Case 1: First Day on the Job. . .

Trial by Fire

Sara Brown just became manager of Brennans Office Supply Store. The
BrennanCompany owns ten such stores in the Midwest. Saras store, which is
located in thedowntown area on a busy street, has an inventory of over one million
dollars andover20,000 square feet of floor space.

On her first day of work, Sara is inundatedwithproblems. A very expensive custom-

ordered desk that was delivered last weekreceived a number of scratches during
unpacking, and the stockroom managerwants to know what he should do. She just
discovered that the store has not yetpaid the utility bills that were due at the end of
last month, and she realizes that thestore has been habitually late paying its bills.
The accounts receivable departmenttells her that it has had an abnormally high
number of delinquent accounts over thepast few months, and it wants to know what
action should be taken. There is a largepile of boxes in the storeroom from last week
that have yet to be opened andinventoried. The impression she has been getting all
morning from the 30employees is that they are all unhappy and dislike working at the
store.

To topthings off, shortly after lunch, a large delivery truck pulls up to the front of the
storeand double-parks, blocking traffic. The driver comes into the store and
announcesthat he has a shipment of 20 new executive desks. Where does Sara
want themplaced? The employees tell Sara that this shipment was not due until next
week andthere isnt any place to put them right now. Outside shehears horns of the
angrydrivers as the traffic jam grows. What should Sara do?

Carry out a K. T. Situation Analysis on the Saras situation.

 Case 2: The Long Commute

The Adams family of four lives east of Los Angeles in a middleclasscommunity. Tom
Adams commute to work is 45 miles each way to downtownL.A. and he is not in a
car or van pool. He has been thinking about changing to a job closerto his home but
has been working for over a year on a project that, if successfullycompleted, could
lead to a major promotion. Unfortunately, there is a major defect inthe product which
has yet to be located and corrected. Tom must solve the problem inthe very near
future because the delivery date promised to potential customers is a monthaway.

Toms financial security is heavily dependent on this promotion because of

risingcosts at home. Bothchildren need braces for their teeth, he is in need of a new
car (itbroke down twice on the freeway this past fall), the house is in need of
painting, and thereis a water leak in the basement that he has not been able to
repair.

Sarah, Toms wife, a mechanical engineer, has been considering getting a part-
timejob, but there are no engineering jobs available in the community. Full-time
positionsare available in Northern L.A., but this would pose major problems with
respect tochauffeuring and managing the children. There are a couple of day-care
centers in thecommunity, but rumor has it they are very substandard. In addition, last
year, their son,Alex was accepted as a new student by the premier piano teacher in
the area and thereis no public transportation from their home to his studio. Melissa is
very sad at thethought of giving up her YMCA swimming team and her girl scout
troop, which bothmeet after school.

Carry out a K. T. Situation Analysis on the Adams familys predicaments.