The case discusses the problems faced by leading document management company, Xerox, as a result of a change in the leadership and work culture. The case explores in detail the problems that arose during the tenures of Paul Allaire as well as Rick Thoman. The case also mentions briefly the steps taken by the current CEO Anne Mulcahy to bring back the company to its erstwhile glory and restore employee confidence.

In August 2000, Paul Allaire (Allaire), chairman of the leading document management company Xerox, fired the company's CEO Rick Thoman (Thoman). Commenting on his decision, Allaire said, "We are grateful for Rick's contributions in leading the company through a period of major repositioning. However, both Rick and the board felt it best for the company to move forward with an experienced Xerox team that will lead Xerox people and efficiently execute the strategy." The move attracted a lot of media attention with analysts commenting how Allaire had himself persuaded Thoman to leave a top position at IBM in 1998 and join Xerox.

The Xerox story goes back to 1938, when Chester Carlson, a patent Attorney and part-time inventor, made the first xerographic image in the US. Carlson struggled for over five years to sell the invention, as many companies did not believe there was a market for it. Finally, in 1944, the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, contracted with Carlson to refine his new process, which Carlson called `electrophotography.' Three years later, The Haloid Company, maker of photographic paper, approached Battelle and obtained a license to develop and market a copying machine based on Carlson's technology.

Haloid later obtained all rights to Carlson's invention and registered the `Xerox' trademark in 1948. Buoyed by the success of the Xerox copiers, Haloid changed its name to Haloid Xerox Inc., in 1958, and to The Xerox Corporation in 1961. Xerox was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961 and on the Chicago Stock Exchange in 1990. It is also traded on the Boston, Cincinnati, Pacific Coast, Philadelphia, London and Switzerland exchanges. The strong demand for Xerox's products led the company from strength to strength and revenues soared from $37 mn in 1960 to $268 mn in 1965.

Xerox, document management company, leadership and work culture, Xerox team, part-time inventor, xerographic image, invention, Battelle Memorial Institute, electrophotography, photographic paper, Carlson's technology, Carlson's invention, Xerox copiers, Xerox Corporation, New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Stock Exchange, Boston, Cincinnati, Pacific Coast, Philadelphia, London and Switzerland exchanges, strength and revenues.