Question

read the scenario and answer these questions

Scenario A: Product Manager You work as an assistant product manager in Marketing. You make $85,457 per year. Your group is responsible for the launch of the Universe 2.0, a new breakthrough telephone which is critical to the company's success. You signed a contract with a small design company to come up with a sales brochure. This company's owner and sole professional is a single mother, and you know she is struggling to get business. You have worked with the design company over the last few months and you like the design and the work but haven't given your final approval because it needed just a few more "tweaks." Because of some costly litigation due to a faulty Universe 1.0 charger design and the company's inability to borrow money against its line of credit due to a huge write-off of obsolete inventory, your boss tells you the Company is cutting expenses dramatically. Therefore, he wants you to cancel the contract. The contract you signed with the design firm provides, very clearly in bold type, that your company owes the design company nothing unless you have "approved a final design and that the design is delivered to the company with camera-ready art. Your law department confirms that you have good legal cause not to pay under the contract. By the way, your group has already done a great job of managing expenses and is close to hitting its bonus target based upon keeping expenses low. If you can save the Company the $30,000 that otherwise would have been paid as part of the design contract, you will get your year-end bonus of $10,000. You could really use the cash!

Answer 1

1) The moral is highlighting the Henry Fayol's one of the 14 fundamental principles of management that is subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest . I will forget my own bonus and work for the betterment of my organization as it is my ethical duty to support and cooperate to this organization. What i am today just because of this duty and responsibility to manage the work team.

2) The two alternatives are to cancel the contract or to continue with design contract.

Option one is based on the reasoning that design firm is not delivering quality offerings and hence as per legal standards we are not liable to pay anything on the termination of order or contract.

On the other hand , the work group which is working hard to achieve the bonus by lowering the cost through various methods and applications .

In this way, both alternatives have its own merits as well as demerits.

3) I used to continue the contract with the company as in business relationships with stakeholders like suppliers, customers etc. matters a lot. I called a meeting with the supply or support team of the design company and then requested them to make a promise for mutual win win situation. I may offer a postponement of the current order till the business conditions get back on its normal track.