Woodhaven Service is a small, independent gas station located in the Woodhaven section of Queens. The Staten has three gasoline pumps and two service bays. The repair facility specializes in automotive maintenance $($oil changes, tune$-$ups, etc.$)$ and minor repairs $($mufflers$,$ shocks absorbers$,$ etc.$).$ Woodhaven generally refers customers who require major work, such as transmission rebuilds and electronics, to shops that are better equipped to handle such repairs. Major repairs are dont inhouse only when both the customer and mechanic agree that this is the best course of action.During the $20$ years that he has owned Woodhaven Service, Harold Mateens competence and fairness have built a loyal customer base of neighborhood residents. In fact, demand for his services have been more than he can reasonably meet, yet the repair end of his business is not especially profitable. Most of his competitors earn the lions share of their profits through repairs, but Harold is making most of his money by selling gasoline. If he could make more money on repairs, Woodhaven would be the most successful service station in the area. Harold believes that Woodhavens weakness in repair profitability is due to the inefficiency of his mechanics, who are paid the industry average of $$500$ per week. While Harold does not think he overpays them, he feels he is not getting his moneys worth.Harolds son, Andrew, is a student at the university, where he has learned the Socratic dictum, To know the Good is to do the Good. Andrew provided his father with a classic text on employee morality, Dr$.$ Weisbrottens Work Hard and Follow the Righteous Way. Every morning for two months, Harold, Andrew, and the mechanics devoted one hour to studying this text. Despite many lively and fascinating discussions on the rights and responsibilities of the employee, productivity did not improve one bit. Harold figured he would just have to go out and hire harder$-$working mechanics.The failure of the Weisbrotten method did not surprise Lisa, Harolds daughter. She knew that Andrews methods were bunk. As anyone serious about business knows, the true science of productivity and management of human resources resides in Professor von Drekkens masterful Modifying Organizational Behavior through Employee Commitment. Yes, employee commitment was the answer to everything! Harold followed the scientific methods to the letter. Yet, despite giving out gold stars, blowing up balloons, and wearing a smiley face button, he found Lisas approach no more successful than Andrews.Compensation PlansHarold thinks that his neighbor Jack Myers, owner of Honest Jacks Pre$-$Enjoyed Autorama, might be helpful. After all, one does not become as successful as Jack without a lot of practical knowledge. Or maybe it is Jacks great radio jingle that does it$.$ Jack tells Harold,Its not the jingle, you idiot! Its the way I pay my guys. Your mechanics make $$500$ a week no matter what. Why should they put out for you? Because of those stupid buttons? My guysmy guys get paid straight commission and nothing more. They do good by me and I do good by them. Otherwise, let em starve.Look, its real simple. Pay em a percent of the sales for the work they do$.$ If you need to be a nice guy about it$,$ make that percent so that if sales are average, then they make their usual $$500.$ But if sales are better, they get that percent extra. This way they dont get hurt but got real reason to help you out.This hurt Harold. He really liked those buttons. Still, Jack did have a point. Straight commission, however, seemed a little radical. What if sales were bad for a week? That would hurt the mechanics.Harold figured that it would be better to pay each mechanic a guaranteed $$300$ a week plus a commission rate that would, given an average volume of business, pay them the extra $$200$ that would bring their wage back to $$500.$ Under this system, the mechanics would be insulated from a bad week, would not be penalized for an average week, and would still have the incentive to attempt to improve sales. Yes, this seemed more fair.On the other hand, maybe Jack knows only about the used car business, not about business in general. Harold figured that he should look for an incentive pay method more in line with the way things are done in the auto repair business. Perhaps he should pay his mechanics as he is paid by his customersby the job. It is standard practice for service stations to charge customers a flat rate for the labor associated with any job. The number of labor hours for which the customer is charged is generally taken from a manual that outlines expected labor times for specific jobs on specific vehicles. The customer pays for these expected hours regardless of how many actual labor hours are expended on the job. Many shops also pay their mechanics by the job. Harold thinks that this approach makes sense because it links the mechanics pay to the labor charges paid by the customer. Questions:This case presents some popular approaches to alleviating agency costs. Although certain aspects of each of these methods are consistent with the views presented in the text, none of these methods is likely to succeed. Discuss the similarities and differences between the ideas of the chapter andDr. Weisbrottens approach.Harold Mateens idea of hiring harder$-$working mechanics.Discuss the expected general effect on agency costs at Woodhaven Service of the new incentive compensation plans. How might they help Woodhaven? Assuming that Harold wants his business to be successful for a long time to come, what major divergent behaviors would be expected under the new compensation proposals? How damaging would you expect these new behaviors to be to a business such as Woodhaven Service? Also, present a defense of the following propositions:Harolds plan offers less incentive for divergent behavior than Honest Jacks.Limiting a mechanics pay by placing an upper bound of $$750$ per week on his or her earnings reduces the incentive for divergent behavior.Suppose Harold owned a large auto repair franchise located in a department store in a popular suburban shopping mall. Suppose also that this department store is a heavily promoted, well$-$known national chain that is famous for its good values and easy credit. How should Harolds thinking on incentive compensation change? What if Harold did not own the franchise but was only the manager of a company$-$owned outlet?In this problem, it is assumed that knowledge and decision rights are linked. The mechanic who services the car decides what services are warranted. Discuss the costs and benefits of this fact for Woodhaven Service and the independently owned chain$-$store repair shop.Suppose that Woodhavens problems are not due to agency costs. Briefly describe a likely problem that is apparent from the background description in this problem.