Rex Smith went back to his alma mater in February to interview candidates for a position with the accounting division of Spas International (SI), a management corporation that owned and/or managed 60 luxury health clubs. Although Rex was a marketing specialist, he went because SI made it a practice to send its executives to its old schools to recruit. Polly White was interviewed by Rex, and the two seemed to hit it off quite well, as they had a lot in common. As a result of their conversation Polly was offered a trip to SI corporate headquarters in Chicago, where she was extravagantly wined and dined. The Corporate Controller was also impressed with Polly and offered her a position with SI, which she accepted. Polly was given her choice of several cities in which to locate, but it was suggested that opportunities were greatest in the smaller spas because ofgreater responsibility and visibility. On Monday, June 15, Polly began work in Tucson, Arizona. She had been greatly impressed with Rex Smith and her trip to Chicago, and she was looking forward to beginning her new career. Her appearance on the first day of her job, however, surprised her new boss, who was not even aware that she was coming. "Those people at headquarters are so disorgan ized, they drive me crazy," he muttered, and assigned Polly to a menial task, giving her very vague instructions. The next day as Polly a1Tived at work, her boss told her: "Make some order out of these overdue corporate account files and get in touch with those that are out over 60 days. I'm going out of town until Thursday." Polly was appalled by the archaic manual filing system in use, but she did the best she coul.d, putting the files in alphabetic order and chronologically ordering the invoices in each file. On Wednesday she called to set up appointments for the following week with six customers whose accounts were 60 days overdue, explaining that the purpose of the visit was to establish a repayment schedule for their overdue accounts. It took a lot of work and a lot of nerve to call these people, and Polly was very proud of herself when she left for her apartment Wednesday night. Polly arrived at the office early Thursday morning, but her boss was already there. She eagerly explained what she had done, but by the look on his face she knew something was wrong. "I can't visit accounts next week, we're receiving new equipment on Monday and most of those JQ ~ TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT other days I'm tied up too. Didn't you even look at my desk calendar? And another thing, we don't establish a repayment schedule, we pick up a certified check or we go right to the Better Business Bureau. If you aren't sure about something, ask me. You youngsters have no common sense. I don't know what they are teaching you. So damned dependent on computers that you can't even think. You're even worse than the last girl they sent me." Polly was devastated.

Case Study Directions

Purpose: The case study method encourages a thorough analysis of an issue and provides the student with the opportunity to apply HR theory. Student are provided with a case study and will identify the main issue, solution, and will then respond to the case questions. The following format is to be followed when completing a case study.

Part 1: Facts (1 page)

List the pertinent facts. There needs to be an appropriate number of facts to lay the foundation to solve the problem. Do not paraphrase. The facts come directly from the case.

Part 2: Problem Statement (1 sentence)

Identify and write the Problem Statement

This is 1 sentence identifying themajorissuein the case. The sentence should begin with The Company or The Organization.

Example: The Company lacks a/an............ (Identify the issue which is related to HR).

Part 3: The Solution (1 sentence)

This is a sentence that willbegin with The Company or The organization

Example: The Company will create ........... .name the same issue you addressed in the problem statement) Keep in mind that the solution must address the problem identified.

Part 4: Case Study Questions

Answer the questions at the end of the case. Your answers are to be grounded in HR theory. For each question, do the following:

Example:

Question #1 (retype the question from the case here as the heading)

• Answer the question fully using several paragraphs.
• List the chapter(s) and page numbers from your textbook that you referenced to answer the question. In addition to the textbook, you may also research and include the link(s) of an article(s) used. References are required to support the response to the question being answered.

Repeat the steps noted above for each question. Each case will have approximately 3-4 questions.