“Crossroad Game” Report

Ririn Shabrina Faradhillah - R180048

Episode 1

The first episode is about a CEO’s choice to cut the number of employees by using an
automatic technology to help improve company performance and productivity.
Strategic development department of your company proposes a new automatic
technology that can be applied for production department. This automatic technology
can increase the productivity level to double. But, since this new technology is not yet
well developed, the chance of success is only 25%. In addition, to implement this new
technology, this company must discharge some of its employees. As a CEO, they
must decide whether they will approve the proposal or not.

This episode reflects the decision making that involves the fate of the company’s
continuity and the fate of its employees. The CEO of this company will be faces with
a choice where they can increase the company’s earnings but at the same time, will
face the possibility of losses. In addition, they were also faced with a moral problem,
unilateral dismissal of their employees.

From the group discussion, 4 persons response as they will deny the proposal and 1
person will approve the proposal.

The majority who chose to reject the proposal said that the benefits derived from the
application of the new automatic technology were not comparable to the losses that
might be obtained because of the low success rate. Some of them also added, there
were some tasks that actually could not be replaced by automatic technology. So it
would be better if the company did not replace them with the automatic technology.
Another reason why they choose to refuse the proposal was because the layoffs of
employees could lead to unemployment. Depend on in which country the company
stand. It will be a huge problem if the company was placed in developing country.
Because in some developing country, the number of unemployment could be already
high.
The rejection of the proposal comes with some pros. The pros are:

 There is no additional budget for the application of automatic technology. The

initial. The budget that initially will be used for the new technology can be
allocated to things that could improve the employees performance.

 There will be no layoffs. So it can avoid the possibility of demonstration that

can later affect the company’s future.

But with all pros that mentioned above also come some cons. The cons are:

 Miss the opportunity to achieve a benefit for the application of the new
automatic technology.

 Company improvement could be stagnant.

Outside the majority, there is one person who chooses to approve the proposal. They
said that it is a big step for a CEO to make a decision to improve the performance of
their company. By implement the new automatic technology, will bring a new
difference to the company. Taking a different steps from others makes it possible to
bring good to the company.

With the approval of the proposal, also come some pros. The pros are:

 The application of the new automatic technology could increase the company
profit.

But there are also cons from those pros that mentioned above. The cons are:

 There will be layoffs of the employees. However, this problem can be solve by
doing the dismissal step by step.

In fact, during the discussion, many question were raised about this episode. Most of
them are confirming the actual situation of the company. Some might change their
decision because of some additional information. For example, their decision could
change depend on which type of work is replaced by the automatic technology. And
also, how big the company has develop or how much the company’s income is and
how much the loss will be if the failure occurs. This might be a sign that the episode
was not well develop enough.

After the group discussion, can be concluded that to make a decision, two-party
communication is needed. There are many possible ways to solve this dilemma. First,
since the success rate is quite low, we could ask more information about this new
technology and their reason why it has a low success rate, and the possibility of
improvement of the technology that could increase the success rate. Thereafter,
communicate with the employees about the possible risk that could happened.
However, the layoffs still not necessary. The employees could just be allocated for
other department.

Episode 2

The second episode is about a city that will be drown due to the construction of a dam.
Government has a plan to build a dam to prevent a disastrous flood that potentially
happen in 50 years. This dam was planned to built over a city. Because of the
construction of the dam, the resident of that city need to move out of the town. The
government also prepares compensation for the city residents if they are willing to
move out from the town. The citizen need to decide whether they willing to move out
from the city or not.

This episode reflects the condition where the local residents are faced with the choice
to leave the city they live in or not. Local residents will be faced with the choice of
whether they will leave the city and start a new life or stay in the city at risk.

From the group discussion, 3 persons response as they willing to move out from the
city and 2 persons response as they will not move out from the city.

People who willing to move out from the city said that they choose to not living with
risk. They assume that the compensation that government will give to them is enough
from them to build a new life in another city. They also consider about their offspring.
Fifty years period of flood is quite a long time. There is a possibility that if they stay
at the city, they build a family, and their offspring will be live around them within the
city. So by staying at the city, they also endanger their family.
There are some pros of leaving the city. The pros are:

 Continue living without worries. The local resident who decide to leave the
city will be able to continue their lives without having to think about their
safety. The place they will be living probably will be safer than the initial city.

 Support sustainability. By allowing their city to be submerged, the local

residents also contribute in saving other cities that might be affected by the
disastrous flood.

There are also some cons of leaving the city. The cons are:

 Adaptation in new place. Since they need to move out from their original city,
they need to adapt with a new place. They need to search for a new job, they
need to build a new relation with residents of the city, etc. This problem
cannot be solve in a short time.

 Possible low amount of compensation. In some country, especially developing

country, things like financing or compensation problems are sometimes still
hampered. Although there are no problem in financing, sometimes there are
problem where the amount of compensation given may not be balanced with
the needs.

However, there are also people who against the idea of moving out from the city. In
their perspective, 50 years are a very long time. In addition that there is also a
possibility that the 50 years flood will not happen. They also said that for flood
disaster mitigation, building a dam is not the only way to solve it. There are several
other ways more suitable to prevent flooding.

There are some pros of refusing to leave the city. The pros are:

 No adaptation needed. Since the local residents refuse to move out from the
city. They could continue living without anything different with their usual
activities.
There are come cons of refusing to leave the city. The cons are:

 When the local resident refuse to move out, they probably living living with
risk. They also risking their life by living in the city, whether the flood is
coming or not.

The choice of people in this episode depends on an uncertainty. The uncertainty about
the occurrence of flooding, or the uncertainty about the amount of the compensation.
In this case, the possible way to solve the dilemma is to communicate. The agreement
between government and the local residents are needed. Government need to explain
risks that local residents will face in the future. Even though the local resident still
refuse to move, government must review the plan of dam construction and seek for
another way to prevent the possible flood. As the local resident receive enough
information about the risk and possible things that could happen, they can decide
whether they will move or not.

Episode 3

The third episode is about a lawyer who is offered to defend a criminal. The criminal
offered a huge amount of reward. In the same time, the lawyer’s beloved one is in a
critical condition and need to be treat as soon as possible. For the treatment, the
lawyer needs the money that they will receive as a reward for the criminal. The
lawyer need to decide whether they take the offer or not.

This episode reflects the decision making that involve with morality. The lawyer is in
an urgent situation where they need money to treat their beloved one. However, the
money they will receive is from a criminal that supposed to be sentenced.

This episode has not yet been discussed in the discussion group.