Holy Cow is a producer of milk products, including an entire line of frozen ice cream. In fact , the company has three major product lines: milk , creams, and ice cream products. There is a manager in charge of each product line. While they all sell into the same grocery stores, they call on the stores separately, causing some confusion for the customer who ends up with three sales calls and three invoices for the Holy Cow products. It would be better if the divisions worked together to pool their selling resources, but the incentive system rewards them for individual performance.

 Harry Dugan, president of Holy Cow, does not believe in keeping a lot of numbers around. Het rusts his managers to do the right thing and increase sales for the company. As long as the bot tom line keeps growing, Harry is happy. He does not really know which product line is the best performer or the worst performer; he just knows that the company keeps growing. That being said, Harry does have favorites. Jim Rut man, head of ice cream products, is actually Harry’s son- in- law. So when performance bonus time comes around, Jim always gets more than his fair share. This is a point of friction between the managers. Andy White, head of milk sales, has been keeping t rack of company sales on his own and knows that his volume is up while ice cream products are flat . Cream products are struggling, with the latest fads in health foods causing people to veer away from the heavier cream products for substitutes that are lower in fat and cholesterol.

Andy has been trying to get Harry to pay at tension to his sales numbers, but Harry simply is not interested. He says he gauges who is working the hardest and pays out the bonus money based on this subjective judgment . 

Andy is getting frustrated because it seems he always ends up on the short end of the bonus pool. Even though he is Holy Cow’s only professional salesperson, he is thinking of leaving the company for a competitor that uses more modern management methods. This would leave Holy Cow in terrible shape because Andy has been the driving force behind company growth. Andy tries one more time to have a conversation with Harry.

Andy : Harry, can I have a moment of your time?

Harry : Sure, come on in, Andy. What do you have for me today?

Andy : I wanted to share the sales volume and profit numbers with you that I’ve been keeping for the company. They show that milk products are responsible for the profit we’ve been earning. Ice cream sales are flat and cream products are hitting new lows due to healthy-eating trends. I just wanted to know if this information could be factored into this year’s evaluations and bonus decisions.

Harry : You know I don’t like those fancy number games you play, Andy. It’s one of the things that really bothers me about you. I want you guys to cooperate. Like Jim always says, we’re in this together. Your numbers show that you’re doing the best , but if Jim put the numbers together, I bet you wouldn’t look so good. You don’t seem to be as busy as Jim, or Pete in cream products for that matter. If you could only work harder, maybe your bonus would grow.

Andy : I am working hard, Harry, I just also work smart . I even try to help out ice cream and cream products when I’m in the stores if I know they are running a special that they haven’t told the store manager about . It does me no good to be a team player around here, though, because it doesn’t seem to matter what I do, I don’t do well at bonus time.

Harry : I’ve told you that you need to work harder, look busy when I walk by to check things out . You’re always out and about , not sitting at your desk making sales calls like the other guy s. You work in the field instead of leaving the field to your sales associates. You’re a manager, not a doer, at least in my book . So act like one!

Andy : I have a feeling I’m going to have to tender my resignation, then, Harry, because I do work hard. That’s why the milk products numbers are the best . I don’t believe in sitting behind a desk when there is sales work to do. Guess I need to find a company where I fit in better. Consider this my two weeks’ notice, Harry.

Harry : You can leave today, Andy. I’ll promote one of your guys to your position and we’ll keep on growing because I have Jim keeping t rack of things for me. Sorry to see you go, but I wish you the best . With that , Andy turned away and trudged back to his office to collect his personal belongings. He had tried his best , but without any rewards. He’d get on the phone to Holy Cow’s competitor as soon as he got home. He had a standing offer of employment there, so things would not be too bad. He might even take that vacation he had kept putting o to put in more hours in sales. Andy turned out his lights for the last time and left the building quietly.

REQUIRED:

Comment on the situation at Holy Cow, using some of the terms and concepts from the chapter.