendez is 32 years old. A recent divorce from his wife has made him eager to make a change in his career. Mendez's wife was Brazilian. Mendez is fluent in Portuguese. When asked if he was open to moving outside of the United States, Mendez replied that he was "open to adventure." He had not traveled excessively but had gone to Brazil regularly with his wife when they were together. He was familiar with the problems of a developing country. Mendez enjoys working with customers and spends a lot of time with them making sure they are satisfied. Mendez enjoys Biotech's collaborative culture. He feels that one of the secrets to his own sales success is the ability to coordinate with other departments within Biotech, including purchasing, IT, R&D, and HR. As part of his 360-degree performance appraisal, his team gave him glowing reviews. He got equally high ratings from senior salespeople (i.e., Baby Boomers) and younger salespeople (i.e., Millennials). When asked what characteristics he thought a leader needed to succeed in the 21st century, he replied, "…you need to be a good listener, first and foremost." He felt a good leader should change rapidly in a crisis and should be direct and assertive when dealing with people. When asked about the idea of the competitive edge he said "A leader has to worry about making money every day. It is important to have immediate results for all to see especially in sales. Even customers prefer to deal with successful salespeople than those that plod along." Mendez believes he could do well in another country if the company ensured he received language and cultural training. He knew that understanding how people thought about business and their products was important but more likely the sale would be clinched if he knew what was and wasn't culturally acceptable in the country in which he was selling. He stated, "Knowing your clients is everything in sales, so I suspect it is a very important part of the leadership at Biotech as well." When asked how he created followers among his employees, Mendez replied he liked to have rules but also room for deviation and flexibility --- while always remaining results-driven. Mendez said he was a situational leader because it encouraged freedom, and allowed him to use different leadership styles with a diverse group of employees.