Assignment Task:
Penguins have always been cool. But golf shirts with a little flapping bird printed on them experienced a lull in coolness. In fact, their popularity remained frozen for two decades largely because they were worn by aging golfers. Now the penguins are back, flapping furiously and, many would argue, coolly not just on golf shirts but also on a wide array of men's and women's clothing and accessories, including shirts, shoes, hats, belts neckties, handbags, and even bathing suits. These items represent the extreme makeover of a 50 year old brand of clothing calling Original Penguin. Now owned by Perry Ellis International, the Original Penguin brand of clothing is experiencing rejuvenation thanks largely to Penguin's vice president, Chris Kolbe. Chris Kolbe knows that thawing out an old brand is a daunting task under the best circumstances. But the fashion industry is particularly difficult the pace is dizzying, and the turbulence is sometimes terrifying. Kolbe's activities as a manager are clearly characterized by variety, fragmentation, and brevity. For example in a single day, Kolbe may be expecting several hundred samples from sources around the globe to arrive in time for a fashion show. He may have to decided whether to extend credit to a retailer or whether to drop one retailer in favor of another. He may have to review ad copy return calls from fashion magazines, thumb through swatches of fabric, welcome sales reps arriving for a meeting, and fix his own computer. We are always way behind and scrambling he says with a chuckle. But Kolbe thrives on these activities because he is convinced that the time is right for his penguins to regain their place in the market among other legendary figures such as alligators and polo ponies and he intends to make it happen. Because the Penguin division is a tiny component of the much larger Perris Ellis company, Kolbe serves all the management functions of planning organizing leading and controlling often during the course of one work day. I take personal responsibility and accountability for everything that has the Penguin brand on it Kolbe notes. Kolbe also fulfills all the roles to a top manager. He considers himself a hands on manager, communicating constantly with his staff and keeping himself involved in every detail so I don't lose sight of things. He develops relationships with employees so that they can work well together. My job is really the A to Z in assembling a team of people who can focus on certain pieces of that business and deliver on the strategic goals for the company he explains. I feel very fortunate to have such a good team. He makes decisions about where to take the brand. Right now he has his sights set on a more upscale market. He envisions his customers as comfortable suburbanites who want high quality fashionable casual clothing. But he doesn't worry too much about direct competitors in the clothing industry. Instead he focuses on how Original Penguin can compete for consumer dollars. My role as vice president of Penguin really is I am acting president of a very small division a startup company attached to a larger company Kolbe observes. So I really took on the A to Z of running a brand or running a company from the creative vision of the brand to marketing the brand to the business operations and sales of the brand. As for the turbulence? Kolbe shrugs it off. In every business there are roadblocks. So your ability to focus on the roadblock or work around the roadblock sometimes comes down to your ability to be successful. This is true even when the roadblock happens to be a shipment of women's flip flops that hasn't arrived in time for the fashion show. Read Case study responses in ques 17, 18, 19
Question 1: Describe the conceptual skills you think Chris Kolbe needs for his job as vice president of Original Penguin.
Question 2: Suppose those flip flops or other components of the upcoming fashion show don't arrive in time. Describe how Chris Kolbe might manage the situation.
Question 3: What do you think is the most difficult part of Kolbe's job? Why?