Intersect Investment Services Problem Solution

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: INTERSECT INVESTMENTS

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

University of Phoenix

MBA520

Abstract

Intersect Investments is an organization reacting to a situation that has brought uncertainty to the investment services industry, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Janet Angelo, a new Executive Vice President, has recently been tasked, by Frank Jeffers, to transition Intersect Investments Services (IIS) to a customer intimacy model within twelve-months. IIS is resisting the massive re-alignment of the organization. This resistance is present among both IIS's leadership and the rank and file sales/marketing employees. To successfully transition within twelve months, Intersect Investments Services must correctly evaluate the situation, properly identify problems, and then react to the problems in a manner that will convince IIS to adopt the company's end state vision.

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

Businesses are always looking for new opportunities to make and save money. In today's world, this increasingly means adopting more efficient ways of completing the day to day tasks related to a company's mission. Xerox's executives learned this lesson well. Four years ago, when the company was in crisis, they came up with a new vision that required salespeople to change the way they had always worked. "Their whole careers, salespeople had done one thing," says James Firestone, president of Xerox North America, who leads a sales force of 5,400. "They would knock on doors, look for copiers, see how old they were, and sell a refresh. They knew how to do that." The salespeople had such predictable routines that they could plan their days, weeks, even years. It was comforting (Deutschman, 2005).

Intersect Investments Services (IIS) offers a service that has an especially important role in enabling businesses to become stronger by increasing business creditability. Frank Jeffers, IIS CEO, has decided to take a deliberate and planned approach to provide a broad set of products and services to build multiple long term relationships with current and future potential customers referred to as the "customer intimacy" model. This customer intimacy model will provide IIS with an opportunity to significantly increase sales goals and ultimately improve performance. IIS's brand image will improve as well, which will result in an increase in Wall Street's trust. Implementing Frank Jeffers's customer intimacy model will require Intersect Investments Services employees to adopt Frank's view of IIS's future they must regard as essential. Although this transformation is a radical innovative change for IIS, the executives must control the customer intimacy conversion to ensure that the entire company is actively immersed in making the CEO's vision a reality (Day & Jung, 2000).

Frank Jeffers has recently replaced the Executive Vice President (EVP) of Marketing and Sales with a customer intimacy seasoned veteran, Janet Angelo. Jeffers has decided that the major organizational restructuring required to increase revenue targets must be completed in 12 months. This will not be an easy task for Angelo; she has numerous fires to put out before she can declare that the organization has successfully completed the unfreezing stage. Lyn Chen's sales department is having problems with high employee turnover rates as well as a problem adhering to the recently provided customer intimacy training. Lyn has not yet become a customer intimacy advocate which has disrupted communication throughout the company.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Numerous trepidations have led to Intersect Investment's current situation in this scenario. Since September 11, 2001, the financial services industry has been in a constant state of flux, never certain, always chaotic. The volatile climate has left many financial firms struggling to keep both their clients' trust and Wall Street's credibility. To succeed, investment companies need to offer an ever-expanding array of up-to-the-minute products coupled with expert advice.

In the past four years, Intersect Investment Services has at times barely managed to survive, but resisted making a drastic, strategic shift. Finally, a year ago, Intersect CEO Frank Jeffers identified a new vision: "Provide a broad set of products and services to consumer and small business customers using a model of customer intimacy that will build long-term relationships based on trust and value to the customer" (University of Phoenix, 2007). Frank has decided that the revolutionary changes would be made to the company, mainly to the sales and marketing department, within a 12 month window. The second problem is that the turnover rate for the sales reps is extremely high which is costing the company not only time, but money. The third problem for the company is that the newly hired EVP of sales and marketing is not receiving support from all the members of the upper management. The next reason is the riddle of how to increase customer intimacy while increasing productivity by decreasing call time.

The current issues and opportunities in front of the company are, where does Intersect Investments want to be in 12 months, how does Intersect Investments get to that end-state, and how is Intersect Investments going to examine the situation, then develop solutions to these problems.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Although Wall Street and individual shareholders are stake holders, there are two main stakeholders in the Intersect Investments scenario, senior leadership and the Intersect Investment employees. Although the entire organization will feel the effects of the customer intimacy transformation, the sales team representatives will be the most affected.

Senior leadership's interests in this scenario are different from those of the sales team. Senior Leadership has expressed interest regarding increases in revenue as well as an interest in a steady climb to the top of the investment services industry. Senior leadership should have the right to create a company with a brand image that will foster Wall Street's trust structured upon unquestionable ethics. Senior leadership values the dedication their subordinates provide to the organization.