Reference no: EM132802809
THE GOLD WATCH WORK SHEET
The Situation
John is a thirty-five-year-old salesman with Anderson and Sons, Inc., an established wholesaler of office equipment. He lives near Anderson's headquarters in Chicago with his wife and two adopted children.
On a recent sales tour abroad, John met J.R., an office-equipment supplier who was interested in a line of photocopiers worth $500,000. J.R. told John that he would give John an order for the photocopiers in return for a gold Rolex watch worth $13,000. J.R. showed John the watch he wanted in a catalog, and John said that he would see what he could do.
On returning to Chicago, John told Charles, his boss, about the proposition, asking if he could go ahead and buy the Rolex in order to obtain the order. Charles was outraged and said, "This is immoral! It's not decent business practice to offer bribes.
We're living in a civilized society. If I find out that you've been bribing customers to get orders, I'll fire you on the spot! Have I made myself clear?"
After the confrontation with Charles, John left the office and drove to the home of Terry, his friend and colleague. He explained his plight and then said, "What can I do, Terry? It's an important order, and there's a chance of repeat business; J.R. is interested in office furniture and typewriters as well as more photocopiers in the future."
Terry thought for a moment and then said, "John, why don't you finance the deal yourself? Buy the stupid watch and land the contract. With your commission and any future business, you'll get a decent return on your investment. Don't even tell Charles; he's so ridiculously old-fashioned-he has no idea how to do business in this day and age."
John left Terry's home, went to his car, thought for a few minutes, and then drove to his bank. Mr. Gray, the bank manager and a close friend of John's father, listened to John's reasons for wanting the $13,000 loan. Despite the fact that John's checking account was overdrawn, he agreed to give John the loan immediately.
The next day John went to a jewelry store near his office and asked a clerk for the specific Rolex watch requested by J.R. While he was waiting for the clerk to bring him the watch, Jane, Charles's secretary, came into the store to buy a birthday present for her mother. Unobserved by John, she watched as the clerk gave the watch to John in exchange for $13,000 cash. In her astonishment she forgot about finding a present for her mother, hurried back to Anderson and Sons, burst into Charles's office, and asked, "How can a salesman who earns $30,000 a year afford a $13,000 watch?"
Charles was furious. He rushed out of his office and found John just returning from the jewelry store. "You're fired!" he shouted.
"Let me explain . . . ," muttered John.
"No excuses! I warned you!"
At that moment a Telex came through; it read as follows: "NO LONGER INTERESTED IN PHOTOCOPIER DEAL. FOUND ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIER. J.R."
Instructions: Rank order the following characters from 1 (least objectionable) to 6 (most objectionable) and then complete the questions below:
______John
______J.R.
______Charles
______Terry
______Mr. Gray
______Jane
Questions to Answer by the Group:
- What similarities in rankings arose among the members of your subgroup? What differences arose?
- What issues seemed most important to your subgroup?
- How did value conflicts within your subgroup affect the consensus process? How was conflict over values resolved?
- What might be some ways to negotiate value conflicts when they arise in your subgroup?