Answer the discussion questions
Mike Clarke, manager in charge of recruiting new teachers, works for Felipe. After working for the enterprise as an entry- level recruiter for two years, Mike was recently promoted to this position. Though a persuasive recruiter of new teachers, he has noticed a recent decline in the number of recruits will- ing to teach in traditional face-to-face learning environments. He is progressive in his thinking and believes that the enter- prise needs to change how it does business in order to keep up with the competitors. Mike and Amit feel they are agents of change and want to modernize the enterprise. TODAY'S MEETING Taylor has called the meeting with these three manag- ers to decide whether the social enterprise should begin Concluding Case SOARING EAGLE SKATE COMPANY As a child, Mikala Eagle loved riding her skateboard and doing tricks. By the time she was a teenager. she was so good that she began entering and winning professional contests. By her twenties, Mikala was so successful and popular that she could make skateboarding her career. A skateboard maker sponsored her in competitions around the world. The sponsorship and prize money paid enough to sup- port her for several years. but she was barely getting by. Mikala knew she would have to take her business in new directions so she decided to launch her own brand of skateboard. She called it Soaring Eagle Skate Company. To finance her venture, she pooled her personal savings with money from her friend Pete Williams, who wanted to invest in the company. Together they came up with $75,000. It didn't take long for young skaters to snap up Soaring Eagle skateboards. The launch was an instant success. As the company prospered, Mikala considered ideas for expansion. Another of Mikala's friends designed a line of clothing she thought would appeal to her skateboard- ing fans, and Mikala's name on the product would lend it credibility. However, Mikala discovered that the business of shorts and shirts is far different from the business of sports equipment. The price markups were tiny. and the sales channels were different. Three years into the expansion, Soaring Eagle had invested millions of dollars in the line but was losing money. Mikala decided to sell off that part of the business to a clothing company and cut her losses. Soon after that experiment. co-founder Pete Williams pro posed another idea: They should begin selling other types preparing its new recruits to teach not only traditional face- to-face classes, but also hybrid and online classes. This decision has to be made within 15 minutes because the enterprise's largest client just called and asked to meet with Taylor immediately. Taylor is concerned that the school may be on the verge of discontinuing the contract with the enterprise. If that's the case. Taylor wants the managers to help her decide on a counteroffer to win back the client school. Losing this client school is not an option given that it makes up 40 percent of the enterprise's revenue. SOURCE: Adapted irom Judith R. Gordon, A Diagnostic Approach to Organizationoi Behmrior {Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 1933L of sports equipmentinline roller skates and ice skates. Selling equipment for other kinds of sports would produce more growth than the company could obtain by focusing on just one sport. Mikala was doubtful. She was considered one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about skateboarding, but she knew nothing about inline and ice skating. Mikala argued that the company would be better off focusing on the sport in which it offered the most expertise. Surely there were ways to seek growth within that sport or at least to avoid the losses that came from investing in industries in which the company lacked experience. Pete continued to press Mikala to try his idea. He pointed out that unless the company took some risks and expanded into new areas, there was little hope that they could con- tinue to earn much of a return on their investment. Mikala was conflicted. Her takeaway from their failed attempt to sell clothing was that they needed to be careful about expan- sion. But Pete was adamant that they needed to generate new revenue streams. She could go along with Pete and take the chance of losing more money. or she could take her savings and try to buy Pete's share of the company and run Soaring Eagle on her own. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. How do the characteristics of management decisions uncertainty, risk. conflict. and lack of structureaffect the decision facing Mikala Eagle? 2. What steps can Mikala take to increase the likelihood of making the best decision in this situation
