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Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2013

Wendy Peterson

by Linda A. Hill and Alisa Zalosh

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Abstract

Wendy Peterson was recently promoted to Vice President of Sales at the Plano, Texas, office of AccountBack, an accounting software and services company. To penetrate a perceived market niche, Peterson hires Fred (Xing) Wu, whose familiarity with and access to Chinese business leaders in Plano is valuable. Wu was born and raised in China, partly educated in the U.S., and immigrated to the U.S. in 2005. Within 12 months, he had signed his regional team's largest client, but Peterson has reservations about Wu's performance and is uneasy about their working relationship. Wu has requested an assistant—unprecedented within AccountBack's flat organizational structure. Peterson reflexively perceives the request as unreasonable, but in responding she must take into account the implications her decision will have on the rest of her sales team, as well as her own career. This case is ideal for courses on managing performance, managing conflict, leadership, cross-cultural differences, conflict and negotiation, employee development, and performance evaluation.

Keywords: Leadership; Conflict Management; Salesforce Management; Rank and Position; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Accounting Industry; Texas;

Language: English Format: Print EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Hill, Linda A., and Alisa Zalosh. "Wendy Peterson." Harvard Business School Brief Case 913-560, May 2013.

Related Work

  1. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2013

    Wendy Peterson (Brief Case)

    Linda A. Hill and Alisa Zalosh

    Citation:

    Hill, Linda A., and Alisa Zalosh. "Wendy Peterson (Brief Case)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 913-561, May 2013.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related

About the Author

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Linda A. Hill
Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration
Organizational Behavior

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More from the Author

  • Article | Harvard Business Review

    The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk

    Linda A. Hill and George Davis

    As firms scramble for competitive advantage, boards—once the cautious voices urging management to mitigate risk—are now calling for breakthrough innovation. Indeed, avoiding risk is now seen as the riskiest proposition of all. In speaking with CEOs and board members from a range of industries, the authors identified four common obstacles most boards face in governing innovation: an outdated risk agenda, insufficient time, lack of expertise, and a relationship with management that needs retuning. Embracing innovation and its inherent risks requires that boards and senior management develop new ways of working together. To bolster out-of-the-box thinking at their companies, boards should promote diversity among members. They should foster "creative abrasion" to keep ideas flowing and rethink traditional methods of governing. And they must learn to embrace and encourage risk.

    Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Governance;

    Citation:

    Hill, Linda A., and George Davis. "The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 6 (November–December 2017): 102–109.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Register to Read Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | April 2017

    Q&A with Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology & Innovation

    Linda A. Hill and Allison J. Wigen

    In this video supplement to the HBS case study "Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology & Innovation," case protagonist Tom Kalil discusses leading a team of policy entrepreneurs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2008-2016.

    Keywords: innovation; government; government innovation; policy; leadership; leadership development; Leading teams; collaboration; cross-sector collaboration; Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Leadership; Leadership Development; Groups and Teams; Policy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; United States;

    Citation:

    Hill, Linda A., and Allison J. Wigen. "Q&A with Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology & Innovation." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 417-712, April 2017.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2013 (Revised February 2017)

    Iz-Lynn Chan at Far East Organization

    Linda A. Hill, Anthony J. Mayo and Dana M. Teppert

    Iz-Lynn Chan, assistant director of retail business group and service quality and vice president of Far East retail consultancy for Far East Organization, a private real estate developer group in Singapore, raises service standards in the company's hospitality portfolio, Far East Hospitality. Chan and her small team in the Service Quality and Standards Department (SQSD) for Far East Organization apply to the Singapore government for the National Customer Centric Initiative (CCI) for Far East Hospitality. After being awarded the CCI, Chan must make some tough decisions about how to carry out the CCI. Despite Far East Hospitality's leading market share in mid-tier hotels and serviced residences, there had been a number of new entrants into the market and competition is fierce in Singapore's hospitality industry.

    Keywords: leadership; change management; hospitality; organizational change and transformation; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Service Industry; Singapore;

    Citation:

    Hill, Linda A., Anthony J. Mayo, and Dana M. Teppert. "Iz-Lynn Chan at Far East Organization." Harvard Business School Case 413-060, February 2013. (Revised February 2017.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
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