California.”
Madison smiled slightly. “Brilliant deduction. I hope your
deductive brilliance shines when we get to the serious stuff this week.”
Nancy and Phil chuckled. Hollis cleared his tight throat, as
his face deepened in color. He thought, I’ll show her brilliance when I get her
ass in bed.
Madison said, “Let’s get started.”
As Janice passed out folders, with the week’s agenda and
training materials, Madison continued, “We’ll be spending about 10% of our time
describing Fallington’s current business status and 90% on how to fix it, so
get yourselves into the problem solving mode.
“As you know, Fallington buys bulk quantities of goods and
products, and then sells them wholesale to retail businesses. Our suppliers are
in several different countries. Our Hong Kong office has primarily coordinated
that part of our operations, at least to this point. We’re going to be taking a
close look at that process very soon.
“We’re going to be looking at company-wide data so we get a
big picture, and also an in depth analysis of each branch office.” Madison
clicked her wireless remote and a PowerPoint graph hit the screen. “A look at
this graph shows that the L.A. operation is in the negative, New York is barely
breaking even, and Atlanta is showing positive, however a single branch can’t
carry the whole load.”
She watched the group. Nancy sat, pleased. Phil squirmed and
looked at everything but the graph. “Don’t get alarmed, the intent is not to
make a glaring comparison, or put anyone on the spot. We’re in this together
and we’ll get where we need to go by working together. This week’s meeting is
not about placing blame, but finding solutions.”
Hollis blurted out, “I’d like to remind everyone that the
west coast is unique. These numbers and…and…colorful little graphs don’t mean
anything.” His hand gesture was dismissive.
“Oh, really?”
“Look, Madison, with all due respect, you’re new…what, a few
weeks as CEO. L.A. and the west coast tend to bump along. It has its own
personality. You can’t fit a graph around a dynamic area like California.”
Madison took a deep breath, calming herself. “Hollis, the
graph was shaped by the unique figures you submitted on your reports. The graph
came from performance…or the lack.” The air got heavy.
Hollis sulked.
Madison said, “Let’s think about this ‘unique’ factor that
Hollis mentioned for a moment. We’re all unique, different. No shortage of
diversity in the world, but we have many more things in common that often times
help define broad consumer markets. We want to be certain we are finding the
markets and fulfilling them.”
Nancy and Phil were busy taking notes. Hollis was leaning
back with both hands clasped behind his head glaring at the ceiling thinking he
couldn’t wait to get in Madison’s hot little pants before the week was over. He
almost chuckled out loud thinking how ‘unique’ that would be.
The morning session moved briskly and after lunch Madison
raced them through more stark details of the business. The details eventually
got the attention of Hollis, and his tacky comments faded into silence. By 5:30
the three had hoot-owl eyes, zoned out.
“One other thing, before Janice takes you back to the
Shiloh, Rodney will be coordinating on-site training and assistance for your
offices.” Madison gestured to Rodney. “He—”
Hollis cut her off. “Rodney? Why D.R. never let him—”
Madison jumped in. “Stop. Hold it right there. I don’t know
what your history is with D.R. or Rodney and I don’t care, since I’m all about
moving forward. I’ve met extensively with Rodney. He knows my thinking on
Fallington’s future, and you will too by the end of the week.
“I’m giving Rodney expanded responsibilities because I have
complete confidence that he will fulfill them. If at any time you feel Rodney
is not challenging you or your staff to extraordinary limits, you let me
Madison smiled slightly. “Brilliant deduction. I hope your
deductive brilliance shines when we get to the serious stuff this week.”
Nancy and Phil chuckled. Hollis cleared his tight throat, as
his face deepened in color. He thought, I’ll show her brilliance when I get her
ass in bed.
Madison said, “Let’s get started.”
As Janice passed out folders, with the week’s agenda and
training materials, Madison continued, “We’ll be spending about 10% of our time
describing Fallington’s current business status and 90% on how to fix it, so
get yourselves into the problem solving mode.
“As you know, Fallington buys bulk quantities of goods and
products, and then sells them wholesale to retail businesses. Our suppliers are
in several different countries. Our Hong Kong office has primarily coordinated
that part of our operations, at least to this point. We’re going to be taking a
close look at that process very soon.
“We’re going to be looking at company-wide data so we get a
big picture, and also an in depth analysis of each branch office.” Madison
clicked her wireless remote and a PowerPoint graph hit the screen. “A look at
this graph shows that the L.A. operation is in the negative, New York is barely
breaking even, and Atlanta is showing positive, however a single branch can’t
carry the whole load.”
She watched the group. Nancy sat, pleased. Phil squirmed and
looked at everything but the graph. “Don’t get alarmed, the intent is not to
make a glaring comparison, or put anyone on the spot. We’re in this together
and we’ll get where we need to go by working together. This week’s meeting is
not about placing blame, but finding solutions.”
Hollis blurted out, “I’d like to remind everyone that the
west coast is unique. These numbers and…and…colorful little graphs don’t mean
anything.” His hand gesture was dismissive.
“Oh, really?”
“Look, Madison, with all due respect, you’re new…what, a few
weeks as CEO. L.A. and the west coast tend to bump along. It has its own
personality. You can’t fit a graph around a dynamic area like California.”
Madison took a deep breath, calming herself. “Hollis, the
graph was shaped by the unique figures you submitted on your reports. The graph
came from performance…or the lack.” The air got heavy.
Hollis sulked.
Madison said, “Let’s think about this ‘unique’ factor that
Hollis mentioned for a moment. We’re all unique, different. No shortage of
diversity in the world, but we have many more things in common that often times
help define broad consumer markets. We want to be certain we are finding the
markets and fulfilling them.”
Nancy and Phil were busy taking notes. Hollis was leaning
back with both hands clasped behind his head glaring at the ceiling thinking he
couldn’t wait to get in Madison’s hot little pants before the week was over. He
almost chuckled out loud thinking how ‘unique’ that would be.
The morning session moved briskly and after lunch Madison
raced them through more stark details of the business. The details eventually
got the attention of Hollis, and his tacky comments faded into silence. By 5:30
the three had hoot-owl eyes, zoned out.
“One other thing, before Janice takes you back to the
Shiloh, Rodney will be coordinating on-site training and assistance for your
offices.” Madison gestured to Rodney. “He—”
Hollis cut her off. “Rodney? Why D.R. never let him—”
Madison jumped in. “Stop. Hold it right there. I don’t know
what your history is with D.R. or Rodney and I don’t care, since I’m all about
moving forward. I’ve met extensively with Rodney. He knows my thinking on
Fallington’s future, and you will too by the end of the week.
“I’m giving Rodney expanded responsibilities because I have
complete confidence that he will fulfill them. If at any time you feel Rodney
is not challenging you or your staff to extraordinary limits, you let me
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