Nancy Taggart worked in the customer service department at the Xemas Company. The Xemas Company manufactured industrial air conditioning systems and replacement parts for these systems. Xemas sold its products to large regional distributors, which, in turn, supplied and supported independent dealers throughout the United States and Canada.n
One night, Nancy received a call from one of Xemas’s dealers who seemed unduly agitated. The dealer said he had a customer who needed a part for his air conditioning system right away and the dealer didn’t have the part in stock. He claimed he had tried to reach his distributor for the past two hours, but he was unable to get through on the phone. He asked if Nancy could send the part overnight and then bill the distributor. The charge would then be included on the invoice the distributor sent the dealer at the end of the month.n
Because it was past the distributor’s normal operating hours, Nancy knew she couldn’t reach anyone there. Furthermore, Nancy knew something was amiss, as Xemas had discontinued this type of shipping and billing practice because distributors had complained. They wanted to control all shipments to reduce the chance of selling to a bad credit risk.n
But even though Nancy knew the rules, she decided to break them, based on the seemingly urgent nature of the situation. The dealer said the customer needed the part immediately. Nancy decided customer service was the most important issue involved in the situation, so she sent the part out promptly.n
The next day, the local distributor was called. It turned out the dealer wasn’t a regular customer of the distributor. Because of this situation, the distributor refused to pay for the part. While Xemas would try to get the dealer to pay directly to them, for the time being the company was out $150, the cost of the part. To make sure the books balanced, Nancy wrote out a personal check for $150 to cover the cost of the part and sent it to billing.n
Within days, Nancy received a phone call from one of the firm’s executive vice presidents, Ramon Hernandez. Ramon told Nancy that he had received a call from a supervisor in the billing department. The person he spoke to was irate and insisted that something he done about this employee, Nancy Taggart, who had broken company rules. Ramon then asked Nancy for an explanation for her actions. After hearing Nancy’s story, Ramon stated that he agreed with the billing supervisor concerning the seriousness of the situation, and that actions did indeed need to be taken. He informed Nancy that she would hear from him the next day regarding those actions.n
The next evening, when Nancy arrived at work, a letter awaited her from Ramon. With a feeling of dread, Nancy opened the letter. Inside was a check for $150. Attached to the check was a note from Ramon. The note stated that Nancy was going to be given both a raise and a preferred parking spot.

1. Why was Nancy rewarded for breaking the rules?n
2. What types of behavioral factors might have influenced Nancy’s decision?n
3. Describe what type of decision Nancy had to make. What decision alternatives were available to her besides the one she chose?