Alfa Telecommunications (A): The path to management

Pierre Chaubaron, a Bachelor of Science, works as a sales manager at the Paris office of Alfa Telecommunications (AT), a German telecommunications company. On April 2, 2013, Jean Castagne, his boss and the sales director of Enterprise Solutions, one of the company's four business divisions, informs Pierre of his decision to leave the company. He further informs Pierre that from that point forward he will assume the role of sales director. That same afternoon an urgent Steering Committee meeting is convened to inform all members of the recent developments. After the meeting, Roland Dunand, the company's vice president in France, calls Pierre to officially notify him of his appointment. Pierre's greatest challenge following his appointment as sales director is his integration into the Steering Committee. Although he has known all the members for some time, he had only maintained close relationships with Olivier, from Human Resources, Fabian, the legal director, and Chloe, the services director, who would all provide him with great support during the first weeks of meetings. His gradual rise in the Sales department has brought him technical and theoretical knowledge about the market and the company that, together with his youth, cause the other Committee members to be somewhat hostile towards him. Further, neither Jean nor Roland ever gave him guidelines on how to conduct himself in the Committee meetings.