Great Deal! Get Instant $10 FREE in Account on First Order + 10% Cashback on Every Order Order Now

CASE Founded in 2001 by Ted Callberg, Callberg Systems developed call center solutions including call distribution systems, headsets, and call center software. The company sold direct to call centers...

1 answer below »

CASE
Founded in 2001 by Ted Callberg, Callberg Systems developed call center solutions including call distribution systems, headsets, and call center software. The company sold direct to call centers through a small sales force. In 2002, It raised $25 million in a successful IPO. With little competition in the market, the company carved out a growing niche business, boasting testimonials of massive cost savings from its customers.
In May 2004, Callberg Systems announced that its next release was delayed. Analysts were watching closely as Callberg’s competitor Call Center Systems, beat them to market on this new release cycle and started gaining market share. In June 2004, Callberg’s stock fell to a 52-week low due to growing competition, missed earnings expectations, and delayed product releases. Analysts were mixed as to which company would emerge as the sector leader in the call center solutions space. Under great pressure Callberg and his VP of sales George Lavin faced a series of difficult situations.
SITUATION 1: SALES CALLS PART A
In June 2004, when he had finally received the specifications for the new product release, George Lavin began pitching the product to potential and existing customers. Utah Call Centers with 15 call centers was one of the Callberg’s largest potential customers. Brian Dooza, CEO of Utah Call Centers, had resisted all of Lavin’s attempts to schedule a meeting. So it caught Lavin by surprise, when Dooza finally agreed to take the meeting. Even more surprising, Dooza asked him to bring Christian Cooper, a Junior-level engineer at Callberg, on the sales call. Engineers had rarely gone on sales calls. In the few instances where an engineer had been required on a sales call, Sam knight, the VP of Engineering, had joined Lavin.
Cooper was 24 years old. This was his first job out of college and by all accounts he was doing a fine job. Although, Dooza and Cooper had never met, Dooza certainly knew of Cooper’s father, Damien Cooper, CEO of Cooper Mail Order Inc., one of the largest mail order companies in the world. Cooper had outsourced some of its call center load to Dooza’s competitor.
Dooza said, “I would like nothing more than to win this business from my competition.” He added, “Maybe the kid can help us both.”
Questions: ( 10 points)
  1. Should Lavin take Cooper on the call?
  2. If he decided to take Cooper on the call, how should he explain the situation to him?

SITUATION 1: SALES CALLS PART B
Lavin decided to take the Christian Cooper, on the Utah Call Centers call, and Cooper agreed to join him. Lavin positioned the meeting as an opportunity for Cooper. Cooper explained, “I knew when I joined a small company I would have to be willing to wear many hats. This will be a great learning experience for me.” Lavin was determined to make the discussion of the new release the centerpiece of the meeting. With this in mind, he requested that Dooza meet him and Cooper at one of the Utah Call Center’s locations to examine the technologies currently in use. Dooza agreed to this arrangement.
At the meeting site Dooza and Shane McCarthy, Dooza’s VP of Operations were waiting to greet them. They toured the facility, examined several technologies at work; reviewed key business operating metrics; and they met key people in the organization. At the conclusion of the meeting Lavin directed the conversation to Callberg’s new release.
Lavin explained the terms of a potential sale, and Dooza acknowledged the benefits of the new release and seemed pleased with the terms. Dooza then turned to Cooper and mentioned that he knew his father, and asked how he was doing.
After their return to the head office later that day, Lavin reflected, “I think I can close on Dooza next week, and, from what I could see Cooper seemed unharmed by the day’s events. Life is good.”
One week later Lavin called Dooza in an attempt to close the deal. Dooza was receptive to Lavin’s call and offered the following proposition: “Get me a meeting with Damien Cooper at Cooper Mail Order and we have a deal.”
Questions: ( 10 points)
  1. Should Lavin ask Cooper to contact his father?
  2. If Cooper resists, should he ask Callberg to talk to him? What should Callberg do?

SITUATION 2: THE UTAH CALL CENTER DEAL, PART A
On June 20, 2004, Lavin assured Callberg that the Utah Call Center deal was virtually locked in. Callberg explained that it had to be because without this sale, the company would miss its quarterly sales objective for the fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, 2004. The consequences of such a failure, the third of its kind in four quarters, were unknown. Eager to close the deal, Lavin and Callberg agreed to call Dooza to address the remaining issues. Dooza had made it clear that if Callberg did not meet his demands, he would be happily go with Callberg’s competitor, Call Center Systems, which had beaten them to market on this release cycle. The next release of the Callberg product was expected to ship in July.
SITUATION 2: THE UTAH CALL CENTER DEAL, PART A
On June 20, 2004, Lavin assured Callberg that the Utah Call Center deal was virtually locked in. Callberg explained that it had to be because without this sale, the company would miss its quarterly sales objective for the fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, 2004. The consequences of such a failure, the third of its kind in four quarters, were unknown. Eager to close the deal, Lavin and Callberg agreed to call Dooza to address the remaining issues. Dooza had made it clear that if Callberg did not meet his demands, he would be happily go with Callberg’s competitor, Call Center Systems, which had beaten them to market on this release cycle. The next release of the Callberg product was expected to ship in July.
On June 22, Lavin reported to Callberg that a verbal agreement had been reached on all but a few minor terms. Assuming Lavin could secure a physical purchase order from Dooza before the end of the quarter, the company could consider the fiscal year a success. Lavin stood to reap triple commissions on the deal. By contract, his commission structure was set to roll back to single commissions in the first quarter of the 2005 fiscal year.
After several unsuccessful attempts Lavin was able to reach Dooza at his home in Utah late in the evening of June 29, the day before the end of the quarter. Dooza explained that he was tied down with a separate business matter, and invited Lavin to Utah the next day to hammer out the remaining terms of the deal.
The next day Lavin boarded a plane for Utah to secure the purchase order. Although Lavin and Dooza were scheduled to meet at 2:00 p.m., Dooza’s day was running late and it was 5:00 p.m. before Lavin was able to see him.
At 7:30 p.m. Lavin called Callberg with a status report and a list of issues. In order to make this deal, they would have to agree to a 48% discount, much steeper than they had anticipated. Lavin did not tell Callberg that he also had to agree (although not in writing) to a 180-day payment terms. Callberg agreed to the discount and asked Lavin to get back to him as soon as he knew anything definite.
As the clock struck midnight on the West Coast, Ted Callberg had yet to receive word from Lavin. Two hours later, Callberg had yet to receive word from Lavin. He tried unsuccessfully to reach him on his cell phone numerous times. The next morning, Lavin explained:
“Relax, Ted. The deal is done. We hit our target. The purchase order was signed by midnight on the West Coast. In fact, I had Dooza put a date next to his signature. It says June 30, 2004. I am sorry I didn’t call-we were celebrating. Can you blame me? We had a great quarter. Dooza is a happy customer. You should be celebrating too.”
Questions: ( 15 points)
  1. How do you know if Lavin actually got this deal done on time?
  2. If it slipped past midnight, should Callberg book it in the quarter?
  3. How carefully should Callberg question Lavin on the details of this deal?
SITUATION 2: THE UTAH CALL CENTER DEAL, PART B
In July 2004, Callberg’s new product faced serious test issues. Consequently, Callberg installed its second –generation product line in the Utah Call center facilities. In February, 2005, seven months later than expected, Callberg Systems went to market with its third release. By March, the new product was selling extremely well. Lavin was hitting his numbers and scaling the sales force to support the growing demand.
On March 5, 2005, Lavin and Callberg met to discuss the Utah Call Center deal. Dooza claimed that back in June, in the rush to get the deal closed, Lavin gave him verbal assurances that the Utah Call Center would be upgraded with the new product at no cost upon its release. Lavin denied this claim. To make matters worse, Callberg had a limited inventory of the new product. Lavin concluded that if they fulfilled the purported verbal commitment to Dooza, they would not have enough equipment to ship in the first quarter to make the revenue number.
Meanwhile, Call Center Systems had been negotiating hard to steal the deal from Lavin. With their fiscal year ending on March 31, Call Center Systems had become an even more formidable threat. Despite the success of the new release, Callberg feared that he might miss another quarter.
Questions: ( 15 points)
  1. What should Callberg do about the Utah Call Center’s demands for the new release?
  2. If he gives Dooza the new system, and misses the quarter, were the last quarter’s bookings really correct, or does he have to restate earnings?
  3. What should Callberg say to Lavin about their miscommunication?
Answered Same Day Dec 23, 2021

Solution

Robert answered on Dec 23 2021
128 Votes
I) Multiple Choice Questions (1 points each)
1. Which of the following rights might clearly be the sole responsibility of government rather
than of international business?
A) The right to minimal education.
B) The right to physical security.
C) The right to a fair trial.
D) The right to nondiscriminatory treatment.
E) A and C.
F) B and d
2. Payments that are acceptable (legal) provided they expedite or secure the performance of a
outine governmental action refers to _______.
A. facilitation payments
B. prohibition payments
C. disclosure payments
D. governmental payments
3. Which of the following questions is not asked when deciding on how to resolve an ethical
issue?
A. Why is this bothering me?
B. Is it my responsibility?
C. What will the estimated cost be?
D. What do others think?
4 According to the concept of cultural relativism, which of the following is co
ect?
A. Morality is the same in all the countries.
B. Morality varies from one culture to another.
C. Business practices are defined as right or wrong by common society values across the globe.
D. Only one culture defines ethical behavior for the entire world.
5. A well written code of ethics can do all the following, except:
A. it can state policies for behavior in specific situations
B. it can capture what the organization understands ethical behavior to mean
C. it can establish a detailed guide to unacceptable behavior
D. it can document punishments for violations of those policies
6. Into which of the following categories do patent and copyright infringement fall?
A. Balancing ethical dilemmas
B Organizational abuse
C. Taking things that don’t belong to you
D. Conflict of interest
7. Mary Pickford is an analyst for Munford Stanley, an investment banker. She has touted the
stock, an initial primary offering (IPO), of an obscure biotech firm as a “must buy.” Munford
Stanley is the underwriter for the IPO. Pickford:
A has a conflict of interest, but it is acceptable in IPOs.
B. does not have a conflict of interest, but Munford Stanley does.
C has a conflict of interest that must be disclosed to all purchasers.
D does not have a conflict of interest
8. An ad contains the following: “Restaurant Critic, Jose Winfrey, on Mama Leone’s Italian
Eatery,’ Mama Leone’s is simply the best. It is a surprising new entrant into the competitive
Italian bistro market and it is a mighty one.’” Jose Winfrey is the cousin of the owner of Mama
Leone’s and knows restaurants, but is not a critic for any publication or other media outlet. The
ad:
A. creates a false impression.
B. raises no ethical questions.
C. is legal and ethical because it doesn’t state where he is a critic.
D. both b and c
9. Which of the following phrases does not signal a potential ethical pitfall?
A. “That’s the way it’s always been done.”
B. “If we don’t do it, someone else will.”
C. “Your job is to be a team player, not ask questions.”
D. All of the above signal an ethical pitfall
10. Choose the statement that does not provide a reasonable way for international businesses to
treat their employees in foreign countries on a comparable level with their treatment of
employees in their home countries:
A. Pay wages and benefits that are somewhere between those paid in the home country and the
minimal wages that will get...
SOLUTION.PDF

Answer To This Question Is Available To Download

Related Questions & Answers

More Questions »

Submit New Assignment

Copy and Paste Your Assignment Here