THE XEROX CASE
w
-1
Harvard B u s i n e s s School
9-490-029
Rev. June 18, 1993
Managing Xerox's Multinational
Development Center
Those who worked with John Clendenin in Xerox's building 214 in Rochester, NY and saw him walking down the hall after lunch on March 16, 1989, would not have noticed anything unusual. A &foot 2-inch, 250-pound black man with a shaved head and an athletic build,
Clendenin was impressive enough in appearance. H e also dressed somewhat outside the Xerox norm: that day he wore a perfectly pressed pink shirt, a brown suit, a paisley tie, and suspenders:
But that was Clendenin's style. Clendenin had a slight smile on his face, as he paused occasionally to chat with colleagues, asking after their families in a sof4 almost musical voice that contrasted with his large Frame.
everth he less, Clendenin was in a state oE inner turmoil. His boss, Fred Hewitt, had just proposed to Clendenin a lateral move from head of Xerox's Multinational Development Center
(MDC) to a staff support position 04 Hewitt's staff. Hewitt had also given Clendenin the option of remaining in his current job if he would make an additional two-year commitment to the MDC.
Since taking over as head of the MDC in 1986 Clendenin and his staff had worked to improve the efficiency of Xerox's worldwide logistics and inventory management systems.
Clendenin was proud of the MDC's accomplishments. He believed the group had discovered and exploited business opportunities that saved Xerox millions of dollars a year. Their "customers," the Xerox operating units that provided the MDC's funding, seemed to agree; the h3DC annual budget had grown from $400,000 to $4 million, its staff horn 4 employees to 4 2 And the MDC achieved these increases while virtually every other staff group within Xerox had to cut back on funding and staff.
Personally, Clendenin had been rewarded with four promotions since joining Xerox in
1984. Until that very morning he thought he was well
-1
Harvard B u s i n e s s School
9-490-029
Rev. June 18, 1993
Managing Xerox's Multinational
Development Center
Those who worked with John Clendenin in Xerox's building 214 in Rochester, NY and saw him walking down the hall after lunch on March 16, 1989, would not have noticed anything unusual. A &foot 2-inch, 250-pound black man with a shaved head and an athletic build,
Clendenin was impressive enough in appearance. H e also dressed somewhat outside the Xerox norm: that day he wore a perfectly pressed pink shirt, a brown suit, a paisley tie, and suspenders:
But that was Clendenin's style. Clendenin had a slight smile on his face, as he paused occasionally to chat with colleagues, asking after their families in a sof4 almost musical voice that contrasted with his large Frame.
everth he less, Clendenin was in a state oE inner turmoil. His boss, Fred Hewitt, had just proposed to Clendenin a lateral move from head of Xerox's Multinational Development Center
(MDC) to a staff support position 04 Hewitt's staff. Hewitt had also given Clendenin the option of remaining in his current job if he would make an additional two-year commitment to the MDC.
Since taking over as head of the MDC in 1986 Clendenin and his staff had worked to improve the efficiency of Xerox's worldwide logistics and inventory management systems.
Clendenin was proud of the MDC's accomplishments. He believed the group had discovered and exploited business opportunities that saved Xerox millions of dollars a year. Their "customers," the Xerox operating units that provided the MDC's funding, seemed to agree; the h3DC annual budget had grown from $400,000 to $4 million, its staff horn 4 employees to 4 2 And the MDC achieved these increases while virtually every other staff group within Xerox had to cut back on funding and staff.
Personally, Clendenin had been rewarded with four promotions since joining Xerox in
1984. Until that very morning he thought he was well