Xyberspace Consulting
Xyberspace Consulting, Inc.
Laura Barnes finished her chicken fajita and looked out upon Town Lake, shimmering under the fierce Texas sun. She had recently relocated to Austin from Silicon Valley to head up the
Accounting Department for Xyberspace, a rapidly growing technology-consulting firm. Only two weeks on the job, she was being asked to resolve a controversy within the company. The controversy centered on the allocation of the costs associated with the company’s Training and
Education Service Group to each of the company’s profit centers that used those services.
Opinions on the issue were heated, and she had come to the lakeshore with her notes to calmly sort out the facts and consider the relevant issues. Her manager and Xyberspace’s CFO, Martin
Henry, had made it clear he expected a quick resolution of the controversy, which he felt was hurting company morale and had large strategic implications for Xyberspace.
Background
Xyberspace was a successful Internet consulting firm located in Austin, Texas. The company’s
Consulting Group provide e-strategy solutions to corporate and non-profit clients, while the
Customer Care Group performed IT implementation and provided telephone, e-mail, and on-site client support. As Austin became home to an increasing number of Internet start-ups as well as established high-tech firms, Xyberspace had grown rapidly. The company employed 800 people,
500 of whom were consultants and 250 of whom were Customer Care Technicians. The remaining 50 were either corporate officers or performed corporate functions such as accounting, marketing, training, and public relations. The company owned its own building in downtown
Austin.
Training was an integral part of the company’s strategy, and Xyberspace was wholeheartedly committed to training and continuing education. According to Richard Malinovich, the company’s founder and CEO, “Our goal is to have absolutely the best-educated consultants in the marketplace. We think this will set us
Laura Barnes finished her chicken fajita and looked out upon Town Lake, shimmering under the fierce Texas sun. She had recently relocated to Austin from Silicon Valley to head up the
Accounting Department for Xyberspace, a rapidly growing technology-consulting firm. Only two weeks on the job, she was being asked to resolve a controversy within the company. The controversy centered on the allocation of the costs associated with the company’s Training and
Education Service Group to each of the company’s profit centers that used those services.
Opinions on the issue were heated, and she had come to the lakeshore with her notes to calmly sort out the facts and consider the relevant issues. Her manager and Xyberspace’s CFO, Martin
Henry, had made it clear he expected a quick resolution of the controversy, which he felt was hurting company morale and had large strategic implications for Xyberspace.
Background
Xyberspace was a successful Internet consulting firm located in Austin, Texas. The company’s
Consulting Group provide e-strategy solutions to corporate and non-profit clients, while the
Customer Care Group performed IT implementation and provided telephone, e-mail, and on-site client support. As Austin became home to an increasing number of Internet start-ups as well as established high-tech firms, Xyberspace had grown rapidly. The company employed 800 people,
500 of whom were consultants and 250 of whom were Customer Care Technicians. The remaining 50 were either corporate officers or performed corporate functions such as accounting, marketing, training, and public relations. The company owned its own building in downtown
Austin.
Training was an integral part of the company’s strategy, and Xyberspace was wholeheartedly committed to training and continuing education. According to Richard Malinovich, the company’s founder and CEO, “Our goal is to have absolutely the best-educated consultants in the marketplace. We think this will set us