The recruiter of a large multinational firm must review three applications forms to recommend which, if any, are appropriate candidates for personal interviews. This firm places high priority on recruitment.

This case describes the situation Pierre Godfroid encountered when he took over as Sabena's CEO in 1991. At that time, Sabena was in crisis facing imminent bankruptcy. On the strength of a restructuring plan, developed by Godfroid and his staff, the Belgian government had agreed to bail out the airline in return for assurances that this would be the last time government assistance would be requested. Godfroid's task was to transform the company .....more

The case provides an update on the events subsequent to the (A) case, 9A94M003. It outlines the strategic changes implemented by Pierre Godfroid, Sabena's CEO, and introduces Erik Weytjens, a recent graduate of an MBA program. This case outlines Weytjens first assignment to solve a major logistics problem in the dishwashing department. The case, along with the follow-on series of cases provides the opportunity to: 1) make decisions and take action .....more

On October 25, 1992, Sabena announced its first firings and lay-offs in its history. On the evening of the downsizing announcement, Weytjens is alerted that a crowd of militant workers from another part of the company had entered the catering building to encourage the workers to join a strike action which had started earlier in the day. Weytjens had to quickly judge whether there was any better way of dealing with the situation than the accepted reaction .....more

On the day that Weytjens demoted a sous-chef for having ignored several warnings not to eat in the kitchen, which was a requirement of ISO 9002 standards, he returned from lunch to find three other sous-chefs waiting in his office. They were there to complain about what they felt was unnecessarily harsh action and to ask Weytjens to reconsider his decision. Background information is provided in cases 9A94M003 and 9A94M004; subsequent related cases .....more

Weytjens arrives at a meeting of 20 brigadiers (drivers) to discuss minor scheduling changes, to find the most militant union leader seated amongst the group. Weytjens had many previous negative encounters with this particular union leader, and she was the only one with whom he had not been able to establish a reasonably cooperative relationship. He accepted that she steadfastly believed her role was to oppose management as a matter of principal. .....more

By the spring of 1993, it was evident that even though Sabena had made enormous strides in its quest for profitability, the airline was again headed for record losses. Weytjens felt that it might be possible to increase productivity if workers could be convinced to increase their hours of production. Increasing productivity in this way would not require workers to spend more hours at work, but, instead, would require them to spend more hours working .....more

CAE Electronics is a high-tech Canadian company operating in 47 countries world-wide. CAE was in the midst of a bid to build three power plant simulators for the Korean Electric Power Corporation worth about $50 million. The case presents an overview of CAE, its industry, and the Korean context. Allan Abramovitch, manager for Power Plant Simulators, must assess the risk/return trade-offs of the bid, and the implications for CAE's strategy. The .....more

The communications manager for a division of a large chemical manufacturer has been asked to consider the future feasibility of two adjacent plants. She had been informed that a decision had already been made to immediately close two of their current chemical plants. If all four plants closed, nearly one-third of the division's workers (over 400 employees) would be affected. In addition, the activities at the company had a significant economic .....more