The Following Are the Core Issues Erik Peterson Needs to Immediately Address in Order to Have a Successful Launch of Biometra

1. Executive Summary

The following are the core issues Erik Peterson needs to immediately address in order to have a successful launch of Biometra on April 1st.

• Erik’s lack of experience and skill required for the General Manager job profile coupled with absence of mentoring and support from the senior management

• Conflicts between team members therefore not a cohesive team working towards a common goal

2. Problem statement

Erik Peterson had a big task ahead of him as the General Manager of Biometra, the first product launch on April 1st. The target launch date had been postponed once before so there are a lot of pressure to meet the revised deadline. With only twenty days remaining, there were a many key issues which needed to be addressed urgently.

Erik Peterson was a fresh MBA graduate and he had little experience in the medical devices industry. However, due to the extenuating circumstances, Jenkins promoted him to acting general manager (GM) with overall authority for Biometra’s operations. Erik was promised that he would get enough support and guidance from Jenkins for the launch. However, upon starting his job, Erik discovered that he would be reporting to Jeff Hardy, vice president of planning and control instead of Jenkins. Hardy did not have any prior experience in product launches and was unable to provide any advice. Over 9 months, Erik felt consistently hampered by his inability to get either support or clear direction from Hardy. Many problems may have been avoided if Hardy had provided timely support and guidance to Erik in his hour of need. For e.g. Support from the prominent key opinion leaders (KOLs) for the launch was critical but still uncertain. In order to get the KOLs onboard, Erik wanted to provided more support, such as flying in a dedicated technician and additional trainers for the KOL’s clinical staff in advance of the product trials. But Hardy’s indecision on the funds approval was counterproductive,

increasing the likelihood of getting no support from the KOL’s and damage the company’s reputation.

The other issue was that Erik was unable to build and lead a cohesive team, all working towards a common goal. His relationship with few team members was strained because they resented his sudden promotion to General Manager. There were issues between team members due to salary discrepancies, different working styles and difference of opinions. There was a lack of communication and trust between all team members. Therefore, the working environment at Biometra was not very productive. Erik spent a lot of his time analyzing and sorting these internal conflicts instead of channeling his energy and time to other important tasks.

3. Analysis – Critical issues and analyzing possible solutions

Issue 1: Lack of experience and skill required for the GM job profile coupled with absence of mentoring and support from the senior management.

i. Meet with Jenkins and get him upto speed with the project status highlighting the key issues and proposed solutions and ask for his assistance. If Jenkins becomes aware of the problem, he can dedicate more time to the project as promised earlier. But skipping a level and approaching Jenkins directly can lead to more problems with Hardy.

ii. Approach Hardy for assistance and then together meet with Jenkins. This would only work if Hardy realizes the gravity of the situation and is open to making amendments. Also, this approach would be more time consuming.

Issue