Cost Justified?

Topic: Strategic Planning, Policy and Control Characters: Joe, District Manager of Computer Operations Mary, Division Manager - Information Systems John, President and C O of a large company Joe !as 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 $ust %een informed that the C O has received an anonymous letter from an employee" &his letter states that a recently installed 'and very e(pensive) system does not perform as e(pected and has not achieved the e(pected results" Joe has %een a!are that the system#s actual performance is really as descri%ed in the anonymous letter" Joe had reported this performance pro%lem to Mary %efore" *lthough Mary had listened to Joe, she had %een the original supporter of the system and continually provides only positive feed%ac+ to the C O on its performance" Mary tells Joe that the C O e(pects a reply to the letter" She tells Joe to draft the reply" It should say that the system is performing as pro$ected and that all savings portrayed in the original $ustification documents are %eing achieved" She says the documentation provided !ith his reply should support those statements" Joe is upset %y this directive" ,e feels that upper management is %eing misinformed in the interest of protecting a -uestiona%le decision" ,e approaches Mary !ith his concern" She says that if he does not provide the reply as re-uested, she !ill have serious dou%ts a%out his a%ility to perform the functions of a District Manager for the company" Joe has !or+ed hard to achieve this position and is very !orried a%out her statement"

." /hich of the alternatives !ould provide the greatest %enefit to the greatest num%er? 0" /hat are the costs in each of the alternatives? /hich of the alternatives has the highest 1cost2 factor associated !ith it? 3" Do the %enefits of honesty at all costs out!eigh the %enefits of o%eying the directive of a supervisor? /hat does the sta+eholder have the right to e(pect? 4" /hich of the alternatives !ould you !ant if you !ere Joe? Mary? John? or, the stoc+holders" 5" /hich alternative distri%utes the %enefits and %urdens most fairly among the sta+eholders? 6" /hich sta+eholders are most affected if Joe replies honestly? 7" /hat should Joe do? 8" /hich alternative !ould you choose if you !ere in his position? /hy?

Oh, Salesmen
Topic: &raining and Development Characters: Jim, ne! manager at a large car dealership Mary, ne! salesperson at the dealership Jim, 07, has recently %een promoted to manager of sales personnel at a large car dealership" Mary, a ne! salesperson 'and the only female salesperson), comes to his office late one afternoon !ith a complaint a%out something she says really %others her" Specifically, she says she has never seen &om, one of the most e(perienced 'and %est) salespeople, at any of a series of off-site training seminars 'at !hich attendance is supposedly re-uired)" &hese seminars are designed to help sales staff learn, detailed technical information a%out the mechanical advantages of the cars they sell" Jim#s 1grapevine2 impression is that most salespeople thin+ the training seminars are a $o+e, and rumour has it that a lot of salespeople regularly s+ip them 'although many salespeople can %e heard saying things li+e, 1I#m out of here--I#m going to today#s seminar at the ,yatt2)" Jim#s %oss, ho!ever, regularly sends him memos that stress the importance of the training" 9pper management spends a lot of money on the training seminars, %ecause they feel that such trainings !ill give the dealership a competitive edge" Mary is so ne! that she does not yet have an esta%lished sales record" *lso, Jim has heard through the grapevine that a lot of the salesmen are uncomforta%le !ith Mary and !onder if a female can learn to sell cars" She seems eager, ho!ever, and o%viously !ants to follo! the rules" She concludes %y telling Jim that she#ll chec+ %ac+ !ith him tomorro! to see ho! he#s handling the issue of the a%sent salesman"