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WEEK FIVE


BATTLE OF THE BEES

 

Fresh off their win in the drive-thru chicken duel and loving life in the mansion, Arrow was in fine spirits as they joined tent-dwelling Kinetic for a new assignment from Mr. Trump and last year's Apprentice winner Sean. The teams were soon buzzing about the task at hand: They'd be harvesting honey for industry-leader Sue Bee Honey, bottling it on an assembly line and hawking the sweet stuff at a Ralphs supermarket.

Donning a beekeeper suit and gathering honeycombs proved to be an extra challenge for Arrow's Stefani, stricken with a serious bee phobia. But Stefani bravely faced her fears, got the job done and ultimately proclaimed, "It's not a problem--bees are my friends." When it came time to bottle their wares on the assembly line, another sticky situation arose as Tim had trouble filling the bottles with the honey injector machine. But the team's strong spirit of camaraderie helped them laugh it off as Frank and Tim engaged in some friendly verbal jousting.

Less jocular, however, was Arrow's marketing strategy meeting where Surya annoyed the team with his fondness for jargon. "This task is simple, but Surya is making it complicated," said James. Case in point: Surya touted the importance of "revenue maximization," prompting James to counter with, "You mean making money?" Surya's verbiage issue even spilled over into the sales portion of the task, where he disrupted Stefani as she tried to close sales with customers. But Surya wasn't the only liability. Despite a sales background, laid-back PM Aaron barely got involved in sales until the very end. Aaron also took a risk when he sent flirtatious Nicole and Tim out to hustle bulk sales, but they came back empty handed.

Meanwhile, Kinetic's honey gathering and bottling went much more smoothly, though Derek did get stung right through his bee suit. Kinetic's real problems arose when they returned from their harvest to discover that project manager Aimee had accomplished little in terms of marketing or pricing in their absence. "Aimee--she didn't do anything," is how a perturbed Kristine put it, later adding, "God forbid we win and she stays project manager."

On the day of the sales event, things looked bleak. The team was worried because there was no pricing, little organization and limited signage. Not surprisingly, sales began slowly, but individual members of Kinetic took the initiative. "We gotta get our sh*t together," Derek asserted and donned the beekeeper suit in the supermarket to attract customers. Angela joined in the whatever-it-takes spirit and gamely utilized her celebrity as an Olympic Gold Medal hockey star to stir interest. "Aimee put us in this hole," admitted Derek, but he hoped Kinetic's frenetic last-ditch efforts would dig them out.

Despite the albatross of aimless leadership, Kinetic was hoping for the best in the boardroom as Sean conferenced in Mr. Trump from a 20,000 person seminar in Minnesota. The bottom line: Kinetic sold 345 bottles of special Sue Bee honey and earned $836, while Arrow moved a mere 217 bottles totaling $775. For their reward, Kinetic netted a trip to the Los Angeles Lakers training center with coach Phil Jackson and Laker legends James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kinetic scrimmaged with the superstars and in the process reinforced some valuable lessons about team building.

Arrow, meanwhile, was about to get dunked on by The Donald in the boardroom.


 

LESSONS LEARNED