Your Star Salesperson Lied

Cover Assignment:

You are COO of Novacib. You have been away on an international assignment for the
past two weeks while the issue with Suday {see attached case} has arisen. Siddhant,
the CEO, has kept you apprised of the situation. Last night you received an email
from Siddhant stating that it is time to make a decision. “We have waffled long
enough,” Siddhant stated. “I have scheduled a meeting with Suday in the morning
and need your counsel before then. Tell me what you think we should do. I know
you are flying back home today so just send me an email with your suggestions.”

Send that email to Siddhant.

To: Siddhant.Kapoor@novacib.in
Re: Uday Madhav situation

Mr. Kapoor;

I understand that you are awaiting my recommendation on what to do about

Uday Madhav’s falsification of customer contact records. After consultation with
you and other senior management, I have come to a decision. Mr. Madhav’s ethical
breach must be punished or we undercut our firm positioning as an ethical leader in
the healthcare industry. I understand that he is a high performer and well-liked
within the company, but we have made great public fanfare of our zero tolerance
policy. This means we cannot afford to be seen as having a sliding scale of ethical
standards based on employee performance. This is as much a business issue as an
ethical one; our reputation is our greatest competitive advantage in a mostly
homogenous industry. Thus, I recommend his termination for cause, for falsification
of records.

There is a possible mitigating strategy available here as well. Mr. Madhav is

capable of re-applying with the company after 90 days, per company policy. If his
exit interview is handled with care, we may be able in the long-term to retain our
star performer and make a public example to our employees. If you decide to follow
this path, I highly suggest additional precautions such as additional supervision and
monitoring, sacrifice of all previous seniority and privileges, and a public admission
on his part to our employees on his ethical breach.

I would add that we have largely handcuffed ourselves to this action with our
publicly stated zero tolerance policy. Such policies make for good PR, but bad HR.
We can adopt a graduated discipline framework of the kind that is common in our
industry. I recommend this action for the near future, to give senior management
room to maneuver in dealing with future employee issues. But- we cannot do so
until after disposing of Mr. Madhav.

I will be indisposed for the length of my flight, but am available to discuss the
issue anytime afterward.

Bob James
COO, Novacib Pharmaceuticals
Bob.James@novacib.in