Conundrum Calls (A)

Abstract

Having just moved from the sales department to the marketing team at a start-up, Lisa is confronted with a dilemma. Part of the reason she switched departments was to improve the strained relationship between the two departments. Her first assignment is to call competitors, pretending to be a customer, to get their pricing information. Lisa doesn't want to lie, but feels a responsibility to her new boss, her old boss who advocated for her, and both her new and old departments. The B case describes her decision and its consequences. Lisa recognizes that she actually had more options to act ethically than she had thought, and decides to be more thoughtful and prepared for similar dilemmas in the future. Excerpt UVA-OB-1352 Giving Voice to Values Feb. 22, 2021 Conundrum Calls (A) Lisa stared out the window while absentmindedly petting the office golden retriever. She had been at the software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology start-up for three years, but this was her first week on the marketing team. Like most sales and marketing departments, the two sides constantly butted heads and suffered from a little bad blood between them. Two years before, when the marketing director, Terri, had joined the start-up part-time, her role and responsibilities were not clearly communicated to the sales team. The sales team had expected a marketing communications head who could whip up sales materials to replace the sales team's homemade PowerPoint presentations and video demonstrations. Instead, Terri, with a Stanford MBA and a big tech pedigree, was a strategist who worked part-time on the marketing vision. Off to a poor start, the relationship between the sales and marketing teams was broken, characterized by disrespect and mistrust. Somewhat ironically, the start-up's values included respect and trust. When Lisa told her boss, the sales director, she was eager for a new challenge, her boss had advocated for her move to the marketing team in hopes that her legacy knowledge of the company and sales process would improve the communication and coordination between the two groups. Lisa had a wealth of product and customer knowledge but minimal marketing experience. Her colleagues in sales were happy about her move but skeptical that she could help. Lisa had a cordial relationship with Terri and personally liked her, but this was their first time working closely together. Lisa wanted to do well for all parties involved. . . .