Case Study Retailmax
Case Study RetailMax: Role for Cam Archer and Regan Kessel
Elizabeth Smith
Grand Canyon University, LDR 610
April 10, 2013
Everyone has power to some degree. French and Raven (1959) distinguished five types of power: referent power, expert power, reward power, coercive power, and legitimate power and with each of the five types, the stronger the basis of power the greater the power. Power is defined in terms of the influence a person has over the ability to change behavior, opinions, attitudes, goals, needs, and values (French & Raven, 1959). Cam Archer is in a position of power at RetailMax; she has the CEO’s support to accept either a more lucrative position in the Professional Services (PS) Department or a marketing position with Regan Kessel, the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing (PMM) (McGinn & Witter, 2006a). Which position will provide Archer with the power to meet her needs; will Kessel’s power be affected if Archer accepts the position within his department? The power bases and social influence of both Cam Archer and Regan Kessel will be evaluated to determine which of the two most effectively used their power sources. Cam Archer is in an interim position as a retail account executive with RetailMax, Inc., a software company based in Boston. Upon graduating with her MBA from a leading business school, Cam began working for RetailMax, a company providing merchandise optimization software. While working in business development where she was responsible for managing strategic alliances and partnerships, RetailMax was forced to downsize and all areas that were not directly involved with making or selling software were laid off. Cam was asked to join the sales team, an avenue she was not interested in, but one she agreed to accept because of her belief and faith in the entrepreneurial culture and service commitment RetailMax could provide to retailers during the current recessionary period (McGinn & Witter, 2006a).
Elizabeth Smith
Grand Canyon University, LDR 610
April 10, 2013
Everyone has power to some degree. French and Raven (1959) distinguished five types of power: referent power, expert power, reward power, coercive power, and legitimate power and with each of the five types, the stronger the basis of power the greater the power. Power is defined in terms of the influence a person has over the ability to change behavior, opinions, attitudes, goals, needs, and values (French & Raven, 1959). Cam Archer is in a position of power at RetailMax; she has the CEO’s support to accept either a more lucrative position in the Professional Services (PS) Department or a marketing position with Regan Kessel, the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing (PMM) (McGinn & Witter, 2006a). Which position will provide Archer with the power to meet her needs; will Kessel’s power be affected if Archer accepts the position within his department? The power bases and social influence of both Cam Archer and Regan Kessel will be evaluated to determine which of the two most effectively used their power sources. Cam Archer is in an interim position as a retail account executive with RetailMax, Inc., a software company based in Boston. Upon graduating with her MBA from a leading business school, Cam began working for RetailMax, a company providing merchandise optimization software. While working in business development where she was responsible for managing strategic alliances and partnerships, RetailMax was forced to downsize and all areas that were not directly involved with making or selling software were laid off. Cam was asked to join the sales team, an avenue she was not interested in, but one she agreed to accept because of her belief and faith in the entrepreneurial culture and service commitment RetailMax could provide to retailers during the current recessionary period (McGinn & Witter, 2006a).
References: French, J. R. P., & Raven, B. H. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social Power (pp. 259-269). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research Retrieved from http://www.communicationcache.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/the_bases_of_social_power_-_chapter_20.pdf McGinn, K., & Witter, D. (2006a). RetailMax: Role for Cam Archer. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing McGinn, K., & Witter, D. (2006b). RetailMax: Role for Regan Kessel. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing