Erin is Yard and Shipping Supervisor for a Modular/Manufactured home company in Edmonton, Alberta. The company, in business for over 25 years, has a good reputation but does not have a formal quality control/assurance program. Erin has been the yard supervisor for 4 years and prior to that she worked a variety of jobs in the assembly plant.

In her position she is responsible for the supervision of the storage yard where finished homes are held prior to shipping. In addition she supervises 2 yard work crews. The first crew installs appliances and does touch ups or minor finishing in the yard not completed in the plant. This work could on occasion include installing doors, windows or flooring which was not installed in the plant due to a shortage of material or manpower on the assembly line. The second crew prepares the homes for final shipping, loads homes on a trailer and arranges actual delivery to retail sales agents across Western Canada.

Demand for the company’s homes has steadily increased in recent years and management has been anxious to increase production. To that end the company introduced a new bonus program where all employees would receive a small gift if weekly production exceeded 26 homes. Gifts included company promotional items like caps, shirts or lunch vouchers. If monthly production met or exceeded 110 homes each employee, supervisor or manager would receive a bonus that month of up to $350 dollars. Individual bonuses were calculated by a formula which considered actual wages or salary earned during the month. In this way it was thought absenteeism would also be reduced and he company would be a more exciting and fun place to work.

After 3 months production targets were actually exceeded. Management was pleased. Employees, supervisors and managers were happy to receive the small gifts and looked forward to the extra cash each month. In fact the union had asked management if the company would match the bonus if payment was directed to the employee’s RRSP(Registered Retirement Saving Program).

In the 4^th month Erin noticed that the number of finished homes being held in the yard for final touch ups and finishing was increasing. Homes were usually in the yard for 3 to 5 days prior to shipping. It was now common for homes to be in the yard over a week. Touch ups and finishing work had increased to the point she had to put on an afternoon shift. In addition she was getting calls and complaints from retail agents over delays in shipping and quality problems after delivery such as cracked plaster, missing trim and water leaks. She had also recently attended a meeting with the accountants who were alarmed that warranty claims were on the rise. Erin was asked to step up her vigilance and not overlook any quality issues prior to shipping. She was also criticized for having to put on an afternoon shift. Senior management asked her for a detailed report by the first of next week outlining her plans to fix problem.

Erin is very concerned. Everyone likes the bonus program. There is talk by employees that an increase in target production levels may also increase the monthly cash bonus.

1 What did the Company do wrong in the design and implementation of the bonus plan?  

2. What steps must Erin take do to fix the bonus problem and, in turn, improve both production levels and at the same time ensure product quality?

Your boss tells you to shred documents pertaining to a lawsuit against the company. Do you do it?

a) Who will be helped if you do it? .

b) Who will be hurt if you do it? .

c) What are the benefits of doing it? .

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d) What are the problems of doing it? .

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Your decision:

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A boy/girl that your best friend has a crush on asks you out on a date. Do you agree?

a) Who will be helped if you do it? .

b) Who will be hurt if you do it? .

c) What are the benefits of doing it? .

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d) What are the problems of doing it? .

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Your decision:

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You see someone getting bulled at school, and he yells out for your help. Do you help him out?

a) Who will be helped if you do it? .

b) Who will be hurt if you do it? .

c) What are the benefits of doing it? .

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d) What are the problems of doing it? .

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Your decision:

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A classmate offers you the answers to an upcoming exam. Do you take them?

a) Who will be helped if you do it? .

b) Who will be hurt if you do it? .

c) What are the benefits of doing it? .

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d) What are the problems of doing it? .

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Your decision:

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You catch a needy friend shoplifting food for her family. Do you report her?

a) Who will be helped if you do it? .

b) Who will be hurt if you do it? .

c) What are the benefits of doing it? .

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d) What are the problems of doing it? .

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Your decision:

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You have a student who is from a single parent family. The student must work to attend college. However, the job is interfering with the student’s performance and several assignments have not been turned in. You have determined that a “D” is all the student can make when a counselor informs you that the student need a “C” to qualify for an academic scholarship.’ What do you do? Your decision:

Your company has a firm policy regarding cases of theft of company property. Used company equipment is on a table to be sold by bid each month. You see a valued employee who is 2 months from retirement slip an electric drill from the table and put it in his car before the day of the sale. What do you do?  Your decision:

You have worked as a bank teller for several months when one of the other tellers who has become a good friend tells you that her daughter is extremely ill and that she must have an operation to survive. She also tells you that she has no insurance and the operation will cost $10,000. Sometime later you ask her about her daughter and she tells you she is just fine now. She then confides in you that she took $10,000.00 from a dormant account at the bank to pay for the operation. She assures you that she has already started paying it back and will continue to do so until it is all returned. What do you do?  Your decision:

You are the owner of a high-class restaurant, where dinner costs upwards of $70 per plate. You want your patrons to maintain “appropriate attire.”   Can you insist on this? How do you define “appropriate” for men and / or women? Your decision:

You are the owner of a local gas station. The sign on the door says “no shirt, no shoes, no service.” The Dalai Lama (the figurehead of Tibetan Buddhism) comes in to buy three hot dogs for a dollar. Do you serve him? Do you have to?

Discrete Mathematics

Any degree at a university requires 4 core classes chosen from 4 groups. There are 5 English classes, 3 science classes, 6 math classes, and 4 social studies classes. Students must take exactly one of each class from each group. How many different ways are there for a student to fulfill these requirements?

The University of Chicago claims to admit equal numbers of public and private high school graduates. You interview 500 undergraduates and discover 267 came from public schools. Assuming that the U of C is correct about its student body, what is the probability of seeing 267 or more students out of 500 interviewed come from public schools?

Explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. What does it tell us about employee motivation? Cite an example of what a company does to provide motivation for each of the levels within the hierarchy?

(Liquidity Ratio, Asset Management Ratio, Debt Management Ratio, Market Value Ratios, Profitability Ratios) discuss what these particular ratios tell us about the performance of a company?