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SOPHIA TANNIS: THE EUROPEAN TRANSFER

Kanina Blanchard wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Gerard Seijts solely to provide material for class discussion.
The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have
disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.

This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the
permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights
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University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com.

Copyright © 2013, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2013-07-31

INTRODUCTION

Imagine day one in a new job, in a new business, in a new country. In fact, you are on a new continent.
Now imagine that you have just met your most important internal business partner, who greeted you with
this opening salvo:

So you are the one? The one who is supposed to replace Antonio Vella? You know the man speaks
seven languages? He is a good friend. He knows the business completely after 20-some years. He
knows everyone. . . . So tell me, how do you plan to replace him, dear?

Well Sophia Tannis didn’t need to imagine it — the words remained etched in her memory. It had been in
2002, on the first day of her European assignment.

Tannis was the first senior female leader to be moved by her company to its European headquarters in
Switzerland. And she had a dual career and two young children. It was a dream location, a make-or-break
assignment and a professional chance of a lifetime. It was her opportunity to fly high or flop in front of the
entire organization.

CORPORATE CONTEXT

In 2002, Tannis worked for CPA Solutions (CPA), a Fortune 100 company with more than $20 billion1 in
annual sales. CPA was a leading global industrial company that offered a wide array of chemical, plastic
and agricultural products and services. Employing approximately 40,000 people worldwide, CPA
manufactured its products at more than 100 sites in dozens of countries across the globe.

As a company operating across national and political boundaries and regulatory regimes, CPA faced the
ongoing challenge of balancing the need for a strong, consistent global corporate brand with the imperative
of being locally relevant to customers and other stakeholders, including governments, non-governmental

1
All currency amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

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organizations (NGOs) and other decision makers. This challenge presented itself in almost all aspects of
company activity, including researching and developing products; marketing, sales and service; policies
relating to human resources and information technology; stakeholder outreach initiatives and advocacy
efforts on key issues, ranging from taxation to legislation.2

Tannis’s new role was about leading change and recalibrating that very balance in relation to one of the
company’s biggest and most impactful businesses. It meant changing some long-held beliefs and ways of
doing things, such as how key issues and decisions would be made. It also meant recalibrating the power
base, which meant some big challenges ahead — and strong opposition.

TANNIS’S TASK

Tannis was, at the time, the first woman to join the exclusively male-dominated energy business run out of
Europe. She was charged with revitalizing the business culture, which, although very successful based on
financial metrics, had become entrenched and operated as a stereotypic “old boys’ club.” The culture
wasn’t in line with the broader company culture, and issues around attraction and retention of women and
minorities had become a growing issue.

Her first challenge, though, was to create and establish a more collaborative way for the entire organization
internally (in Europe and globally) to develop and implement consistent strategies, policies and lobbying
efforts related to energy policy and associated issues..

Thus far, CPA had empowered its European-led energy business to develop the company approach on
energy policy and associated issues.. With Europe having been the centre of action on the issues for more
than a decade, the approach had been sound. The work done had been thoughtful, analytical and
technically focussed. Decisions on company positioning were made at the highest levels in Europe and
were professionally conveyed in Brussels, either directly or through trade associations. The organizational
culture at the time, however, did not encourage information sharing, brainstorming, transparency or
garnering buy-in to ensure consistency of positions and messages across geographies and businesses. As a
result, although consistent messages were being shared at the highest levels in the European Union,
company leaders in European member states and business leaders in other geographies (e.g., Canada and
Brazil) worked essentially independently to convey their views at the local level.

By early 2000, however, CPA management had started to envisage how political, legislative and regulatory
decisions on energy and related issues globally would start to affect the bottom line. By 2002, the company
decided it needed someone with a proven track record to work across boundaries, both physical and
cultural, to deliver comprehensive and big-picture positions and solutions to enable a one-company voice
on such key issues. That someone was Tannis.

2
Global companies regularly deal with these “balancing act” challenges. Examples include but are not limited to situations
where corporate strategies on critical matters such as pandemic planning conflict with national priorities, information security
laws in one jurisdiction contravene corporate policy, one nation legally requires a unique level of engagement with unionized
workforces that relies on significant resource commitments, company practices around gift giving are viewed as offensive to
some nationalities and cultures, and NGOs expect global companies to offer commensurate benefits regardless of country
of employment. Such realities require flexibility but also create risks for high-profile multinational organizations.

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WHY TANNIS?

Tannis had joined the multinational company 11 years earlier and had steadily moved up, achieving higher
profile roles and responsibilities. The company, well known for providing career development
opportunities, had yet to disappoint Tannis in her pursuit for challenge and growth.

Tannis had demonstrated her skills and ability to take on complex and challenging assignments across a
variety of functions, businesses and geographies. In her first global role after only four years in the
company, she had been assigned to re-haul a key business process, working with two dozen tenured and
established professionals around the world. She had accepted the assignment, which required her to deliver
the new process within a year and to do so without any formal control or authority. In some ways naive,
she hadn’t balked at being told to use influence and persuasion to have her colleagues realize their jobs
were redundant and that the work they had been doing for years needed a complete change!

After not only succeeding in that role but being recognized, along with her team, in industry publications
and even through an international best practice award, Tannis had gone on to lead a multifunctional team
to build the company’s first Internet and intranet sites. By 1996, she was in every major web-focussed
publication, talking about ecommerce and was even highlighted in the Wall Street Journal as
Miss.CPA.com.

In less than a decade, Tannis had successfully navigated the company’s complicated, matrixed
organization. She had been recognized for her ability to deliver in high-stress, high-profile situations and to
lead and inspire people to go above and beyond. She had put her family on airplanes to fly to safety and
had led emergency teams through hurricanes. She had left home for weeks at a time to help lead others
through natural disasters, fires, explosions and even bomb threats. Tannis had balanced corporate, public
and employee interests during issues and crises and had consistently demonstrated strategic business
acumen even through major downsizings and business restructurings.

Known as a workhorse and nicknamed “Little Tiger” during an assignment in Hong Kong, she had
changed jobs seven times in her first 11 years at CPA; had successfully transitioned to working in three
countries (Canada, United States and Hong Kong) in six different locations and had built a strong
reputation as a relationship builder who could get the job done!

Prior to the transfer to Europe, Tannis had led a major transformational initiative in the southern United
States, which included designing and implementing significant cultural, policy and staffing changes and
playing a lead role through a major merger/acquisition. Despite encountering many of the barriers
synonymous with working in the southern states, including gender, culture, nationality (Tannis being
Canadian) and religion (with her not being Christian and having a mixed ethnic background), Tannis had
delivered strongly and had built a capable team to sustain the changes she initiated. Tannis had also been
recognized for her efforts in several crisis situations, including a perceived cancer cluster issue in a local
community and a significant fire and explosion that left employees severely injured and a community
reeling.

HANDPICKED BUT NOT THE OBVIOUS CHOICE

Two corporate vice presidents had worked to position Tannis for the new European role. Her most recent
professional success (in the southern United States) and the skills she demonstrated had convinced the
executive wing that she was the ideal candidate for the strategic work needing to be addressed in Europe.

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As the new energy policy leader, she would need to deliver significant results in a short time frame
(approximately six months). If successful, a director’s position would be her reward.

Tannis was seen at the corporate level as being not only capable to deliver but also as “neutral” as possible
(i.e., as a Canadian with years of experience in multiple geographies, businesses and functions) and
without allegiances to any of the existing networks, cliques, positions, businesses or geography. Some
wanted to see her succeed; others assumed she would fail; and yet others were simply curious whether
recruiting an outsider would work!

On the ground in Europe, she was an unknown quantity and did not appear to be the obvious choice. Even
before arriving at the Zurich-area office, the hallway talk had three strikes squarely against her: she wasn’t
a man, she wasn’t European and she was seen as being “corporate.”

EYES WIDE OPEN

Job transitions and changes were nothing new to the 32-year old Tannis or her family, but this assignment
posed more than the usual challenges. Although a European assignment was widely seen in the company
as an opportunity of a lifetime, Tannis had her eyes wide open. Not one to forget that “with great
opportunity comes great responsibility,” she had known that the potential rewards of such an assignment
would also be accompanied by risks and stress.

Tannis brought to the role not only her international work experience with the company but also a lifetime
of navigating diverse and often conflict-ridden waters. Tannis was a child of mixed heritage, having been
left to the child care system and ultimately raised in an Asian household. Tannis spoke multiple languages
and had developed the ability to move seamlessly among people from varied cultures, organizations,
languages and religions. She was comfortable being in the minority, or the odd one out, which had served
her well in her extensive travels as a child, when she had been exposed to many social and economic
realities around the world. She could blend in when needed and could empathize with the needs and
concerns of others.

Tannis also recognized that, more so than with past transitions, her success or failure in Europe would
affect not only herself but also others. As a people leader and mentor, her many female colleagues believed
her anticipated success would influence the organization to provide more geographic opportunities for
women with dual careers and families. Tannis herself also had a family to consider. Thus, after
transplanting her two young boys halfway around the world, and with her husband having to change his
career path to transfer as a dual career, excitement and a healthy dose of nerves flowed through her veins as
she had readied herself for her first day in the office.

UNDERSTANDING THE GAME

Years earlier, one of her mentors had given Tannis sage advice. “When you get that chance of a lifetime
opportunity . . . watch out because there’s a lot more going on than they are telling you,” Frank Menske
had said. “When they want to make the big investment in you . . . they’re expecting you to score a
touchdown, they just don’t tell you that the ball is in the other guys’ possession.” Menske was a trusted
colleague and coach and, for years, had been there to give her the straight talk. This time was no different.
He had said, “Get out there and do what it takes to figure out the game plan early or just know you’re
gonna get sacked when you least expect it!”

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Right after saying “yes” to the offer of the European role, Tannis mapped out the realities she needed to
deal with. Menske had been right. Taking the time to strip away emotion and conjecture and look
analytically at the situation was helpful in mapping out her initial game plan. A pretty complex set of
dynamics were at play:

 Tannis would report to three different and powerful leaders: a functional vice president, a geographic
vice president and a business vice president, each with distinct agendas.
 Tannis was expected to get everyone (the business, the various geographies, corporate headquarters,
etc.) working together to develop and play by the same strategy. She needed to get the entire
organization sharing the same company-wide positions on some of the most contentious issues for the
organization, energy policy.3
 Using a consistent playbook meant changing the status quo in terms of decision making, information
sharing and power recalibration. It meant the loss of autonomy and new expectations around
collaboration and changed accountability.
 Personally, Tannis faced opposition internally. She was seen by many as an outsider taking one of the
few and valued leadership roles in Europe as a non-European. Tannis was also seen as a change agent
being forced or thrust on the organization.
 She also needed to establish trust and credibility with external stakeholders who had long and tenured
relationships and shared similar educational, political and social priorities.4

After accepting the European role, Tannis also followed Menske’s advice and challenged her new bosses
in candid and courageous conversations to ensure she understood their individual perspectives and
unwritten expectations.

THE REAL DEAL

As a result of her discussions with her three new bosses, Tannis came into the role knowing who wanted
what and their individual expectations and demands. Tannis also got a flavour for the anticipated level and
the nature of support she could expect.

Key for Tannis was that both Richard Markus and Nico Zinkweg, the geographic and business vice
presidents respectively, recognized the changes she needed to initiate. They committed to support her but
set the expectation that they would be seen to maintain their autonomy and the ability to strongly influence
any decision or action that could affect their respective areas of responsibility.

Markus specifically told Tannis that she needed to be careful to not try to Americanize the European
approach and to be mindful of relationships that had been established over time. He was thoughtful in
sharing this advice and counsel, even providing examples of how others had tried and failed to establish
themselves in the region, let alone having any real influence. “This is Europe, and you must remember they
[the external partners] want what is best for Europe — not for our company bottom line and not for the
U.S.”

3
For example, would the company support a “cap and trade” system? If they would support it in Europe, would they also
support it in the United States?
4
As did most companies, CPA not only worked to develop its own positions and plans but worked with third parties and
associations to influence politicians and decision makers. Therefore, building a recognized and valued brand as an
individual was imperative to succeed, both internally and externally.

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Zinkweg, the business vice-president was explicit in his expectation that he maintain independent authority
over issues affecting his business and with relations at the level of the European Council and the European
Commission. He was willing to provide support to placate the corporate entity, but made it clear that
Tannis needed to ensure his position externally was not undermined by her actions or those of the
corporate entity. His tenure, experience and knowledge were well recognized and were absolutely critical
for the company to have a voice on these issues on a European and global stage; therefore, his support and
personal engagement were fundamental in achieving Tannis’s deliverables.

DAY ONE: STAFF

On day one, Tannis started by meeting her new global team. Some joined in person, some by phone, some
even through video conferencing — but all seemed very curious about her, both personally and
professionally. Compared with her past experiences with new staff “meet and greets,” the intensity of
interest and focus seemed heightened. While encouraged by the open dialogue, Tannis recognized that her
arrival brought to an end months of chit chat and hallway talk about who she was, what she was like and
how she would tackle the challenges ahead.

Tannis had not only studied up on the new business but she had also tried to learn about the individuals in
her team and other stakeholders (companies, business leaders and lobbyists). She had talked to
knowledgeable colleagues, looked at best practices and sought out some cultural coaching. She already
knew that culture and nationality were significant factors in how Europeans did business, and their
significance was confirmed in the questions she was asked. Within an hour, it was clear that the new staff
had done their homework on her. While many had asked the standard questions about plans and priorities,
the conversation had quickly shifted to the following:

 How would she establish credibility with the powerful businessmen she would now be interacting
with?
 How would she handle being the only woman?
 Would she deal with issues of attraction and retention of women in this business?
 Would she try to make the team more connected to the corporate way?
 Would she force them to become “corporate,” or did she support maintaining their uniqueness, as part
of the energy business, in their unique geographies?

The questions were frank and direct, and they provided some significant insight into the challenges ahead.

DAY ONE: A LONG DAY

Following her two-hour staff meeting, Tannis took a few minutes to reflect on the discussions and to
prepare to meet with some key internal partners, including the director of energy. At the working and
collegial level, his partnership and support had been flagged as critical. Apprehensive about lobbying and
interacting with government himself, his thought leadership and extensive relationships inside the business
and within the industry could make the difference in terms of constructing and working through key
business-related arguments and messaging. With his support, she hoped to create a working group to gather
broad input, develop more coordinated and comprehensive approaches and drive toward stronger
positioning on key issues.

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Tannis walked along the pristine glass and marble hallways. Bare white shelves in the offices illustrated
the workplace’s minimalistic and impersonal style and provided the starkest possible contrast to offices in
the southern United States where she had last been assigned. There, wood panelling was ubiquitous.
Shelves were muddled with memorabilia, diplomas and family photos. Religious crosses were displayed
prominently and with pride. Occasionally, one could spot a boudoir photo of someone’s wife and the
proudly displayed and coveted prizes from “gator hunting.” She reflected on how something as simple as
décor could reinforce difference and how she needed to be mindful of the subtle cues around her.

“Andre, I am Sophia, pleasure to meet you!” With a strong stretched-out hand, she smiled.

“Well well. So you are Sophia,” noted Andre van het Hof.

“Yes, I am,” responded Tannis, as she entered his office, which boasted a picturesque view of the
lake.

“So you are the one! The one who is supposed to replace Antonio Vella?” A long deep pause
stretched between them.

“You have met Antonio?” he continued. “You know the man speaks seven languages? He is a
good friend. He knows the business completely after 20-some years. He knows everyone in
Brussels — they call him ‘the silver-haired fox,’ you know? He is a man of refinement and culture
and, of course, he is European. So tell me, how do you plan to replace him, dear?”

THE POWER OF BEING PRESENT

In the days that followed, Tannis settled in and slowly made some headway building relationships with
staff and with her internal colleagues. She took the advice she had been given — to begin by listening
more than she talked. She demonstrated her interest in understanding others’ perspectives and passions.
She was the minority, and she opened herself to learn. By doing so, she realized what others wanted from
her — not the “right answer” but a frank and candid answer to questions. Being politically correct was not
seen as being honest or transparent, and being Canadian as opposed to being American opened doors for
some important discussions, such as how the American approach to relationship building was alienating
some potential business partners in the Middle East and how American companies in Europe needed to
develop a real appreciation for European institutions and approaches, not just pay lip service.

Tannis recognized that others appreciated her answering questions without mincing words, addressing
stereotypes and misinformation candidly and being open to criticism (both personal and of a corporate
nature). Unlike in Texas and other parts of the United States where she had previously lived and worked,
the hot topic was not religion but issues around nationality and culture. She became mindful that her
actions, reactions and comments served to instantaneously reinforce concerns or to slowly create the
opportunity to work collaboratively.

“Corporate doesn’t trust us” was a common theme and frustration expressed by staff in the office. While
not unlike perceptions of “headquarters” she had heard working in other locations, the emotion around the
comment was different.

Through discussion, she realized that, for her new staff and colleagues, the corporate way was often
interpreted as the “right” way, which, by default, meant their way was “wrong.” The level of pride in the

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European way became increasingly apparent, and Tannis recognized that her efforts to build better
coordination and collaboration would need to consider this reality.

THE SILVER-HAIRED FOX

Respecting the European way was nowhere more important than in her interaction with the man who had
previously held her current position. Antonio Vella, “the silver-haired fox,” was elegant, sophisticated,
gracious and charming. Always dressed and coiffed immaculately, he was subtle, yet formidable in his
presence.

Vella knew that Tannis’s role was to change things — those things he himself had created and worked with
for a long time. He acknowledged that times were changing, that the time had come for both a fresh
approach and a drawing in of global perspectives. Yet, understandably, his legacy and reputation were his
priority. His 20 years in the business and 30 years in the company had earned him a reputation he was
proud of. Thus, the symbolism of his job now being filled by a non-European, relatively young woman
without the education or pedigree he had brought to the table was, in his mind, a slight of sorts.

Tannis had come to describe her assignment as a high-wire act. Balancing such divergent needs and
interests required a combination of courage and finesse — the slightest misstep or misstatement seemed to
trigger doubt and shake confidence. Vella, with his subtle yet persuasive mannerisms seemed able to
effortlessly balance or destabilize the taut wire. It was a skill Tannis needed to learn — and quickly.

BRUSSELS AT LAST

A couple of weeks had passed and Tannis and Vella were on their way together to Brussels. The trip was to
be her first of many to work with external colleagues and the European trade association on lobby efforts
related to energy policy. She took the time to decompress from the intensity at the office and the steep
learning curve and to further process new insights into what she needed to do to help her team and drive
success!

During their travel, she realized she also felt torn about her relationship with Vella. She had spent hours, in
fact days, with him. She had listened, learned, asked questions and tried to internalize the big picture and
the realities on the ground. His growing support and endorsement of her as a quick study had both calmed
those who had doubts about her and opened the door for further constructive conversations with Andre van
het Hof and her geographic and business vice-presidents (Markus and Zinkweg). Yet an undercurrent
remained — she had a long way to go before no longer being considered what the Swiss referred to as an
auslander, an outsider.

While travelling from the airport to the offices of the trade association, where the large meeting with
company and national association representatives awaited them, Vella provided Tannis with insights into
the individuals and their positions on the debates scheduled for the day. Vella knew each person at a deeply
personal level, and the strength of those relationships came to life as they entered the conference room.
While eyes glanced in her direction, everyone engaged Vella directly, congratulating him on his impending
retirement and his plans to keep busy. “The silver-haired fox will not be able to stay away from the world
of Brussels or energy policy,” they quipped.

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Vella was animated and charismatic talking about his plans, yet the quick glance between him and Tannis
acknowledged the unspoken. His departure was not completely by choice but was part of the planned
restructuring and strategy to address organizational culture.

Once the greetings were done, the packed room, including key thought leaders, PhDs and highly successful
businessmen, meandered back to their chairs. It was then that Vella turned to Tannis, and, with his always
graceful style, he introduced her by name to his colleagues. Polite but mostly disinterested glancing eyes
fell upon her, before Vella could articulate that Tannis was his replacement and their new colleague. Then,
an individual abruptly thanked her for coming and noted his appreciation for her getting coffees for the
leaders so they could start the day’s activities.

A lengthy pause ensued. Tannis took a deep breath. She stepped forward and, with a smile, declared in a
jovial tone, “I am more than happy to do so, as long you promise to get mine at our next meeting.”

The room fell silent. All eyes refocused on Tannis as Vella clarified that he meant to proudly introduce her
as his replacement. Looking around, Tannis noted the looks of confusion, the glimmer of disbelief and
some embarrassment.

“She is replacing you, Antonio?”

The Ivey Business School and the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership gratefully acknowledges the
generous support of Bill and Kathleen Troost in the development of this case.

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