Cost Justified?Topic: Strategic Planning, Policy and ControlCharacters: Joe, District Manager of Computer OperationsMary, Division Manager - Information SystemsJohn, President and CEO of a large company

Joe was recently promoted to the position of District Manager of Computer Operations for a large company. Mary, Joe’s supervisor, calls him to her office. She has just been informed that the CEO has received an anonymous letter from an employee. This letter states that a recently installed (and very expensive) system does not perform as expected and has not achieved the expected results.

Joe has been aware that the system’s actual performance is really as described in the anonymous letter. Joe had reported this performance problem to Mary before. Although Mary had listened to Joe, she had been the original supporter of the system and continually provides only positive feedback to the CEO on its performance.

Mary tells Joe that the CEO expects a reply to the letter. She tells Joe to draft the reply. It should say that the system is performing as projected and that all savings portrayed in the original justification documents are being achieved. She says the documentation provided with his reply should support those statements.

Joe is upset by this directive. He feels that upper management is being misinformed in the interest of protecting a questionable decision. He approaches Mary with his concern. She says that if he does not provide the reply as requested, she will have serious doubts about his ability to perform the functions of a District Manager for the company. Joe has worked hard to achieve this position and is very worried about her statement.

1. Which of the alternatives would provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number?2. What are the costs in each of the alternatives? Which of the alternatives has the highest “cost” factor associated with it?3. Do the benefits of honesty at all costs outweigh the benefits of obeying the directive of a supervisor?What does the stakeholder have the right to expect?4. Which of the alternatives would you want if you were Joe? Mary? John? or, the stockholders.5. Which alternative distributes the benefits and burdens most fairly among the stakeholders?6. Which stakeholders are most affected if Joe replies honestly?7. What should Joe do?8. Which alternative would you choose if you were in his position? Why?

Oh, SalesmenTopic: Training and DevelopmentCharacters: Jim, new manager at a large car dealershipMary, new salesperson at the dealership

Jim, 27, has recently been promoted to manager of sales personnel at a large car dealership. Mary, a new salesperson (and the only female salesperson), comes to his office late one afternoon with a complaint about something she says really bothers her. Specifically, she says she has never seen Tom, one of the most experienced (and best) salespeople, at any of a series of off-site training seminars (at which attendance is supposedly required). These seminars are designed to help sales staff learn, detailed technical information about the mechanical advantages of the cars they sell.

Jim’s “grapevine” impression is that most salespeople think the training seminars are a joke, and rumour has it that a lot of salespeople regularly skip them (although many salespeople can be heard saying things like, “I’m out of here--I’m going to today’s seminar at the Hyatt”).Jim’s boss, however, regularly sends him memos that stress the importance of the training.Upper management spends a lot of money on the training seminars, because they feel that such trainings will give the dealership a competitive edge.

Mary is so new that she does not yet have an established sales record. Also, Jim has heard through the grapevine that a lot of the salesmen are uncomfortable with Mary and wonder if a female can learn to sell cars. She seems eager, however, and obviously wants to follow the rules. She concludes by telling Jim that she’ll check back with him tomorrow to see how he’s handling the issue of the absent salesman.