Hazel had worked for the same Fortune 500 Company for almost 15 years. Although

Question

Hazel had worked for the same Fortune 500 Company for almost 15 years. Although the company had gone through some tough times, things were starting to turn around. Customer orders were up, and quality and productivity had improved dramatically from what they had been only a few years earlier due to a company wide quality improvement program. So it came as a real shock Hazel and about 400 of her coworkers when they were suddenly terminated following the new CEO’s decision to downsize the company.

            After recovering from the initial shock, Hazel tried to find employment else where. Despite her efforts, after 8 months of searching she was no closer to finding a job than the day she started. Her funds were being depleted and she was getting more discourage. There was one bright spot though: She was able to bring in a little money by mowing lawns for her neighbors. She got involved quite by chance when she heard one neighbor remark that now that his children were on their own, nobody was around to cut the grass. Almost jokingly, Hazel asked how much he’d be willing to pay. Soon Hazel was mowing the lawns for 5 neighbors.

            However, as the rejection letters began to pile up, Hazel knew she had to make a decision. One sunny Tuesday morning, she decided, like many others in a similar situation, to go into business herself, taking care of neighbor’s lawn. She was relieved to give up the stress of job hunting, and she was excited about the prospect of being her own boss.

            Business started off slow, but once people realize Hazel was available, many ask he to take care of their lawn. By the end of her first year, she knew she can earn a living this way. She performed fertilizing lawn, weed, gardening, and trimming. Business became good she hired two part time and believed she could expand further if wanted to.

Question 1: Hazel decided to offer the students who worked for her a bonus of $25 for ideas on how to improve the business, and they provided several good ideas. One idea that she initially rejected now appears to hold great promise. The student who proposed the idea has left, and is currently working for a competitor.

Should Hazel send the student a check for her idea? What are the possible trade offs?

Explanation / Answer

In this case, yes, Hazel should send the student a check for Idea. Initially when the idea was offered, may be at that point in time idea would not have been valid. The current situation is Hazel’s business has increased, people have noticed and many people are working under hazel which is a good sign. The idea which was proposed earlier may be valid now. It is good to consider the idea for below reasons,

Most importantly, the student who is working with competitor is not a good sign. Reason being the student know about your business too and it is always good to retain those people

If a person is offering a good idea means, the individual is really good in terms of intelligence. It is always good to have brilliant people with us when running business

Since the student knows about the idea and the kind of work Hazle do, it will be easy for Hazle to have the student be a part of idea implementation process which will help the business as wel.

Leaving the idea behind and student giving the same idea t competitor is a danger. There are chances for competitor to run ahead in the market and hazle stay behind.

This will also motivate the student and other people who are working around. One of the motivating factor and hazle many more idea’s coming in future.

This also can attract lot of people who work in the competitor firm

The above reason illustrates the possible trade off’s for considering the student’s idea.

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