Hunter-Worth Christmas was fast approaching. Just a short while ago, Chuck Moore

Question

Hunter-Worth

Christmas was fast approaching. Just a short while ago, Chuck Moore, national sales manager for Hunter-Worth, a New York–based multinational toy manufacturer, was confident the coming holiday was going to be one of the company’s best in years. At a recent toy expo, Hunter-Worth unveiled a new interactive plush toy that was cuddly, high-tech, and tied into a major holiday motion picture expected to be a

smash hit. Chuck had thought the toy would do well, but frankly, the level of interest took him by surprise.

The buyers at the toy fair raved, and the subsequent pre-order volume was extremely encouraging. It had all looked so promising, but now he couldn’t shake a sense of impending doom. The problem in a nutshell was that the Mexican subsidiary that manufactured the toy couldn’t seem to meet a deadline. Not only were all the shipments late so far, but they fell well short of the quantities ordered. Chuck decided to e-mail Vicente Ruiz, the plant manager, about the situation before he found himself in the

middle of the Christmas season with parents clamoring for a toy he couldn’t lay his hands on.

In a thoroughly professional e-mail that started

with a friendly “Dear Vicente,” Chuck inquired about the status of the latest order, asked for a production schedule for pending orders, and requested a specific explanation as to why the Mexican plant seemed to be having such difficulty shipping orders out on time.

The reply appeared within the hour, but to his utter astonishment, it was a short message from Vicente’s secretary. She acknowledged the receipt of his e-mail and assured him the Mexican plant would be shipping the order, already a week late, in the next ten days.

“That’s it,” Chuck fumed. “Time to take this to

Sato.” He prefaced his original e-mail and the secretary’s reply with a terse note expressing his growing concern over the availability of what could well be this season’s must-have toy. “Just what do I have to do to light a fire under Vicente?” he wrote. He then forwarded it all to his supervisor and friend, Michael Sato, the executive vice president for sales and marketing.

Next thing he knew, he was on the phone with

Vicente—and the plant manager was furious. “Signor Moore, how dare you go over my head and say such things about me to my boss?” he sputtered, sounding both angry and slightly panicked. It seemed that Michael had forwarded Chuck’s e-mail to Hunter-Worth’s vice president of operations, who had sent it on to the Mexican subsidiary’s president.

That turn of events was unfortunate, but Chuck

wasn’t feeling all that apologetic. “You could have prevented all this if you’d just answered the questions I e-mailed you last week,” he pointed out. “I deserved more than a form letter—and from your secretary, no less.” “My secretary always answers my e-mails,”replied Vicente. “She figures that if the problem is really urgent, you would pick up the phone and talk to me directly. Contrary to what you guys north of the border might think, we do take deadlines seriously here. There’s only so much we can do with the supply problems we’re having, but I doubt you’re interested in hearing about those.” And Vicente hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

Chuck was confused and disheartened. Things

were only getting worse. How could he turn the situation around?

Questions:

What was the main purpose of Chuck’s communication to Vicente? To Michael Sato? What factors should he have considered when choosing a channel for his communication to Vicente? Are they the same factors he should have considered when communicating with Michael Sato?

If you were Chuck, what would you have done differently? What steps would you take at this point to make sure the supply of the popular new toy is sufficient to meet the anticipated demand?

Explanation / Answer

1. Chuck want to know why the shipment did not meet deadline and why the shipment ordered come in short quantities. To michael sato, chuck want to express his concern about not geeting ordered  toys for christmas on time, and want michael to fire under vincent. well chuck was supposed to take in consideration a face to face communication channel like make a phone call clarify this issue and facilitate rapid , two-way feedback. At one point chuck was never supposed to contact michael if he did handel his work right. but since he didnot the same communication channel would be the best bet for chuck.

If i was chuck i would conduct crisis communication to solve my conflict with vicent first and foremost. I am currently facing supply crisis and conflict with vicent. the stuation is actually overwhealming . However i need to maintain my focus in geeting solution for this. I will video call the vicente to opolizes for my rude behaviour and conversation. it enable direct experience, multiple information cues, immediate feedback and personal focus.also it contribute to cost saving . the consensus would be regarding on the supply issue and the preferably communication channel to be used in the future. this time i will listen actively and i will let rationality dominated everything starting from the verabal intonation decision making. mexican plan is experiencing supply problem which has lead to the late shipment and pending orders. hence, i will purpose to export some material from the united state to maxican plant until their own suppliers can pick up the actual demands. i will also purpose to standarized our communication channel by using only a channel that is electronic mail. this is because manager are not alaways available for phones answering. All information flow should be limited to only managers and higher level. the last thing is that to set up a mannual goal, whereby all demand during the christmas can be totally fulfilled. communication should be conducted in proper manner so that objective of the communication should be achived. Also select appropriate communication channel for the different situations.

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