You are the new vice president for human resources of a company that has not been performing well, and everyone, including yourself, has a mandate to deliver results. The pressure has never been greater. Shareholders are angry after 31 months of a tough market that has left their stock underwater. Many shareholders desperately need stock performance to pay for their retirement. Working for you is a 52-year-old manager with two kids in college. In previous evaluations, spineless executives told him he was doing fine, when he clearly was not, and his performance is still far below par. If you are to show others in the company that you are willing to make tough decisions, you feel you must fire this individual. Question: Who's going to suffer: the firm and ultimately shareholders whose retirements are in jeopardy, or a nice guy who's been lied to for 20 years. 7 A BIFF T E E % Case study 1 1 - . - 1 - - - - 11 ! ! ! 1 1 11 i ! 11 - - 11 1 1 1 11 11 1 1 1 1 - 11 - - - - - - 1 1 1 II 11 - - - 1