Question

The Race for Power at William Electronics
A vice president’s position is about to open up at William Electronics, maker of components for audio and visual equipment and computers. Whoever fills the position will be one of the four most powerful people in the company and may one day become its CEO. So the whole company has been watching the political skirmishes among the three leading candidates: Arnie Sander, Laura Prove, and Billy Evans.
Arnie Sander, currently head of the research and development division, worked his way up through the engineering ranks. Of the three candidates, he alone has a Ph.D. (in electrical engineering from MIT), and he is the acknowledged genius behind the company’s most innovative products. One of the current vice presidents—Harley Learner, himself an engineer—has been pushing hard for Sander’s case. Laura Prove spent five years on the road, earning a
reputation as an outstanding salesperson of William
products before coming to company headquarters
and working her way up through the sales division.
She knows only enough about what she calls the
"guts" of William’s electronic parts to get by, but she
is very good at selling them and at motivating the
people who work for her. Frank Barnwood, another
current vice president, has been filling the Chief’s
ear with praise for Prove.
Of the three candidates, Billy Evans is the youngest
and has the least experience at William. Like the
Chief, he has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business
School and a very sharp mind for finances. The
Chief has credited him with turning the company’s
financial situation around, although others in the
company believe Sander’s products or Prove’s
selling ability really deserves the credit. Evans has
no particular champion among William’s top
executives, but he is the only other handball player
the Chief has located in the company, and the two
play every Tuesday and Thursday after work.
Learner and Barnwood have noticed that the
company’s financial decisions often get made
during the cooling-off period following a handball
game.
In the month preceding the Chief’s decision, the two
vice presidents have been busy. Learner, head of a
national engineering association, worked to have
Sander win an achievement award from the
association, and two weeks before the naming of the
new vice president, he threw the most lavish banquet
in the company’s history to announce the award.
When introducing Sander, Learner made a long,
impassioned speech detailing Sander’s
accomplishments and heralding him as "the future of
William Electronics."
Frank Barnwood has moved more slowly and subtly.
The Chief had asked Barnwood years before to keep
him updated on "all these gripes by women and
minorities and such," and Barnwood did so by giving the Chief articles of particular interest. Recently he gave the Chief one from a psychology magazine about the cloning effect—the tendency of powerful executives to choose successors who are most like themselves. He also passed on to the Chief a Fortune article arguing that many American
corporations are floundering because they are being
run by financial people rather than by people who really know the company’s business. He also
flooded bulletin boards and the Chief’s desk with news clippings about the value of having women and minorities at the top levels of a company.
Billy Evans has seemed indifferent to the promotion. He spends his days on the phone and in front of the computer screen, reporting to the Chief every other week on the company’s latest financial successes—
and never missing a handball game.
Case Questions
1. Whom do you think the Chief will pick as the new
vice president? Why?
2. Whom do you think should get the job? Why?
3. What role might impression management play in
the decision
4. What types of leadership exist at William?
5. What type of motivation appears at William? Be
specific
6. Do you think the horse race for the vice president
position is healthy? Why or why not?
7. Relate this case to one or more chapters in the
textbook.
8. What did you learn from the case?

Answer 1

Answer:

Question 1)

From the above question,we know that three members are eligible for vice president position.

In a company,  vice presidents are leaders and basement of the company. They must make confident and important decisions, even in the presence of CEO or president. Communicating their ideas clearly, presenting new concepts or directions, and leading the company with clarity and transparency are essential to the role.

So, from the above definition we can say that chief will pick "Arnie Sander" as the new president because he is already head of the research and development division, and  he is the acknowledged behind the company’s most innovative products. and the other two members are, one is:  

"Laura Prove" she has as an outstanding salesman performance and that will not be sufficient for the vice-president position.

"Billy Evans" seems that he does't have any experience in the development of the company and more over he is professional in finances part of the company, so he is also fit for vice-president position.

Question 2)

I support Arnie Sander to get the job, why because explanation is given above...