“Lordy, lordy, Big Jim’s forty” the e-mail birthday card screamed out from the monitor on the computer stand in his office in the Buckhead district of Atlanta. Well, Cannonball Express VP of sales (and birthday boy) Jimmy “Big Jim” Cooley didn’t need to be reminded. In fact, he has been thinking a lot lately not so much about his own trek into middle age, but more about the fact that most of his sales force are, to put it delicately, no longer spring chickens. In fact, at 40 Big Jim is seven years younger than the average age of his sales force!

Cannonball Express, based in Atlanta, operates an intracity fast delivery small package and parcel service network throughout the southern United States. In Big Jim’s business,

“intracity” means that he doesn’t try to compete directly with UPS, FedEx, DHL, or Express Mail who focus on intercity (between-city) delivery. To the contrary, Cannonball Express’s business is totally focused on getting packages from point A to point B within a metropolitan area, so that the item is received the same day it is shipped. Attorneys, physicians, bankers, real estate professionals, and insurance agents are typical users. However, any person or business can call Cannonball Express’s toll-free number for a pickup guaranteed to be within two hours of the phone call. The firm operates in 14 separate metropolitan areas and has been in business since 1990. Big Jim started as a delivery driver in Charlotte and worked his way up the company ladder to regional sales manager and then VP of sales in 2000, a position in which he has had a phenomenally successful run. Under his leadership, sales have grown an average of 9 percent per year, although lately the growth has been more in the 3-4 percent range. Break into groups of four, with one student playing each character. It doesn’t matter what the actual gender mix of your group is. Before you stage the meeting, work separately using the material in your chapter to come up with your own recommendation for a new compensation and incentive plan for Cannonball Express that you believe will best address the issues identified in the story. Be prepared to justify why you believe each element in your plan is appropriate. Then get together and role-play the meeting among Big Jim, Carlos, Judy, and Max. In the end, you want to come out of the meeting with agreement on a new incentive and compensation plan