Worldwide Equipment Case Analysis
Discussion
Weimin has not performed up to Worldwide Equipment standards. He is lacking in all aspects outlined by the company for position advancement: seniority, sales performance, sales leads generated, and team spirit. This is understandable for someone who is new to the sales position, but Weimin has shown little to no improvement. He was recently hired, so he certainly doesn’t have any seniority. Since being hired, he has generated 17 sales leads, and none of those have resulted in any sales. Both of these statistics are lows within the sales force. Weimin is also hugely lacking in team spirit; according to Wang, he is very “silent and introverted” and has “little ability to engage with people at all.” Wang hired Weimin on the basis of respecting his boss’ recommendation, but he also felt that his knowledge and connections within the textile industry could be beneficial. This is a unique characteristic that could set Weimin apart from the rest of the sales team, but he has not taken advantage of it. He has many connections within the industry, but he views them as friends, and he does not wish to mix his personal life and business life, so he neglects capitalizing on them. This is honorable, but if he doesn’t choose to find leads elsewhere, his potential for success is minimal. At one point, he tried to do business with one of his personal connections, and when it didn’t produce a sale, he burned a bridge by becoming deeply angered with him. This not only affected him personally, but also hurt Worldwide Equipment’s image. Wang has observed that team morale has been trending downward ever since he hired Weimin, and figures that Weimin is largely accountable, but it is tough to pinpoint the exact cause(s). The failure of two of the projects that Weimin spearheaded seems to be looming large, but there is also some frustration in the office regarding the manner that Weimin was hired. The sales engineers are bitter about his questionable background and mysterious connection with Yu. They are also resentful about the fact that the Guangzhou office wants them to keep him around because they are in the midst of a large deal with Weimin’s uncle, and they feel that if he is fired, the deal will not happen. The Beijing sales engineers don’t think it is fair that they have to hurt themselves and their branch in order to benefit the branch that they compete with. It is a huge conflict of interest. All of these issues have been brought to the attention of Mr. Wang by the sales engineers, and although he doesn’t fully agree with all of them, he can understand their frustration and agrees that Weimin’s performance has not been up to par. Wang has pondered what he should do about Weimin, but is concerned that if he makes the wrong decision, the morale of the office will continue to decay.
Because Wang didn’t necessarily want to hire Weimin from the get-go, he likely wasn’t very motivated to train him properly. For example, Weimin showed up to a business meeting with several superiors dressed in a suit and athletic shoes. This is very basic business etiquette and could have easily been trained. Considering that Weimin didn’t even receive training to that extent, he likely wasn’t given much attention, and was instead thrown into the position and forced to figure it out on his own. This could explain his poor sales performance. A new sales engineer is expected to simply generate sales leads and learn how to speak professionally. Weimin generated sales leads, but certainly not at the pace that is expected. An average new hire is expected to generate three to four leads over a five-day trip; Weimin travelled more than the average sales engineer and still mustered only 17 leads over a six month span. None of which produced a new contract. As a matter of fact, Worldwide Equipment did not even receive any invitations for second-round discussions from the leads he generated. This speaks volumes for his professionalism and sales skills as he apparently could hardly make a decent impression on the leads he did generate. Wang claims that Weimin is “innocent, to some extent” and “doesn’t have the sense of urgency”. He figures that Weimin probably thought that he had a while to learn the ropes, but the reality is that he didn’t. Considering that Mr. Yu finds Weimin so valuable and that quick results were expected, one would figure that Wang would have taken the time and effort to train him sufficiently, but that apparently wasn’t the case.
Amongst the decaying morale, poor sales performance, and lack of signs of improvement, there lies political tension. Because of the nature of Weimin’s hiring as a recommendation from Wang’s boss, Mr. Yu, Wang is caught between trying to choose what he feels to be the lesser of two evils. On one hand, he is pondering firing Weimin in an attempt to rid the office of his poor team spirit and performance, but that carries the possibility of disrespecting his boss and creating a whole new set of problems for himself. On the other hand, he is pondering keeping Weimin to please his boss and in hopes that he will eventually improve, but that carries the possibility that he won’t and it will harm office morale and performance even further.
Alongside the situation involving Weimin, Wang believes that office morale has also been affected by the pressure to enter the textile market. This is a territory that is relatively unknown to many of the sales engineers, so they feel a bit overwhelmed by the expectation that they will be able to make a seamless transition to selling to a whole different type of industry. This pressure likely only plays a small role in the overall scheme of the office, but it is still something to consider.

Action Plan
It is apparent that measures need to be taken to restore well-being in the Beijing office. Considering that Weimin’s probation expires in just two weeks, action needs to be taken as soon as possible. Given the information provided about Wiemin’s first six months at Worldwide Equipment, Mr. Wang should feel at ease firing him.
It is Mr. Wang’s responsibility as a manager to look out for his employees and provide the most suitable work environment for them. Li Wiemin has undoubtedly soured the workplace for the rest of the sales engineers, and at what cost? It would be somewhat understandable to retain him if he had generated sales, but he didn’t. It’s not just that he didn’t generate sales; he cost the company both directly and indirectly. He travelled more than any other sales engineer, and had nothing to show for it. He generated less leads than any other sales engineer, and even those he did generate were not capitalized on. He burned bridges with connections and potential clients, tarnishing the reputation of Worldwide Equipment within the textile industry it is so desperately trying to enter. Lastly, he garnered the resentment of his fellow sales engineers, causing a rift in the office that more than likely affected sales performance. It would be to Mr. Wang’s best interest to fire Wiemin as soon as possible.
Although he is worried about his relationship with his boss, Mr. Wang is acting as a savvy businessman would. Mr. Yu should respect Mr. Wang’s decision, and allow adequate time to assess its impact. Mr. Yu may feel bitter about the decision, but he will eventually see the sense in it. In the business world, you can’t make everyone happy, that’s why some companies excel while others fail.