Conference Call # 1 – Level: Upper 3 or + PROCEDURE - You’ll need at least 3 students + the teacher. You must send “The case” and each student’s role by e-mail (see instructions below) so that they know what they’ll talk about and which idea they should support. - The teacher should start the conference call by introducing everybody, and telling his version of the story. Remember to help everybody to participate! - Objective: You’re objective is to find a happy end to the story, so you must lead the group to a conclusion. - Don’t forget to book your conference call in advance and be sure all students who booked will participate, some of the roles are essential!
- Theme: Development of a Software
Participants: Teacher: Microman’s owner Student 1: Microman’s managerStudent 2: Employee Student 3: Co-worker of the employeeStudent 4: Co-worker of the employeeStudent 5: Construction Inc.’s owner(Use the real names of the students to make it easier. You can cut “co-workers” depending on the number of students you have participating).
- The case
(All students should receive by e-mail) Microman is a company that develops softwares. The company was developing a software to Construction Inc, a company that builds houses. Construction Inc. asked Microman to study and develop a software that could help them with their sales, they would like to have a software that could represent the way they work, meaning technology, speed and quality. Construction Inc. prepared researches and analyzed the market and competitors and after that, got in contact with Microman and asked them to estimate the value for the development of the software. Microman sent them the price for their services but Construction Inc. decided not to hire them because they considered it quite expensive. Two weeks after the decision of not hiring Microman the owner of Construction Inc. received a phone call from one of Microman’s employees. He suggested that Construction Inc. hired him to develop the software, for a cheaper price than the one Microman had asked for the job. He said he would like to do it because he really liked the idea of the software and that he was considering selling it to other companies that work with construction.
- Participants’ roles
(Students should receive by e-mail ONLY the role they’ll play) Teacher: Microman’s ownerYour role is to mediate the conversation and find a happy end to it. Some of your options for the closure:o Fire the employee who offered to work by himselfo Offer the development of the software for the same price the employee asked to develop ito Fire the manager of the team because of his poor performance o Anything else you can imagine Student 1: Microman’s manager Your role is to understand the situation and analyze if you still want to have this employee working in your team.Some things only you know (and you might tell people if you think it’s relevant):o The employee that offered the software has recently got married and his wife is pregnant, he asked for a pay rise a few months ago but you didn’t take his request to the board of directors of Microman. o This employee is one of the best you have, your team depends a lot on him.o You didn’t give enough attention to this project and let your team analyze the project without your help, maybe if you had helped them you would have been able to reach a better price to Construction Inc. Student 2: employee You are the employee who offered to develop the software by yourself. You have to defend yourself now, as your job is in danger.Some things only you know (and you might tell people if you think it’s relevant):o You are desperate for money, you got married a few months ago and found out your wife is pregnant. When you were hired by Microman they promised to pay you a better salary after the first 3 months of work, but it’s been one year already and your salary is the same.o You are really found of construction and the idea of the software was really good. Your got very excited about developing it, as you saw it would be a product nobody else would have, and that it could be good not only to Construction Inc., as to other construction companies.o There was no team work in that project, you worked almost alone, as everybody else was involved in another project.o You really need this job, you can’t afford to lose it.o You didn’t have the idea of selling the software to other companies until Construction Inc. said they wouldn’t buy it. You know it’s a great idea and after all, business is business. Student 3: co-worker of the employeeYou worked with the employee who offered to develop the software by himself and your role is to help the employee with this situation. Some things only you know (and you might tell people if you think it’s relevant):o During the process of analyzing the development of the software the employee was really into it. He stayed until late for a week because he really liked the idea of the software and wanted Microman to get this project.o The employee did almost everything by himself, The rest of the team was involved in another project and couldn’t help him.o When Microman decided what the price they would charge would be, this employee said it was too expensive, but Microman didn’t want to hear him.o You really like to work with this employee, you think he’s the best one in the team. Student 4: co-worker of the employeeYou worked with the employee who offered to develop the software by himself and your role is to express your point of view about the situation. Some things only you know (and you might tell people if you think it’s relevant):o The employee didn’t let anyone from the team help him with the development of the software, he wanted to do it by himself. You asked him if he needed help 2 or 3 times and he said he could handle it alone.o You don’t like the way the employee works. He thinks he knows everything and he’s been seen as the best man of the team, but you don’t agree with it. You think you could take his position.o You overheard him saying more than once that this software could be sold to other companies and you told him it wouldn’t be fair, as they’d be selling Construction Inc.’s work to other companies. Student 5: Owner of Construction Inc. You are the owner of Construction Inc. and you are really annoyed with the situation. It took you one year to analyze your competitors and establish a new way of selling the construction of houses. Then you decided that a software would be extremely important to your business. You went to Microman and told them all the secrets of your company and asked them how much they would charge to develop a software to you. When the price came you didn’t agree with it. And then you received the phone call. You have to defend your point of view:o You think the price they charged was really expensive, a lot more than what other IT companies had asked for.o This employee that called you offering the development of the software wasn’t that bad at all, the problem was what he said about selling the idea of this software to other companies. It would be like opening all your secrets to other companies.o You really think this employee should suffer some sort of punishment for what he suggested.o You still need to have your software developed.
Does Chandler break up with Joanna in the end of the episode? How?