Management 10th Edition by Richard Daft

Exercise 4

Reflex Systems
As the plane took off from the L.A. airport for Chicago and home, Henry Rankin tried to unwind, something that didn't come naturally to the Reflex Systems software engineer. He needed time to think, and the flight from Los Angeles was a welcome relief. He went to L.A. to help two members of his project team solve technical glitches in software. Rankin had been pushing himself and his team hard for three months now, and he didn't know when they would get a break. Rankin was responsible for the technical implementation of the new customer relationship management software being installed for western and eastern sales offices in L.A. and Chicago. The software was badly needed to improve follow-up sales for his company. Reflex Systems. Reflex sold exercise equipment to high schools and colleges through a national force of 310 salespeople. Reflex also sold products to small and medium-sized businesses for recreation centers.
Rankin knew CEO Mike Frazer saw the new CRM software as the answer to one of the exercise equipment manufacturer's most persistent problems. Even though Reflex's low prices generated healthy sales, follow-up service was spotty. Consequently, getting repeat business from customers-high schools, colleges, and corporate recreation centers-was an uphill battle. Excited by the prospect of finally removing this major roadblock, Frazer ordered the CRM software installed in just ten weeks, a goal Rankin privately thought was unrealistic. He also felt the project budget wasn't adequate. Rankin thought about meeting the next day with his three Chicago team members, and about the status update he would give his boss, Nicole Dyer, the senior vice president for Information Technology. Rankin remembered that Dyer had scheduled ten weeks for the CRM project. He had always been a top performer by driving himself hard and had been in his management position three years now. He was good with technology, but was frustrated when members of his five-person team didn't seem as committed. Dyer told him last week that she didn't feel a sense of urgency from his team. How could she think that? Rankin requested that team members work evenings and weekends because the budget was too tight to fill a vacant position. They agreed to put in the hours, although they didn't seem enthusiastic.
Still, Frazer was the boss, so if he wanted the job done in tea weeks, Rankin would do everything in his power to deliver, even if it meant the entire team worked nights and weekends. He wasn't asking any more of his subordinates than he was asking of himself, as he frequently reminded them when they came to him with bloodshot eyes and complained about the hours. Rankin thought back to a flight one month ago when he returned to Chicago from L.A. Sally Phillips sat next to him. Phillips was on one of five members on Rankin's team and told him she had an offer from a well-known competitor. The money was less, but she was interested in the quality of life aspect of the company. Phillips asked for feedback on how she was doing and about her career prospects at Reflex. Rankin said he didn't want her to leave, but what more could he say? She got along well with people but she wasn't as technically gifted as some on the team. Rankin needed her help to finish the project and he told her so. Two weeks later, though, she had turned in her letter of resignation, and now the team was shorthanded. Rankin was also aware that his own possible promotion in two years, when Nicole Dyer was eligible for retirement, depended on his success with this project. He would just take up the slack himself. He loved studying, analyzing, and solving technical problems when he could get time alone.
Henry Rankin knew that Nicole Dyer had noticed a lack of commitment on the part of the team members. He wondered whether she had discussed the team's performance with Frazer as well. Rankin hadn't noticed any other problems, but he recalled his partner on the project, Sam Matheny, saying that two Chicago team members, Bob Finley and Lynne Johnston, were avoiding each other. How did Sam know that? Matheny was in charge of nontechnical sales implementation of the CRM project, which meant training salespeople, redesigning sales procedures, updating customer records, and so forth. Rankin called Finley and Johnston to his office and said he expected them to get along for the good of the project. Finley said he had overreacted to Johnston from lack of sleep and wondered when the project would be over. Rankin wasn't certain because of all the problems with both software and hardware, but he said the project shouldn't last more than another month.
As the plane taxied to the gate, an exhausted Rankin couldn't quell his growing fears that as the deadline fast approached, the project team was crumbling. How could he meet that deadline? As the plane taxied to the gate at Chicago, Rankin wondered about the projects success. Was there more to managing this team than working hard and pushing others hard? Even he was tired. Maybe he would ask his wife when he got home. He hadn't seen her or the kids for a week, but they had not complained.
If you were Rankin, how would you have handled your team members (Sally Phillips, Bob Finley, and Lynne Johnston)? Be specific. What insights or behaviors would make Rankin a better manager?