Case Study
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HBR CASE STUDY AND COMMENTARY
Should Cheryl initiate an investigation at her new firm?
The CEO’s Private
Investigation
Four commentators offer expert advice.
by Joseph Finder
•
Reprint R0710A
If there ever were a time when a chief executive should commission some quiet snooping on her colleagues, this might be it.
HBR CASE STUDY
The CEO’s Private
Investigation
COPYRIGHT © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
by Joseph Finder
If Mussolini had been the CEO of a major
American corporation, Cheryl Tobin thought, his office wouldn’t have been this big.
She stood in the doorway of her new work space, on the 33rd floor of the Hammond
Tower in downtown Los Angeles, and took a deep breath. Seven o’clock on her first morning as CEO of Hammond Aerospace. Briefcase in one hand, Starbucks nonfat venti latte in the other.
Go for it, kiddo, she told herself as she exhaled, then resolutely strode over the threshold and across the antique, jewel-toned Serapi rug. She remembered the moment, a couple of weeks ago, when the chairman of the board had solemnly ushered her in here. He’d stood in awestruck silence, presumably to impress her with the majesty and grandeur of the job they were courting her for.
She’d been impressed, all right. But also secretly appalled. It was obscene: easily four
times the size of her office at Boeing, where she’d run the largest division. This wasn’t exactly her style. A peacock’s plumage might impress the peahens, she liked to say, but it was also a flashing neon all-you-can-eat sign for predators.
Floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, with dazzling panoramic views of Wilshire
Boulevard. A private terrace where you could entertain visiting dignitaries. Even a working fireplace with a slate hearth—what was that all about?
It was all about the colossal ego of its former occupant, of course. The legendary James
Rawlings, the
HBR CASE STUDY AND COMMENTARY
Should Cheryl initiate an investigation at her new firm?
The CEO’s Private
Investigation
Four commentators offer expert advice.
by Joseph Finder
•
Reprint R0710A
If there ever were a time when a chief executive should commission some quiet snooping on her colleagues, this might be it.
HBR CASE STUDY
The CEO’s Private
Investigation
COPYRIGHT © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
by Joseph Finder
If Mussolini had been the CEO of a major
American corporation, Cheryl Tobin thought, his office wouldn’t have been this big.
She stood in the doorway of her new work space, on the 33rd floor of the Hammond
Tower in downtown Los Angeles, and took a deep breath. Seven o’clock on her first morning as CEO of Hammond Aerospace. Briefcase in one hand, Starbucks nonfat venti latte in the other.
Go for it, kiddo, she told herself as she exhaled, then resolutely strode over the threshold and across the antique, jewel-toned Serapi rug. She remembered the moment, a couple of weeks ago, when the chairman of the board had solemnly ushered her in here. He’d stood in awestruck silence, presumably to impress her with the majesty and grandeur of the job they were courting her for.
She’d been impressed, all right. But also secretly appalled. It was obscene: easily four
times the size of her office at Boeing, where she’d run the largest division. This wasn’t exactly her style. A peacock’s plumage might impress the peahens, she liked to say, but it was also a flashing neon all-you-can-eat sign for predators.
Floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, with dazzling panoramic views of Wilshire
Boulevard. A private terrace where you could entertain visiting dignitaries. Even a working fireplace with a slate hearth—what was that all about?
It was all about the colossal ego of its former occupant, of course. The legendary James
Rawlings, the