Case study story

Conrad generally liked his drive to the office because he could focus on his priorities and plan his day. A year ago, he had selected his company's location based on the low real estate prices in this rural area and the possibilities it presented for expansion. Today, however, he just wanted the 35-mile commute to end quickly. He was busy and concerned about missing a production deadline coming in just six weeks. Despite having overcome every major obstacle he had faced the last couple of years, he was not sure he would succeed this time.

The company had grown quickly under his watchful eye but he was not eager for his 10 AM meeting with another job candidate. His initial hires were people he had known or were recommended by his new employees, but he still had conducted hundreds of interviews (and screened even more resumes). Over the last few months, however, every job candidate had been a complete stranger to him. Furthermore, he was becoming less confident in his hiring decisions since most candidates lately were no longer the "creative types" he could relate to best. He knew the next person hired would be the company's 100^th employee. In addition, the generous referral bonus he offered to his employees ($2500, paid after a new hire had been employed for three months) was depleting the company of cash at a rate much faster than anticipated. He was not looking forward to announcing that the referral program was going to end today, effective immediately.

Conrad pulled into his reserved parking spot and made his way to the entrance. He swiped in and made a mental note that the lobby floor needed to be waxed. The chatter from employees on Silly Toys' expansive open floor revolved around the local hospital's fundraiser the other night and how the event was filled to capacity. As Conrad proceeded to his corner office, he heard Olivia mention to Marques that she needed to drop off several boxes full of used books she had collected from her colleagues. Apparently, the library was preparing for a used book sale.

Upon entering, Conrad glanced at the calendar in his office and noted it was two weeks before Columbus Day, which would mark his young company's six-month anniversary. Although sales of Silly Toys' hit product had skyrocketed, Conrad wondered if they would soon abate and was eager to see the latest creative ideas from the toy designers. He was pleased with many of the concepts they had presented last week, although a few of them would likely require longer assembly times than their existing products. He had forecast a small profit of approximately $75,000 but knew the upcoming holiday season would make-or-break the company's fiscal year. George, the Senior Vice President of Production, had projected that the next "hit toy" coming off the production line in 6 weeks could yield the company a profit of up to $4 million if the market was as favorable as it was with the last product. However, pressures from competitors that had more established supply chains, production processes, and distribution systems could result in a market loss if Silly Toys could not produce the right product quickly enough. If that happened, then the new product may not sell as desired and could yield an overall loss of $1 million. At this point, George suggested that either the favorable or unfavorable market had a 50% likelihood of occurring. George had also mentioned that his friend in the Purchasing department told him that one of their primary suppliers was having financial problems and was seeking a new loan from the bank. Conrad did not know George's friend very well. In fact, he tried to steer clear of everyone from Purchasing because all of their requests and "good ideas" were too costly. Even the CFO agreed with him on that.

Conrad reviewed his agenda, which included reviewing the sales figures from last week, finalizing the company's mission statement, approving another vacation request, and re-evaluating the company's strategic positioning and priorities. He had less than three hours until the interview. His phone buzzed with an email from Natalie. Natalie who?, he thought. He opened the email and read that Silly Toys' distribution company had been sold to a larger corporation and the new management team had assigned Natalie to handle the Silly Toys account. Natalie wanted to schedule a meeting to revise the existing contract so the dates aligned with her company's fiscal year. She also mentioned she was surprised to see how little the previous distributor had been charging Silly Toys, especially given the company's remote location.

Laura knocked on Conrad's door and asked him if he had some time to talk. Over the next few minutes, Laura, the lead toy designer, explained how the local Children's Clothing Foundation (the CCF) was struggling to find a new major sponsor for its dinner fundraiser next week. Laura, who also volunteered at the not-for-profit CCF, asked Conrad if Silly Toys could be a major sponsor. Laura suggested that spending $100,000 could help with Silly Toys' publicity and networking, which she estimated would be worth $500,000 in local goodwill and future contracts. Conrad politely told Laura he would think about it and get back to her tomorrow.

1) What are the relevant topics in this case study and explain their importance.

2) Demonstrate your understanding of ethics by describing the ethical dilemmas in this case study.

3) Identify and apply the most useful [mgmt] decision-making tools to address the issues presented in the case study.

4) Based on your analysis of the case facts, relevant topics, ethical dilemmas and decision tool results, make recommendations and explain how you arrived at them.