Erik Peterson at Biometra

Erik Peterson at Biometra (A)

1) What are some of the problems facing Erik Peterson?

* KOL’s, not all of them are confident in the company

* Conflict in the office between Burns and Wescott

* Salary issue with Wescott

* Manufacturing issue in Costa Rica language barrier

* Andrews & Jones – conflict promotion

* Support for KOL turned down by Hardy

* Wants to replace Andrews but management doesn’t

* Choosing consultants that headquarters is not familiar with Biometra

2) What are the underlying causes of these problems? How effective has Peterson been in taking charge of the startup, in terms of managing the new operation and of providing leadership?

* The underlying causes of these problems are a lack of people for Peterson to report to as well as the fact that he was thrust into a leadership role that he wasn’t supposed to be in due to unforeseen circumstances

3) What action, if any, should Peterson take to turn the situation around and prepare for his meeting with Chip Knight?

* Peterson should try and reconcile some of the issues that his group members are currently having with one another in order to get everyone on the same page before Knight arrives

* If Knight comes there and sees that he is not able to manage the launch date of the product, let alone his own management team, he may reconsider replacing Peterson and finding someone new who can take over for him and get the team in line as well as get the product launch date to happen on time this time

4) Draw a map of work dependencies between actors in the Peterson case.  To what extent is this map helpful to understanding the problems that Peterson is facing?

*

5) Overlay a map of social relationships between actors involved in the case.  To what extent does this map allow you to understand the underlying causes of Erik's problems?