What mistakes did you make that lead to the current state of affairs? Identify at least two mistakes and explain each one in at least 2-3 sentences. (4 points)Why do you think you made such mistakes? Explain in at least 3-4 sentences. (2 points)1:14 @ M For allll 16% Expert Q&A MINI-CASE: FACING TERMINATION? The silence was beginning to become uncomfortable as After you returned to the office, you read some more you searched for words to answer the question from material about VelcroSFA and called a couple of friends your chief executive officer (CEO). The boardroom had who had installed it in their organizations. It seemed never looked so big, and it seemed her words were to be the right application. You showed the brochure still echoing: "How could it get to this? You sat here to some of the best-performing salespeople. They did telling us how this new software program would dramat- not seem impressed, and they raised a bunch of issues. ically improve our marketing efficiencies and customers' Joe, one of the old-timers, said, "The Rolodex did won- repurchase frequency. It has been over two months, and ders for me throughout my career; what do I need a the bloody thing isn't even working!" computer for?" Joe never liked you anyway since you As you searched for the right way to respond, the had taken Tom's spot, you thought. Amanda, a younger events leading up to this moment flashed through your associate, seemed more positive: "I'm willing to give mind. It was over two months ago when you sold the it a shot, but it seems quite convoluted. I'm not sure I board on the benefits of a new salesforce automation need all those functionalities." You recall thinking that tool. You had just been promoted to vice president of they would change their mind once they saw their com- marketing, taking over from Tom Vecchio. Tom was missions go up because the software would allow them an old-fashioned salesperson, with a huge personality to spend more time with customers. You did not like and an incredible memory. He was employee number computers after all, but you liked the software more as four when the company launched, back in 1982, and you found out more about it. They would, too. had been instrumental in its early growth via personal Jenny Cantera, the IT director, had pledged her help networking-phone calls, rounds of golf, and birthday with the installation and, after looking at the brochure, calls. He had surrounded himself with very similar peo- had said, "Should take a weekend to install this applica- ple. You understood that culture, you had been one of the tion and write the interface to the HR system. I'm busy young guns a few years ago, and now you had replaced with the implementation of the new accounting system the master. for the next three or four weeks, but I should be able to But things had changed in your industry, competition do this afterward." You had some doubts about Jenny. was much tougher, and markets were now global. "How She was very smart and technically gifted, but she was could a firm the size of this one run sales and marketing the very first IT director in your firm and she had little without any IT support?" you wondered once promoted. experience in the position. How ironic that you'd be the one to usher in the "new The board had been sold pretty easily on the pur- IT-enabled world." You had managed never to concern chase, even though at $55,000 it was a sizable invest- yourself with all that techie computer stuff. You were a ment for your firm. You had used the return on pretty good user: e-mail, Web, some Excel. . . the usual. investment (ROI) calculations provided by VelcroSoft. But now your bonus depended on the performance of Granted, VelcroSoft personnel were very aggressive the whole function, not just the number of contracts with assumptions underlying their calculations, but with you closed, and it seemed you had been getting all the a bit of effort on everyone's part you truly believed you heat about efficiencies that they could not put on Tom. .. could achieve strong results. As soon as you got the they could scream all they wanted, he was untouchable. go-ahead, you contacted the vendor and obtained the But you weren't! installation package. Everything had gone perfectly up It all seemed to have fallen into place when you to that point, but your fortune seemed to turn right after. went to the National Convention of the Sales Execu- First, you had the software installation disks sitting tives Association. At one of the booths you had seen on your desk for over a month. Jenny was running VelcroSoft and the salesforce automation product Vel- into unexpected trouble with the accounting software. croFA. There was a lot of buzz around their product Once she finally got around to implementing your prod- both at the conference and in the press. The attendant uct, she took one weekend to complete the installation at the booth told you about all of the great features of and created the user accounts. The interface to the HR VelcroSFA: automated recording of information at each application was not operational yet-something about a stage in the sales process, automated escalation and "software conflict," you did not quite understand. How- approval, contact management, lead sharing for team ever, you pressed on. Over the following week, you selling, and in-depth reporting. It could even integrate had encouraged your sales rep to "play around with the with human resource systems for immediate computa- applications." You had even sent an e-mail with the sub- tion of commissions, reduced data entry, and increased ject line "Up and running in the brave new world of speed. Sales Force Automation!" But response had been cool at best. Only a few accounts had been accessed, and DISCUSSION QUESTIONS overall the people you spoke to said they were too busy and would look at the software once the quarter closed. 1. Who do you think is to blame for the current state Last weekend, when Jenny wrote the interface to the of affairs? HR systems, all hell broke loose. On Monday (yester- 2. What do you think is the most critical mistake you day) the HR database was locked and the HR system was made over the last two months? What were the prin- down. Jenny was scrambling to bring it back up, and she cipal mistakes made by others involved? was now saying she may have to reinstall the program. 3. How could these mistakes have been avoided, if at She had already uninstalled VelcroSFA, and at this point all? it looked like the application would not be a priority for 4. Should you take this opportunity to say goodbye to a while. You did not really mind; you had bigger fish to everyone and resign now? If not, what should you fry.. . you were concerned about getting fired. say in response to the CEO's question? O