Introduction:

Matt Holland sat back in his cushioned office chair staring at the telephone and the number for Bill Harrington, the Wal-Mart executive who had called two days earlier. Wal-Mart was coming to town and wanted Matt to play a big part in the opening and management of a new local store.

For twenty-two years, Matt had owned and operated Holland Hardware and EasyServe Supermarket, the collective offspring of a family business started one hundred years earlier. He knew that if he accepted Wal-Marts offer it would not only be the end of his family business, but that also of a majority of the other proprietorships in town. The economic consequences would be severely felt in a community long rooted in local business and patronage. However, if he turned down Wal-Mart, Matt knew he might never fulfill the other Holland family tradition dating back 100 years: providing a college education to his children.

As he stared at the telephone, his thoughts alternated: would he fight to continue the legacy of the nickel and dime store that his great grandparents had started 100 years ago, or would he call Mr. Harrington to accept the offer? Matt knew either choice had serious consequences for both his family and his community.

Background:

Matt Holland, 48, was born and raised in Lost Acres, Kansas. Like the four generations before him, he had led a fairly simple life and had lived in Lost Acres all his life, except for four years of college at Ohio State University. He and his wife, Sarah, had four children, ages 14 to 20.

Matts great grandparents had opened the Lost Acres General Store in 1896 at the crossroads of Main Street and Kansas Avenue in the middle of town. The store had been handed down from generation to generation, and Matt had taken it over twenty-two years ago. Although it had always provided a good source of income for the Holland family, over the past decade profits had slowly declined as a result of a weak economy in the Midwest. The Hollands had to work long and hard just to make ends meet.

Over the course of its hundred years, the family business had expanded to include a hardware store. Although Matt had seen his combined workforce decline from a high of seventy-five employees in 1987 to the current level of forty-nine, he still strongly believed in small business and wanted to continue the family tradition.

Aside from his vested interest in his stores, it was very important to Matt to secure a college education for each of his children; yet, lately, the uncertainty of the business made this goal seemingly less attainable. Like all parents, the Hollands wanted to provide a bright future for their children, and they had promised a college education to each child. The eldest, James, was entering his sophomore year at Boston University. The other children had also shown an interest in leaving Lost Acres for college and had talked of settling elsewhere, too.

The Wal-Mart Call:

Two days ago, Matt received a call from Wal-Mart. It had stunned him. Wal-Mart had plans to come to Lost Acres, which was astride the interstate freeway. The community was not accustomed to attention from national companies. It was still very much a community where everyone knew everyone else and liked doing business at local stores.

Bill Harrington, the executive responsible for development of Wal-Mart in the Midwest region, had called. He explained to Matt that Wal-Mart was still in the planning stages for moving into the Lost Acres area. Harrington stated that his company was familiarizing itself with Lost Acres and the surrounding area to determine how best Wal-Mart could "penetrate" the area. "We want to foster a future for Lost Acres," Bill said. He then got right to the point: he wanted to recruit Matt to help in the planning of the store when it opened. Wal-Mart felt that utilizing a local businessman in this capacity would help establish the new store and make the opening smoother. Wal-Marts salary offer to manage the new store would be over twice the amount Matt was currently taking out of the business for family and personal expenses.

Thoughts flew through Matts head as the Wal-Mart executive spoke. Big corporate America was swooping in on Lost Acres, he thought, and this would radically alter both the business landscape and the civic identity of the town. As a two-term president of the local merchant association, Matt knew how important locally owned businesses were to Lost Acres and how they fostered a strong community. Instead of profits being re-invested into the community, profits would now end up in some state two thousand miles away. Matt also thought about the employment consequences of Wal-Mart moving in. He, along with numerous other local business people would inevitably be driven out of business. Although Matt knew that many could expect to find jobs in the new store, he also knew the simple arithmetic: not everyone laid off could be absorbed by Wal-Mart; many would be left without jobs or forced to take low paying jobs. Matt also thought about how his decision would affect his own standing in town. Many would blame him for the failure of several long-standing businesses and for helping to create so much uncertainty in the community. All these thoughts raced through Matts head as Harrington spoke about Wal-Marts big plans.

"You should know that Im carrying on a family business that has been around for 100 years," Matt told Harrington "Im not really in a position to just give it away." Matt quickly envisioned the option of organizing a united front to block Wal-Marts arrival. He knew several members on the city council and was close friends with the mayor. As a leader of the merchant community, maybe he could rally the town and city council to pass an ordinance effectively blocking Wal-Mart.

But at that point, Matt realized the urgency of the situation. He knew that if he didnt take the general manager position then someone else would. Or Wal-Mart might just send one of their own people to open and manage the store. In any case, Wal-Marts impending arrival certainly created more questions than it answered. Matt hung up with Harrington and headed toward the local bar. He knew he needed a stiff drink to digest what had transpired and straighten out what he would do.

The Meeting:

Bill had asked Matt if he could meet with him. He wanted to meet close to Lost Acres, but not in the town, so as to avoid any exposure of Wal-Marts plans to the local community. Matt was to call him back so that they could set up a meeting to discuss his decision. As he thought about calling, his future, his familys future, and the communitys future weighed heavily on his mind.

Assignment:

1. Apply the principles set forth in Chapter 3 and the course module to the scenario. Explain how Matt should make his decision using the ethical frameworks set forth in the textbook.

To earn full points for the assignment, you must identify and apply the principles discussed in the assigned reading and cite the textbook using correct APA citation format. Do not use quotations. I can read the textbook. Paraphrase from the textbook and then correctly cite the textbook. See the Course Schedule for a discussion of how to answer an assignment and cite to APA format.

Assignment Grading: Read and follow the instructions set forth in the Course Schedule under the paragraph heading labeled Assignment Instructions and APA Citation Format. Remember, all information is cumulative in this course.

Problem Instructions: To receive full points for a problem assignment, you must integrate the textbook and course modules into your answer; demonstrate good formatting, grammar and spelling; and, correctly use in-text citations as required by the APA and/or Webster University. Prepare your reply in an academic and scholarly manner. In this course, you must include a page number reference when citing the textbook and other source material for all in-text citations. Do not cut and paste material from the internet or include long quotes from the text as part of your answer. Learn how to properly paraphrase from source material. Draft your answer using objective rather than subjective analysis. Use subheadings to answer each issue separately. Your answer must have no less than 200 words and contain at least four in-text citations to the textbook and/or other source material, at least one of which must be from the textbook and one from the course module.

APA Citation Format / Paraphrasing: In this class, when you cite any reference source, including the textbook, the citation to that source must include not only the author and year of publication but also the page or paragraph number(s) where the information cited in your textual comments can be located. Your job as a student writer is to make verification of facts as easy as possible for your readers, by providing as much information as possible about your research. Providing complete in-text citations for all quotes, paraphrases, and summaries accomplishes that objective and avoids any accusation of plagiarism. Paraphrasing is when you read someone's idea or concept from a source such as the textbook and then put it into your own words. It is perfectly acceptable to paraphrase another author's research if you cite it using an in-text citation, even if those ideas are now restated in your own words.