Review historical overview and information about company
Corporate Finance
Your Role
You are Marty Kane, Area Director of North America Operations for the Commercial division of GS Robotics, a division of Global Solutions, Inc. Your first day on the job will be Monday, January 20, 2025.
You accepted the position on January 6, 2025. The next day an announcement was made internally and to the media. The position became available on November 28, 2024, when Helen Wright, your predecessor, resigned due to differences with Robin Vanderwall, CEO of Global Solutions, Inc., over the vision and new direction for the organization. As Robin explained, Helen was well liked by employees, but the demands of the position changed and there was no longer a close fit between the job responsibilities and Helen’s capabilities (especially in international areas). Helen, however, did not agree with this assessment, and bad feelings developed before her resignation.
As a result, many of her supporters might feel resentment toward you as her replacement. You were brought in from outside Global Solutions, Inc., because Robin wanted someone who was removed from any internal struggles to lead the group. Additionally, management thinks that a fresh, outside perspective will help reenergize the organization.
When you accepted the position, you explained to Kelly Myers, the Vice President of Commerical Robotics, that commitments to your current position would prevent you from starting with Global Solutions, Inc., until Monday, February 3. Kelly felt that because of the length of time the position had been open, it was important that a number of critical issues be addressed as soon as possible. Therefore, you agreed to clear your calendar and fly to San Jose to spend Monday, January 20, becoming familiar with your division and addressing the most pressing issues. You will not be back in the GS Robotics office again until Monday, February 3.
Your Task
Before coming into the office, you should fully review the historical overview and other information about the company provided on the intranet to help familiarize yourself with Global Solutions, Inc. This is so you can take maximum advantage of the time available on January 20.
You will face many challenges during the assessment day. You will analyze information, meet with business associates, and address operational and strategic issues facing the division. The specific challenges of the day and your methods for responding will be discussed in detail on that morning. Additionally, you will receive an agenda with specific meeting times and tasks.
During the assessment day, you cannot directly contact employees, customers, vendors, or other outside parties other than during scheduled meetings. Your opinions, advice, and direction will need to be communicated through memos, letters, or voice mail.
You will need to be extremely clear and specific in handling correspondence so that action can be taken before your formal arrival on Monday, February 3. If you plan to act on an item when you return, be clear about your intentions. If you write something in response to a voice or video mail message, be clear about the message to which it refers.
Remember, you are Marty Kane. It is Monday, January 20, 2025. Due to prior commitments, you can not take any action after today regarding Global Solutions, Inc., issues until your formal start date of Monday, February 3, 2025. Canceling your prior commitments is not an option.
About the Company
Before your assessment day, it is critical for you to review and understand Global Solutions, Inc., the simulated organization in which you will play a role. To learn about GS, you will access the company’s intranet-an internal web site designed specifically for GS associates.
You should plan to spend approximately 2 to 3 hours reviewing the pre-reading to familiarize yourself with the organization. Memorizing the information is neither necessary nor recommended, as you will have access to the pre-reading during the assessment day. However, because the assessment is a busy and challenging day, we do recommend that you print documents that you would like to reference during the simulation and bring them with you to the assessment.*
The pre-reading provides detailed information about the Global Solutions organization in the following areas:
• Vision and Values
• History
• Financial Information
• Organizational Charts
• Products and Pricing
• Competitor Profiles
A Message for You
I want to take a moment and welcome you to Global Solutions Robotics. I really appreciate that you were able to come in today to get started. We certainly need that kind of initiative-that kind of team spirit. That’s why I’m so glad you joined us. We’ve gone a long time without new ideas and new blood at the executive level and I think that having you join our team marks an important milestone.
The market is filling with low-intelligence, limited-functionality robotics, but I’m not going to let the company my father built be just another commodity robot-maker. We need to move forward with sophisticated, highly intelligent robots that will mark the future of Global Solutions. That’s my vision; and despite what you might hear, I know that I’m right.
Well, I’m sure that you have a busy day and I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Welcome to Global Solutions. I know we’ll do great things together.
Best regards,
Robin Vanderwall
Chief Executive Officer
Global Solutions, Inc.
I need assistance in interpreting the financials and the sales figures of an entity, and to advice the vice president of the company on ways to increase profitability.
I’m a legal professional and do not deal with financials and sales stats and ratios. However, I need to understand these data before I go into a meeting with my prospective employers on Wednesday 7 June 2016.
