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University of American College Skopje

The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
The Leo Burnett Company
Ltd. : Virtual Team
Management
Case Analysis
Course: Advanced Organizational Behaviour
Skopje, !"!

. Introduction
Leo Burnett Company is a North American company that was founded in 1935 in Chicago
and is one of North Americas premier advertising agencies. he company created many
famous !rands. LB is an internationa" company that has 93 offices in #$ mar%ets and has
9&&& emp"oyees wor%ing for the company. hey have a mu"tidiscip"inary team that is
specia"i'ed in various services. heir wor%force most"y consists of young emp"oyees who
wor% efficient"y for around (& hours wee%"y.
)n our case Leo Burnett is wor%ing with one of its "argest and most important c"ients* +ntann
Beauty Care* to "aunch a new "ine of s%in care products ,-orever .oung/ into the Canadian
and aiwanese test mar%ets in preparation for a g"o!a" ro""out. 0ith the 1ua"ity of the creative
product Leo Burnett had a"ways tried to !ui"d "asting customer affinity for the !rands. )n this
case* however* the !rand "aunch was not successfu" on Canadian mar%et and on the other side
it was successfu""y "aunched on aiwanese mar%et.
he pro!"em arises when resu"ts from Canadian mar%et were !e"ow action standards and
eam communications and the team dynamics have !ro%en down in recent months and the
re"ationships are strained. -urther comp"icating matters are a num!er of c"ient and agency
staffing changes that cou"d 2eopardi'e the sta!i"ity of the team and the agency 3 c"ient
re"ationship* as we"" as !udget pro!"ems that faced !ecause of e4tra staff invo"ved in pro2ect.
!. Company Background
Leo Burnett as a successfu" company in advertising has managed to "eave a mar% with its
su!stantia" wor% for many companies. his success has he"ped them e4pand in other mar%ets
and countries* and a"so grow interna""y through merges and ac1uisitions. heir wor% has !een
recogni'ed from many prestigious awards* which has "ed LB to new c"ients. heir !usiness
inc"udes a who"e range of advertising products and services through a professiona" and
creative staff. his company is wor%ing !ased on the phi"osophy that !uyers shou"d have
!e"ief in the !rands that LB presents5 they want the !uyers of the product to have an attraction
for that !rand.
LB had specia" teams wor%ing for each !rand and their teams consist of mem!ers with
specia"i'ed services for the !rand that they wor%ed. 6ach team had two "ines of reporting7
forma" and informa" reporting "ines. he team forma""y reports to supervisor of the home
department* and informa""y to the pro2ect team "eader* which is usua""y the account director or
vice president of c"ient services. he supervisors of the home department usua""y is
responsi!"e for performance eva"uation and assigning and managing the emp"oyees
wor%"oad5 whereas* the team "eader is responsi!"e to manage the who"e pro2ect* to ensure
re"ationship with c"ients* and to ensure that c"ients are satisfied with pro2ects progress.
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
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LBs main c"ient and the c"ient in this case is a hea"th and !eauty care production company*
+ntann Beauty Care* which operates through a centra"i'ed g"o!a" team that defines the g"o!a"
strategy for every product and define the communication temp"ates for the "oca" mar%et to
fo""ow. hen the "oca" office had the autonomy to adapt these communications e"ements to
the "oca" mar%ets and to deve"op !e"ow the "ine materia"s. 8owever* the g"o!a" team had the
power to contro" the deve"opment and the production of the communication materia"s that the
"oca" offices produced.
LB in order to maintain good re"ationship with +BC decided to centra"i'e the decision
ma%ing !y assigning the 9: team the u"timate power in ma%ing g"o!a" decision for the who"e
process for deve"oping the new +BC !rand ,-orever .oung/. As the "eader of the 9: team*
which was a g"o!a" team* was appointed ;anet Carmichae" !ecause she was fami"iar with
+BCs !usiness and had !ui"t e4ce""ent re"ationship with the +BC s%in care c"ient group.
+BCs decision was to "aunch the product in two mar%ets as initia" test for its success* and
those mar%ets were Canada and aiwan* which %ept communicating with the g"o!a" team
through sate""ites and on"ine.
-or this assignment the g"o!a" team produced creative temp"ates such as design of the ad and
communication materia"s for this !rand* and then they send to sate""ite teams so that they
adapt them for the "oca" mar%et. his happened with the aipei team !ecause they received
temp"ates and adapted them to the "oca" mar%et* !ut this did not happened with oronto team.
he London team send the actua" design of the ad and the communication materia"s* and did
not "et oronto team change it* !ut in response gave them on"y to produce !e"ow the "ine
materia"s such as the 0e! site.
". Problem
0hi"e the aiwan team fo""owed the traditiona" concept* in oronto the assignment !ro%e
from this traditiona" format. he g"o!a" LB team in 9: wou"d produce 6ng"ish <
commercia" and print ads to !e used in the Canadian mar%et. he LB team in oronto wou"d
design and produce direct mar%eting and 0e! site materia"s* or !e"ow the "ine activities. he
9: office re1uires from the oronto team to incorporate certain e"ements into their design in
order for pieces to !e consistent with the print advertising.
he creative in LBs oronto team deve"oped direct mar%eting materia"* and at the same time
team in 9: deve"oped creative for the print advertising. he two sides creative wor% evo"ved
in different directions* !ut each side hoped that the other wou"d adapt their "oo% and fee".
oronto team to"d its London counterpart that they wou"d fo""ow their "ead. Communication
!etween the two sides soon !ecomes ineffective. )n addition there was an inconsistent
communication among LB oronto team and +BC teams in London and oronto which were
giving inconsistent instructions for the we! site deve"opment* resu"ting the team to fa"" !ehind
the schedu"e in =eptem!er >&&&.
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
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A"though the test conducted in Canada seemed promising* inde4ing 1>& against its
o!2ectives* resu"ts from the research to test the advertising conducted in the 9= mar%et were
very poor. As a resu"t +BC London re1uested LBs London and oronto teams to revise the
advertising materia"s !efore Canadian "aunch.
Both teams managed to revise the advertising* and in -e!ruary >&&1* campaign "aunched in
Canada. ?esearch fo""owing the nationa" "aunch showed that the !rand did not perform we""
among Canadian consumers.
@oor "aunch resu"ts on Canadian mar%et raised tensions !etween LB and +BC teams* it
!rought the LBs future !usiness on the +BC !rand in 2eopardy.
By ;une >&&1* LB needed to deve"op a new -orever .oung campaign in order to improve
!rands performance in the Canadian mar%etp"ace. LB decided to deve"op two new campaign
ideas in para""e" with the creative team in oronto and the team in London. ?esu"ts from the
mar%et research wou"d determine the winning creative concept. Communications !etween the
teams !ecome "ess fre1uent* "ess candid and more forma".
)n addition to tensions !etween the two teams arising from different opinions a!out
compensation* une1ua" starting conditions and motivation issues* a chain of persona" changes
occurred in every LBs and +BCs teams invo"ved in the case.
;anet Carmichae" had orchestrated an intensive communication with the teams in London*
oronto and aipei during the first ha"f of >&&&* !ut the communication in ear"y >&&1 !ecome
more forma" and she "ost the fee"ing of !eing part of a g"o!a" team.
=ince there was a need for redeve"opment of the creative* LB needed to engage e4tra peop"e
resources which resu"ted in higher costs to staff the pro2ect than origina""y estimated* even
higher than the revenues negotiated with +BC. his put LB under pressure to finish the
pro2ect as soon as possi!"e. his situation created conf"ict !etween LB and +BC in 9: who
was responsi!"e for negotiating LBs overa"" fees* !ut a"so a conf"ict !etween LBs London
and oronto teams who !oth e4pended additiona" staff time* and wanted fair compensation.
@oor performance of the Canadian team is "arge"y due to ineffective communication !etween
the g"o!a" LB office in London and the "oca" sate""ite in oronto. An o!vious evidence of
dissatisfaction with the way the teams communicate and co""a!orate !etween each other is the
e3mai" communication !etween Aavids B the oronto team "eader* and 0atson B the Creative
Airector in oronto team. 0atson emphasis the pro!"em to wor% with someone e"ses art
direction produced !y a team from different mar%et which was inconsistent with the way the
LB teams used to deve"op creative for other c"ients.
Communication set!ac%s have "ed to tension and inconsistencies !etween the teams and in
the materia"s produced.
#. SWOT Analysis
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
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Strengths
Carmichael e#perience
$eo Burnett reputation and kno%ledge of
the market
&ood historical results %ith OBC
&ood results on 'ai%anese market
(eaknesses
'eam communication and colla)oration
)roken do%n
*oor team management
*oor kno%ledge of the )rand
(rong market approach
Opportunities
+ncreased revenues and additional OBC
)rands
*ositive e#perience from 'ai%anese
market
+ncreased market share
'hreats
Under risk relationship
*ersonnel changes
'ight )udget
'ime to complete the project

$. Solutions
Based on the overa"" eva"uation of the case and its pro!"ems we have determined some
possi!"e so"ution to the unsuccessfu" campaign of LBs eam of oronto. he so"utions that
we suggest are determined to enhance the situation for !etter and more successfu" campaign.
-irst we suggest a decentra"i'ed management of the "oca" Canadian team* due to the !etter
%now"edge of the !uyer needs and target mar%et* which wi"" assure a successfu" product
"aunch and a positive c"ient re"ationship with +BC. his so"ution he"ps to create synergy of
the %now"edge from 9: team a!out the +BC !rand and the %now"edge of oronto team
a!out "oca" mar%er. A proven success of this situation was the mode" and princip"es used in
the aiwanese mar%et* thus Canadian team shou"d a"so use it as a !ase of communication.
he inconsistent instructions that oronto team received a!out the way the mar%eting p"an for
the new product was a factor of the pro!"em. Now since the g"o!a" vice president is retiring
and the c"ient is considering creating a g"o!a" virtua" team to manage this !rand* head1uarter
in 9= we !e"ieve that fo""owing the same re3organi'ation of team structure wi"" "ead to !etter
communication and resu"t of the campaign.
+nce Aavis "eaves the new "eader of the oronto team shou"d !e ara @owe"" since she
a"ready %now the pro2ect and has wor%ed on in* where she reported direct"y to Aavis* and she
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
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has a good understanding "oca" mar%eting. he necessary %now"edge wou"d !e imparted to
ara @owe"" !y the new"y formed virtua" team "ed !y ;anet Carmichae" such as !rand
%now"edge through !etter communications.
-irst"y if they %eep the team centra"i'ed wou"d "ead to unsuccessfu" resu"t and with it wi""
increase the ris% to destroy the good re"ation with the c"ient. -urthermore* it wou"d continue
to strain the a"ready tight !udget* thus "ead to more unsatisfied compensations for the
mem!ers and "ess resources for the pro2ect deve"opment.
%. Conclusion
After ana"y'ing the pro!"ems and then suggesting the appropriate so"utions to them we
now concentrate at the theoretica" parts that managers use to run their !usinesses in order to
imp"ement them to this case.
)n theory we have four factors that contri!ute to having an effective team and those
factors are7 training* empowerment* communications* and rewards. hus* re"ating this mode"
to the oronto team we can see that
none of the factors are fu""y met*
which means that the teams
success cou"d hard"y happen.
-irst"y* teams need the proper
training of the team mem!ers for a
more effective team5 and as we can
see in the case there is a wave of
personne" changes and there is no
incentive for training the team
mem!er for their ro"e. As an
e4amp"e* we have ara @owe""
!ecoming the new "eader of team
oronto* !ut she does not have a
good understanding of the products
!enefits and has not met most of
the g"o!a" team mem!ers. A"so the +BC g"o!a" vice president* =ara ;ones "eft the position
without putting a succession p"an in p"ace.
hen we "oo% at the empowerment factor that team oronto had over this pro2ect and
reading the case we saw that they had "ow authority in decision ma%ing* which adds up to the
ineffectiveness of the team. his pro!"em is recogni'ed in the case where the London team
!asica""y gave the oronto team the temp"ates and the communication e"ements without
"etting them to adopt these too"s to the "oca" mar%et. )n the other hand the aiwanese team
had authority to change the too"s and thus was successfu". -urthermore* here we can see that
instructions were inconsistent and varied !etween the oronto team and aiwanese team.
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management
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Ne4t factor of success is the communication !etween teams* which in our case we can
repeated"y see that it is "ac%ing. )n our case it is c"ear"y presented that as time passed the
communications !ecame "ess fre1uent and more forma"* which has impacted the team
mem!ers in various ways. -or e4amp"e* as a resu"t of this the team "eader Carmichae" started
to "ose the fee"ing that she is part of the g"o!a" team* which resu"ts in "ac% of motivation and
2o! dissatisfaction. -urthermore* this situation caused !y no communication created a discord
!etween oronto team and London team* which u"timate"y put the re"ationship with +BC in
2eopardy. herefore* we agreed that a channe" of communication and a fee" of team spirit
shou"d !e revita"i'ed in order to save them from the pro!a!"e de!ac"e.
Last"y the factor of rewards shou"d not !e "eft out !ecause it is an important part to
creating efficient teams. his is a"so a pro!"em in our case and as a resu"t is dragging down
the success of the team. oronto team is very much concerned that they are not fair"y
compensated for the wor% and thus it does not motivate them to do the intensive wor% that
they are "oaded with.
The Leo Burnett Company LTD| Virtual Team Management