Case: Throwing Away a Golden Opportunity
Roger Allen was a man on the move. Everyone in the ?rm felt that someday he would be company president. To listen to his boss, Harry Walden, it was only a matter of time before Roger would be at the helm.
The current president of the ?rm was a marketing person. She had worked her way up from ?eld salesperson to president by selling both the product and her competency to customers and the company alike. In a manner of speaking, the marketing department was the “well-oiled” road to the top. Roger was the number-one salesperson and, according to the grapevine, was due to get Harry Walden’s job when the latter retired in two years. However, Roger was not sure that he wanted to be vice president of marketing. Another slot was opening up in international sales. Roger knew nothing about selling to Europe, but this was the ?rm’s ?rst venture outside the United States, and he thought he might like to give it a try. He talked to Harry about it, but the vice president tried to discourage him. In fact, Harry seemed to think that Roger was crazy to consider the job at all. “Rog,” he said, “that’s no place for you. Things are soft and cozy back here. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone. You’re number one around here. Just sit tight and you’ll be president. Don’t go out and make some end runs. Just keep barreling up the middle for four yards on each carry, and you’ll score the big touch-down.” Roger was not convinced. He thought perhaps it would be wise to discuss the matter with the president herself. This he did. The president was very interested in Roger’s ideas about international marketing. “If you really think you’d like to head up this of?ce for us, I’ll recommend you for the job.”
After thinking the matter over carefully, Roger decided that he would much rather go to Europe and try to help establish a foothold over there than sit back and wait for the stateside opening. He told his decision to Harry. “Harry, I’ve talked to the president, and she tells me that this new opening in international sales is really going to get a big push from the company. It’s where the action is. I realize that I could sit back and take it easy for the next couple of years, but I think I’d rather have the international job.” Harry again told Roger that he was making a mistake. “You’re throwing away a golden opportunity. However, if you want it, I’ll support you.”
A week later, when the company selected someone else from sales to head the international division, Roger was crushed. The president explained the situation to him in this way: “I thought you wanted the job and I pushed for you. However, the other members of the selection committee voted against me. I can tell you that you certainly didn’t sell Harry very strongly on your idea. He led the committee to believe that you were really undecided about the entire matter. In fact, I felt rather foolish telling them how excited you were about the whole thing, only to have Harry say he’d talked to you since that time and you weren’t that sure at all. When Harry got done, the committee ?gured you had changed your mind after talking to me, and they went on to discuss other likely candidates.”
Questions
Who had power in this organization? What type of power did Harry Walden have?
Do you think Roger played company politics well? If so, why didn’t he get the international sales job?
At this point, what would you do if you were Roger?