Analysis Of Erik Petersen

CASE REVIEW:

ERIK PETERSON (A)

I. Background:

a. Petersen is general manager of Green Mountain Cellular Telephone (GMCT) which is one of 12 cell sites operated by Cellucom (GMCT is 1 of 3 still in construction)

b. GMCT is a pre-operating system, that will serve 400,000 people and operate 21 cell sites; 16 sites were anticipated to be ready by the turn-on date and five others in the eight months following

c. GMCT is one month behind target because of numerous problems, the revised turn-on-date is April 1 (from Feb. 1) and Petersen is scheduled to meet with Knight in two weeks to discuss various problems that have led to delays

d. NOTE: Petersen was initially informed by Jenkins that he would be reporting directly to him, however this never turns out to be the case; Petersen envisioned his interaction with Jenkins to be similar to that of Jenkin's relationsip with the new manager hired in Sacramento)

II. Problems causing delays

a. Interpersonal/Team-dynamics

Petersen

i. Petersen vs. senior management at Cellucom

1. Constantly get push back on his ideas and corporate is reluctant to support his initiatives (e.g. reassigning Andrews, compensation packages for Burns and Hanes, changing subcontractors)

ii. Petersen vs. Jeff Hardy (Director of Budgets & Plans, later promoted/demoted to assistant director under Chip Knight after management restructure)

1. Hardy initially had been unable to offer any advice or guidance to Petersen as he lacked systems operating experience

2. Reporting relationship was informally established, therefore interaction was awkward

3. Hardy pushed back on Petersen's ideas, often turning them down

a. refused to support Petersen's idea for reassigning Curt based on his inefficiency to complete the project in a timely manner

b. would not reverse the decision to change the frequency reuse pattern

c. Unwilling to sign off on agreements Petersen had with local governments to use specific towers for GMCT cell sites

4. Hardy's site visits were typically just nit-picky and never resolved any major problems

iii. Petersen vs. Curt Andrews (Chief Engineer)

1. Andrews was technically savvy but lacked the administrative ability of the prior knowledge needed to start up a brand new operation - this largely impacted Petersen's ability to do his job because he knew little about the field and needed someone to rely on

2. Petersen was constantly trying to manager Andrew's conflicts with other team members (see below)

iv. Petersen vs. Green & Cantor

1. Criticized their respective ideas and work, leading to disfavorable relationships between Petersen and them

Andrews

v. Andrews vs. Todd Jones (supervisor of radio engineering department)

1. Had several conflicts over the selection and specification of antenna equipment

vi. Andrews vs. Melissa Miczek (Petersen's secretary)

1. Curt and Melissa argued over errors in reports prepared by Curt and typed by Melissa; each blaming the other

2. Curt was a self-proclaimed "male-chauvinist", who hated having his errors pointed out by a woman

vii. Andrews vs. Trevor Burns (manager of customer service)

1. Trevor was constantly throwing out ideas and suggestions, some impractical others useful, however the flow of criticism aggravated Andrews

2. Increased animosity between the two as the customer service function became more important closer to the turn-on date. They disagreed about the type of trucks installers would get; Petersen eventually made an executive decision.

Hardy

viii. Hardy vs. Ric Jenkins

1. Hardy was somewhat insecure of his standing with Jenkins and tried to overcompensation for his inexperience in the field

b. Technical Issues

1. Initial construction of towers had been delayed due to inefficiency of sub-contractor

2. CelluComm had delayed in making several key decisions and had made several changes in the equipment originally specified

a. Dual-mode radio order delayed; alternative supplier was defective

b. Last minute decisions to have all power supplies include back-up batteries not generators; new power supplies arrived late

c. Last minute change of frequency-reuse patterns created more work and coordination for Curt; which Petersen felt he could not handle

3. Local utility were inefficient in getting telephone lines ready for the service and kept falling behind on their deadlines