Question

You are the Head of Production for a large food manufacturer with operations in Australia and New Zealand. The company is renowned for providing healthy food products. After years of poor profits, the new CEO, Alex Lee, started her job with the overriding goal of raising company profitability. In an effort to cut the cost of supplies, the Head of Procurement, Paul Jones, wants to buy supplies from a different, cheaper supplier. You can appreciate his point of view, but you are concerned that cheaper supplies would lower product quality. When you bring this concern to Alex, she says she wants you and Paul to work things out. But her instructions are unclear. 'Sure, cutting costs is good for profits, but we also need to be careful to maintain our reputation for product quality.'