4. Think about how the decision-making technique you chose affected the outcome of your decision. Do you think your collective decision would have been different if you had used, say, dialectical inquiry instead of the stepladder technique? Because of your company’s success, the end-of-theyear accounting review is usually an upbeat occasion, and this December is no different. Your company manufactures an innovative kickstand that reduces injuries by keeping a child’s bike from falling all the way to the ground. After the device was written up in a parents’ magazine recently, sales to specialty bike shops—your primary customers—

have started to climb. Despite the increased demand, you can still make kickstands to order.

At a meeting with your management team, you remark that although sales are increasing at a slow but steady rate, the company still has a large amount of excess capacity.

A colleague agrees and then enthusiastically announces,

“I know how to take care of that. Let’s sell to Wal-Mart!”

A hush falls over the meeting. Becoming a Wal-Mart supplier would mean honing your current distribution process into a fi nely tuned, perfect delivery operation