It was a Friday in mid-February and Dr. Kadir Mahalee, a wealthy businessman from the Southeast Asian nation of Tailesia, was visiting London on a trip that combined business and pleasure. Dr. Mahalee held a doctorate from the London School of Economics and had earlier been a professor of international trade and a government trade negotiator. He was the founder of Eximsa, a major export company in Tailesia.
Business brought him to London every two to three months.
These trips provided him with the opportunity to visit his daughter, Leona, the eldest of his four children, who lived in London. Several of his 10 grandchildren were attending college in Britain. He was especially proud of his grandson, Anson, who was a student at the Royal Academy of Music.
In fact, he had scheduled this trip to coincide with a violin recital by Anson at 2 p.m. on this particular Friday.
The primary purpose of Dr. Mahalee’s visit was to resolve a delicate matter regarding his company. He had decided to retire and wished to make arrangements for the company’s future. His son Victor was involved in the business and ran Eximsa’s trading office in Europe. However, Victor was in poor health and was unable to take over the firm. Dr. Mahalee believed that a group of loyal employees would be interested in buying his company if the necessary credit could be arranged.

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Prepare a flowchart of Dr. Mahalee’s service encounters.
2. Putting yourself in Dr. Mahalee’s shoes, how do you feel (both physically and mentally) after speaking with the receptionist at Global? What are your priorities right now?
3. As Sophia Costa, what action would you take in your first five minutes with Dr. Mahalee?
4. What would be a good outcome of the meeting for both the client and the bank? How should Costa try to bring about such an outcome?