by Calista Fox
“Yes, I’ve learned that as well,” Dr. Donovan said, seeming to maintain his cool despite Jack still visibly bristling. “But that’s because sales were such that they fell within that forty-two percent of production—there was never a need to speed up manufacturing and assembly, because there wasn’t additional demand beyond that base level. However, with the phenomenal success of the new ad campaign that is not only sweeping the Internet, appearing in magazines and on TV, being showcased on billboards, and permeating the global market, the numbers game is wreaking havoc on operations.”
Jack crossed his arms over his chest and fumed.
Einstein shot a look Maxi’s way. “May I continue?”
“By all means,” she drolly encouraged. He’d either end up being the most hated man in the building or the most revered. The pendulum could swing either way; Maxi burned with curiosity at the outcome.
She wasn’t particularly thrilled with the PhD’s take-charge, brainiac attitude. At the same time… her skin tingled and there was a slight tickling sensation against her clit. The genius was living on the edge with this stoic group. Everyone in the room was under fire, and all it took was a quick glance around the conference table to see they wanted to shoot daggers Einstein’s way if he singled out their functional area as a weak link.
But she couldn’t deny he had a valid point with supply and demand—it was precisely the issue she’d homed in on.
Dr. Donovan changed slides and said, “At the moment, the spike in sales should be manageable. In less than two weeks, certainly not. Reason being, we had plenty of backstock to supplement our stores, third-party vendor orders, and online sales. However, that excess is rapidly depleting. There will be a huge lull in distribution in precisely two-hundred and sixty-seven hours and twenty-seven seconds—in broad strokes, eleven days from right now—if we don’t jump on operational improvements immediately.”
Maxi heard the restless shifts of chairs and felt the agitation of the executives envelop the room.
“What do you suggest?” she prompted, playing along to see if Einstein would let out enough rope to hang himself with this crowd or win them over. A risky game to play, but he intrigued her.
Several VPs appeared wholly uncomfortable, as though they’d just been ripped new ones. Others were as captivated as Maxi.
“First,” her new director flipped through more slides as he said, “it’s imperative that our current staff reach peak capability. Think of it this way. When we’re staffed at one hundred percent but are only producing at forty-two percent, that offers the potential to improve by fifty-eight percent without employees even going above and beyond the call of duty. They’re just working their normal eight-hour shifts. Right there that will push out our timeframe for full-blown crisis to twenty-three days. That should be sufficient time to hire more workers and pump up our distribution.”
He shot Maxi a voila! look before continuing. “Of course, we’ll have to incrementally improve upon that workforce capacity. But as long as we’re operating at full capability, we shouldn’t slip behind and will eventually come out ahead of the curve, especially if we incentivize staff to push just a bit harder during their normal workday and encourage those who walked out to come back. ASAP.”
He gave another smug smile.
Maxi watched in awe as he backed up his conjecture with more charts and algebraic equations that pretty much blew her mind. Still, she tried to appear as though she followed along, that all those crazy numbers and symbols somehow gelled in her head.
Not a fucking chance.
At the end of the presentation—which left everyone in the room with glassed-over eyes, so Maxi didn’t feel too intelligence-shamed—Einstein simply wrapped up by saying, “You’ll find at the back of your booklets the Gantt charts that capture the precise deadlines and projections to meet our objectives. They conveniently pull out to full-size.”
Papers began to rustle. The agitation turned to… enthusiasm?
Maxi’s stomach plummeted because she was sans workbook and had no idea what the others studied so intently. “I’m sorry… Gantt charts?”
What the hell?
“Yes,” Einstein said. “Um, you know… demonstrations of tactics, milestones, budgets, resources, etcetera, all extrapolated out to a comfort zone of above-needs-based-production.”
“Extrapolation above needs-based-production.” The words tripped off her tongue.
“Yes,” he repeated excitedly. “So that we have a replenished backstock of the most popular styles when the crisis passes and can be in the position to accommodate surges in sales when they arise.”
All righty, then.
She sighed. A dull ache throbbed behind her left eye. “Very good, Dr. Donovan. This has been quite… enlightening.”
Christ, her brain was about to explode.
“Please, Ms. Shayne, call me Ryan,” he insisted.
“Fine. And I’m just Maxi.”
“Hardly.” His gaze slid over her, an appreciative look flashing in his rich brown eyes. “You are the very persona of sexy, sassy Staci Kay Shoes.”
Maxi stared at him as the others continued to ooh and ahh over the Gantt charts.
Was Einstein… flirting… with her?
With her?
Vice president of the division for which he now worked?
His boss?
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
About the Author
A Preview of What Maxi Needs
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Calista Fox
Excerpt from What Maxi Needs copyright © 2015 by Calista Fox
Cover design by Rebecca Lown
Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: September 2015
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ISBN 978-1-4555-6343-2
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