Case study 1 Ethics focus: Moving production off-shore. Hypothetical scenario: You are a production manager of a medium-sized business that is seeking to grow. To cut costs and increase profits, the CEO thinks that production should be outsourced to another country, where wages are much lower. However, doing so would mean firing 50% of the employees in your division, many of whom are very close friends of yours. In addition, businesses in the country where production would be outsourced sometimes use child labor and sweatshop working conditions with very low pay; this appears to be generally accepted in this country. The CEO says that moving production to this company is essential for continued growth and would allow the business to have a much greater positive impact on the world by offering the product at a more affordable price.

Describe how you personally would navigate this situation. Please share what you would discuss with the CEO and how you would navigate firing employees in your division if you were told you had to do so. Make sure to explain why you would approach the situation in this way using concepts from class, especially the Ethics readings.

Case study 2 Teams focus: Addressing a social loafer Members of a software development team are frustrated with Richard, a teammate who has clearly not been pulling his weight on the team. Richard has been late to (or entirely missed) team meetings and has not contributed on recent tasks for which he has shared responsibility. This has not always been true, however, and Richard claims that personal issues (he recently went through a hard breakup) have affected his time and also his ability to focus. Regardless of Richards situation, the team has some important deadlines and they need everyones full contributions in order to succeed. Besides this, some team members privately question whether the breakup is a sufficient excuse for Richards recent poor performance.

Taking the role of this teams leader, how would you handle this conflict in a way that maximizes team success while also restoring harmony in the team? Why might your approach be superior to either confrontation or avoidance? How might a team contract affect a teams response to this kind of situation? Make sure to explain why you would approach the situation in this way using concepts from class, especially the Teams readings.

Case Study 3 Teams focus: A breakdown in virtual communications In a recent email exchange among members of a project team, Johnone of the senior members of the teammade a comment that offended some of his fellow team members. Unfortunately, this isnt the first time John has seemed insensitive in email communications and some team members are now refusing to work with John. One of the other team members, Darren, knows John well enough that he believes Johns dry sense of humor and tendency to be sarcastic have not come across well in his written communications. Darren also suspects that John is unaware of how his comments have been interpreted by some of his teammates.

If you were in Darrens position, what would you do to resolve this conflict so that John and his fellow teammates can re- establish a positive working relationship? How might you prevent future conflict of this nature in written communications among team members? Make sure to explain why you would approach the situation in this way using concepts from class, especially the Teams readings.