title: When your star performer can't manage.
abstract: Vic, the CEO of a sporting goods company in this fictional case study, is pleased with the numbers. For several years now, they've gone steadily in one direction: up. But there's trouble in paradise Hidden from the public's view of industry-dominating winners--from the coolest snowboards to the hottest in-line skates--lies a product development department that may be ready to shatter like cheap fiberglass. There's one reason in particular for the dark rumblings that periodically reach Vic, and his name is Linus Carver. Carver, the company's chief of product development, is the workaholic mad genius who is responsible for most--he might say all--of the company's successful products. At the same time, he has managed to alienate the rest of his staff, including the two whizkid Generation Xers he brought in. He has been charged with everything from stealing ideas to squashing the initiative of the rest of the team. From his perch as CEO, Vic preaches "team". And he's even made a few stabs at reining Carver in--his latest move has been to recommend that his mercurial star get some coaching. But Vic also knows who butters his bread. In short, he's bewildered. Four commentators suggest how Vic can keep the company's product-development group intact and it sales growth strong.
authors.affiliation: International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D003120:Colorado; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D009013:Morale; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000592:standards*; D011357:Product Line Management; D011590:Psychology, Industrial