Alex Sander Case Study
Case Study/Analysis
“A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products”
Situation/Analysis:
Alex Sander is the newest and youngest product manager in the Toiletries Division of Landon Care Products, Inc., a cosmetics product company located in Connecticut. At 32 years of age, Alex is aggressive, driven, and an extremely hard worker. Alex is educated, obtaining his MBA from MIT Sloan, as well as an undergraduate BA degree in Economics from Stanford. When he joined Landon Care Products, he was only 4 years removed from school and had very limited worked experience.
Sam Glass is Alex’s direct supervisor, the leader of the Product Group for Landon. Sam hired Alex to join his product group to lead a very important product marketing initiative for the organization. In addition, Landon has embarked on a 360 degree feedback and review process for their employees. This is a new process for Landon and for the company’s leaders and employees.
There are several key issues in this case: * Alex has strengths and weaknesses, but his weaknesses primarily center on leadership. While he is extremely bright and hard-working, he appears to lack innate leadership skills needed to manage people. * Alex places no value on the feedback process and comments provided by his supervisors, peers, and direct reports. This will make it very difficult for Sam to coach and guide Alex. * Sam has a vested interest in Alex’s success because he hired Alex. If Alex fails, it will certainly reflect negatively on Sam and how he is viewed by Senior Management. * Alex’s positive feedback and results indicate that he is extremely talented. The question, and challenge for Sam, is how to get the most out of Alex’s talent while coaching him through his weaknesses before he loses his entire team. * Sam is, admittedly, “intimidated” by Alex, who reports to him. This is a problem that he must overcome.
Recommendations for Sam:
This is a
“A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products”
Situation/Analysis:
Alex Sander is the newest and youngest product manager in the Toiletries Division of Landon Care Products, Inc., a cosmetics product company located in Connecticut. At 32 years of age, Alex is aggressive, driven, and an extremely hard worker. Alex is educated, obtaining his MBA from MIT Sloan, as well as an undergraduate BA degree in Economics from Stanford. When he joined Landon Care Products, he was only 4 years removed from school and had very limited worked experience.
Sam Glass is Alex’s direct supervisor, the leader of the Product Group for Landon. Sam hired Alex to join his product group to lead a very important product marketing initiative for the organization. In addition, Landon has embarked on a 360 degree feedback and review process for their employees. This is a new process for Landon and for the company’s leaders and employees.
There are several key issues in this case: * Alex has strengths and weaknesses, but his weaknesses primarily center on leadership. While he is extremely bright and hard-working, he appears to lack innate leadership skills needed to manage people. * Alex places no value on the feedback process and comments provided by his supervisors, peers, and direct reports. This will make it very difficult for Sam to coach and guide Alex. * Sam has a vested interest in Alex’s success because he hired Alex. If Alex fails, it will certainly reflect negatively on Sam and how he is viewed by Senior Management. * Alex’s positive feedback and results indicate that he is extremely talented. The question, and challenge for Sam, is how to get the most out of Alex’s talent while coaching him through his weaknesses before he loses his entire team. * Sam is, admittedly, “intimidated” by Alex, who reports to him. This is a problem that he must overcome.
Recommendations for Sam:
This is a