Small Group Breakout Exercise $[$L$.2*2,2*3,2-4,2-5]$

Making Difficult Decisions in Hard Times

Form groups of three or four people, and appoint one member as the spokesperson who will communicate your

findings to the whole class when called on by the instructor. Then discuss the following scenario:

You are on the top manage$-$

ment team of a medium$-$size

company that manufactures card$-$

board boxes, containers, and other

packaging materials. Your company

is facing increasing levels of com$-$

petition for major corporate cus$-$

tomer accounts, and profits have

declined significantly. You have

tried everything you can to cut costs

and remain competitive, with the

exception of laying off employees.

Your company has had a no$-$layoff

policy for the past $20$ years, and you

believe it is an important part of the

organization's culture. However, you

are experiencing mounting pres$-$

sure to increase your firm's perfor$-$

mance, and your no$-$layoff policy has

been questioned by shareholders.

Even though you haven't decided

whether to lay off employees and

thus break with a $20-$year tradition

for your company, rumors are ram$-$

pant in your organization that some$-$

thing is afoot, and employees are

worried. You are meeting today to

address this problem.

Develop a list of options and

potential courses of action

to address the heightened

competition and decline in

profitability that your company

has been experiencing.

Choose your preferred course

of action, and justify why you

will take this route.

Describe how you will

communicate your decision to

employees.

If your preferred option

involves a layoff, justify why. If

it doesn't involve a layoff,

explain why.