Effective Workplace Discipline and Grievance Management

1
Getting Results

Week 009 - Getting Results

Short Quiz 007
Type of Test: Case Studies

Integrity vs. Getting Results

1. Was anyone harmed by Dave’s sales tactic, and if so, how?

Dave's sales technique did not harm anyone. Nevertheless, he didn't follow sales ethics
which could hurt the company’s reputation.

2. How would Dave’s sales method go over at your company, and why?
a. Would he be praised for his creative way of hitting the sales target?

In the beginning, he would be praised for his creative way of hitting the sales target.
However, knowing about how he did it, he would be reprimanded for his action due to misleading
the customer and damaging the company’s reputation.

b. Or would he be chastised for violating the code of ethics?

But in the long run, if the customer knew that Dave used a tactic to sell him all sizes by
saying that there was a sample size that was inexistent, it would make him spread negative
feedback about Dave's company. Negative publicity would hurt the company's reputation and
therefore, lose customers' trust leading to no one buying from the company.

c. Explain your answer in terms of specific values at your company.

Our company values sales ethics over number of sales. Sales ethics involves a set of
behaviors that assure that a salesperson or marketer treats every lead, prospect, and customer
with fairness, honesty, and integrity. Moreover, by putting customers first, you respect their
choices and opinions rather than forcing them on selling by any means necessary. In the long run,
ethical behavior in sales means building loyalty and trust with customers because doing the right
thing results in higher customer spending.

2. What do you think the company should have done about the situation when it first happened, if
anything?

The company may not have any policy regarding that specific situation. However, it was not
ethically correct. A company expects its employees to perform their duties with the utmost care since
Assessments
 they do not represent themselves but their entire organization. In this regard, Dave did not follow
ethical values and therefore, compromised the company's reputation as a trustworthy organization. A
company builds trust after a long time. By being a top salesperson, other salespeople look up to him
and follow his example.

These are the steps the company should have done:

First, take the appropriate action against Dave and apologize to the customer. Give the customer
an apology and inform him that action is being taken against the employee, and assure him that it
wouldn't happen again. In this way, the company has started to work on improving its public image.

Second, create strategies for non-compliant behavior. Identify areas where challenging
situations are usually encountered in day-to-day operations and how to handle them before a problem
develops. The directions must be clear and simple for employees to follow. I

Lastly, the company has to instill in its employees a culture of integrity within and outside the
organization. Furthermore, there should be compliance policy training for all employees.

3. What do you think about this response: “Dave’s technique was creative and bold. If he had sold the
sample size, I bet he could have easily convinced the company to start making it for the customer.
It would’ve been a win for everyone.”

It would be a win for everyone if the customer was the one who asked for products in
sample sizes, and Dave would inform the company if they could make a sample size for the
customer. However, there are many factors before a company manufactures its product. If it were
profitable, then it would be a win for everybody. Instead, Dave sold the sample size without
discussing with the customer whether he liked the product in sample sizes.

4. How could Dave have handled the situation differently with both integrity and getting results?

As for integrity, Dave should have informed the customer that the fabric softeners have four
sizes only. He could have listed the benefits of having all four sizes available in his chain of stores
with evidence to back them up, such as the target market for the different sizes of fabric softener.

Numbers are everything in retail, and buyers will undoubtedly question salespeople on
metrics such as units sold per week, number of returns, profit margins, and sales compared to the
competition. Therefore, Dave should know the data of that company, its competitors, and their
customers and use this knowledge when selling. Furthermore, to make the most of the buyer's
time, he should create PowerPoint slides to present data that shows why the fabric softener with
all four sizes will sell. The presentation should explain Dave's company, its accomplishments, its
product history, its proposed distribution plan, and any marketing campaign in social media, tv,
radio, and print ads.

Getting Results vs. Safety

1. Should Doug be fired if he continues to refuse to use the secondary switch?

If Doug refuses to use the secondary switch, he should be given a warning and explain
to him why he must follow company safety rules. Being a safe workplace does not only protect
workers from injury, it can also lower injury costs, diminish absenteeism and turnover, boost
productivity and quality, and increase employee morale. Therefore, safety is good for business,
and protecting workers is the right thing to do. Furthermore, Doug should be assured that
 Effective Workplace Discipline and Grievance Management
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Getting Results

everything has been considered by the company when the secondary switch was installed,
especially the financial aspect.
However, if he refuses to follow company safety policy, the company has no recourse
but to fire him. But since he has been with the company for 30 years, he should be given the
option of early retirement with appreciation award for his long years of service to the
company.

2. Should HR just make an exception for Doug since he’s never gotten injured on that machine
before?

No, despite not having any accidents in the past 30 years makes him overly confident
and might be complacent, putting him more at risk. Being well-experienced does not make you
invincible from accidents. Besides, he is a bad example to other co-workers by not following
company safety rules.

3. Is there any way to handle this situation to both get results and be safe?

The Human Resource manager should explain to Doug the safety measures of the
company for all their employees. Furthermore, the company is willing to make the worst
financial decision by installing the secondary button for his safety. Despite all these warnings
and explanations, Doug is still not convinced, that he should be given options, such as (1)
transfer to another task with supervision, and (2) early retirement.

Transparency vs. Getting Results

1. What do you think about the sales VP asking their customer to accept early shipments? Is that
okay? Or is that cheating somehow?

Asking customers to accept early shipments is cheating to meet the company's targets.
It does not comply with any company's ethics and standards.

2. Does your company ever ask its customer to accept early shipments?

In my company, we do not ask our customers to accept early shipments because we

prioritize building trust and transparency, both our company's core values.

3. What do you think about the plant manager padding his budget, knowing that he’ll come in
under?

This practice called sandbagging is not ethical. Sandbagging is a strategy of lowering the
expectations of a company or an individual's strengths and core competencies to produce
relatively greater-than-anticipated results. Such practices are prevalent among multinational
companies that have to meet budget forecasts. In case they don't meet their targets, they resort
to sandbagging to reach their profit goals.
Assessments
4. What, if anything, could the company do to keep these conflicts from arising in the future?
First, the company has to have a good Project Management Office (PMO) to create
proper controls and budget forecasts.

To keep these conflicts from arising in the future, do the following practices:

1. Direct workforce to follow the company's core values.

2. Create and implement internal audit policies.
3. Hire external audit companies to ensure strict policy implementation.
4. Install order tracking mechanism to monitor orders being placed and delivered.
5. Secure PMO presence to ensure cost budget appropriated to its department or
project.