To Pull the Bottles or Not? Short-term Financial Pain versus Long-term Uncertainty / Amy LaCombe, Ethan Sullivan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

LaCombe, Amy, author.

Sullivan, Ethan, author.

Series:

SAGE Business cases.

SAGE Business cases

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Leadership.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

London : Society for Case Research, 2025.

Summary:

Jim Koch, the founder and CEO of Boston Beer Company (SAM), faced a very difficult decision in April 2008 when a quality control review at one of the third party bottling companies revealed particles of glass had broken off and fallen into the beer. Jim and his team were unsure if this finding was significant enough to cause harm to its customers and they did not know how pervasive it was. They did know that this bottling facility provided nearly one quarter of the bottles for Boston Beer Company so the scope of the problem was potentially millions of bottles. It was large enough of a problem to send the company into bankruptcy, or at least cause a dramatic decline in earnings and future revenues. After voluntary consultation with his board and the Food and Drug Administration, Jim Koch decided to risk losing the company to protect his customers and recall 25 million bottles. The case is most appropriate for courses in ethics at the undergraduate and graduate level, leadership, and organizational behavior. In ethics classes at all levels, it could be effectively used to show an example of Jim Koch's ability to face the fear of losing his company and yet he chose the morally courageous act, despite that fear as Aristotle says that moral courage is facing the fear of pain with confidence. In leadership classes it can serve as an example of how to handle crisis management when your company's reputation, financial viability and longevity are on the line. In a public company, it is difficult to put stakeholders ahead of shareholders during times of crisis and this case is an example of how considering the customers and potential customers can serve a leader well in the long run. In organizational behavior classes, this case can show the power of corporate culture in helping people to make the right decision. In The Parable of the Sadhu, it is noted that "Some organizations do have a value system that transcends the personal values of management. Such values, which go beyond profitability, are usually revealed when the organization is under stress." In the Boston Beer example, Jim Koch was supported by his board and all of the employees as they were able to physically go store to store and get 25 million bottles off of the shelves because of extreme dedication to the organization.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781071980811

1071980815

OCLC:

1483993428