cenario:

The company, a large processing center operating in a highly bureaucratic fashion, was experiencing challenging problems in a major division of its operations. Fifteen months earlier, when an electrical storm caused loss of power in one company building, five of the seven members of the night-shift service staff reported strange sensations emanating from their computer terminals causing tingling in their hands. In the following days, other staff members reported similar sensations, as well as numbness, headaches, and nausea. Two weeks later there were almost 100 reports of such "electrical shocks." Union representatives requested immediate action on the problems. The issues of workplace health and safety at the company became a hot topic in the local media. Various health and government agencies began to investigate.

Reports of the shocks continued sporadically for the next nine months, then began to rise significantly. During a 10-week period, there were more than 150 reports, many from people working in other parts of the company. The ensuing uproar produced a walkout lasting three days, costing the company an estimated $1 million in lost revenue. The problem didn't seem to

be solvable simply by top managers' exercising their authority and dictating a solution. What could be done to get the company back on the right track?