Overview of Eric Peterson Case

* Eric Peterson is the GM of Green Mountain Cellular Telephone (GMCT) which is owned and operated by CelluComm and is one of twelve cell sites.

* GMCT is a soon-to-be operating system that will operate 16 cell sites at the time of opening and eight months later will operate 21 cell sites and will serve 400,000 people.

* GMCT is one month behind schedule because of numerous problems. The original turn on date is February 1st and has been set back to April 1st.

* Peterson is scheduled to meet with Knight in two weeks to discuss the different problems that have led to the delay.

* Peterson expected to be reporting directly to Jenkins, however Peterson never ends up responding directly to Jenkins and is to report to Jeff Hardy.

Background

* GMCT had originally planned to begin service to subscribers on February 1, and are already a month behind schedule. * Management support is nearly invisible. A new general manager (Eric Peterson), has no previous experience and therefore should have adequate support from his superiors. * Lack of communication with superiors and headquarters since taking action.

Issues Facing Eric Peterson

* Eric Petersen's authority and power.

* Unclear decision making makes it difficult for Peterson to make the necessary decisions to help GMCT successful. * Unclear about his position of responsibility and authority. * For example, Peterson has to get confirmation from his superior in order to have a replacement made, this would normally be a general managers decision since he would be responsible for profit and loss.

The Situation in Hanover

* Jeff Hardy, whom is Petersons direct senior, lacks knowledge about the telecommunications industry. Hardy is undecided over major issues, e.g. connections to the fire departments at 4 cities. Furthermore, the office does not inform him about the status of legal negotiations with cities that were handled with Mt. Green and Karen Cantor.

* The initial construction of cellular towers that were to be performed by a subcontractor, was several weeks behind schedule. At the rate they were going they would be several weeks behind turn-on target date.

The Chief Engineer

* Curtis Andrew (Chief Engineer), is lacking in the organization planning, and communication skills and is therefor having equipment and supplies behind schedule. * Curtis does not have either the administrative ability or the prior knowledge to start up a new operation. * What Peterson did to try and fix this. * One on one counseling sessions with Curtis. * Weekly construction meetings of which everyone attended. * Establishing an inventory control reporting system.

* Curtis Andrew has personality issues with other colleagues on the job including Todd, Melissa, and Trevor.

Key Personnel Assignments

* Jim Wescott joined GMCT * Marketing plans were not detailed enough. * Trevor Burns joined GMTC * Trevor and Curtis had personality conflicts with one another. * Salary problem with Trevor Burns * Peterson offered Trevor the job at a competitive salary and had to eventually offer him a salary cut of 20% because of conflicts with Todd Jones making less. * Peterson offered Trevor Burns a raise after 6 months.

Equipment Selection and Specification Problems

* Decision of whether or to or not to use dual-mode radios was not made until early February. * As a result the radio supplier could not deliver on time which then CelluComm chose an alternate source whose equipment was later found to be defective, thereby requiring negotiation with the first supplier. * Headquarter made a change in the power supply ratings in December and Hardy did not inform Peterson until January. * The equipment in inventory could not be used because of this.

* A decision made by CelluComm in January changed the “Frequency reuse pattern” used for laying out the pattern. * Peterson faced challenges with Curtis so tried to convince cellucomm to reverse the the decision but was unsuccessful. * Hardy was “nitpicky” about little things like how many uniforms the installers should be issued. While major problems needed to be solved.

Hiring a Construction Coordinator

* Several management challenges among subordinates, all of which Peterson was handling well, but required further decisions from the local knowledge to understand why they were good. * Moving Stevana in charge of construction.
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Settling Zoning Problems

* GMCT’s current relationship with four of the towns in the license area was negative. * The industry carried a “public utility” status which meant they were exempt from zoning requirements and could build their large towers wherever they needed to. * Cellucomm learned the hard way that it was foolish to put towers wherever they wanted because it angered the community and future customers. * Cellucom resolved this problem on their own deciding to go about the zoning process trying carefully not to anger their future customers.

* Peterson made verbal agreements with the local police, fire, and emergency service operations for free phones and free cellular service in return for use of their communication towers as a GMCT cell site neighboring the town. * Hardy would not sign off on the agreement that Peterson had drawn up. * In settling zoning problems Peterson has been effective in outside communication but ineffective in inside communication.

Other Problem Areas

* GMCT was having difficulty with the local utility in getting it to “make ready” it telephone lines according to the promised schedule. * Curtis and Trevor had a strained relationship. * Arguments arose over the selection of trucks to order for the system repair and on-site installation technicians.