Joe Engineer has just graduated from the University at Buffalo. He earned a 3.8 GPA for his Master’s of Engineering degree. Before he finished all academic work, he sent out numerous job applications and received three specific job offers, A, B and C, all of them require him to make a decision for acceptance or rejection within one week. Company A has an annual sales revenue of $5 billion dollars and is located in New York City. The job of “Engineer” pays $95,000 a year, plus full benefits (e.g., 401 (K), health insurance, 4 weeks vacations per year, educations assistance, and relocation assistance). The city living is, of course, exciting and fun, but very expensive. The company has a structured training program for new employees to become familiar with its operations. His future boss is friendly and acts professionally. Joe believes that he can get along well with him. The work is in line with his basic technical training. As it is typically the case with big companies, other employees in the department are all quite smart and the internal competition among co-workers is relatively strong. He envisions that he may be able to get a promotion to the next level in five years time. New York City is huge and there are at least five competitors to Company A offering similar products/services in the city. Another potential benefit of working in New York City is that Joe may be able to meet a lot of interesting young people and find a future spouse. Company B is a $500 million dollar mid-size company located in Rochester, New York. The job of “Engineer” pays $80,000 a year plus full benefits, which are similar to that of Company A. Rochester is a mid-size city with some cultural and entertainment activities. Its cost of living is reasonable. Rochester is close to the Finger Lakes region, a well-known recreational area. The next large city is Toronto, which is about two hours away by car. The future boss is quite enthusiastic about Joe’s employment at the company and is eager to welcome him. The work is of a technical nature but offers some managerial training opportunities that Joe likes. Joe believes that he could be promoted in the next three years and allowed to assume a higher level of responsibilities thereafter. The city has only a few large companies, such as Xerox, and Kodak, but no company that competes directly against Company B. Joe thinks that it may be a bit more difficult, if not absolutely impossible, to meet a lot of interesting young people in Rochester. Company C is a $50 million dollar small company located in Buffalo, New York, where Joe did some summer work during his school years. The job of “Engineer” pays $70,000 a year and offers some benefits. The benefits are not as good as in either Company A or B. Buffalo is slightly larger than Rochester but is still way behind New York City in terms of culture and entertainment activities. Like Rochester, Buffalo suffers from a declining industrial base. There have been no new companies relocating into the Buffalo or the Rochester areas in recent years. Company C has no competitors operating in Buffalo and nearby regions. Joe knows his future boss because of his earlier summer work at the site. The work is quite exciting, as the future boss views Joe as one of the bright new stars and shows a significant willingness to personally train Joe for higherlevel roles and responsibilities. Being in a small company, Joe understands that he needs to face up the challenges of getting involved quickly in several disciplines beyond the principal one that forms the basis of his Master’s Degree. Because Buffalo is also a regional city, Joe believes that it could be hard for him to meet a lot of interesting young people and subsequently find a mate. II. As the company’s sales are coming down unexpectedly, the president invites you to chair a task force with the objective of recommending solutions to correct the situation. Who do you want to be on this task force? How should the task force resolve this problem?
Joe Engineer has just graduated from the University at Buffalo. He earned a 3.8 GPA for his
Master’s of Engineering degree. Before he finished all academic work, he sent out numerous job
applications and received three specific job offers, A, B and C, all of them require him to make a
decision for acceptance or rejection within one week.
Company A has an annual sales revenue of $5 billion dollars and is located in New York City. The
job of “Engineer” pays $95,000 a year, plus full benefits (e.g., 401 (K), health insurance, 4 weeks
vacations per year, educations assistance, and relocation assistance). The city living is, of course,
exciting and fun, but very expensive. The company has a structured training program for new
employees to become familiar with its operations. His future boss is friendly and acts
professionally. Joe believes that he can get along well with him. The work is in line with his basic
technical training. As it is typically the case with big companies, other employees in the
department are all quite smart and the internal competition among co-workers is relatively
strong. He envisions that he may be able to get a promotion to the next level in five years time.
New York City is huge and there are at least five competitors to Company A offering similar
products/services in the city. Another potential benefit of working in New York City is that Joe
may be able to meet a lot of interesting young people and find a future spouse.
Company B is a $500 million dollar mid-size company located in Rochester, New York. The job of
“Engineer” pays $80,000 a year plus full benefits, which are similar to that of Company A.
Rochester is a mid-size city with some cultural and entertainment activities. Its cost of living is
reasonable. Rochester is close to the Finger Lakes region, a well-known recreational area. The next large city is Toronto, which is about two hours away by car. The future boss is quite
enthusiastic about Joe’s employment at the company and is eager to welcome him. The work is
of a technical nature but offers some managerial training opportunities that Joe likes. Joe believes
that he could be promoted in the next three years and allowed to assume a higher level of
responsibilities thereafter. The city has only a few large companies, such as Xerox, and Kodak,
but no company that competes directly against Company B. Joe thinks that it may be a bit more
difficult, if not absolutely impossible, to meet a lot of interesting young people in Rochester.
Company C is a $50 million dollar small company located in Buffalo, New York, where Joe did
some summer work during his school years. The job of “Engineer” pays $70,000 a year and offers
some benefits. The benefits are not as good as in either Company A or B. Buffalo is slightly larger
than Rochester but is still way behind New York City in terms of culture and entertainment
activities. Like Rochester, Buffalo suffers from a declining industrial base. There have been no
new companies relocating into the Buffalo or the Rochester areas in recent years. Company C
has no competitors operating in Buffalo and nearby regions. Joe knows his future boss because
of his earlier summer work at the site. The work is quite exciting, as the future boss views Joe as
one of the bright new stars and shows a significant willingness to personally train Joe for higherlevel roles and responsibilities. Being in a small company, Joe understands that he needs to face
up the challenges of getting involved quickly in several disciplines beyond the principal one
that forms the basis of his Master’s Degree. Because Buffalo is also a regional city, Joe believes
that it could be hard for him to meet a lot of interesting young people and subsequently find a
mate.
II. As the company’s sales are coming down unexpectedly, the president invites you to chair
a task force with the objective of recommending solutions to correct the situation. Who do you
want to be on this task force? How should the task force resolve this problem?
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