Министерство образования и науки Российской Федерации
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования
«Российский экономический университет имени Г. В. Плеханова» (ФГБОУ ВПО «РЭУ им. Г. В. Плеханова»)
Кафедра иностранных языков №1
СБОРНИК МАТЕРИАЛОВ ДЛЯ АКТИВИЗАЦИИ РАБОТЫ С ДЕЛОВЫМИ СИТУАЦИЯМИ
И РАЗВИТИЯ НАВЫКОВ УСТНОЙ РЕЧИ
ПО ДИСЦИПЛИНЕ
«ИНОСТРАННЫЙ ЯЗЫК ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБЩЕНИЯ»
Москва
ФГБОУ ВПО «РЭУ им. Г. В. Плеханова»
2014
Составители: В.О. Мидова, Ю.Н. Бузина
Сборник материалов для активизации работы с деловыми ситуациями и развития навыков устной речи по дисциплине «Иностранный язык профессионального общения» сост.: Ю.Н. Бузина, В.О. Мидова – Москва: ФГБОУ ВПО «РЭУ им. Г. В. Плеханова», 2014. – 32 с.
В данной работе представлены деловые кейсы и ситуационные задания для изучения и последующего решения, вопросы для лучшего освоения и обсуждения материала.
Основная цель – развитие аналитических навыков при решении проблем в профессиональной сфере с использованием специальной терминологии в процессе монологической и диалогической речи.
Предназначен для студентов старших курсов вузов экономического профиля.
© ФГБОУ ВПО «РЭУ им. Г. В. Плеханова», 2014
CONTENTS
Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Cases
Part 3 Different ways (examples) of problem solving with business language elements
Part 4 Brain Teasing Questions
Part 1 Introduction
Harvard Business School Format of Case Analysis:
I. Summary (a summary of what has happened, takes a paragraph of 3-5 sentences, not more.)
II. THE PROBLEM (a 7-8 words sentence, counting all words, a statement, not a question or an ellipse)
III. CAST OF CHARACTERS
a. People (name, job, title, age, facts related to the person)
b. Institutions (name, legal status, role)
IV. CHRONOLOGY (establishing reverse time sequence - just the basic facts, first item being the most recent, most distant event - last)
V. ISSUES (concepts that get in the way of solving the problem, both from inside and outside)
VI. OPTIONS (possible decisions of what to do), more than 1, and for each: a. Advantages (2-3)
b. Disadvantages (not less, balanced to the advantages)
VII. RECOMMENDATION (taking the first option)
Stating the course of action;
Reasoning and Rationale (reason for choosing the one not one of the others)
VIII. PLAN OF ACTION (as extensive and detailed as possible)
Step one: first part, second part;
Step two.
Part 2
CASE 1
TRAINING APPROACHES
FUJI Communications International (FCI) is a joint venture between Canadian Telecommunications International (CTI) and Fuji Electronics (FE), a Japanese company. The Canadian partner holds a 51% share of the joint venture. Its headquarters is in Sagamihara, a suburb of Tokyo. It has several manufacturing plants across Japan, one near Osaka, a second one in Sagamihara, and a third near Sapporo in Hokkaido, the northernmost island.
The joint venture employs approximately 22,000 employees, 600 of whom are employed at its headquarters in Sagamihara. The president of the joint venture is Japanese, as are most vice presidents and directors. The highest ranking Canadian is the senior vice president, who is in charge of finance.
The human resource management department (HRMD) at FCI is the largest of all departments, with a staff of sixty-two at headquarters alone, or approximately one full-time staff for every 350 employees. If one adds to this the HRM staff at all three plants, it amounts to 115 or one full-time staff member for every 190 employees. This compares with approximately one full-time HRM staff for every 250 to 300 employees with large Western employers.
The executive of FCI will not make any important decisions without input from its vice president of human resource management. As a result, the HR department is always up to date on the long-range objectives of top management and can plan accordingly.
The top management of the joint venture feels that hiring decisions are one of the most crucial decisions management has to make. If the wrong person is chosen, the company will feel the effects for years to come, especially because FCI follows the Japanese tradition of lifetime employment for its permanent work force.
FCI also follows the traditional Japanese way of hiring employees, by going directly to colleges and universities to hire candidates without any business experience. Japanese employers prefer inexperienced new employees because of the danger of "contamination," meaning being indoctrinated by a different business philosophy.
The joint venture is in constant contact with instructors and professors at high schools, colleges, and universities. These contacts are maintained through small research grants or other "amenities," mainly to get referrals of good students from the instructors.
Each year FCI hires between 100 and 200 white-collar employees, most of them as management trainees. For this purpose, the joint venture solicits about 1000 applications from its contacts at high schools, colleges, and universities. All applicants will be run through a procedure that weeds out about half of them: a careful analysis of school records; a battery of tests that ask mainly factual material, such as historical, political, geographical, or international information; and an essay-type test that reflects both common sense and business sense.
The remaining applicants are invited to the company's headquarters in Sagamihara where they will undergo multi-tier personal interviews with junior and senior executives. This process eliminates another 50%.
The surviving 200 or 250 are screened again. Does anybody in the family work for a competitor? Did the candidate belong to a radical student organization? Has the candidate ever had any encounter with the law? Has anybody in the family been convicted of a crime? Out go the applicants who answer yes to any one of these questions. That leaves about the required number of employees the company planned to hire.
The new employees will undergo a rigorous orientation and indoctrination program that lasts approximately three months. The first day is spent mainly in the auditorium, listening to speeches by top executives who discuss the history of the company (in this case the parent company), extol the virtues and accomplishments of the company’s past leaders, and explain the current status of the company in the Japanese and world market. The rest of the week they will be shown around the plant, meet with their supervisors, and be introduced to their work teams.
The main purpose of the indoctrination program is to instil pride in the new employee and make him identify with the company (Japanese employees proudly wear the company button in their lapels and introduce themselves as "Tanaka from Fuji Computer"), and to create commitment and loyalty in him. It is now easier to understand why an employee who has undergone an indoctrination program in another company will have difficulties adjusting to a different company philosophy and spirit.
This process shows to what extraordinary length FCI goes to insure that the right hiring decision is made. And FCI is not an exception among Japanese companies. Once an employee is hired, there is no backing out of the implicit contract. Even if it turns out that a hiring decision was wrong, the employee will not be let go. He may progress a little more slowly and will not rise as high as his peers, but he will have job security. And the commitment is mutual.
After the orientation and indoctrination program, the actual training begins. Employees are hired with little regard to their study topics because it is not expected that they will have any job-related experiences and training (the exception being an engineer). The first two years on the job are usually spent rotating through the organization, under constant training, until the trainee has had experiences in many different departments.
A "godfather," usually a senior employee, will track the progress of the trainee. He will be in touch with the various supervisors under whose direction the trainee will learn the ropes, will monitor his progress, and will be available to the trainee for help if problems arise.
Annual evaluations will look at two main characteristics of the trainee: business ability and work attitudes. The former contains such items as ability to administer staff, ability to work harmoniously within a team, decisiveness, prejudices, perception, judgement, concentration, planning, negotiating ability, and business knowledge. Work attitudes are measured by such criteria as following proper reporting procedures, keeping apart personal and professional matters, accepting responsibility, maintaining required office hours, and obeying company regulations.
After two years of constant training under close supervision and monitoring, the godfather, managers, and the trainee jointly will decide for which position he is best suited. As mentioned, this may not be related to what the employee has studied. To the Japanese, it is much more important how motivated the employee is and how he fits into the organization rather than what his skills are.
This orientation and training program ensures that the employee has a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the organization and is a true generalist. When needed, the employee can take on any job in the organization. He will take into account the needs of other departments when he makes decisions in his own realm. Here we see the systems approach applied in a way it rarely happens in a Western company.
There is another interesting aspect of the Japanese attitude towards training. Japanese companies are not afraid of investing heavily in training because they are assured that the employee will be with them for the rest of his life.
For example, FCI sends some of its most promising trainees to a special management training program lasting three months, offered by a management training centre set up by Keidanren (the Japanese equivalent to the Canadian Manufacturers Association, but much more powerful and influential). The cost for the program is $ 12,000 for each participant. Not many North American companies would be willing to risk such an amount as an investment into the training of one employee.
Training in the Canadian Parent Company
The Canadian partner, Canadian Telecommunications International (CTI) conducts its training programs in the typical North American way. CTI hires its management trainees mainly from Canadian universities through advertisements and campus screening interviews. Candidates are then invited for an interview at corporate headquarters where the human resource manager does the initial job interview and provides a short list to department managers who conduct a hiring interview and make the final hiring decision.
Hiring criteria are based on (in descending order of priority):
University grades, especially in field of specialization;
Extra-curricular activities (whether the candidate played any leadership role during his/her study period, e.g., in student organizations);
Relevant job experiences (desirable, but not essential);
Language skills (especially second official language);
Personal impression during interview.
Candidates are hired according to their specialities, e.g., management, marketing, finance, accounting, engineering. They go through a two-day orientation program during which executives explain company policies and goals and HRM specialists talk about career paths and the benefit package. Following the orientation, employees are introduced by their supervisors to their work teams and given their first assignment. After six months the new employees have their first performance review. If supervisors identify specific shortcomings, they will recommend either available internal training programs or, if not, relevant outside programs for which CTI will pay the fees if the employee completes them successfully.
CTI has a training department (TD) with a manager and three instructors. The TD conducts annual training needs analyses by asking supervisors to make suggestions as to what topics should be offered during the following year. The training manager then decides whether it is feasible to develop an internal training program or whether it will be less costly to send employees to programs offered elsewhere.
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Decide: 1) what is the difference between training and development? 2) what are the advantages and disadvantages of each training system? 3) which training approach is more effective (for the company, employees)? 4) do you know the key statements that should be included in the design, conduct and evaluation of training programs? If so, what are they? 5) could you give an example of the productive company training approach?
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CASE 2
«BUSINESS APPROPRIATE» DRESS CODE
Chris Wilson is employed as an account officer with Central Canada Trust Company. He emigrated from Great Britain to Canada when the employment situation at home deteriorated during the late nineties. He joined Central Canada Trust shortly after his arrival.
Chris came from a large family, and since his father could not afford to pay for a college education Chris worked his way through college, holding evening jobs and working during the summer. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. His grades were not impressive, but he would say, "I went through the school of hard knocks. I know the requirements for doing a good job, and good grades are not one of them!"
He was an active member of the Anglican Church and attended church services regularly. After two years in Canada, he joined the Progressive Conservative Party and was selected twice as a local representative at party conventions. He was married and had two children.
Central Canada Trust Company is one of the smaller trust companies in Central Canada and has its main branch in Ottawa. Its services are aimed mainly at middle income earners, mostly civil servants. It takes great pride in the quality of its services, the company slogan being "You Can Trust Us." Every employee had to undergo a thorough orientation program and was afterwards trained regularly.
One of the company policies required that employees who had direct contact with customers had to follow a dress code, which specified that male employees had to wear dark or grey suits, white shirts and ties, and a hat when on duty outside the office. Female employees were asked not to wear pants, and to avoid "deep-cut" blouses. Most employees followed the code and very few could recall that anyone had been reprimanded for wearing something objectionable. As a matter of fact, it was generally felt that management had relaxed the code because nothing had been said for quite some time.
On a hot day during the summer, shortly after his birthday, Chris came to the office wearing a modern safari suit with a yellow shirt and a nice tie. The outfit had been the collective birthday present from his wife and children. He looked very fashionable and elegant in it and several of the employees commented on it.
Shortly after his arrival on that day his direct supervisor, Nick Smith, called him in.
Nick: Chris, I am not happy that I have to do this, but Zhang Wei [the branch manager] was quite upset when he saw you coming in and he asked me to talk to you. As you know he has a Chinese upbringing and is very conservative. He asked me to remind you that our company's image is at stake when you don't wear a white shirt and a suitable tie.
Chris: Nick, you must be kidding. We aren't living in medieval times when companies could prescribe even private activities of employees. I know about the dress code, but it has never been enforced. Besides, this outfit looks very good on me, and some customers even commented positively about it.
Nick: Well, that may be. We haven't had a case like this for some time, but Mr. Zhang feels that you have gone too far. We have the policy and you were informed about it during the orientation program. You even confirmed in writing that you had read it.
Chris: Yes, I read it, but you can't call my dress outrageous or offensive. It is modern, looks good and is certainly more comfortable than a three- piece suit, especially in these temperatures.
Nick: Personally I agree with you, but Mr. Zhang is adamant. He really feels that the image of the company is at stake. You know that we compete against the banks and that we try to be perceived by our customers as solid and trustworthy. Mr. Zhang thinks that the way our employees dress has an impact on this image. I have to give you an official warning, which becomes part of your file. I am sorry about this, but I have to do it.
Chris: Well, I am not happy about it either, but if that is what the company wants, so let it be. It isn't that important to me.
Zhang Wei had been born in Hong Kong, but had come to Canada with his parents when he was fifteen. His father had been an unskilled laborer and had died at an early age, leaving Zhang Wei as the main breadwinner for the family. He had worked his way up in Central Canada Trust from a teller to branch manager and was very proud of his accomplishment. He was considered a hard worker who expected a lot from his employees, and he was considered a fair supervisor.
Nick Smith had been hired as a management trainee after he graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Ottawa. He was considered to be a good manager and was well liked as a supervisor.
Chris was not too concerned about the incident. His performance was good enough that he received the highest merit pay increases in his department. He was convinced that Mr. Zhang would think twice before he would take any drastic action against a high performer.
Employees of the Central Canada Trust Company had been told that it would be good for the image of the company if employees were involved in community work. Management was even willing to compensate employees for certain expenses, e.g., taxi or bus fares, or the cost of a meal. Chris, for example, was a counsellor for the local Junior Achievers, a group of high school students who work on small business assignments under the guidance of experienced managers.
A few weeks after the incident in the office, he was invited by Junior Achievers to give a presentation on sound financial management. Since it was part of a promotional campaign for the Achievers, a local TV station showed some excerpts during the evening news.
For the presentation, Chris had dressed casually since he knew the students quite well and he saw his talk as part of his regular work as a Junior Achiever Counsellor. He was not aware that the TV station had planned to broadcast part of the presentation.
The next day Nick Smith received a memo from Mr. Zhang which stated: Nick, I saw Chris Wilson yesterday evening on the TV news, giving a public presentation. He wore a sport shirt and no tie. Since this is the second time he disregarded the company's dress code and my explicit warning a few weeks ago, I ask you to arrange for his immediate termination. We cannot tolerate employees who violate official company policies and challenge my authority. Nick immediately went to see Mr. Zhang and tried to change his mind, but to no avail. He was especially upset that Chris had appeared on TV and had been introduced as an employee of Central Canada Trust Company. He felt that since Chris had been warned about his inappropriate attire before, the second occasion was a deliberate snub.
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Decide: 1) what does “business appropriate” dress code mean? 2) why do companies have dress codes? 3) who makes the decision on individual outfits? Is it legal? 4) could you give arguments for and against company dress codes? 5) what actions should be taken to solve the problem in the case? |
CASE 3
LEFT ON A MOUNTAINSIDE
Brilliant sunshine and brittle cold snapped Ed Davidson awake as he emerged from Zurich Airport, trailing the limousine driver who moments before had met him at the security checkpoint. After being hermetically sealed in a jumbo jet for hours, focused on a laptop, some analyst reports, his cluttered tray table-nothing more than a few yards away-he shielded his watering eyes. But by the time he reached the car, he was grinning broadly. The skier in him rejoiced at the January air and the prospect of six days in the Alps. He ducked into the backseat, pushing his briefcase ahead of him. He was on his way to Davos.
Not that he would be skiing much. Other than on the scheduled “sports day” on Sunday, participants at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference were facing a packed schedule of sessions, receptions, and dinners. Ed pulled out his conference folder and glanced over the program again. His attention alternated between the scenery outside his window and the people with whom he would soon be mingling. His mother had been awed on the phone the evening before, hearing him rattle off name after name familiar to her from the news and gossip columns. “Eddie,” she’d said, “this is my dream come true for you. I’m pinching myself!” He smiled to recall it, then quickly composed his features. Jutting his jaw slightly forward, he reminded himself that these people were no more than his peers. Soon enough, anyway.
Two hours into the drive, a loud crack by Ed’s right ear jolted him from the doze he had drifted into. He sat up and turned his head toward the noise, only to be thrown off balance as the car accelerated. “Very sorry, sir,” said the driver, catching sight of Ed’s surprised expression in the rearview mirror. “Antiglobalization protesters. We are just a few minutes from the checkpoint.” Ed turned to stare out the back of the car and saw the rock thrower taking aim at another black sedan behind them. Then it occurred to him to look forward. Through the windshield he saw the cluster of black-costumed activists the driver was hoping to blow past.
His phone rang. Annoyed at the start it gave him, Ed rooted his phone out of his briefcase and snapped it open. It was Frank Maugham calling. Normally, this would have been welcome. Frank was CFO and a board member at Carston Waite, and he had been a mentor to Ed for most of the 14 years since Ed joined the company. It wouldn’t have been unusual for Frank to call on some routine matter or just to chat; they had become that close. But Ed immediately detected the note of anxiety in Frank’s greeting and knew there was something a foot.
“It’s a setback, I’m afraid,” Frank explained. “David just spoke with me. He asked me to let you know you are not going to be named president of Carston Waite.” He paused. “At least not yet. He’s planning to make an announcement that he’s not appointing anyone for a while.” His voice took on a sardonic tone. “He wants to stay close to the business.”
Ed’s mind was a blank-the news had hit him almost with the force of a physical blow - then he gradually became conscious of the heat rising in his cheeks and forehead. His hand with the phone in it had slipped down from his ear. He jerked it back up when he heard Frank’s voice again, saying, “Are you there?”
But now the car was caught up in a swirl of agitated humanity. As the car inched forward, protesters dressed in outrageous costumes and carrying hand-lettered signs pressed toward it, a few getting close enough, despite the efforts of armed Swiss guards, to leer disconcertingly into the windows. Ed could hear their chants through the thick glass. He looked around wildly, then gripped the phone tighter. “Look, Frank. This is a bizarre moment. Can I call you right back? I’m almost at the hotel.”
“Yes, absolutely. Get settled in. But first, just know that I have a plan,” Frank said. “I’m going to call around to the rest of the board members and see if we can’t prevail upon David to change his mind.”
“You really think that could work?” Ed tried to focus. “Who could argue with the wisdom of having a succession plan? And who else but you could the successor be?.”
The car lurched forward and passed through a gate in a high chain-link fence. The driver glanced back and raised his eyebrows expectantly. It was time for Ed to produce his passport and conference pass for inspection. “I’ll call you,” Ed said to Frank and shoved the phone back into his briefcase.
Some hours later, realizing he was hungry, Ed quickly shaved, dressed for dinner, and found his way to the Kongress Center, where the inaugural reception was already in high gear. The room was a sea of gesticulating people, chattering in accented English or no English at all. Waiters moved smoothly among them, trays laden with wineglasses and hors d’oeuvres, as a full orchestra played Berlioz. Ed spied a row of white-clothed tables and began working his way toward it.
“Edward Davidson! Well, I’ll be damned.”
Ed looked toward the voice and was amazed to see his old B-school section mate, Lucy Keh. Lucy had made her millions in a dot-com that went public, then had gone on to found a nonprofit organization. They’d long ago fallen out of touch, but Ed occasionally spotted her name in the news. Now she was breaking away from the group she’d been talking with and coming toward him, her arms extended for a hug.
There was no one like Lucy. Back in school, she’d been brilliant, but she was also the one who made you feel brilliant. She’d bring homemade brownies to study sessions. She’d read Greek dramas-in the original Greek, no less-to unwind. She’d remember your kid brother’s name. She was fiercely loyal.
Almost before he realized what was happening, Ed was outside the ballroom, glass in hand, admitting to Lucy how he had that day been betrayed.
“Let me get this straight.” Lucy peered at Ed. “David Paterno promised you this position? And now he’s reneging?”
Ed filled in the details. A year ago, Carston Waite’s longtime chairman and CEO, Tom Tyrakowski, had announced he was leaving, and a three-way contest among internal candidates for the spot had moved quickly into high gear. The timing wasn’t ideal, from Ed’s standpoint. A few years later and he might have had a fair shot at the job himself. As it was, he couldn’t compete, despite his reputation as a rising star. And neither was Frank in the running.
Already 60, Frank had made his own play for the job many years earlier-and done penance for it. The man who had beat Frank out for the job had promptly exiled him to one of the company’s most marginal divisions and left him running it for a good long time before letting him come in from the cold. Frank was a survivor, all right, and at this point he had real influence. He had seen it all, and he knew where the bodies were buried.
Frank also truly believed that Ed should and would run the company someday. That’s why he’d cooked up this understanding with David. He and Ed would throw their weight behind his candidacy, and once David got the job, he would grant Frank a seat on the board and make Ed president. Heir apparent.
“So you don’t think David would have got the top job if it weren’t for you guys backing him?” Lucy had zeroed in on the key question.
“We made the difference,” Ed answered, without elaborating. In fact, Frank had made a few downright misrepresentations to the board, making the performance of David’s division look better than the other guys’. Lucy didn’t need to know that. Ed sipped his wine, then studied it; no bouquet, body, or flavor to speak of. Was it Swiss?
“What a tragedy,” Lucy said. Ed glanced quickly at her face for any sign of irony, but it was all compassion. “I’m so sorry to hear it.”
Ed straightened up and looked away. Was it possible he had become an object of pity? A sick feeling came over him, and suddenly he wanted to be far away from Lucy. “Right,” he said peremptorily. “But hey, I don’t mean to monopolize you.
Wait a minute. He’s supposed to be here, right? Isn’t he on a panel? On corporate social responsibility or something?”
“He was. At the last minute he got hung up in some negotiations. I’m giving his speech on Friday.”
Lucy’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Interesting. You must be tempted to add a few choice words of your own.”
Later that night, Ed crunched across the snow past the Hotel Belvedere, an imposing pile installed in the mountain’s side. Passing under a lamppost, he paused and, fishing a gloved finger into his coat sleeve, uncovered his watch. He squinted at the swimming numbers. He had had little to eat and too much to drink, to top off his jet lag. He considered calling Frank for an update but quickly realized that made no sense. The business day was just ending, and Frank’s plan had been to reach most of the board after hours, at home. In fact, Ed realized, Frank might be on the phone that very minute.
Ed imagined how such a conversation would begin, and a fresh wave of mortification came over him. It wasn’t, after all, as simple as betrayal. Ed had been wronged before and had felt better than this; that time, he had at least been able to indulge in some righteous indignation and had come away feeling superior to his rival. But David’s rejection cut more deeply than that.
For as close as his relationship had become with Frank, Ed had first been David’s protégé. At 26, he had been recruited by Carston Waite for his formidable analytical skills and had quickly impressed his superiors. David, ten years his senior, had spotted him early on, and his work had proved instrumental to some of the biggest deals David put together. The two were very different-David was known as a charming salesman, Ed as an incisive, if somewhat arrogant, quant, but the chemistry worked. David, Ed thought, understood him. In fact, Ed had revealed aspects of himself to David that no one else had been privy to before or since. In the aftermath of this or that celebration of a closed deal, when enough alcohol had flowed for him to claim misinterpretation, if necessary, the next day, Ed had opened up. It had been a heady time.
Even if the two of them had worked less directly together in recent years-David was given a division to run; so was Ed, eventually-Ed retained that sense of connection and only occasionally felt pained by it. It was a source of vulnerability, he knew, but in so many other respects his work was making him invincible. He had developed selling skills of his own, to augment his impressive string of technical innovations. Clients clamored for his time and attention. When he was given a division to run, he was just 38-the youngest in the firm’s history-yet he managed to engineer the greatest uptick in profitability among all the divisions that year. He was golden. And at every turn, David-with some call or note-had acknowledged the achievement. Approved of it, even admired it.
And now this, David knew Ed couldn’t cut it.
Ed became conscious of voices and glanced to his right. The group came past laughing, the holograms on their white badges glinting in the lamplight. Ed’s lips brushed against the collar of his cashmere coat, damp from the condensation of his breath. How long had he been standing here? He tucked his chin down closer against his neck and turned from the light, as his face crumpled.
Sitting in a packed room the next afternoon, Ed tried to recall why he had registered for this session out of the many that were running concurrently. The topic was timely enough -corporate governance reform—but the speakers were dull. All were from companies that had instituted new practices, yet all seemed loath to talk about the abuses they were trying to prevent. Platitude after sanctimonious platitude. He wondered about himself: Would I have been so cynical about this a week ago? Or am I still feeling the effects of the sleeping pills?
Ed’s phone vibrated in his breast pocket, and he escaped into the hallway.
“It’s Frank,” said the voice on the other end. Ed closed his eyes to concentrate over the noise of a catering trolley clattering past. “We may be in trouble. David knows about the calls I made last night. And he’s calling an emergency board meeting for tonight.”
Ed’s heart skipped a beat. “Already? Wait a minute, who did you get hold of? What’s the consensus?”
“I don’t know. I needed more time.” Frank sounded defeated. “It doesn’t look good.”
“When is the board meeting happening tonight?” Ed thought about the time difference. “I mean, obviously I want you to call me whenever you get out.”
“I would,” Frank said.“ But I’m not invited.”
Ed studied his face in the mirror by the elevator bank as he waited to ride down to breakfast. His left eyelid had been twitching intermittently since he woke up, but he couldn’t tell if it was perceptible to others.
He had just emerged from the hotel room he had not left since the day before, since right after Frank’s call. It seemed even longer than the 15 hours it had been. The first two of them, easily, had been spent in pure rage. On coming through the door, Ed had been thirsty and had reached for a mineral water. But moments later, catching sight of his face in the mirror, he had hurled the glass bottle at it. What followed was the most sustained string of obscenities Ed had ever given voice to. There was nothing he didn’t call David Paterno, no outrageous act the man had not committed.
Later, sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands rubbing his face, he’d remembered Lucy’s phrase-“choice words”-with a caustic laugh. You want choice words? How ’bout those? And then he’d recalled that she’d been talking about the speech he was to give the next morning: “You must be tempted to add a few choice words of your own.”
He had walked over to the desk and pulled out the remarks the communications VP had sent him. “Hypocritical fluff,” he’d concluded, as he’d reread the speech. And then he’d reached for his pen. Because, after all, he hadn’t been the only one to tell secrets back in those days when he and David were close. How would the Davos crowd react to hearing his boss’s real track record on social responsibility?
The idea might have been a vengeful fantasy at first, but it took on a whole new character after Ed, realizing how late the hour had grown, had ordered room service. And when he’d gotten the predawn call from Frank, it had fueled the effort anew.
Frank had been fired, of course. David had accused him of insubordination and gotten the rest of the board to agree that Frank’s actions were not compatible with the interests of the business and its shareholders. One of Frank’s friends on the board had given him the heads-up right after the meeting ended, to spare him the humiliation of being escorted out by security the next morning.
“Apparently, there was nothing said about you specifically,” Frank had offered.
Ed knew what Frank was doing: allowing him to believe that he might still hang on to his own job-and even, as Frank had, continue to advance up the ladder. Suddenly, the old man seemed pathetic to Ed. Taken for granted for years and now thrown out, Frank still seemed concerned that Carston Waite would lose a valuable employee.
The elevator bell rang. Stepping through the open doors, Ed looked at his watch. Twenty minutes to showtime. A slight queasiness rose in him. But he tucked his speech under his arm and hit the button for the lobby.
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Decide: 1) what information do you have about Ed Davidson? 2) what things have made Ed vulnerable? 3) does Ed have strengths that outweigh his weaknesses? If so, what are they? 4) how much is Ed dependent on the opinions of others? 5) if you were Ed, what would you concentrate on to make your dreams come true? |
CASE 4
BUSINESS PITFALLS
TUMBRIL EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
Until recently, Tumbril was a family business. The founder Sir Hubert Tumbril, is still nominally Chairman, but management decisions are made by his son - Mr Richard Tumbril, and his nephew - Mr Jonathan Tumbril, who is Sales Director. Tumbril is now a public company, members of the family only holding 40 percent of the equity. Nevertheless, there is still a family atmosphere in the organization.
THE FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
Thanks to Jonathan's marketing flair and youthful energy - plus Richard's experience - the firm is doing well. Up to now, the bulk of sales has been in the UK; Tumbril has never paid much attention to selling abroad. However, its list of specialist titles in the social sciences and business field has begun to attract the attention of European schools and universities. At the last Frankfurt Book Fair, where they expected to do only modest business, the firm's stand was besieged with enquiries.
JONATHAN FINDS AN AGENT
Realizing that his staff could not handle a large volume of oversea
business from their office near London, Jonathan made enquiries with a view to finding a reliable agent. He knew that the relationship between principal and agent is a peculiarly sensitive one in the book trade. It usually rests, not on a written contract, but on a gentlemen's agreement embodied in
nothing more binding than a handful of letters confirming points made in informal discussions. If a publisher and his agent find they do not get on together, they generally part company with the least possible fuss. Neither side has much to gain by engaging in expensive legal action.
After sounding out a number of potential agents, Jonathan finally began talking seriously to Johan van Brasil NV, of Amsterdam. Van Brasil were just the people Jonathan had been looking for: a small office, but with a wide range of contacts in centres of learning throughout Europe; an old fashioned attitude to business, but with most of the stock control and accounting handled by computer: a promising group of young sales staff,
who travelled constantly and had shrewd ideas about what gaps were going to appear in the market for educational books. For their part, van Brasil were willing to discuss terms with Tumbril. Neither side was in a rush, so they agreed informally that the spring would be a good time for things to be finalized. Van Brasil could then take over the promotion and selling of Tumbril books, in Benelux only, for a trial period of one year.
RICHARD CLINCHES A DEAL
That was in the first days of January. Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Richard Tumbril, had gone on a private New Year visit to a friend in Stuttgart. On 4 January, Richard came back to the office and told Jonathan: 'Oh, Jonathan - I've got us an agent in Europe.'
'What do you mean, an agent in Europe? Van Brasil's going to be our agent, it's practically fixed.'
It turned out that Richard had met an American at a New Year's party in Germany. The American was the Vice-President of a chain of publishing houses which was buying up small European firms at a great rate. His latest acquisition was a German company called Gumpi, a book distributor which had been in poor shape for years, but had once had a reputation in the academic book business.
The two men had agreed on a deal which seemed to promise great advantages for both Tumbril and Gumpi. The main points of the agreement were:
Gumpi would take Tumbril's books on consignment, that is on a sale or return basis
They would receive a commission of 20 percent
Gumpi would not handle publications
Tumbril's British competitors
Tumbril would not deal with any other agent in Western Europe
The American undertook to bring Tumbril £500,000 worth of business inside two years
The agreement would run for two years
When Jonathan heard about all this, there was nothing he could do except disentangle himself and the firm, with as little embarrassment as possible, from the arrangements he had made with van Brasil.
RUMOURS
In late March, a first shipment of books, worth £15,000, was on its way to Germany. At about that time, Jonathan began to hear disturbing rumours, to the effect that the American's employers in the United States were not doing well. There were said to be lawsuits in progress against their subsidiaries for everything from tax evasion to the distribution of pornographic films. Jonathan did not panic unduly, however, because all seemed to be going well with Gumpi.
A TIME FOR ACTION
By the end of September, £80,000 worth of stock had passed through Gumpi's depot in Munich. Their monthly sales returns showed that the bulk of this stock has been distributed to booksellers. Another £55,000 worth was on its way from England and might already have arrived at the depot, so the American seemed to have every chance of exceeding his promised sales target.
Jonathan admitted this was good going, but he was by now extremely worried. Gumpi had by this time only made a token payment of £5,000 to Tumbril, and there were persistent rumours of the firm's impending bankruptcy'. The first quarterly statement should “Have been” settled by Gumpi at the end of July, but on 25 August, Tumbril got a letter from them asking for another six weeks in which to pay. That made even Richard feel very uneasy.
It is now 1 October. In the morning, Richard Tumbril has received an e-mail that has thoroughly upset him. The American has written a brief letter informing Richard that he has been recalled to the States. The letter ends: A colleague will be taking over from me. He will be busy for some while, but doubtless he will contact you in due course.'
'I don't think you should do that,' says Jonathan. 'Let's just recall all our stocks and get the hell out of it. If Gumpi goes broke, we may find it hard to get those books back, and the money they owe us will be shared among all the creditors. There's a Board meeting in two days' time. This Gumpi business can be put as an emergency item on the agenda.'
'Nice of you to put me in the picture beforehand, Jonathan,' says Mrs Fremlin, a powerful member of Tumbril's Board of Directors. There's only one thing to do now. We must cut loss from Gumpi with the minimum of fuss, and resume negotiations with van Brasil.'
'Damn stupid if you ask me,' says Peter Blandish from the Contracts Department. These agents are more trouble than they're worth. We ought to put one of our own people over there straight away - on a permanent basis. Jim Barker's doing well in our sales department. He's young, ambitious, speaks fluent German..."
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Decide: 1) what does success in business depend on? 2) what is the company SWOT analysis? 3) are there any company challenges that can be turned into benefits? If so, what are they? 4) what actions should the company take to solve its problem? 5) how can this kind of situation be avoided in the future? |
CASE 5
CORPORATE LIFE
“Psst, psst, psst.” That’s all Michael Feldstein heard as he walked down the hall toward his office. “Psst, psst, psst.” “What did people talk about before last week?” he asked himself. “What more can we possibly say about it?”
“It” was the sudden and mysterious resignation of Lucien Beaumont, Lafleur SA’s president of U.S. operations. Everyone was imagining the worst Financial misdeeds? Illness? An illicit affair? The rumors were flying fast and furious, each more lurid than the next. Less entertaining, though even more distracting, was the speculation about who would get Lucien’s job-and what would happen to everybody else, once that question was settled. Everyone wanted to back the right horse.
It wasn’t a simple race. Lafleur was a major international beverage company that had grown rapidly through acquisitions. Michael, the global category director for rums and a contender for the newly open position, was a relative newcomer; he’d joined the company two years earlier, when Lafleur acquired New York-based Campos Beverage. In his eyes, Michael’s chief competitor was Danielle Harcourt, the global category director for vodkas and liqueurs, who had moved to New York from the company’s Paris headquarters just after the Campos acquisition. She had been at Lafleur 15 years and was practiced at what could be called either networking or office politics, depending on where you sat.
But there were other possible candidates. The company had a fast-growing sports and health drink division that was getting a lot of media attention, and the director in that category-he’d started in orange juice and had risen quickly through the ranks-was turning heads in Paris. The spirits business was still doing well, but growth was beginning to taper off, and Lafleur was looking for new sources of revenue or the job could go to an outsider.
Charles Brooke, the CFO at Cazares Laird International, one of Lafleur’s competitors, had just lost out on the COO job at Cazares’s U.S. business. He was highly regarded in the industry - and unhappy about having been passed over. Charles had a strong background in the wine business, which was a relative weakness at Lafleur. And then there was Genevieve Basset, a former Lafleur employee, who was running a small spirits company based in the United States but who had maintained good relationships with Lafleur managers in Paris and New York.
Still, Michael believed he had a good shot at Lucien’s job. The only P&L experience he had was running Campos’s U.S. operations for a few months just before Lafleur acquired the company, but he had a richly varied background. He’d started at Campos in sales, shifted to marketing, done a stint in production, and taken a turn in finance. He’d been classified as a “high potential” early in his career, and although Lafleur did not have an official program for high potentials, Campos had offered a rigorous training curriculum emphasizing on-the-job learning as well as focused skill development. As a result, Michael was one of the company’s more well-rounded executives, and his brands were consistently turning a profit to boot. Knight Rum was, in fact, Lafleur’s top performer. Michael could do the job-but could he convince the top brass in Paris of that?
Dismissing the various scenarios from his mind, Michael turned to his computer and got to work. “If I keep producing,” he reasoned, “it’ll be obvious that I have the chops for the job.”
The Rumours
Outside Michael’s office, the atmosphere was considerably less focused. Twenty- four months after the Campos acquisition, the dust was beginning to settle and cost cutting was in the air. The company had announced plans for a restructuring - a guaranteed morale and productivity killer, as people tried to guess who would stay and who would go. Lucien’s departure had only served to fan the flames. People were sniping at one another, and alliances began to form, divided on who should get Lucien’s job and who would stand to benefit as a result. Many employees began to meticulously document their work; others publicly scorned the scorekeeping but made casual digs in meetings or in the hallway.
Francesca Reynard, category manager for U.S. rums and one of Michael’s direct reports, was in her office talking quietly with her assistant, Nora Ash. Nora was worried about her job, and the stress was getting to her. “The word is that Lafleur people are going to be favored in the restructuring,” she confided. “In the copy room yesterday, I overheard someone saying that the Campos people never really tried to fit in; we’re a bunch of ‘stuffed shirts.’ They didn’t know I was there, or maybe they just didn’t know I came from Campos.”
“I would be shocked if the decisions were made along those lines,” Francesca said. “But I can’t make any promises. You’re right: Things are a little crazy around here right now. All I can do is hope that you’ll hang in there. The work you’re doing is great.”
After Nora left, Francesca reflected on the conversation. It was true that a cultural divide remained between acquirer and acquired. Mistrust was rampant, and the tension in the office was thick. She opened her e-mail to compose a message to Michael; she wanted to pick his brain about a new campaign. To be honest, she wanted to probe his thoughts on the restructuring as well. The two were old friends. But before she had a chance to type the message, she noticed an e-mail from Danielle Harcourt - a first. It was curiously casual.
“Hi, Francesca,” the message read. “Do you want to have lunch tomorrow? I’d love to hear what you’re working on - wondering what you’ve got planned. I’ve got some ideas. D.”
The Competitor
Before heading home that evening, Michael stopped in at a party celebrating the expansion of a line of ruminspired malt beverages. Lafleur had introduced Silver Knight the previous year; now it was adding vanilla-flavored White Knight, cranberry-flavored Red Knight, and low-carb Knight Light. When he stepped into the room, Michael could hear glasses clinking, jumbled conversation, and periodic laughter. “Lords” and “ladies” strolled the floor, offering samples and handing out “Tonight’s the Knight” T-shirts in red, white, and silver. Michael ordered a soda water and scanned the crowd.
Before long he spotted Albert Joffroy, a buddy of his from finance, chatting with a few people from the Paris office whom Michael recognized but didn’t know by name. As he approached, he noticed Danielle standing with the group as well, holding a glass of red wine. The French contingent was moving on just as Michael arrived, and he heard one woman from the pack say to Danielle, “See you next week!” Michael looked quizzically at Danielle.
“Oh, I’m heading back to the mother ship for a visit,” she said. “I’ll have some meetings, see some old friends, eat and drink a lot.” She looked at her watch. “I have to run!” she said. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.” With that, she disappeared into the crowd.
“Interesting timing,” Michael said thoughtfully, glancing at Albert.
Albert leaned in. “You didn’t hear it from me, but I guess she wants to talk to Pierre about some new ideas for how we position our premium brands.” Pierre Hoffman was Lafleur’s CEO.
Michael raised his eyebrows. “Premium vodkas?”
“Premium brands.”
“How do you know all this?”
Albert shrugged. He had a particular talent for wheedling information out of people. And he’d known Danielle for some time; they had worked together in Paris.
Michael thought for a moment. “Interesting timing,” he repeated. He looked at the drink in his hand and momentarily wished it were something stronger. “She doesn’t know anything about rum. Pierre knows I know what I’m doing. My numbers speak for themselves. I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, my naive friend. Yes, numbers matter, but they don’t speak. Danielle-she speaks.”
“If you’re suggesting that I get political and start trying to elbow my way into Pierre’s office ahead of Danielle, you’re talking to the wrong guy. That’s just not how I work.”
Albert was shaking his head. “It’s not politics, Michael. It’s corporate life. You think you’re above the fray, but nobody is. Roll up your sleeves! Get in there!”.
The Family
A couple of hours later Michael entered his darkened house, tripped over his 12- year-old son’s trumpet case by the front door, and righted himself just in time to stumble over his nine-year-old daughter’s backpack. He flipped on the hall light and shook his head, marveling at the disorder.
Upstairs, Michael’s wife, Karen, was half asleep, a mystery novel slipping out of her grip. She was the general counsel at a regional clothing company, having given up a partnership-track position at a law firm as a concession to her family and the demands of Michael’s career. She roused when Michael entered the room.
“Hey you,” she said. “How was the party?”
“The usual,” Michael said. “Sort of.” “What does that mean?”
“I found out that Danielle’s flying to Paris next week, and I’m not so sure her intentions are good.”
“Huh?” Karen slowly sat up and pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose.
“Albert seems to think she’s got an eye on my brands - well, actually, on Lucien’s job, in the end. He also lectured me on office politics. Apparently, I’m not playing the game right. It’s all just so stupid and unnecessary. Pierre likes me, so why should I waste the time and energy on making sure he knows my every move?”
Karen stretched and sat up further, now fully awake. “Politics...It’s everywhere, Michael. It may seem silly to you, but you do have to know what’s going on. Danielle’s probably not thinking of it as ‘stealing’ your brands; she’s just trying to play it smart. You have to do the same. But be yourself-even Albert may have his own agenda.”
The Opportunity
As Michael entered the building the next morning, he saw Danielle walking toward him. Then she stopped. She put her head down, turned abruptly, and, before long, was out of sight. “Is she avoiding me?” he wondered, staring after her. He shook off the thought. “I’m being paranoid.” Still, he regretted not having made any effort to connect with Danielle before now - before she posed a direct threat. He remembered that she’d invited him to lunch soon after the acquisition, and he’d turned down the invitation because of another commitment. He knew he should have returned the courtesy, but time had slipped away and somehow he’d never gotten around to it.
Michael strode into his office, flicked on the light, threw his coat on a chair, and turned on his computer. He had 25 new e-mails. The first one summarized the latest financials. The numbers on the Knight line were even better than he’d hoped. The next one was from Francesca.
“Michael, do you have any time to talk about a new duty-free promo-
tion for Knight?” she wrote. “P.S. Danielle wants to have lunch with me today. She wants to talk about my work. Is there something I should know?”.
Michael sat back in his chair. He lifted his head from his computer screen and muttered, “What a-”before he stopped himself, he realized Albert was there, leaning on the door frame and wearing a bemused expression.
“A what?” Albert asked.
“I’m starting to think you were right,” Michael said. “Danielle’s making a play for my job.”
“There’s no question about that. The question is, “What are you going to do about it?”.
Just then, Michael’s assistant tapped on the door. Pierre Hoffman was on the line. Surprised, Michael quickly picked up his phone as Albert retreated. “Pierre! Hello!” he said.
“Michel! Comment ca va? How is your golf game?” came the booming voice of Lafleur’s chief executive.
“Could be better,” Michael answered, leaning back and thinking to himself, “Hey, I’m not so bad off. I play golf with the CEO.”
“Listen,” Pierre said. “I have a proposition for you. You know that company we acquired in China-in Beijing? Marcel Rousseau-you know him?- he was going to run China, but he’s leaving Lafleur to join a start-up. A start-up! Who would have thought? Anyway, we need somebody smart and experienced to take over-and I think you’re the one.”
A few seconds passed in silence. “China?” Michael responded.
Of course, the dialogue inside Michael’s head had begun right away. China? He supposed it would be a feather in his cap if the office took off. It was the kind of international experience his resume lacked. It would probably be very attractive financially. And then there was the lure of escaping New York, where politics were consuming the office. But he would effectively be handing Danielle his job - and maybe Lucien’s, too. Senior managers were increasingly groomed in New York these days, and he’d be off the radar screen entirely. Would he ever get to Paris?
And could he make it in China? The competition was formidable. Soft-drink giant Alia had moved in two years earlier and had taken the youth market by storm. Several of Lafleur’s most impressive competitors were making significant inroads in the wine and spirits markets. Then, of course, there was Michael’s family. Karen had already sacrificed a lot professionally. And how would the kids feel about leaving their schools - and their friends?
But-China! A chance for the kids to learn a new language and experience a different culture. His head was spinning.
“Are you asking me or telling me?” he asked Pierre. “It sounds exciting, but I don’t know how my wife will take it.”
“I’m not telling you,” Pierre said. “I think you’re the man for the job, and I hope you think so, too.”
The Dilemma
His mind full, Michael called his wife at her office. “Are you sitting down?”
“Oh God, what is it?”
“Pierre called. He wants me - he wants us-to move to China.”
Dead silence.
“Karen? Are you there?”
“China. China?! You’ve got to be kidding me. Please tell me you’re kidding, Mike.”
“No, I’m not kidding. And yes, China.” Karen sighed. “China. I’m late to a meeting. I can’t think about this right now. Can we talk tonight?”.
• • •
That evening, Michael and Karen planted themselves in their living room and hashed things out. The truth was, Karen didn’t want to go to China. She was willing to look past her own interests if Michael truly wanted to go, but her career would suffer a major setback. Again. She also questioned the wisdom of the move - was Pierre merely trying to sideline Michael for the time being? Karen and Michael agreed there were good arguments both for and against taking the kids overseas. For his part, Michael was torn.
The next morning he walked into the office and found an e-mail from Danielle. “I have some thoughts about the Knight line, Michael,” she wrote. “Do you have a few minutes to talk in the next couple of days? I’m going to Paris next week, and I’d like to run some things past you before I go, if you have a moment.”
Michael stared at his desk. He didn’t feel like fighting. He just wanted to do his job-that’s what he was paid to do, and it’s what he liked to do.
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Decide: 1) what information do you have about the company corporate life? 2) do the company executives play business or politics? Prove your answer. 3) should Michael go to China? Why? 4) would moving to China take Michael to the next level in the career? 5) if you were Michael, what would you do? |