Heidi Roizen Case Study

HEIDI ROIZEN

MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONS

CASE STUDY (7.5%)

FRIDAY, APRIL 3RD 2015

NADIM MUZAYYIN

INTRODUCTION

Heidi Roizen is a prominent figure in the technology industry. She and the people around her have

benefited greatly from her well establish personal and professional network. Her role as a disseminator

of information at Tandem and the launch of T/Maker began her career of leveraging a network built

off mutually beneficial, consistent, and reciprocal relationships in order to influence performance

within a firm.

Heidi’s role as a VP at Apple marked the first test of leveraging her network en masse. Strong

networks are built on a mutual respect and reciprocity, the principle of repaying the people who have

done a beneficial favor for you. No mutually beneficial relationship works without equal opportunity

and Heidi’s actions at Apple cemented some of the relationships within her network, on the basis of

common ground. It was during this time that she appears to really have established her core values of

consistency and performance that provided her with a certain credibility based on her track record of

delivery and success. This credibility solidified her current network and allowed her to expand it even

further.

The move from Apple into her Mentor Capitalist role shifted her focus even further towards

leveraging her network to accomplish mutually beneficial goals for all parties involved. She did this

primarily by becoming a broker of relationships, specifically by bridging structural holes between noninteracting groups for a mutually beneficial outcome. In order to maintain her sizeable network, Heidi

held to her values of consistency, reciprocity and good judgment to stay...