How to Motivate Fred Maiorino?

©1998
ISBN 0-324-00262-9

Case Teaching Package
A case teaching package is available for this case. It includes strategies for case presentation, key concepts, solutions to the assignment questions in the case, and suggestions for the most effective ways to work this case into your course.

Length
This case is 12 pages in length and its case teaching package is 10 pages.

Abstract

Fred Maiorino had been one of Schering-Plough's top sales representatives, but he was now 63 years old and had refused his company's "early out" package. Early in his career, he settled in his sales territory of Southern New Jersey which included its capital of Trenton while making a good living and winning many performance prizes.

More recently, however, under the guidance of the sales district's new sales manager, Jim Reed, a new personnel evaluation system has determined that Fred's performance has slipped badly. Jim tries to help Fred but to little effect. The breaking point between the two comes when Jim discovers that Fred has been submitting false activity reports over time spent making his rounds of doctors offices and pharmacies.

Following company procedures, Jim takes to driving by Fred's home on various mornings and often discovers his car in the driveway. Because of Fred's failure to cover his territory adequately, Reed puts him on a six-month probation while stating specific sales goals that must be met. At the end of the probationary period, Fred had failed to attain the marketshare gains set for him.

Fred was given another six-month probation to give him the benefit of the doubt, given his long service with Schering-Plough, but he failed again. Later, he was publicly fired in a restaurant he frequented with Reed and his company car and sales materials were confiscated.

Linkages to Textbooks or Journal Articles/Fit Within a Course

This case can be used in undergraduate and graduate level marketing management, ethics, human resources management, and strategic management courses as its topic areas include sales force management, employee motivation, strategy design and implementation, employee evaluation schemes, and ethical and legal issues associated with age discrimination cases.

Study Questions

1. What qualities do veteran sales representatives such as Fred Maiorino bring to their jobs? What qualities do young sales representatives bring to their assigned territories? In the drug industry, which of the two age groups do you feel are preferable?
2. Fred was fired for deficient performance. Can Schering-Plough objectively sustantiate its assessment that Fred was a poor-performing sales representative?
3. What basic virtues does the BARS system possess as a performance evaluation device? What faults does it possess? Appraise the quality of Schering-Plough's use of its BARS.
4. In evaluating sales performance, Schering-Plough switched from a quota system to a ranked marketshare increase system. Viewed from both motivational and objective measurement perspectives, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each system?
5. In terminating Fred Maiorino, did Schering-Plough give him "due process"?
6. A number of approaches to ethical decision-making behavior exist, namely the utilitarian approach, the individual rights approach, and the justice approach. Looking at the overwhelming factors in Schering-Plough's situation, was its ultimate decision to fire Fred Maiorino correct given the concerns of each of these approaches?
7. There are a number of responsibilities firms must fulfill or actions they have to do if they are to remain viable. There are a number of other responsibilities or actions they should do and might do. Where on this spectrum of obligations do you believe Schering-Plough operates?
8. What did Schering-Plough do to help Fred Maiorino improve his performance? To what degree did Fred himself frustrate his employer's attempts to improve his performance?