Implementing Leadership Change

Implementing Leadership Change

Gene One, a biotech organization that has specialized the “groundbreaking gene technology that eradicated disease in tomatoes and potatoes” (Gene One Simulation, 2011, p. 1) has recently decided that the size and nature of their organization required the company to sell shares through an initial public offering. After making this announcement and having several workshops with members of the Board of Directors and the Senior Management group, the founder, Chief Executive Officer and majority owner, Don Ruiz, has passed away. In his will, Don left his portion of Gene One to his surviving brother, this papers author. This paper will provide a change strategy that identifies the changes required at Gene One, including those that are already in progress, to help it achieve its goals, including implementing a successful initial public offering.

Gene One Organization

Gene One created the perfect cocktail for success. By using technology that eradicated diseases in tomatoes and potatoes, Gene One was able to provide a vegetable that did not rely on the use of pesticides and customers were happy buying the Tender Tomatoes and Perfect Potatoes as they were homegrown and untainted by chemicals. This cocktail has allowed Gene One to grow to a $400 million organization in only eight years. To allow Gene One to become an industry leader a different perfect cocktail is necessary, and it seems that the time is right to mix the cocktail. Increasing stock indices for Wall Street show that there is growing interest in biotechnology and recent leadership changes at the Food and Drug Administration are re-enhancing investor confidence in the industry. It sees as if the perfect cocktail has just been mixed.

The Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors believe that to meet their annual growth objectives of 40 percent per year, Gene One will have to conduct an initial public offering within the next three years to allow the company to...