CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES: SHORT CASES IN MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING

ISBN-13: 978-1-945628-05-4
# pages: 260
Copyright Year: 2017
Suggested Retail: $61.95
Description
Every decision, no matter how small, requires thought. The decision-maker needs to assess the structure of that decision and weigh its consequences. Even the purchase of a hamburger requires some thought. (Calories? Cholesterol? Potential for heartburn at 3:00 a.m.?) Seemingly simple decisions may, upon consideration, reveal
more complex dimensions.
As one gets more practice in decision-making, he or she generally becomes better at making decisions. Choices and Consequences was developed with the goal of providing students of management with the opportunity to make decisions while considering the context and consequences of those decisions. Short cases, generally one to three pages in length, link to topics within a management class. Students must engage in critical thinking to make choices and answer the discussion questions provided with each case.
This text is unique in that a number of cases (about 25 percent) link to an international context. A variety of authors from Ghana have provided cases that give students exposure to a very different society, as well as very different constraints implemented within that society. Considering those differences and how they affect decisions requires students to think beyond their own cultural boundaries.
Whether domestic or international, these cases ask students to think and to articulate their reasoning. They can share perspectives and develop an understanding of how others make decisions. They can defend their choices and adapt them when new perspectives become available. They can ask new questions and seek new information. All of these are activities that develop skills that will serve them well over the long run.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
About the Author xiii
Part One
Dealing with the Firm’s External Environment
Chapter 1 The Broader Environment 3
Do New Neighbors Mean New Products? (Misra, Sype) 4
Demographic change and competitive change
The Risks of New Technology: Tesla’s Autopilot System (Sype) 6
New technology, ethics, social responsibility of new product introduction
April’s Suspicions (Hendrickson) 8
Legal issues, organizational climate
Makola Market (Koramoah) 10
Assessment of legal, political, regulatory systems and how they might be
applied in an unregulated situation
Which Way to Go? Which Way Will Reach the Goal Faster? (Sype) 13
Business legal structure and its impact on business performance
The Life of a Head Porter (Mosher) 15
Lack of regulation of working conditions, how to resolve problems created
by this lack of regulation (Ghana)
Legal “Protection” for Women in Ghana (Korang-Okrah) 17
Implications of the legal system for widows in Ghana; Identification of
changes needed to improve the system
Chapter 2 The Competitive Environment 21
Schoolstuff, Inc. (Sirias) 22
Changes in international competition, change in the sales process
Fishing for New Opportunities (Sype) 23
New Entrants to the market, international competition
Coke’s Expansion into the Wine Market (Liu) 25
Strategic change, assessing market desirability
White Castle: Time for a Strategic Shift at the Iconic Hamburger
Restaurant Chain? (Nadavulakere) 28
Strategic change, change in leadership, new market entry
Chapter 3 Planning 31
Is Facebook Your Friend? Or Something Else? (Sype) 32
Corporate mission assessment, assessment of stakeholder needs
Information Sharing at SMSU (Sirias) 34
Information technology, information usage and distribution
Planning at Corinthian Health Care (Davis) 36
Implementation of a lean system through all levels of an organization
Can the Foreclosure King Stay On Top? (DelVecchio) 38
Capitalizing on market volatility
Chapter 4 Small Businesses and Their Performance 45
Grassley’s Home Store (Sype) 46
Changes in competitive environment, assessment of possible response
to change
Analyzing Market Trends (Szymanska) 49
Impact of demographic change on business strategy
Entrepreneurship Venture: Personal Party Platters (Szymanska) 51
Assessment of a new business concept, target market identification
Y’Dal Lizzy: One Woman’s Experience in a Family Business
in Ghana (Kpesese, Amenumey) 53
A woman’s experience as a partner in a family business in Ghana
Chapter 5 Global Business: Charting a Course Across the Seas
of Differing Cultures 57
Linda and Jim’s Dilemma (Sype) 58
Pros and cons of a capacity expansion; possible partnership to take
advantage of a cross-border contract
Top-Flight Toys (Sype) 61
Identification of desirable markets for international expansion
Trials of Torffic Harmattan (Kpesese, Ansah) 63
Assessment of career progress and impact of leadership style on
an employee
Jerry Joblinski Goes to Japan (Sype) 68
Experience of a U.S. employee on his first international sales trip
Erie Manufacturing: Selecting a Foreign Production Site (Potts) 71
Identification of the most desirable foreign expansion site out of
three possibilities
Chapter 6 Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical
Decision Making 75
Has Kofi Oppong Learned a Lesson? (J. Ofori-Dankwa, Mensah,
Oduro-Nyarko) 76
An ethical dilemma set in the Ghanaian cultural context
Pro Football: Play at Your Own Risk? (Sype) 79
Explores the complexities of who—or what—is responsible for the brain
trauma suffered by football players
Should Starbucks Have Closed the Door on Open Wi-Fi? (Sype) 81
Should Starbucks have changed its Wi-Fi system to block certain content?
The Perks of Office (Bowrin) 83
This complex case asks for an evaluation of public employees’ behavior
relative to a specific code of ethics
Whistleblower: Livelihood Saver or Angel of Death? (Ansah, Kpesese) 85
An employee in a Ghanaian company has to decide whether to “blow the
whistle” on potentially unethical behavior
Corporate Social Responsibility Gone Wrong? (Bennin) 89
A CSR initiative has unintended consequences that need to be
addressed immediately
PART TWO
Dealing with Factors Internal to the Firm
Chapter 7 Decision Making 93
The Quick Fill Project at Agede University (Mensah, Gyeabour, Addo) 94
A quickly-made decision proves to have unanticipated consequences;
a quick response to those consequences is needed
Can You Turn Back Time? (Sype) 96
A small wireless phone company gets an offer that requires a great deal
of thought
Up in the Air Underwriting (Sirias) 98
Changes in an insurance firm require a new task structure
Should You Take an Unpaid Internship? (Sype) 100
An assessment of the pros and cons of an unpaid internship, and how a
student should make a decision regarding the experience
Evaluating a Career Transition Opportunity (Haile) 102
Deciding whether to take a new job in a new industry; how should the
decision be structured?
More Money, Please (Sirias) 104
Staff in an organization need to decide how to allocate resources in order
to achieve organizational goals
Chapter 8 Supply Chain Management 107
A Weak Link in the Supply Chain? (Anekal) 108
Description of pressures in the supply chain and the impact of unforeseen
events on performance of the supply chain
Efficiency vs. Effectiveness in the Purchasing Process (Adjapong) 111
Analysis of the trade-offs between an ISO 9000 policy and arm’s-length
governmental purchasing policy
Chapter 9 Human Resource Management 115
What Is Wrong with These People? (Sype) 116
Management-union negotiations and conflict resolution
Termination of a Volatile Employee (Sype) 118
Assessment of how to handle the situation when a terminated employee
makes threats
Stress Management (Sype) 121
Stress reduction, work-life balance
Teacher John Osho (Mensah, Gyeabour) 124
The duties of a teacher in the African context and how to restore
work-life balance
Chapter 10 Managing Diversity 127
Would You Give an Ex-Con a Chance at a New Life? (Sype) 128
Poses the question of the desirability of hiring ex-convicts
Airbnb: Can It Regulate Private Individuals’ Behavior? (Sype) 130
Assessing the effectiveness of combating alleged discrimination by
Airbnb “hosts”
Conflict in the LaFlora Police Department (Sype) 133
Fictional account of conflict within a small-town police department that
needs to be handled fast and carefully
Understanding Privilege: An Exercise (Sype) . 138
An exercise that gives students a chance to think about privilege and
opportunity using a practical and concrete example
Culture Clash? (Hendrickson) 140
Assessment of a situation where employees of different backgrounds
need to learn to work together
Chapter 11 Employee Motivation/Reward Systems 143
How Can We Motivate These Employees? (Anderson) 144
How to resolve a situation of increasing turnover and declining
productivity
Does Pay for Performance Work in the Classroom? (Sype) 146
The question of whether pay for performance can work in the
educational setting is explored.
Secret Cinema: How Much Would You Pay to Be in a Movie? (Sype) 148
Assessment of a new business concept and its applicability as a
motivational technique
Chapter 12 Communications Within the Organization 151
The Hotel from Hell? (Sype) 152
Diagnosis of how to improve an organization’s poorly planned
communication system
The Weekly Staff Meeting (Sirias) 155
Identification of ways to improve communication within a weekly
staff meeting
Yelp Me Help My Business, Please! (Pongpatipat) 157
Focus on how to use social media to improve business performance
Social Media: A Tale of Two Businesses (Quainoo) 159
Use of social media by two small businesses in Ghana and the strengths
and weaknesses of each firm’s strategy
Chapter 13 Teamwork and Group Processes 163
Can We Make the New Shop Work? (Sype) 164
Questions arise as to how to create a new group from two highly
cohesive groups
The New Professor (Sype) 167
A new faculty member does not feel welcomed to the group or a part of it;
What needs to be changed?
Can Anyone Help Nina? Who Should Speak Up? (Mensah-Aggrey) 170
An employee whose responsibilities are greater than those of her
colleagues and a resolution is sought
Chapter 14 Developing Leaders and Leadership Skills 173
Leadership of a New Team (Davis) 174
Evaluation of the use of situational leadership theory combined with
Tuckman’s model of group development
Derek Watson (Sype) 176
Moving up from the ranks and assuming a leadership role
New Chief in Town: Different Leadership Styles (Clark) 178
Contrast in new and past leader affects employee performance
Bad Career Choice or a Bad Boss? (Akomea-Agyin) 181
Is recovery possible in the situation where a promising employee is
trapped in a dead-end job?
Chapter 15 Controlling Employee Performance 185
“Days of Reflection” (Sype) 186
Assessment of the discipline technique that gives employees paid time off
to “reflect on their future with the company
Deluca and Sons, Builders (Pierce) 188
Company executives discover a failure in the control system and need to
figure out how to resolve it
My Free Time Should Be My Own! (Sype) 191
A decision needs to be made: has company policy been violated, or not?
Chapter 16 Organizational Structure 195
Lancaster Pipe Products (Sype) 196
Decisions about possible change In organizational structure to
accommodate international growth
Where Should the Economists Go? (Sype) 199
Assessment of where an academic department should be located
What Next? (D. Ofori-Dankwa) 201
How to change an organization in order to improve organizational
performance
Chapter 17 Organizational Change 205
Change? Where Do We Start? (Sype) 206
A small business has to decide what needs to change in order to cope
with growth
Force Field Analysis (Sype) 209
An application of Lewin’s model of change in a medical setting
Wood-Right Furniture Company (Sype) 211
Change in ownership leads to new policies and employee rebellion
Reflexion Glass Fabrication Company (Bennin) 214
How to overcome internal resistance to change
Change for the Sons of St. Peregrine? (Sype) 217
Can a group of volunteers find a way to change to achieve their goals?
Should There Be Change at Southern State Business School? (Sype) 219
A university college of business has to make a choice about future change
APPENDIX A List of Authors 221
APPENDIX B ICMA Code of Ethics with Guidelines 229
APPENDIX C Upper Peninsula Pasties Recipe 237
Index of Cases by Topic 239
About the Author(s): Gail E. Sype
Gail E. Sype is a product of Michigan. She received degrees from Western Michigan University (B.A.), the University of Michigan (M.B.A.), and Michigan State University (Ph.D.). During her career, she has taught at Millsaps College (Mississippi), at Grand Valley State University, and at Saginaw Valley State University (both in Michigan). She has been at SVSU since 1990. Her teaching responsibilities have included Principles of Management, Organizational Behavior, Diversity Management, Social Responsibility of Business, and International Management. Her primary research interests are in diversity management, development of instructional materials, and developing effective teaching strategies.