2-3 Case Study: Fast Track Inc.

Fast Track Inc.

Background

Fast-Track INC., based in Boston, US, sells corporate training videos and management training courses. Fast-Track is looking for a new Sales Manager for its subsidiary in Warsaw, Poland. Fast-Track advertised the vacancy only inside the company as it believes in offering career opportunities to its staff.

The subsidiary’s recent sales results were poor. Sales revenue was 30% below target. The reasons are:

• Sales representatives are not motivated and staff turnover is high.
• The previous manager had no clear strategy for developing sales in the area.
• Only a few sales contracts were made with client companies’ senior managers.

A new appointment

There are three candidates for the position of Sales Manager, Central and Eastern Europe.

They all already work for Fast-Track either in Boston or in Poland. The successful candidate will be based in Warsaw. Here is an extract from the job description for the position.

• The successful candidate will be responsible for:
  • developing sales, achieving results and increasing customer numbers
  • managing the sales team so that it is more motivated, dynamic and effective
• He / She will be:
  • a natural leader
  • energetic, enthusiastic and determined
  • confident and outgoing
• He / She will have:
  • strong sales ability
  • organisational and interpersonal skills
  • a good academic background and suitable experience
  • numeracy skills and the ability to handle administration
  • linguistic ability
• The position will involve frequent travel throughout the region.

Profiles of the candidates

Joanna Pelc

Polish, aged 30

Education - Finished secondary school. Diploma in Marketing.

Experience - Has worked for Fast-Track as a sales representative since leaving school. Has a good knowledge of computing.

Achievements - Has had the best sales results of the team during the last five years. She looks after some of the company’s most important customers.

Languages - Excellent Polish and Russian. English - good vocabulary but not very fluent.

Interview’s comments - Very strong personality. Energetic and confident. Sometimes appeared aggressive during the interview. Will she be a good team player?

Robert Kaminsky

Polish, aged 52

Education - University degree (Engineering)

Experience - Wide experience in a variety of industries. Joined Fast-Track five years ago as Regional Manager for the south of Poland.

Achievements - Has been fairly successful, increasing sales by 12% over the five-year period.

Languages - Fluent Polish and English.

Interviewer’s comments - Very calm and relaxed, he moves and talks slowly. A hard worker. He never leaves the office before seven in the evening. Not creative but happy to get ideas from the creative members of a team. Respected by previous staff. Current staff think he is practical and reliable.

Anna Belinski

German, aged 42

Education - University degree (History)

Experience - Over 15 years as a sales representative in Germany, the US and Poland. Joined Fast-Track a year ago. Has some experience designing websites for companies.

Achievements - A good sales record in all her previous jobs. In her first year with Fast-Track her sales results have been satisfactory.

Languages - Fluent German, English and Polish.

Interviewer’s comments - Quiet but knows her own mind. Rather nervous at the interview. Might be good at team building but would probably depend too much on other people. Had some interesting ideas for developing our website. Good at computing and handling figures. Likes administration. Didn’t seem to have many ideas about the future of the company.

Interview Extracts

Joanna Pelc

Extract 1

What’s my aim? Well, to be honest, I would like to get to the top as soon as I can. I’m very ambitious. And if I get the job, I don’t see why I couldn’t become a director in a few years’s time. That’s what I really want.

Extract 2

I applied for the job because I think I’ve got a lot to offer. I’m competitive and I like to win. I know a few people think I’m difficult to work with. Maybe that’s true, but I get results, that’s the main thing.

Anna Belinski

Extract 1

If you choose me, I’ll start by improving our sales team. I want people to enjoy working in our sales department. Everyone in the team must help each other, and help me as much as possible. That way, we’ll get good results.

Extract 2

I’ve got a lot of sales experience, and I’ve always been successful wherever I’ve worked, especially during the past year. I think I could lead a team well. I’m the head of our local business club, and I like organising people and telling them what to do. I’m a very fast learner. I’d enjoy going on a training course to help me do the job better.

Robert Kaminsky

Extract 1

I want to do a good job for the company. I think we should expand slowly over the next five years. We’re in a very competitive market, so I won’t take too many risks. I think we could increase our market share in the long term, but we must be patient and realistic.

Extract 2

I feel I have the ability and experience to do this job. I’m a ‘safe pair of hands’, as they say. People respect me because I have a good judgement.

Task

Memos

To: Charles Stancombe - CFO

CC: Thierry Baptiste - CEO

From: Maria Castellano - Human resources

Date: 15 July 201-

Subject: Appointment: Commercial Manager, France

I have interviewed three candidates for this position and recommend the appointment of Tim Skooba. My reason are as follows:

1. He has the required qualifications.
2. He has a lot of experience with the products we sell in the French market.
3. He speaks French fluently.
4. His removal expenses will be minimal as he has no family at present.

If you approve our recommendation, I will prepare the contract for signature. Please let me know your decision as soon as possible.

MC

Writing