Candidate 4 Marg Simpson – Current Position Sales Director, Ch.docx

Candidate 4: Marg Simpson – Current Position: Sales Director,
Chicago Office
Marg Simpson is recommended to fill the position of Director of
Research and Development. Marg Simpson is currently serving
as the Sales Director of the Chicago Office. Marg is being
suggested for the Director of Research and Development (R&D)
position. Although she has never lived abroad, she has had
direct interaction with the local Muslim community and has
taken time to learn some Arabic and believes that she can
continue to learn with help and time to study. Marg Simpson
understanding of the Muslim community has contributed to
several innovative approaches to increase sales within the
Chicago office. Marg is both motivated and skilled in regard to
her work ethic and business decision making. Marg sees
challenges as chances to find creative solutions to problems that
had not been previously considered. Her experience of
managing her team well, her adaptability, and being a people-
first person will make her able to work with the scientists and
experts across all departments and divisions. Research and
Development is essential for the future success of Biotech and
Marg has shown that she is capable of leading that division
successfully.
Reference:
Blanken, R. (2013, January/February). 8 Common Leadership
Styles. Retrieved November 18, 2018, from
https://www.asaecenter.org/resources/articles/an_magazine/201
3/january/8-common-leadership-styles
Walsh, P. (2014, May). Leading the way. Retrieved November
18, 2018, from http://www.harvardbusiness.org/blog/are-you-
strategic-thinker-test-yourself

Candidate 3 – Mohammad Darvish – Current position –
Marketing Manager, Homeopathic Division (Corporate
Headquarters)
Mohammad Darvish is proposed to fill the position of Executive
Director, North American Division. The candidate demonstrates
the importance of critical thinking and development.
Mohammad ability to understand and navigate Biotech’s
Homeopathic Division as proven to be crucial for the company.
Mohammad’s flexibility has aid to communicate effectively
throughout the division. The leadership style that Laissez-Faire
provide is vital in the Executive Director position. The
candidate determination to solve problems and make decisions
with collaboration prove to be effective. Researches
demonstrate that “contingency theory perspective supported that
there was no one ‘best’ way to structure and lead an
organization, the ‘best’ approach was contingent upon the
organizational context (Williams, & Naumann, 2017).”
Mohammad’s focus on teamwork as help the community be
expert problems solves. The committee is determined that
Mohammad Darvish is perfect for the Executive Director
position.
Candidate 5 – Rafael Mendez – Current Position – Director of
Sales, New Mexico
The committee projected that Rafael Mendez is the best
applicant for the Vice President of Headquarter Operations. The
candidate emphasizes the necessity of being a good listener
above anything else. Rafael ability to receive feedback and
improve on their basis has helped him grow from Biotech’s top
salesman to the Director of Sales and hopefully Vice President
of Headquarter Operations. Rafael ability to use resources
effectively and efficiently throughout other departments within
Biotech like Information Technical, R&D, and Human Resource

assistance his success in sales. The candidate demonstrates the
importance of balance between rules and deviation. Rafael
considers himself as a situational leader and that “involves co-
participation, mutual constitution, and sense-
making…developing coaching and mentoring skills, decision-
making skills, cultivating feedback, and developing social
skills” (Wright, 2017). Rafael’s cleverness to promote
motivation, professional interest, commitment and
responsiveness in oneself or others as made him and the Biotech
hugely successful. The committee is highly strongminded that
Rafael Mendez is the most exceptional candidate for the Vice
President of Headquarter Operations.
References
Williams, P., Ashill, N., & Naumann, E. (2017). Toward a
contingency theory of CRM adoption. Journal of Strategic
Marketing, 25(5/6), 454–474. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1080/0965254X.2016.1149211
Wright, E. S. (2017). Dialogic Development in the Situational
Leadership Style. Performance Improvement, 56(9), 27–31.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1002/pfi.21733
BMGT 365 Organizational Leadership Biotech Company Profile
1
Biotech Health and Life Products
Company Profile
Welcome to Biotech!
The assessment projects for this class will examine different
facets of the leadership
of Biotech Health and Life Products, Inc. You will be exploring

leadership within
Biotech with the driving question of “what skills does a Biotech
leader need to lead
the company now and in the future?”
History
Wilford Barney was a young apprentice working for Peter Ulan,
owner of a small
apothecary shop in Yonkers, New York. During his
apprenticeship, Barney created a
general energy elixir that was based on a home remedy of his
mother’s back in
Ireland. The elixir was produced specifically for many of Ulan’s
special customers.
Made of all natural ingredients the elixir provided B12 and
other vitamins to promote
a healthy immune system. The energy boost was noticeable after
only a week’s use.
The reputation of the elixir grew.
In 1922, Barney took over Ulan’s apothecary shop renaming the
business, Barney’s
Apothecary. At that time, Barney decided to bottle his elixir and
sell the formula to
everyone rather than selected customers. Barney also gave
bottles of the elixir to
local peddlers who sold the product along with their wares
receiving a commission on
each bottle they sold. By 1929, the product was well known in
Yonkers. Encouraged
by the success in Yonkers Barney decided to branch out to New
York City.
In 1932, Barney built a small manufacturing plant near the store

where he mixed and
bottled the elixir for sale. By 1934, Barney expanded sales by
putting the elixir in a
quarter of the apothecary shops in New York City. Sales were
booming and
customers inquired about other products that Barney’s had.
In 1936, Barney started a new product called Night Relief,
another of his mother’s
recipes. This product offered relief from night sweats and
anxiety caused by
menopausal symptoms or nerves. When this product proved a
“secret success” with
the ladies, Barney decided to bring his mother, Irene, from
Ireland, and put her to
work making new natural products. With his mother’s help,
Barney grew the business
into a small but successful manufacturer of natural “life
products”. Barney coined “life
products” because the products tracked natural life events in the
human body and
attempted to improve the customer’s discomfort in dealing with
them.
The name of the company was changed to Barney’s Elixir and
Life Products. The
business continued to grow and with his mother’s death in 1938
the company had a
gross revenue of $178,000 a year. The depression took a toll on
company profits

2
but people still needed the boosts to their health and were able
to afford Barney’s
products as opposed to the medicine offered by doctors and
hospitals. During World
War II the company supplied the troops with a natural caffeine
(Stay Clear) product
that would keep soldiers awake for long periods of time and
heighten their mental
alertness. Government contracts derived from Stay Clear
boosted the revenue of the
company considerably and ushered in a new wave of interest of
natural products.
By 1950 Barney turned over the reins of the daily operations of
the business to his
children but remained on the Board of his family owned
company. By this time, the
company had expanded its manufacturing plants and sales
nationally to include
Detroit, Michigan, Los Lunas, New Mexico, Chicago, Illinois
and Atlanta, Georgia.
The revenue of the company was now close to 2.5 million
dollars.
In the 1960’s the social climate in America had changed and
pharmaceutical
companies took on greater importance in the treatment of
people’s health. The
discovery of new drugs and better health care shifted the
confidence in the American
perspective away from natural products to traditional western
medicine. Although the

counter culture of America still supported natural supplements,
popularity for
Barney’s products waned.
In 1965, Wilford’s granddaughter, Geraldine, took over the
Research and
Development Department (R&D) after receiving a degree in
chemistry from Harvard.
She had been trained as a child by her grandmother, Wilford’s
mother, and knew how
the recipes should look. However, she had new ideas and with
the approach of the
1970’s, was ready to join the “Anjolie perfume commercial”
lifestyle depiction of a 70’s
women that “they could bring home the bacon and fry it up
too.”
Due to the downturn in sales by 1970, the company turned to
other countries for its
sales base. Starting in Germany and other European countries
where natural
products are highly credible, Barney began to license the sale of
the company’s
products to local manufacturers. The name recognition grew and
by the 1980’s the
company was grossing over 4 million dollars in gross sales. The
company moved to
overseas operations and manufactured in Germany. Wilford
Barney died in 1981
shortly after seeing his first grandchild, Maximillian Barney,
take over the President’s
positon of the company.

Studying the trends in the 1990’s about the resurgence of
natural health products
“Max” as he liked to be called, decided it was time for Barney’s
to focus on the new
interest in homeopathic and natural products especially at home
in America where
sales were static. In 1996, Max, wanting to get a sleeker and
more modern feel to the
company’s products changed the company name and logo. No
longer was Barney’s a
mom and pop operation but now were part of the Biotech
nutraceutical market.
Barney’s Elixir and Life Products was now Biotech Health and
Life Products. While
the products would continue to show the old Barney logo, for
name recognition the
new logo would take prominence on the packaging.
By 2000 the company was grossing about 1.1 billion in sales
with an increase in
market share. By 2012, Biotech had a 20% market share of the
supplement business
3
with approximately $20 billions of sales. The growing interest
in the bio-nutraceutical
marketplace was catching the attention of the big
pharmaceutical companies. Glaxo,
Merke and Dupont began a massive shift to the new biotech
business products.

Currently sales for the company are at $35 billion. Maximillian
Barney is still
President and CEO. The stock is still held by the family and all
senior management
positions are held by family members.
Current Company Vision: To help provide everyone with the
healthiest life possible
in the most natural of ways.
Current Mission: To develop products that are safe, effective,
affordable and natural
with the customer’s health always their primary goal.
Current Fact Sheet
Headquarters Yonkers, New York
Worldwide web address www.biotechlife.com
President Maximillian Barney
2016 Gross Sales US$ 35 billion
Employees 35,000 in 6 countries worldwide
Manufacturer Operations
United States Detroit, Michigan, Los Lunas, New Mexico,
Chicago,
Illinois and Atlanta, Georgia
Europe Wittllch, Germany, Baltimore, Ireland

Asia Pacific Melbourne, Australia
Latin America and Caribbean Sao Paulo, Brazil
Canada
Product Lines
Major Competitors
Alberta, Canada
Protein and Fitness; Personal Care, Nutraceuticals,
Vitamins and Food Supplements
Protein and Fitness-GNC,
Personal Care- Nestle Skin Care- Galderma, SA;
Glaxo, Merke, General Mills.
Vitamins and Food Supplements- GNC, Natures Plus,
Natrol, Nature’s Way, Nature’s Bounty, Hain Celestial
Group, Inc, Schiff Nutrition International, Nestle,
General Mills, Now Foods and New Chapter
4
BIOTECH BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY AND STRATEGY
Biotech has determined its long-term goal planning pattern
should be no longer than
3 years. Three years seems more flexible than the seven-year
planning pattern

previously used as change in the business climate is making it
imperative to be more
flexible. The need for innovation and competitive advantage
ideas are the main focus
for the next two years along with the company’s commitment to
becoming a triple
bottom line company. Sustainability both for profit and planet is
foremost in the minds
of the leadership. The development of a triple bottom line
company is in the best
interest of the company because of the need to keep a strong
natural product image
link to the community and the desire for the company to be
socially responsible.
Protection of the suppliers and control over product quality is
critical to the
development of a sound “life product.”
Current Growth Plans
Business and Sales
Biotech is looking to expand to Saudi Arabia in the next year.
Currently products sold
through European division but demand is great in the Arab
countries. Although the
company would like to sell in Israel as well, Arab countries are
seen as a more
lucrative expansion opportunity. Expansion of the production
capacity in Sao Paulo is
being considered as company can no longer keep up with sales
projections.
Product Development

Biotech is looking to develop its cosmetic and food lines.
Currently have lip balms but
seeks to make a line of lipsticks, foundation, powder, eye
makeup and cleaners from
natural ingredients. Development of natural flavorings and whey
products are under
consideration.
5
BIOTECH’S CORE VALUES
The leadership of Biotech has identified four core values. These
values are used as
guidance in strategy, mission, and vision creation. They are:
Customer-Centricity,
Innovation, Knowledge, and Sustainability.
Customer-Centricity
Currently there is a company-wide accountability to the
customers and the entire
workforce is expected to provide an extraordinary customer
experience in every
product made. Customer relations are considered to be both
internal and external;
for those located at central Headquarters, those employees “out
in the field” are
considered just as much a customer as the person buying
Biotech’s products.
Innovation

Development of organizational structure and culture changes are
being made to
introduce more collaborative decision making as well as
bringing the divisions closer
together in the area of shared resources and communication.
Emphasis is to
encourage the exchange of ideas, create an environment that
fosters new ideas and
makes change easier in implementation.
Knowledge
Biotech is a firm whose foundation and history is deeply rooted
in research and
development. Using knowledge to lead change is at the heart of
Biotech’s value
system. Another aspect to knowledge is the “tribal knowledge”
that is inherently
known by the Barney family that lead the company, and their
long-time loyal
employees.
Sustainability
Currently, Biotech has commitments to build housing for
several communities in
Brazil and India where natural pharmaceutical ingredients are
produced. The program
reflects the company’s strong commitment to become a triple
bottom line company
by the year 2021, and its core value of sustainability. Biotech
defines sustainability
as both “for profit” and “for planet”.

6
BIOTECH’S CURRENT CORPORATE CULTURE
Barney’s new image of a sleek, less clan-like organization has
resulted in a family
that is less than cohesive. Still, the family leaders are
committed to maintaining the
businesses’ cultural heritage because of the sense of unity and
belonging, and to
provide employees with a better understanding of the previous
generations and to
show how far the company has come. It is believed that the
cultural heritage of the
business demonstrates support for collaborative decision making
something the
company has successfully promoted throughout the
organization. The family sees its
employees as being customers and therefore encourages a
customer-centric culture.
Employees are encouraged to look at their work through the
perspective of the
customer and to make decisions using the customer’s viewpoint.
Biotech is concerned that the stateside organization is driving
the overseas divisions
and that new ideas are being encouraged because of the cultural
differences in staff.
Customer innovation workshops ran by the various divisions
have highlighted that
R&D in Europe and Australia are differences in customer
preferences from US
customer preferences. It is believed that US controlled
resources are ignoring

these product preferences and are thus impeding sales overseas.
Corporate leaders
are examining the matter in an attempt to answer this cultural
gap.
Current Organizational Structure
The company has a geographical division structure. However,
within each division is
a functional structure with production and sales at the hub.
R&D, HR, IT and Finance
have small staff in each division whose primary job is to liaise
with headquarters to
implement the decisions made.
Executive Director
South America
Division
Executive Director
North American
Division
Executive Director
European Division
Executive Directive

Asia Division
President and CEO Maximillian Barney
Housed in headquarters is the R&D, Purchasing, HR, IT, and
Finance Divisions
Candidate 1 - Jackie Johnson – Current Position - Director of
Purchasing
Jackie Johnson currently works as Director of Purchasing and
obtained this job right out serving in the military. She is a
graduate of UMUC's business administration program. Johnson
entered the interview room all smiles and with a firm
handshake. The interviewer admitted to being impressed by the
firm handshake and the constant eye contact throughout the
interview. Johnson was very prepared to discuss her future with
the company. She had completed extensive research on all four
geographic divisions prior to the interview. Johnson had also
spoken with current employees throughout Headquarters.
Johnson indicated that, as Director of Purchasing, she had
worked very hard to create a small business "subculture" within
her department. She felt that her employees were empowered to
make their own decisions, which freed her to think strategically
about purchasing for Biotech. She admits that this "free-rein"
approach to leadership has sometimes allowed her department to
have missteps in distribution with divisions outside of North
America. She has worked hard to overcome that image by
altering her leadership style according to the situation or the
employee she is dealing with.
Her approach to leading is to look for leadership opportunities
and encourage employees to act upon them, if possible.
Johnson believes she is positive about the future and while she

admits to only having worked in the purchasing department, she
feels that she can bring a big picture perspective to the
company, having worked with both suppliers and customers in
purchasing. When asked about her risk tolerance, she replied,
"I believe that is demonstrated in the small-business,
entrepreneurial subculture I created in purchasing. At the end
of the day, I'm more risk tolerant than cautious." Johnson said
she sees herself as a transformational leader. She feels that
good leadership is built on good relationships with followers.
Relational theory seems to make the most sense to her for the
21st century because people make change work, and leading
change is the future.
Candidate 2 - Henrietta Higgins – Current Position – Assistant
Director of Purchasing
Henrietta currently works at Biotech Headquarters in the
Purchasing Department. She is 28 years old with 3 years of
college. Henrietta is a business administration major, and
expects to graduate in about one year. She is friendly and has a
quiet demeanor. She does not tolerate much nonsense from
people, hates surprises, and wants people to be brief in talking
with her.
When asked what she likes about her current position, she
replied that she likes the feeling of a small-business that her
boss has created within the purchasing department. She
appreciates that it makes her feel in control in such an
environment. She likes the idea of the collaborative
environment of Biotech and responded well to the idea that her
opinions and suggestions were always welcome. However, she
expressed some concern that the youthful employees of IT, and
some other departments, had plenty of opinions but not a lot of
discipline in their work ethic. She has found that structure,
procedures and rules have worked better than asking for input.
When asked how her staff perceived her, she laughed and said
they called her a "Type A.". The interviewer noted that during
this statement, it was only one of two times during the interview
that she held his gaze for any length of time. When asked what

characteristics she thought a leader needed to possess to
succeed in the 21st century she replied, "…objective, practical,
controlled and fair." Higgins said her leadership style was
transactional but the interview was not sure if it was not more
authoritarian.
When asked what leadership theory she thought was most likely
to work in the 21st century her reply was "Great Man, because it
emphasizes the characteristics of a person like honesty and
trust." Higgins's knowledge of the business was sound but
when asked if anyone could be a leader she said no. It was up to
the position that a person holds. Higgins did understand that
sustainability was very important to the business. She said she
had some ideas on how to make the process aspects of Biotech
better and more efficient while saving cost. She also thought
that being eco-friendly was important but realized that was the
other meaning of the word sustainability in business.
Candidate 3 – Mohammad Darvish – Current position –
Marketing Manager, Homeopathic Division (Corporate
Headquarters)
Darvish currently manages the sales of the Homeopathic
Division. He enjoys working with a customer until they are
satisfied and regrets having to short change the time he spends
with customers today. He also feels that the company culture
has become more rigid over the past few years. When asked to
elaborate he responded, "Folks are scared of making mistakes.
If there has been anything I've been seeking to change in the
homeopathic division, it's that it's okay to make mistakes, as
long as we learn from them." When asked what characteristics
he thought a leader needed to succeed in the 21st century, he
replied, "…flexible, risk tolerant, insightful and honest."
He liked the collaborative culture of Biotech and showed signs
of having done his homework on the other divisions,
particularly Asia. Biotech, he said, would do well if the
company made sure that this division continued it existing
culture because it encouraged creativity.
When asked how he created followers among his employees,

Darvish replied that he liked to use incentive motivational
techniques and would sometimes empower workers if they
demonstrated the ability to take risks. Darvish said he was
sometimes a laisse-faire leader because it encouraged freedom
of thinking. He said he would solve problems largely through
"good teaming and collaboration". His said his favorite
leadership theory was contingency theory because it allowed
him to approach things by the situation. He liked to agree with
people and saw himself as being flexible. When asked how he
dealt with change, he replied, "In this business, if you're not
changing, you're dying."
Candidate 4 – Marg Simpson – Current position – Sales
Director, Chicago Office
Marg Simpson is 36 years old. She is a single mother of two.
She was a nurse for 8 years before coming to work at Biotech
in the marketing area of the sales division in Chicago. She has
been working for the company for four years. Her immediate
manager reported that Marg is highly motivated and competent
at her job. Her manager said that Marg's biggest asset is that
she "looked at challenges as opportunities and often found
creative solutions to problems that others had not considered."
Simpson's nursing years were spent at the University of Chicago
in Orlando Park. Surrounded by a large Muslim community the
hospital gave classes in Arabic and Simpson found it very
useful in her work to attend Arabic classes. She learned not
only how to carry on a conversation with non-English speaking
patients but the names of many drugs and over-the-counter
treatments. Simpson enjoyed her time in Orlando Park and
found the culture of the families very compatible with her own
ideas of family.
When asked if she was risk tolerant or risk averse, she
answered: "I occasionally reward risk taking in the work
environment. I do not think poorly planned risk is wise, but
sometimes you have to take a chance in sales. It is not for the
faint-hearted. But at the end of the day, I'd describe myself
more risk averse than tolerant."

Having read about the opportunity through the Biotech's HR
division website, Simpson was excited about the possibility of
moving her career forward. When asked if she were to relocate
to other regions, such as the Middle East, if it would present
problems for her, she only said. "Initially, but if I plan things
out well, surround myself with good people and learn about my
clients I am sure I could overcome the cultural drawbacks to
being a woman."
While she describes herself as being very familiar with Muslim
cultures, Simpson freely admits that she knows little about
Europe or South America. She has read some information and
thinks she could learn another language if she is given help and
the time needed to learn.
Simpson has many innovative ideas about increasing sales.
Simpson's evaluations are superior and she works well with her
team. Her colleagues suggest that she is flexible and a people-
first person. Her eye contact is good and she comes off as being
very authentic. She describes her leadership style as "a blend of
situational and transformational" and describes herself as a
relational leader. The interviewer noted that at times she
seemed to be more future oriented in her comments and may
need to worry more about the here and now when getting things
done.
Candidate 5 – Rafael Mendez – Current Position – Director of
Sales, New Mexico
Mendez currently is Director of the New Mexico sales division
at Biotech. He was Biotech's top salesman before taking over
the Director position. Mendez is 32 years old. A recent divorce
from his wife has made him eager to make a change in his
career. Mendez's wife was Brazilian. Mendez is fluent in
Portuguese. When asked if he was open to moving outside of the
United States, Mendez replied that he was "open to adventure."
He had not traveled excessively but had gone to Brazil
regularly with his wife when they were together. He was
familiar with the problems of a developing country.
Mendez enjoys working with customers and spends a lot of time

with them making sure they are satisfied. Darvish enjoys
Biotech's collaborative culture. He feels that one of the secrets
to his own sales success is the ability to coordinate with other
departments within Biotech, including purchasing, IT, R&D,
and HR. As part of his 360-degree performance appraisal, his
team gave him glowing reviews. He got equally high ratings
from the more senior (Baby Boomer) salespeople on his team as
the younger (millennial) salespeople.
When asked what characteristics he thought a leader needed to
succeed in the 21st century, he replied, "…you need to be a
good listener, first and foremost." He felt a good leader should
change rapidly in a crisis and should be direct and assertive
when dealing with people. When asked about the idea of
competitive edge he said "A leader has to worry about making
money every day. It is important to have immediate results for
all to see especially in sales. Even customers prefer to deal
with successful sales people than those that plod
along."
Mendez believes he could do well in another country if the
company ensured he received language and cultural training.
He knew that understanding how people thought about business
and their products was important but more likely the sale would
be clinched if he knew what was and wasn't good in the country
in which he was selling. He stated, "Knowing your clients is
everything in sales, so I suspect it is a very important part of
leadership at Biotech as well." When asked how he created
followers among his employees, Mendez replied that he liked to
have rules but room for deviation, and likes to provide
flexibility in the job while staying results-driven. Mendez said
he was a situational leader because it encouraged freedom, and
allowed him to use different leadership styles with a diverse
group of employees.

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