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It had been almost a decade since the first article surfaced in the media alleging that factories sub-contracted by Nike in China and Indonesia were forcing workers to work long hours for low pay, and for physically and verbally abusive managers. The article was the seed of a media campaign that created a public relations nightmare for the company. A financial crisis in Asia and intense competition in the domestic market contributed to a decline in Nike's revenue and market share after three years of record performance. Though no direct correlation could be proven between the consumer's negative perceptions of Nike and the company's decline in market share and stock, it certainly did not help in their efforts to establish themselves as the global leader in a hotly competitive industry. A linear overview of the adverse publicity that Nike received, and the perspectives of Nike senior management, demonstrates to students the importance and elements of the timely development of an effective media and consumer relations campaign.

An undergraduate commerce student has just completed a group strategy project and is wondering what to do. She believed the group had done a good job but was disturbed by many things that had happened between her and her teammates during the project. She was unsure what she and her teammates could have done to stop the situation from escalating as far as it had and what action she should take now to let her teammates know how she felt and to prevent similar instances from occurring in the future.

The administration director at an assembly plant for optical communication products in a US-Chinese joint venture in Shenzhen is wondering what he should do about a recent situation with one of his peers. The director was responsible for all non-production staff and his peer was responsible for production-related staff, both working on a pilot project for the company. Shortly after the project started, the director noticed his peer was becoming more aggressive and making comments about firing staff inside and outside his department. Tension was increasing between them and among other members of the project. He decided to discuss the issue with his peer but was unprepared for the response. He must decide if he should bring this to the attention of senior officers or continue with his approach in resolving the situation.

A young manager at a consultancy firm is faced with the lack of business professionalism at a speaking event of a well-known guest speaker. The event is poorly attended by staff and a series of disrespectful actions on the part of the attendees - occurs. The manager must decide how to handle similar situations in the future.

The director of communications at a large university has reviewed results of a communication survey completed by employees. He is pleased that the overall results were favourable, but is concerned with comments in a recent employee newsletter that provided negative feedback of the survey. It is the director's responsibility to take the results of the research and develop a formal communications plan, but as he compares the study findings to the article is confused as to how he should tackle the problem.

A real estate analyst has been hired as a government employee to manage Canada's overseas property holdings, including its embassies and diplomatic residences. Despite strict government regulations regarding the procurement of overseas accommodations and policies relating to fiscal accountability, the analyst has witnessed the luxurious accommodations enjoyed by diplomatic staff posted abroad. She documents the abuses and reports the finding to her supervisor, who does nothing. The analyst must decide whether to take her finding further. The supplements Price of Speaking Out Against the Betrayal of Public Trust: Joanna Gualtieri (B), (C) and (D), products 9B04C030, 9B04C031 and 9B04C032 looks at her decision and the events that follow.

This is a supplement to Price of Speaking Out Against the Betrayal of Public Trust: Joanna Gualtieri (A), product 9B04C029, and relates the actions suggested by her immediate supervisor.

A real estate analyst hired as a government employee finds abuse of regulations and policies regarding overseas accommodations for diplomats. She reports her findings to her supervisor with no result and further attempts to expose the abuses. This is a supplement to Price of Speaking Out Against the Betrayal of Public Trust: Joanna Gualtieri (A) and (B), products 9B04C029 and 9B04C030.

The analyst pursues legal action against the government for abuses both to herself and the country's taxpayers. This is a supplement to Price of Speaking Out Against the Betrayal of Public Trust: Joanna Gualtieri (A), (B) and (C), products 9B04C029, 9B04C030 and 9B04C031.

The human resources manager at Moss Earthmoving Equipment sends an e-mail to the director of career management at a business school outlining two incidents of lack of professionalism displayed by recent MBA new hires. These actions eroded the company's confidence in recruiting from the school. The director must decide what immediate action should be taken and what changes if any, should be made in the long term.

A manager must decide among seven candidates to recommend for a management promotion. The company has developed a new focus on equal opportunity for its female employees, so the manager is struggling with the decision of which to choose from five male and two female candidates, particularly in light of some company statistics that indicated women were not proportionally represented in management.

A recent MBA graduate describes the joys and frustrations of an expatriate life - both at personal and professional levels - as experienced by a young, single woman. She has been living in Bangkok for three years and is slowly adjusting to the local way of life when she receives a job offer that will relocate her back to her home in Hawaii. Reaching a decision, however, is not easy given career-related uncertainties in both countries as well as the array of conflicting emotions that confront her. She must decide how to sort through these issues. Should she remain in Bangkok or return home? Her decision is complicated by the fact that she had not entertained the idea of returning to the United States.

A supervisor at a telesales office has received very low ratings on an employee survey and the marketing manager is concerned that this team leader is not performing well. The marketing manager must decide what actions are needed to improve the leadership skills of this supervisor.

A summer assignment is turning into a nightmare for an intern at a large consulting firm. He has just receive his third reprimand from his boss, and is concerned how this relationship is distracting him from the project he needs to complete and how it could hurt his chances of obtaining full-time employment. He must decide how he can salvage the relationship with his boss and whether this organization is the best fit for him.

The vice-president at a large investment firm has discovered that some clients have taken significant losses and determines that it was due to the actions of one of the firm's investment advisors. He has no choice but to terminate this advisor's employment with the firm and must determine how to communicate with and maintain the relationships with these clients. The supplement, Greentree Investment Corporation (B), product 9B04C016, continues with the situation and looks at dealing with angry customers.

A partner at a law firm has been given a choice by one of the firm's assistants, either increase her salary or she would give her two-week resignation notice. The firm was extremely busy with clients and could not afford a reduction in staff, however, this employee's performance had not been up to standard and the partner must decide whether or not he should agree to this pay increase or if there are other options.

InsureTech is an online insurance business focusing on the small business owner market. An analyst with the company was asked to investigate and determine a solution for the problem of tracking and reporting sales results, currently a manual process. The analyst assigned to the project would work independently and was aware that the success of this project would significantly benefit the company but would also boost his own career. After six months of working on the project, the analyst presented the new system to the management committee. The system was well received but there were some reservations; he felt these issues would be resolved within a year. The launch date was set for the following month and he prepared the plan to ensure a smooth implementation. Weeks after the launch, the analyst discovered that the sales staff was still using the manual process and feedback on the new system was not favourable. He must determine why the sales staff are reluctant to use the system and what steps to take to deal with this resistance to change.

Success in navigating through a crisis situation requires good planning, sound judgement and swift reaction. This note provides a set of detailed guidelines on business crisis management. Areas covered include crisis definition, key principles and a step-by-step assessment of what to do when one occurs.

This note provides background information on incentive plans and non-monetary reward systems. Presented is a discussion of short-term and long-term incentive plans. In these discussions, design considerations, prevalence of these plans, types of short and long-term incentives, plan effectiveness, and current issues are presented. In addition, non-monetary and retention tools are discussed. This note is intended to be used in conjunction with sessions on incentives and rewards.

In May 1996, two world renowned climbers, along with some of their clients and guides, perished on Mount Everest in the mountain's deadliest tragedy to date. The accounts of survivors imply that biased decision making contributed to the tragedy. Did a decision lead to this tragedy or was it an unfortunate mountaineering accident? The case provides the opportunity to explore decision biases such as framing, escalation of commitment, anchoring, and over confidence and the issues of leadership style, group behaviour, team management and communication.