Real-Life Decision Making
Your research firm was hired by the city to provide advice on a very important
issue. The city needs to know how best to spend a large portion of next year's
budget.
Now it's the night before you have to present your findings to city council,
and not all the answers are in.
"I think we should talk to the mayor and see if we can extend the deadline
one more week," declares Bob, your business partner. "If the heads of the
two biggest lumber yards in the whole district put their views on paper like
they said they would, it will make a huge difference."
Bob is right. There are a few businesses that employ a lot of people in
town. What they have to say can really change how the city will spend their
money.
"But we have already asked for one extension," you argue. "That new questionnaire
took a lot longer than we thought to send out. I'm thinking about our reputation.
We could look like we don't know what's going on if we keep asking for more
time."
But if you go in to see city council with weak information, they could
make the wrong budget decisions. And this would reflect on your company, too.
Just then the phone rings. It's Henry. He owns the larger of the two lumber
yards. He has all the answers you need, but he has to go out
of town. "Can you meet on Thursday?" he asks.
What do you do?