The Pig$$s Pen

The Pig$$s Pen is a local restaurant that specializes in pork barbeque and craft beers. When it first opened in $1986,$ the menu was very basic, the dining area was small, and there were four beers on tap. The bar sat twelve with two nineteen$-$inch televisions located, near the center, overhead. Business was slow in the beginning, but with a strong marketing campaign, and by word of mouth, the Pig$$s Pen began to see a surge in customers. By $1992,$ it was evident that there was a need to expand or risk alienating loyal patrons as it became more and more difficult to be seated. The first phase of construction was completed in $1994$ with a state$-$of$-$the$-$art dining$/$bar facility that could hold up to $140$ people at one time.

In $1999,$ ownership decided that the business could again be expanded by increasing bar space, appealing to local sports fans, and by adding thirty$-$two televisions. The bar menu was expanded to include $20$ beers on tap along with a wide variety of wines and liquor. Finally, as business continued to soar into the $2000$s$,$ a Brewmaster was hired and facilities were built so the Pig$$s Pen could brew craft beers. Two specialty beers, The Hog$$s Nose and The Squeaky Pig, are now bottled and sold locally. Football season is a tremendous driver of revenue each fall. In fact, for the bar area, on a Saturday or Sunday, one must arrive by $10$:$30$ AM in order to get a seat $$in the barn$$ as the bar area is affectionately known.

Unfortunately, all of this attention also has some downfalls although one would not know it looking in from the outside. In order to keep all menus $$fresh$$ in the eyes of the customer, members of management regularly meet with vendor representatives to sample new food items, beers, wines and liquors. Sam Crosby, Pig Pen$$s Executive Chef, will often work closely with Bar Manager, Todd Scott, to pair food and beverages on the menu. They have worked together for approximately $8$ years and have also become close friends. The pair also have become close friends with a few vendor representatives over the years. In fact, each regularly accepts tickets to sporting events given out by those representatives. In return, Crosby and Scott often instruct servers to comp purchases made by those same representatives when they visit the Pig$$s Pen. Servers love this as they usually receive large gratuities in such instances.

Carla Green, General Manager of the Pig$$s Pen, has always turned a blind eye toward the relationships between the Executive Chef, Bar Manager, and the vender reps. However, in the past few months she believes the restaurants bottom line and food and beverage costs are now being negatively affected. Green believes that Crosby and Scott are not looking out for the best interests of the restaurant when negotiating food and beverage prices. In the last ownership meeting that she sat in on$,$ one investor was not happy about the $35\%$ food cost and the $29\%$ beverage cost. On top of this, Crosby was recently given suite tickets in the professional basketball team$$s arena, became intoxicated, and has been accused of sexual harassment by a server whom he took with him.

While business continues to boom, Carla wonders how much longer it will. She sees the situation as a house of cards and ready to collapse at any time. Furthermore, the employee handbook has not been updated since $1996$ and it was something that she was asked to do when hired four years ago by the ownership group. She is worried that if she informs the ownership group on what has been transpiring at this point, some of the backlash will come back on her and she does not want, or can afford, to lose her job. She is currently caring for her ailing father which is a tremendous financial burden. She has contemplated simply quitting, but fears she would not find another job that pays as well.

Questions:

$1.$ What is the first thing you would do if you were in Carla Green$$s shoes?

$2.$ Ultimately, who is responsible for the behavior of those involved?