No matter how much you plan and try to control the business, there will always be situations that require you to react to things going wrong.

The Scenario: Assume that it is 3pm on a Friday. A customer calls and says that the shipment of 25 computers you sent a week ago has not arrived. The customer is frantic as the computers are needed by noon on Monday. If you fail to deliver the computers by then, you will lose the customer (and future sales) to a competitor. Below are descriptions of how four different managers chose to handle this crisis.

Raven Raven accepts the reality that the shipment of computers is lost and she shouldn't waste time tracking it down. She sees no alternative but to put together a new shipment and send it out immediately. She expects all workers to pitch in and stay late to prepare the new shipment.

Emile Emile considers the possibility that the original shipment might be recovered as this would save everyone the trouble of having to prepare a new shipment. He puts together a team to track down the shipment. At the same time, he puts together another team to work out a backup plan. He goes back and forth between the two teams, trying to inconvenience everyone as little as possible.

Emma Emma tries to track down the original shipment because no matter what happens it will have to be located. She sees putting together another shipment as the only reliable solution. At the same time, she is going to develop a strategy for evaluating shipping operations to ensure this problem doesn't come up again.

Mohammed Mohammed writes off the original shipment and feels in reality there's no time to waste looking for it. He polls his workers to see who can work late to put together a new shipment and if no one steps up, he will do it himself.

The Dilemma The decision about how to handle the missing shipment of computers made by each manager has some merit. Now you need to answer the question... What would you do? The Guidelines Set the context and identify the manager you think took the best course of action. Then preview your three reasons for choosing that manager in the last sentence of the first paragraph. That is, the last sentence in your first paragraph should look like this: I think [name] took the best course of action because [reason 1], [reason 2], and [reason 3].

Explain the first reason you chose this manager

Explain the second reason you chose this manager

Explain the third reason you chose this manager

Explain what you think would be the "perfect" course of action and why