Cases for Discussion

Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:47:51 GMT

What Would You Do? A Business Dilemma.

A customer of a life insurance company requests a variation in the amount of a loan against their policy. When the customer service representative asked the accounting and finance staff if the request should be granted, the answer was no. However, when the sales and marketing staff were asked they said yes.

This issue was discussed by the General Manager at the weekly executive committee meeting. He asked how such policy holder requests should be handled. Not surprisingly, the CFO said the answer should be no, while the VP for Sales said everything should be done to exceed the customers’ expectations.

After much thought the GM referred to the company’s vision and values statement recently crafted by the executive committee in a recent retreat. It stated “We strive to be the leader in our business and exceed our customer’s expectations.”

What Would You Do To Advise This Client?

Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:52:01 GMT

The field of development and change has many such dilemmas. I would like to stimulate discussion regarding this case and other cases you might feel are worthy of discussion. Please comment on this case and others you may have experienced in your professional OD work.

Fri, 14 Oct 2016 18:57:27 GMT

hi there,
this is an interesting case; I don't see any comments - did anyone reply to your scenario?

regards,
Abby

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 05:14:14 GMT

I would get the leadership team together to explore this challenge, gain a shared understanding of the opportunities and issues, in the context of the recently updated vision statement of: It stated “We strive to be the leader in our business and exceed our customer’s expectations.”

Clearly there is ambiguity about what this vision statement means given the disagreement among the players on this specific customer request. As a planning and OD consultant, I'd partner with the CEO and/or VP HR/Culture, and facilitate team meetings to explore what this statement means and how it can best be applied. This specific customer request, along with all others that have been made over time, can be valuable information to begin the dialogue.

For a group process, I like the Nominal Group Technique, and have found it very useful and effective, especially when coupled with my
"View of Consensus" © process. I think the leadership team could come up with better clarification of the shared meaning of their vision, then identify potential best practices, followed by selecting those they decide to enact.

Take a look at my article in this latest Fall special edition (focus on Kurt Lewin) of OD Review for more information on the "View of Consensus" © Feel free to reach out to me with questions or for support.