1. What steps in the decision-making process have Don Anglos and Pinnacle taken? Which ones have they not completed?
2. Which decision-making style best describes Don’s approach: directive, analytical, conceptual, or behavioral? Which style best describes Sam Lodge’s approach?
3. What leadership style is Anglos employing? Is it the participation style you’d recommend based on a Vroom- Jago analysis of the situation? Why or why not?
4. Would you recommend that Pinnacle attempt to acquire Hoilman? If so, why? If not, what alternatives would you suggest?

Don Anglos had to decide whether to trust his gut or his head, and he had to make that decision by next week’s board meeting. Either way, he knew he was bound to make at least a member or two of his senior management team unhappy.
The question at hand was whether Pinnacle Co., the small, publicly held Indiana-based machine tool company he led as CEO, should attempt to acquire Hoilman Inc. Hoilman was a company known for the cutting-edge sensor technology and communications software it had developed to monitor robotics equipment. Anglos had just heard a credible rumor that one of Pinnacle’s chief competitors was planning a hostile takeover of the company. Coincidentally, Don Anglos knew Hoilman well because he had recently held exploratory talks about the possibility of a joint venture designed to develop similar technology capable of monitoring a broad range of manufacturing equipment. The joint venture did not work out. But now, by acquiring Hoilman, Pinnacle could develop software that transmitted real-time information on its customers’ equipment, enabling it to set itself apart by providing top-notch service far more sophisticated than its current standard maintenance and service contracts.