Bad Blood on the Senior Team (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

In this fictional case, the CEO of a sports apparel manufacturer must figure out how to handle an ongoing conflict between two of his top executives. His head of sales and CFO are constantly at each other's throats, and the tension is having a bad ripple effect on their teams and the rest of the organization. Should he change the company's compensation scheme to encourage better collaboration, get the executives coaching, or do more team-building activities? Or should he fire one or both of the warring executives? This fictional case study by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden features expert commentary by Scott Salmirs and Dale Winston. This HBR Case Study includes both the case and the commentary. For teaching purposes, this reprint is also available in two other versions: case study-only, reprint R1901X, and commentary-only, R1901Z.