For teaching purposes, this is the commentary-only version of the HBR case study. The case-only version is Reprint R0905X. The complete case study and commentary is Reprint R0905B. When Chris Knox, a top salesperson at Specialty Fleet Services, volunteers to go after the business of Armadillo Gas & Power, he decides to try a new approach. After all, no one else from SFS has succeeded with Dale Landry, Armadillo's CFO. Knox shows up at Landry's ranch, asks to photograph his beloved bull, presents the photo as a gift to Landry's wife, and engineers several other encounters before Landry learns that Knox is anything more than a charming young man. Not long after he reveals his position at SFS, Knox wins the account. Sales VP Jeremy Silva emails the sales team, praising Knox's maneuvers. But the human resources vice president thinks that Knox breached the company's ethics code. Does Knox deserve a reprimand? Four experts comment on this fictional case study in R0905B and R0905Z. Kirk O. Hanson, the executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, believes that Knox went astray not by trying to share a potential client's passion but by treating the Landrys as a means to an end - deceiving them and violating their personal space along the way. There's a big difference between deceiving competitors and deceiving customers, explain consultants Don Peppers and Martha Rogers. SFS needs to clarify this difference in its ethics code, apologize to Landry, and fire Silva, who demonstrated in hitting the "send" button that he does not understand the policies and behaviors that build shareholder value. James Borg, a business psychologist and author, argues that Knox didn't coerce Landry into buying SFS's services but instead simply got the CFO's attention and let his persuasive techniques do the rest. Whereas coercion and manipulation satisfy the needs of only one party, persuasion is about achieving a positive outcome all around - exactly what Knox accomplished. Armadillo got a superior product, and SFS won a new customer.

【書誌情報】

ページ数：4ページ

サイズ：A4

商品番号：HBSP-R0905Z

発行日：2009/5/1

登録日：2011/7/29