1. How has Ken Bodine shaped the sales culture at Pace Technologies? Do you consider this culture to be at a preconventional, conventional, or post conventional level of ethical development? Why?
2. What should Ali Sloan do? What would you actually do if you were in her place? Explain.
3. How might Cody Rudisell's decision differ if he based it on the utilitarian approach vs. individualism approach vs. practical approach to ethical decision making? Which approach does he appear to be using?
The rapid growth of Pace Technologies was due in no small part to sales manager Ken Bodine and to the skills of the savvy young sales staff that he had assembled. Bodine prided himself on finding and hiring top grads from two major business schools in the area. In addition to the top salaries offered by Pace, the grads were attracted by Bodine's energy, innovative thinking, and can-do attitude. He was the embodiment of Pace culture-moving fast, ahead of the knowledge curve in high-tech. Pace's sales force consistently stunned the competition with their high performance level.
Among other things, Pace had the reputation for aggressive business intelligence. Competitors found both amusing and frustrating the company's ability to outmaneuver others and capture accounts. Bodine enjoyed the air of mystery surrounding the Pace organization. Awareness that some competitor sat on the verge of a big sale always stirred Bodine's passion for sales and ignited his desire to "one-up these guys" and grab the sale out from under them.
"If this was a poker game," one board member mused, "Pace would win every hand. It's like Bodine as well as his staff possess the uncanny ability to know the cards your company is holding. He keeps a straight face, a low profile throughout the game, and then suddenly he lays his cards on the table and you're sunk. Here at Pace, we all love it."
A former military intelligence officer, Bodine brought that "sneaky" air into the Pace culture, adding a bit of excitement to the day-to-day business of sales. "With a great product, great staff, and great business intelligence," Bodine was fond of saying, "you can dominate the market." He wanted everyone-customers, competitors, and the media-to see Pace everywhere. "Every time the competition holds a staff meeting," he said, "the first question should be, 'What's Pace doing?'"
The sales staff was a mirror image of Bodine-younger, but with the same air of invincibility, and very competitive with one another. This, too, Bodine encouraged. A chess player, he enjoyed observing and encouraging the competition within his own sales staff. And seeing the thrill it brought "the boss," ambitious salespeople worked vigorously to prove their competitive worth.
Bodine's latest competitive "match" pitted Cody Rudisell and Ali Sloan in an intellectual and strategic struggle for a coveted assignment to a potential major account with a company that had just expanded into the region. Bodine let it be known that Cody and Ali were being considered for the assignment, and that each could submit a proposal to lure the account to Pace and away from its top rival, Raleigh-Tech.