Problem
Your Role and the Organization
You are the Vice President of Human Resources for a professional baseball team that competes in a league with 30 franchises across 25 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Each team operates as an independent business but is governed by a central league office. The league is highly competitive and teams battle over many of the same resources including personnel, media attention, some marketing revenues, and, at times, a shared customer base. While franchises compete against one another, there is centralized cooperation to ensure competitive balance. The average annual revenue per franchise has risen consistently for each of the past 15 years and now averages $150 million per franchise per year. The competitive season runs from April through September, culminating with a championship in October for those teams reaching the playoffs. While the franchises are extremely busy during the competitive season, there is also plenty of work to be done between November and March. Thus, the industry operates on a 12-month cycle. The organizational structure for on-field personnel is consistent across franchises, but it varies by team in the staff functions. As a note, generally, franchises employ between 125-300 staff, excluding on-field personnel.
The Request On August 2, your team's board chair calls you to a confidential meeting and informs you that the president will be retiring at the end of the season. This is the first time you have heard about a change at the presidential level. Approximately six franchises (20%) replace their president each year, so while this is not an uncommon occurrence it is a critical change within the organization.
Task
Think about other industries. How do presidents and CEOs in those industries help their organizations achieve a competitive advantage? What outcomes are different in those industries?