Rick Drumm (A)

Rick Drumm (his real name), once a teen-age drumming contest winner, is facing the most promising, but also the most challenging, career transition in his career as a manager and a leader. While a second-year MBA student in a fast-track program, and working as President of Vic Firth Inc, a $20 million-sales drumstick manufacturer, he is being recruited to become president of J. D'Addario & Co., the largest manufacturer of musical accessories in the US. Having survived a series of interviews - by the headhunter, various Board members, and the Chairman of D'Addario - he is informed that he has to be interviewed by Jack Welch, the legendary CEO of General Electric, as the final step in his selection process. Rick has to decide how to prepare for this interview, how to approach this final test of his qualifications to assume the leadership of a much larger and more complex organization. The (A) case describes his concerns and questions about the up-coming interview. It also paints the scenario of Ricks personal history, and the sometimes colorful career transitions he has gone through up to this latest opportunity. Critical themes are highlighted, tracing the central threads of his development as a manager. The (A) case ends with Rick ringing the bell at Welch's Boston residence on a cold afternoon in December.

• Career changes
• Career planning
• Organizational behavior
• Hiring and recruitment
• Leadership