Reference no: EM133298737

Case: Ashok comes from a family whose members comprise successful business executives, including his parents. Since he was a teenager, Ashok has been fascinated with the prospect of becoming a corporate executive. In addition to more typical teenage interests, Ashok would read frequently the business section of his local newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes either in print or online. He also enthusiastically read biographies of business executives including Warren Buffet, Henry Ford, and Martha Stewart. Ashok majored in industrial engineering as an undergraduate, thinking that such a program would give him a solid base for understanding the operations of a business. He followed up his undergraduate degree with an MBA, with an emphasis on leadership and organizational behavior. Ashok said to himself, his family, and friends repeatedly, "I know I have what it takes to get into the C-suite." With first-rate interpersonal skills to match his solid education, Ashok was well received by an on-campus recruiter for a major player in high-tech, a manufacturer of computer equipment and services. He was selected into a management training program in which he would be given approximately one-year assignments in several business functions.

Ashok's initial assignment was as a member of a team whose purpose was to help reduce the manufacturing costs of desktop computers. Six weeks after being assigned to the team, Ashok informed his team leader that he was developing his skills in Mandarin Chinese, a language he had studied in college. As Ashok explained to his team leader, "Mandarin is going to help me because so much of our manufacturing is outsourced to China. Besides, a second language can only be an asset for a future executive."

After about fifteen months on the team, Ashok was appointed as the supervisor of an order-fulfillment group within a distribution center of the company within the same manufacturing complex. Upon accepting the distribution center assignment. Ashok told his manager, "I will do my best to be an outstanding performer here. But I am wondering if spending time in a distribution center will really enhance my credentials for becoming an executive in this company." Upon completing his eighteen-month supervisory assignment, Ashok's performance was evaluated. His manager noted that his performance was slightly above average, but that he seemed a little too focused on his career ambitions. At the same time, he was not focused enough on the good of the company. Ashok's next assignment was as a team leader of a logistics group that kept track of the flow of equipment that was manufactured overseas. Given that about 80 percent of the company's manufacturing was globally outsourced, logistics was highly valued by the company.

A few weeks after Ashok began his new assignment, he met with his company-assigned mentor, Jessica, a manufacturing executive. Asked how his work was going at the company, Ashok replied, "Maybe you can help me. I'm enjoying my work, but I think that my career is inching along when I should be making big strides. I would like to be assigned to a strategy team, or maybe a new product development team. In this way, I would get the experience and the visibility I need to move more quickly into the C-suite." Jessica responded, "Ashok, I think highly of you, but your idea of career progress is old fashioned. You need to focus more on performance than promotion."

Question 1. In what way is this case about leadership development?

Question 2. What do you recommend that Ashok do to facilitate his path to an executive position?

Question 3. To what extent do you think Jessica's comment is justified?.