Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Todd Williams: Finance in the Middle (A)

Davidson, Martin N...

Case

Todd Williams: Finance in the Middle (A)

Davidson, Martin N.; Yemen, Gerry

OB-0980 | Published November 27, 2009 | 10 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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A finance manager at a large pharmaceutical company is on loan to a new subsidiary, leading to ambiguity in his reporting obligations. When an executive three levels above him wants information his other supervisor has deemed confidential, his career appears to hang on what he does next. Developed for use in an MBA organizational behavior course, this case would work well in an executive education class on organizational design, career development, or leadership. While the events and people are real, the names of participants and the company are fictional.

Understand how reporting structures help or hinder conducting business; Provide an opportunity to consider a series of personal and career-forming and -defining decisions; Create a learning situation for readers to reflect upon their own existing, past, or future significant decisions; Challenge students to think about the critical assumptions that support and surround such decisions; Explore the soft organizational issues of politics, jealousy, time management, energy management, and gaining credibility in the context of a new organization; Appreciate how employees are attracted to and retained by an organization.