Read the Case - A Good Team Player and answer the following questions. Be certain to include your rationale for each response.

1. List all of the unbiased facts of the case

2. Identify the ethical issue(s)

3. Identify the stakeholder(s):

a. Describe the stakeholder(s) in this case

b. Who has an interest

c. What are their motivations

d. How much power does each hold

4. Identify the alternatives:

a. What choices are available to the parties involved

b. What courses of action can be taken in response to this situation

5. Compare and weigh the alternatives:

a. What is the impact on the stakeholders and their resulting impact on the decision maker

b. Benefits/Harms? Rights/Wrongs?

c. How do the rules of ethical decision making (utilitarianism, moral rights, justice, practical rule) influence the decision making process

6. What should the decision maker in the case decide?

a. Provide a clear decision

b. The logic for this decision should stem from your responses to the previous questions

A Good Team Player

Leadership

Steven, Assistant Department Manager
Kristin, Newly appointed supervisor of Steven's work section

Having done well as a staff accountant in the accounts payable section of a major industrial firm for several years since his graduation from college, Steven felt that he had learned much about the “ins” and “outs” of survival in an intensely bureaucratic organization. It is thus not surprising that he was relaxed and unconcerned about his circumstances at the company as he entered the employee lounge to attend the late-afternoon welcoming reception for his new supervisor.

The new manager of accounts payable, Kristin, had been transferred to Steven’s division from a similar position in another subsidiary of the company because of her proven talent for organizing and improving the efficiency of operations there. A no-nonsense type of manager, Kristin was experienced and determined to perform her new assignment with the same vigor that had brought her so much success throughout her career.

At the reception, Kristin circulated through the room, introducing herself to her new subordinates and asking each of them if they had any suggestions that would help make the payables section a better place to work. When she approached Steven, he told her about something that had been on his mind lately: that people seemed to him to gain promotions and be given opportunities to work overtime based on who liked them, and not on the quality of their work. In reply, Kristin politely stated that she would do everything that she could to see that whatever it was he was referring to would have no place in the team she would lead.

Upon his arrival at work the next day, Steven received a phone call from Kristin’s secretary asking that he meet with his new boss later that morning. He had barely entered her office for the meeting when she looked him straight in the eye and said, “I will not tolerate individuals in this organization who are not good team players. Yesterday afternoon you led me to believe that there are people in this office who are not acting in the best interests of the company, and I want to know who. I want you to tell me the names of the managers you were referring to note, and keep me informed if you see anyone hurting this company, or I’ve got to think that maybe you’re part of the problems around here.” Stunned by both the tone and content of her statement, Steven quickly tried to think of a way to respond.

Author: Michael G. Bowen, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Notre Dame

2. Discuss how the stages-of-change model can be adapted for work with families on the journey from precontemplation through maintenance.

The CEO of Starbucks and the Practice of Ethical Leadership

Sara Tangdall

Background

One year after becoming CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson faced a leadership test when two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks. The men were waiting to meet a business associate, but they didn’t purchase anything while they were waiting. The store manager asked them to leave, and they refused, explaining that they were there to meet someone. The manager called the police because the men refused to leave, and the police arrested them.

Another patron at Starbucks recorded the arrest on her cell phone, and it quickly went viral. In an interview after the arrest, the woman who took the video mentions that she had been sitting there for a while, and she wasn’t asked to leave even though she didn’t order anything. Additionally, the video shows the business associate of the black men show up during the arrest, and he asks the manager and the police what the men had done wrong. The general public and those who witnessed the arrest labeled it as discriminatory and racist.

This happened on a Thursday and the following Monday, Johnson said that the manager no longer worked at the store. The arrests led to protests and sit ins at the Philadelphia Starbucks the days following the event.

In his apology statement and follow up video release shortly after the arrests, Johnson said, “The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values. Creating an environment that is both safe and welcoming for everyone is paramount for every store. Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome—the basis for the call to the Philadelphia police department was wrong.”  

Before the incident, Starbucks had no companywide policy about asking customers to leave, and the decision was left to the discretion of each store manager. Because of this flexible policy, Starbucks had become a community hub--a place where anyone could sit without being required to spend money. Johnson mentioned this community in his apology when he said Starbucks works to create an environment that is “both safe and welcoming for everyone.”

Also in his apology, Johnson outlined the investigation he and the company would undertake. The apology detailed actionable steps Starbucks leadership would follow to learn from the situation, including meeting with community stakeholders to learn what they could have done better. Johnson took full responsibility for the actions of his employees, and he acknowledged that Starbucks customers were hurt by the arrests. Johnson acknowledged that employees needed more training, including about when to call authorities, and that the company needed to conduct a thorough analysis of the practices that lead to this incident.

After issuing his apology, Johnson went to Philadelphia and met with the two men face to face to involve them in dialogue on what Starbucks needed to do differently.

The week following the arrests, Starbucks announced it would temporarily close 8,000 stores to conduct unconscious bias training, which they did on May 29, 2018. A month after the arrests, Starbucks released a new “Use of Third Place Policy,” which states that anyone can use Starbucks and its facilities without making a purchase; it also explains what managers should do if a customer becomes disruptive. Additionally, the policy says that Starbucks seeks to create “a culture of warmth and belonging where everyone is welcome. This policy is intended to help maintain the third place environment in alignment with our mission ‘to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.’”

Practice of Ethical Leadership

How is Johnson practicing ethical leadership? Additionally, we can consider what we learn about his character through his actions and his impact.

1. Did his decision to close all Starbucks stores for unconscious bias training and to create a new “Third Space Policy” align with Starbucks’ mission and goals? If so, how?

2. Explain everything Johnson did right and what positive outcomes resulted from his actions?

3. What leadership traits did Johnson exhibit?

what are the steps of Delphi Method, Advantages and disadvantages also Nominal Group Technique advantages and disadvantages.

Electech, Inc. (EI) produces a line of semiconductors for electronics products manufacturers. These items range in price from $5-$100 and are used in products the buyer is producing. EI also designs and builds computer networking equipment. The prices of these items range from $5,000 to $100,000. These are used to control production equipment. Usually, they are custom-made to the specifications of the buyer-the firm that will use the product in its own production process.

EI sells nationally through independent sales reps-paid on commission-who work in the large industrial centers across the country. EI is more concerned with the quality of these reps than with the number of them. All of them also sell other lines. EI also uses five full-time salaried salespeople who work out of its corporate headquarters under a sales manager.

The home office salespeople are "technical specialists" who sell almost all the networking equipment, while the "reps" mostly sell the semiconductors. Sometimes, however, the reps will send in leads to customers who want networking equipment. EI also sells some of its semiconductors through a Los Angeles wholesaler who carries stock for West Coast customers.

There are many producers and importers of semiconductors in the U.S.-but several firms have captured large shares of the networking equipment market. EI has held its own, and in fact, over the past five years has increased its market share of these products to over 25 percent-because of its better technical designs.

Industry-wide prices of the more or less homogeneous semiconductors have been forced further and further down over the last seven years-as have industry profits. The price of networking equipment is set by adding a standard markup percent to the direct cost of the items-for overhead and for profit. Following industry practice, all prices are quoted at the seller's factory.
EI publishes a catalog, which is revised periodically. Also, it exhibits in most equipment trade shows.

1. In the EI case, in which stage of the product life cycle do semiconductors appear to be?

2. What kind of products are EI's networking equipment?

Toolkit Exercise 10.2

Reflecting on the Impact of Measures and Control Processes on Change

Think of a higher education change initiative that you are familiar with.

1.      What measures and control processes were employed in tracking and guiding the change initiative? Were they consistent with the vision and strategy of the change? Were they viewed as legitimate by those who would be using them?

2.      How was the measurement information captured and fed back to those who needed to use it? Was it a user-friendly process and did the information arrive in a useful and timely form?

3.      Did the change managers consider how the measures might need to evolve over the life of the change initiative? How was this evolution managed? By whom?

4.      Were steps taken to ensure that the measures used during the change would be put to proper use? Were there risks and potential consequences arising from their use that would need to be managed?

5.      Were goals and milestones established to plot progress along the way and used to make midcourse corrections if needed? Were the smaller victories celebrated to reinforce the efforts of others when milestones were achieved?

6.      What were the end-state measures that were developed for the change? Were they consistent with the vision and strategy? Were they viewed as legitimate by those who would be using them?

7.      How was the end-state measurement information captured and fed back to those who would need to use it? Was it a user-friendly process?

8.      Were steps taken to ensure that the measures would be put to proper use? Were there risks and potential consequences arising from their use that would need to be managed?

he best test of any question posed to a job applicant is whether the employer can demonstrate a job-related necessity for asking the question. Because both the intent behind the question and how the information is to be used by the employer are important, an employer should consider whether the answers to the question, if used in making the selection, will adversely affect and screen out minorities or members of one gender. This chapter’s Develop Your Skills feature presented five improper interview questions below and should be avoided. Identify what the employer really wants to know by asking each question and come up with an alternative way to find out the same information.[i]

1. How many children do you have?

2. What is your native language?

3.To what clubs or organizations do you belong?

4. What is your height? What is your weight?

5. Are you able to work on Christmas Day?

The answers were given for this problem, but I am not sure how to derive them. Would need any kind of help

Suppose that you sell Christmas trees each holiday season for $30 a tree. Peak selling time is the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas, but since harvesting real pine trees takes time, your supplier requires a 1 month lead time.

Your purchase cost per tree is $20. Anytime a customer comes to your store requesting a tree and it is unavailable, you give them a $5 credit (per tree) to spend on other products. (You should assume they always use this credit.) Any trees not sold before Christmas are sold to a local lumber yard at $10/tree.

Demand for this Christmas is forecasted in the following table.

a) (3 points) To the nearest tree, what is the expected demand for this Christmas? (Remember, as with all questions, you should show work for full credit.) 750 trees

b) (3 points) Suppose you order exactly 800 trees, how many trees would you expect to sell? (Remember, as with all questions, you should show work for full credit.) 730 trees

c) (3 points) Suppose you order exactly 800 trees while the actual demand turns out to be 700 trees, what is your expected profit (including goodwill costs if there are any)? $6000

d) (3 points) What is the underage cost? What is the overage cost? Just by comparing the two costs, should we order more or less than the average demand? Briefly explain.

Underage: $15

Overage: $10

We should order more than average, but why? I don't understand the explanation

e) (3 points) What is the optimal order quantity given the demand in part a)? As with all questions, please show work for full credit. 800 trees

f) (1 point) What is the effective service level for the quantity you suggested in part e)? 80%

Max Z = 2x1 + 8x2 + 4x3

subject to

2x1 + 3x2     ≤ 8

2x2 + 5x3     ≤ 12

3x1 + x2 + 4x3         ≤15

and x1,x2,x3≥0;

Solve the LP you create by using the Simplex Method. You can use Big-M or Two-Phase Method if needed

Conceptional skill-The ability to think beyond the department in which you work to understand how the entire organization function as a whole.

Human Skill-The soft skills of connecting and interacting with people.

how does language and discourse shape and formulate strategy within an organization? explain fully and provide some examples

Do you think labor unions are generally good for employees? In 200 words or less

Agnes Hammer is a senior majoring in management science. She has interviewed with several companies for a job when she graduates, and she is curious about what starting salary offers she might receive. She asked 12 of her classmates at random what their annual staring salary offers were, and she received the following responses

1. Compute the sample mean and sample variance for these data. (Please write down the calculation process)
   

2. Suppose the starting salaries are normally distributed, the mean is the same as the sample mean and variance is the same as sample variance that you calculate from the previous question. What is the probability that Agnes will receive a salary offer of less than $27000? (For probability of normal distribution, please use the probability table posted on Blackboard)
   

3. Suppose the starting salaries are normally distributed, the mean is the same as the sample mean and variance is the same as sample variance that you calculate from the previous question. What is the probability that Agnes will receive a salary offer of between $27000 and $40000 (meaning 27000<= salary <= 40000)? (For probability of normal distribution, please use the probability table posted on Blackboard)

Last month, there was a mechanical breakdown on the cable gondola that takes passengers from the base of Marvellous Mountain to the restaurant at the top. The system, which is operated by Marvellous Mountain Cable Corp. (Marvellous), has two large gondolas, one of which is going down the mountain when the other goes up. The breakdown took place in late afternoon and it soon became apparent that it could not be repaired until the following morning, so the passengers needed to be evacuated from the stationary gondolas.

The evacuation itself was not hazardous but, in the case of one of the gondolas, the passengers would have to walk a long distance over rough terrain after rescue personnel lowered them to the ground. It was considered unsafe for the passengers to be walking over this terrain with heavy items. As a consequence, the passengers were instructed over the public announcement system built into each gondola that for safety’s sake they were to leave any heavy bags and backpacks in the gondola, from which Marvellous personnel would remove them when the gondola was moving again and keep them to be reclaimed.

Two passengers in that gondola suffered serious consequences from these events. One Randolph, was claustrophobic. As long as the gondola was moving Randolph had no problem, but during the hour and a half that elapsed from when the gondola shuddered to a halt to when the passengers were evacuated, Randolph was reduced to a state of serious debilitation and, since the incident, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The other, Rhonda, had in her backpack a small but heavy scientific instrument that she used in her job as a geologist. The instrument, which belonged to her, was worth $40,000. She left the backpack on the gondola as instructed and it was returned to her the next day, but the instrument was gone. It cannot be determined who removed it from the backpack or when, other than that it must have occurred after the luggage the passengers had left behind in the gondola was unloaded the next day by Marvellous personnel.

Each passenger, when buying a ticket for the gondola, had received a receipt in large font stating, “THIS TICKET CONTAINS CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE — SEE BACK”. On the back, in a smaller but still readable font, were three conditions, one of which read:

“LIABILITY — PASSENGER ASSUMES RISK — By accepting this ticket,  passenger expressly agrees that Marvellous Mountain Cable Corp. shall not be liable for any personal injury or loss of property from any and all causes, including our negligence, that occurs in the gondola terminals or on the gondola.

It comes out, some time after the incident, that Marvellous had failed to arrange for the annual safety inspection and re-certification of the gondola system that was due the week before the incident. As a result, the gondola was operating without a current safety certificate. It appears that the standard inspection would have spotted the wear in a particular gear that experts later determined had caused the breakdown.

Discuss the contract claims that Randolph and Rhonda may have against Marvellous.