Members

Board 1: Chairman
Board 2: MD
Board 3: CFO
Board 4: Company Secretary
Consultant 1
Consultant 2

Scene

Board 1: Good Morning, Welcome you all to the board meeting. Let us review the agenda of today’s
meeting and certain other matters which have already been circulated to the board members in
advance
 Our first agenda will be focused on why Peeter failed as CEO and what missteps he took
during his course, which could have been avoided
 Our second agenda is to discuss what steps lead to fall in our revenue and net profit margins
even after we did have a healthy consumer base
 Our third and most important agenda will be how can we avoid such problems in the future

Since CS have confirmed all board members are present, we can continue with this meeting. Let us
take the first item in our agenda.
Since we all know we had a rough year after changes introduced by Peeter as a CEO, what do you all
think have happened?

(Pause 2 secs)

Board 2: Clearly his targets and goals were misaligned. Although initially we flew off well, at the end
we had a rough landing.

Board 3: Absolutely! I pointed this out during our this year first board meeting, which peeter
dismissed then. His strategy was exactly the same with his previous 2 companies, which were
publicly traded. Applying the same strategy in our company which is govt. owned, is a big red flag
according to me.

Board 1: Right. I would like to add one more point to this. As his strategy was to deregulate
restrictions and bar set by government, since Profitel is govt. owned, he imposed undue pressure on
the govt which backfired him in getting the contract of $1bn. 

Board 3: Yes, I agree. Peeter believed that having a large consumer base will help him in getting the
deal, but he did not care about the fact that Facebook was not the first social site or google was not
the first search engine. 

Board 4: Exactly. Also Peeter’s strategy was to push customer out of its older technology. This is not
right because Consumers need time to adapt to new technology. We did not give them. Pushing
customer to new technology and that too with a higher price tag definitely did not go well with us.

Board 2: I agree. One of his primary mistakes was that he heavily invested in the new broadband
technology without analysing the already new upcoming wireless technologies that were taking
ground already in other countries. I believe He was kind of unidirectional in taking decisions. 

Board 1: Right. You are right! Okay, any more reason anyone wants to add?
Board 3: Yes. I believe Consecutive Employee layoffs led to declined employee morale &
productivity, which was clearly understandable from the employee feedback survey we did two
months ago.

Board 1, 2 & 4: Yes

Board 2: This is a good reason as well.

(Next Scene)

Board 1: So we have along with us two consultants who happens to be a very good network of mine,
and I believe he can guide us through our pain points.

Consultant 1: Hello Everyone, I have along with me the pain points as discussed in the board
meeting. And I believe me and my partner can definitely address those issues in a organised and
systematic approach.

Consultant 2: Absolutely

Board 1: Perfect! So shall we begin?

Other Members: Yes

Consultant 1: Ok my first recommendation is to hire efficiently. Hiring Peeter as CEO in the first place
might not have been a good idea. Instead, Management should have given more emphasis on
internal hiring. This would have increased effective communication within the workspace and top
management. The selected individual must possess a better presence, irrefutable leadership
qualities and transformational leadership style.

Consultant 2: Absolutely! Also in the same context, Firing employees should be the last resort when
no other option is available. Profitel core team could have simply restructured or allowed cross-
functional switch to employees instead of laying it off altogether.  

Board 1: Yes I agree

Board 2 and 3: Right

Consultant 1: Also, I believe Peeter took some miscalculated steps. When a company introduces new
technology into the market, people will take time to understand the technology, which peeter did
not understand. Also one cannot end the life of older version just because a new version is launched
and that too with a higher price tag. That is like betraying your consumer base who have already
invested into the product.

Consultant 2: Correct. And that brings me to my point. The ultimate decision maker is, of course, the
CEO, who should consult his peer/ board members before arriving to a decision. The key is to give
the executive committee specific advisory and coordinating responsibilities and not take the whole
big decision by himself. This will provide with a much healthier delegation and definitely more
effective.

All members: Agreed