Unequal Opportunity
THE CASE OF THE UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITY *
By Mary C. Gentile
Roles:
The Voice of The Case Study (THE CASE)
• Laura Wollen (LAURA), group Marketing Director, ARPCO, Inc. • A manufacturer of small electrical tools and appliances • David Abbott (DAVID), Mary’s counterpart at ARPCO in London. • Charles Lewis (CHARLES), a product manager working under Laura. • Ralph Jordan (RALPH), Laura’s divisional vice president.
THE CASE:
Laura Wollen, group marketing director, was in her office in Columbus, Ohio, preparing to make a telephone call to London. She was getting ready to recommend her best product manager, Charles Lewis, for a position in the London office, a job that would give Lewis the international exposure he would need to progress towards senior management. She and David Abbott, her counterpart in the United Kingdom, had had several conversations about Lewis’ candidacy, and Abbott had seemed impressed. Laura simply wanted to touch base with him before making the recommendation formal.
Only two candidates were serious contenders for the U.K. product manager job: Frank Billings and Charles Lewis. Billings had joined ARPCO the previous year as a product manager for the housewares division. Before that, he had been a sales representative for one of ARPCO’s main competitors. Laura knew Billings fairly well because he had reported to her for several months on a special project.
LAURA:
He’s intelligent…hard-working….
THE CASE:
Yet she believed that Charles Lewis, who had reported to her for three years, had the same innate talents but was better prepared for the job.
LAURA:
He’s got a certain creative spark that Frank just doesn’t have!
THE CASE:
With a bachelor’s degree in business administration and two years’ experience selling financial services, Charles had joined ARPCO as a sales rep in the Midwest. He immediately proved himself a winner. Marketing often recruited high fliers from the sales force, so
By Mary C. Gentile
Roles:
The Voice of The Case Study (THE CASE)
• Laura Wollen (LAURA), group Marketing Director, ARPCO, Inc. • A manufacturer of small electrical tools and appliances • David Abbott (DAVID), Mary’s counterpart at ARPCO in London. • Charles Lewis (CHARLES), a product manager working under Laura. • Ralph Jordan (RALPH), Laura’s divisional vice president.
THE CASE:
Laura Wollen, group marketing director, was in her office in Columbus, Ohio, preparing to make a telephone call to London. She was getting ready to recommend her best product manager, Charles Lewis, for a position in the London office, a job that would give Lewis the international exposure he would need to progress towards senior management. She and David Abbott, her counterpart in the United Kingdom, had had several conversations about Lewis’ candidacy, and Abbott had seemed impressed. Laura simply wanted to touch base with him before making the recommendation formal.
Only two candidates were serious contenders for the U.K. product manager job: Frank Billings and Charles Lewis. Billings had joined ARPCO the previous year as a product manager for the housewares division. Before that, he had been a sales representative for one of ARPCO’s main competitors. Laura knew Billings fairly well because he had reported to her for several months on a special project.
LAURA:
He’s intelligent…hard-working….
THE CASE:
Yet she believed that Charles Lewis, who had reported to her for three years, had the same innate talents but was better prepared for the job.
LAURA:
He’s got a certain creative spark that Frank just doesn’t have!
THE CASE:
With a bachelor’s degree in business administration and two years’ experience selling financial services, Charles had joined ARPCO as a sales rep in the Midwest. He immediately proved himself a winner. Marketing often recruited high fliers from the sales force, so