3. Offer ideas on why Jason's performance might have slipped after all these years with the company? Terri Ann Masters, Vice President of Sales for Startech Corporation, was wrestling with a critical issue related to one of her longtime and, until recently, most talented salespeople Jason Benjamin. Startech was a French high tech manufacturer with its corporate offices in Paris and manufacturing operation in France and China. Jason, whose territory included Silicon Valley in California, had been one of Startech’s top salespeople for 11 of his 15 years with the company. At first, Terri Ann thought it was just “bad luck” and Jason would be able to turn it around. Now, however, after four years of seeing Jason miss sales targets and hearing increasing complaints from customers, Terri Ann knew something was wrong.

This was especially critical for Startech because Jason called on some of the company’s biggest clients. Jason had worked his way up in the company and been given these accounts seven years ago. During his first three years with the accounts, Jason generated substantial new business from his clients. Management at the customers had actually gone to the trouble of calling Terri Ann and complimenting Startech on the relationship Jason had established. The end result was that Jason frequently exceeded his sales quotas and received healthy bonuses.