Arck Systems Case Study Essay

1. Why are Houston Fearless 76, Inc. (HF76) managers unhappy with the company’s existing sales incentive plan? Are weaknesses in this plan a major cause of the company’s performance problems?

Henderson Printing is a small-to medium sized firm that manufactures account books, ledgers, and various types of record books that are used in business (Long, 2010, p. 512). This company’s compensation system will be analyzed based on the five contextual variables as discussed in the textbook. The environment in which Henderson Printing operates can be classified as stable, as well as simple. This can be justified, as the company produces stable annual sales, thus it can be concluded that product lifestyles are not short, and product and service demand is constant (Long, 2010, p. 40). Additionally, the product/service provided is fairly simple, and the technology is not complex (Long, 2010, p. 512). The

a. How was the Hoosier Burger project identified and selected? What focus will the new system have?

An ethical dilemma happens in the workplace more often then we expect. World Class Bull, written by John Humphreys, Zafar U. Ahmed and Mildred Pryor, is a prime example of how sales personnel can manipulate a potential client into a contract. Christopher Knox, a stellar sales employee at Specialty Fleet Services (SFS), just landed the Armadillo Gas & Power account. Samantha Williams, Human Resources Vice President of SFS, was now filing a breach of the company code of ethics against Christopher and the Vice President of Sales, Jeremy Silva for “deceptive business practices” used to make the sale (Humphreys, Ahmed & Pryor, 2009). Disrupting personal space of the client, starting a dishonorable relationship, and

The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” presented a series of ethical dilemmas that surround a group of salesmen working for a real estate company. The value of business ethics was clearly undermined and ignored in the movie as the salesmen find alternatives to keep their jobs. The movie is very effective in illustrating how unethical business practices can easily exist in the business world. Most of the time, unethical business practices remain strong in the business world because of the culture that exists within companies. In this film, the sudden demands from management forced employees to become irrational and commit unethical business practices. In fear of losing their jobs, employees were pressured to increase sales despite possible ethical

Over the last 77 years, Morgan Stanley has been at the forefront of the financial industry. This is from the firm focusing on creating customizable investment products that are sold to retail and institutional clients. ("Company History," 2012) However, a problem is that many competitors are entering a period of flat growth that is at the top of S Curve. This is when a company will grow so big that it becomes difficult to continue increasing profit margins. (Nunes, 2011, pp. 1 5) In the case of Morgan Stanley, the recent financial crisis has made it more difficult for the firm to improve earnings. As a result, a new strategy must be developed that will motivate the sales force to do more. To determine the most effective approach requires examining six features of a total rewards program, the specific behaviors that will be targeted, assessing the value proposition and how to attract registered representatives.

In the early 1980’s, Denver experienced significant economic growth due to the booming oil, real estate, and tourism industries. The major airport that operated within Denver during that time was the Stapleton Airport. Up to 1970, the Stapleton Airport was able to accommodate the demands of Denver but in subsequent years it was unable to meet the ever growing needs of the city. The Stapleton Airport was seen as a liability and limited the attractiveness of businesses that were swarming to it. Issues with handling high traffic volume, disruptions in connection schedules, and an overall poor airport layout led the city of Denver to decide whether they wanted to expand or replace the Stapleton Airport. A study performed in 1983

Kim, W. Chan, and Renée Mauborgne. "Blue Ocean Strategy." Davidhenard.com. Harvard Business Review. Web. 22 Oct 2013. .

These transformative changes to the selling environment are ultimately forcing the salesperson to reengineer and rethink how they approach their business accounts. Failure in adapting to these changes can result in many adverse situations but ultimately revolves around ineffective team selling.

In the Romano Pitesti case, Tickton-Jones’ Management Team is faced with a situation that is not altogether uncommon in the business world, in that some employees feel that members of the Sales staff are being given “special” treatment by the company. Romano’s actions have probably not been as bad as what has been described to Management, but due to the fact that employees are still trying to find their place in the new, combined company, any hint of “unfairness” is immediately put under a microscope by other employees, and therefore, Management will have to take some sort of action, in order to show the other employees that their concerns are being taken seriously.

In this paper, I will be simulating, that as a project manager, I have been designated to design a new Direct sales and Accounting System for up a coming business “Especially for you Jewelers”, or EFYJ. I will be assessing Business benefits, explaining the capabilities, and giving examples of three (3) possible scenarios. I will attempt to create a Vision Document, Activity Diagram, and a Use Case Description.

The current simple allocation approach is insurance premiums and sales commissions are tracked at the legal business unit entity and product line level to properly compensate sales agents. Certain support functions are only accounted for at the corporate level and are subsequently allocated to product lines and business units according to the number of policies outstanding. Along with the recent development trend, Hampton thinks that this approach cannot reflect the claim on resources that is made by various business units and product lines. She also realizes that although sales volume has increased, profitability declines. So a new approach is necessary and extremely urgent. Better and appropriate allocation approach can help management obtain more accurate insight into product profitability, make correct product pricing decisions and so on.

The newly appointed district sales manager, Larry Barr, faces the problem of allocating sales quotas among his various sales representatives. This decision will affect everyone's earnings including his own. This problem is compounded by the fact that different territories have, for a variety of reasons, different potentials. In addition, the territory that is known to be the toughest will soon require a new sales rep.

Jacobson first consulted Dan Gunther who was in charge of the Boston Division. Jacobson consulted Gunther due to his fifteen-year experience with the company. He figured he would have the best insight to the sales were stagnant because of his wisdom and experience. Jacobson found out that the flat sales of the Boston branch was due to the irrational/unreasonable demands of their client. Then he contacted the Philadelphia branch. Carol Klein, the key account manager, told Jacobson that the reason of her flat sales was due to personal reasons that were going on in her life. She was having issues juggling her stressful job and taking care of her family as well. Although this is a valid excuse of something that many people struggle with, it should not be negatively affected her work performance. The next sales representative that Jacobson consulted was Mike Wagner in Washington DC. Wagner claimed that he is having a hard time on finding information regarding the present condition of the competition in the market, making it harder for him to compete with the others. This is not only Wagner’s fault for not doing the research, but also upper management’s fault for not informing the employee’s of how to compete with

Moving on, to create a payment system that would work to satisfy old sales people, new sales people, and other employees I would base all compensation on how well the company did the previous quarter. This now makes it a group task to be efficient and profitable. For example, an employee would have a floating salary where if the company did very badly the employee would have a very low salary, however, if the company did very well then consequently the employee would also do well. The terms of ?doing well? and ?doing poorly? would have to be planned out by management however the basic idea will still remain firm. This will also