John Clendenin's Objectives

Question : What were John Clendenin’s constraints/barriers to accomplishing his objectives and why? Where did he have leverage and why?

Following are some of the constraints Clendenin have to accomplish his objectives:

The quality of MDC work was very much dependant on the support staff. He did not have a wide pool to choose resources from. The only resources available to him were the ones that others were willing to let go. These guys were probably not the winners in their own department and that is one of the reason the MDC department was looked down upon by many others in XEROX. According to the case they were staffed with stray cats and dogs.

Clendenin success at his job did not go well with his colleagues who have long term logistics experience. Every time he was planning to take an

initiative they will give him reasons why it won’t work. He would have to fight and convince these guys every time. After his promotion these guys were not joining him to meetings, and he actually needed their experience to not go off track. The lack of opposition was a problem as it can lead him to confirmation bias.

Clendenin was made incharge of someone who has 20 years experience in the parts and supply department. People with more experience have trouble taking authority from someone younger and less experienced than them. It's difficult for them to trust someone with less experience and knowledge than them.

When Clendenin wanted to redefine MSDC role there was not much support from the others in the organization.

Moreover the customers of MSDC were the lower level purchasing managers and according to Clendenin their interests were not always aligned with the interests of the company.

To revamp MSDC new role, Clendenin needed support and approval from CISB. It was quite difficult for him to talk to those guys, as they were quite high in the reporting level.

The manager who was heading the MSDC department quit the job and Clendenin has to manage the extra workload. This created an extra pressure situation for Clendenin.

Clendenin was short on budget and resources while heading MDC. He was not allowed extra resources and can only ask for money that will save the same amount in the same year. Moreover there was animosity from the members in the steering committee regarding budget. They were not happy with MDC using their money and telling them what MDC found out on their external benchmarking trips.

Clendenin had a leverage in some of the following situation/scenarios :

Clendenin had served in the Marines as a Major before going for him MBA and joining Xerox. He

was