2. If you were Marshall Pinkard, how would you address both Ayishia’s request for clarification about her authority and responsibilities and the underlying problems her e-mail brings to his attention? Can the problems be addressed with minor adjustments, or would you need to consider a drastic overhaul of the bank’s organizational structure? What environmental and technological factors would influence your decision? Marshall Pinkard, president and CEO of FMB&T, a growing Californiabased regional commercial and consumer retail bank, clicked on an e-mail from Ayishia Coles. Ayishia was the bright, hardworking, self-confident woman who’d recently come on board as the bank’s executive vice president and chief information officer. The fact that the person in Coles’s position in the company’s traditional vertical organization now reported directly to him and was a full-fledged member of the executive committee reflected FMB&T’s recognition of just how important information technology was to all aspects of its increasingly competitive business. The successful, leadingedge banks were the ones using information technology not only to operate efficiently, but also to help them focus more effectively on customer needs.

Marshall settled back to read what he expected would be a report on how she was settling in. He was sadly mistaken