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Choosing a new Director of Research
Sandra coke is vice president for research and development at Great Lakes Foods (GLF), a
large snack food company that has approximately 1,000 employees. As a result of a recent
reorganization, Sandra must choose the new director of research. The director will report
directly to Sandra and will be responsible for developing and testing new products. The
research division of GLF employs about 200 people. The choice of directors is important
because Sandra is receiving pressure from the president and board of GLF to improve the
company’s overall growth and productivity.
Sandra has identified three candidates for the position. Each candidate is at the same
managerial level. She is having difficulty choosing one of them because each has very strong
credentials. Alexa smith is a longtime employee of GLF who started part-time in the
mailroom while in high school. After finishing school, Alexa worked in as many as 10
different positions throughout the company to become manager of new product marketing.
Performance reviews of Alexa’s work have repeatedly described her as being very creative
and insightful. In her tenure at GLF, Alexa has developed and brought to market four new
product lines. Alexa is also known throughout GLF as being very persistent about her work:
When she starts a project, she stays with it until it is finished. It is probably this quality that
accounts for the success of each of the four new products with which she has been involved.
A second candidate for the new position is Kelsey Metts, who has been with GLF for 5 years
and is manager of quality control for established products. Kelsey has a reputation for being
very bright. Before joining GLF, she received her MBA at Harvard, graduating at the top of
her class. People talk about Kelsey as the kind of person who will be president of her own
