Problem 2. Career crisis?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 506.

Problem 1. Insider trading.

You are financial traders for Interstellar Securities on the London stock market . You think that one of your colleagues (not present) is guilty of insider trading. Insider trading is when someone has confidential information about something that is going to happen which has not yet been made public, and uses this information, for example to buy shares knowing that their value is going to rise. You colleague has been using information from a friend of theirs who works in a manufacturing company that is going to be bought by another company. The dealer has been illegally buying shares in the company. If the authorities find out about the insider trading, they will punish your firm and its reputation will suffer.

What should you do about your insider trader colleagues? They are in their mid-30s and have worked for Interstellar for 10 years and made a lot of money for the firm. However, this is not the first time that you suspect them of ‘irregular' activities. They have a very powerful personality and could cause a lot of trouble if dealt with in a way that they think is unfair. And if they leave the firm, they would probably join another company and take business away from Interstellar.

You are Chief Engineers in a construction company. One of your colleagues (not present) has been behaving strangely recently. He has started taking a lot of days off, or arriving late and then leaving after lunch. You have lost some important contracts because your colleague has not provided key figures on time, or has provided the wrong figures. On the contracts in progress, your colleague has made some big mistakes and some work has had to be redone, meaning that projects will not be finished on time, losing a lot of money for the firm. You suspect that he has problems in his private life. What should you do with your colleague, who is 3 years from retiring age?

3.Work in groups. What should you do in each of these situations?

1) The best-qualified person for the post of Sales Manager is female. However, your customers would prefer a man. If you appoint a woman, you will probably lose some sales.

2) Your company has a new advertising campaign which stresses its honesty, fairness and ethical business behaviour. It has factories in several countries where wages are very low. At present it is paying workers the local market rate.

3) A colleague working in a hospital has been making mistakes at work recently. This is because she has a serious illness. You are her friend and the only person at work who knows this. She has asked you to keep it a secret.

4. Imagine yourself in the following situations. In each case you can either agree to the suggested action, or refuse. Explain your choice.

1) Everybody expects the government to change at the next election. The Chairman suggests that all
the members of the board should start ‘wining and dining' politicians expected to form the next
government - i.e. inviting them for expensive restaurant meals, in order to explain to them the
company's situation and problems.

2) Someone suggests that the easiest way to find out what competitors are doing is secretly to pay one of their staff to take pictures of their production processes.

3) The manager of a foreign subsidiary explains that to get a quick planning permission to build a new factory it is necessary to give a few cash 'presents' to local officials. $10,000 will save a year of bureaucratic difficulties.

4) Whenever there's a north wind, foul-smelling sulphur dioxide emissions from one of your factories pollute a nearby town. The local authorities ask you to fit filters on your chimneys, but this will cost at least $300,000, the equivalent of six months' profit.

5) You could save 15% of your production costs by closing a factory in a small town where you are a major employer, and relocating to a cheaper developing country. This would result in 1500 people losing their jobs in one town, and 1200 jobs being created in another.

6) You discover that one of your suppliers in a developing country employs children as young as nine years old in its factory, in appalling working conditions. They say that if you cancel your orders they will have to close the factory and the whole village will lose this major source of income.

7) Your products are now of such high quality that they last for at least ten years, and your sales are
consequently lower than they used to be when your products were less durable. Someone suggests using cheaper components that won't last quite so long.

8) You have produced a huge quantity of toys under an exclusive contract to tie in with a major new
Hollywood movie. But just before the film is released, you discover that pieces of the toy can be broken off and that young children could swallow them and even choke to death.

9) Your major competitor is about to manufacture a product using a revolutionary new production process. Someone suggests advertising for a Production Manager, even though the job is not available, hoping your competitor's staff might apply, and give you some useful information in an interview.