The rapid growth of Pace Technologies was due in no small part to sales manager Ken Bodine and to…

The rapid growth of Pace Technologies was
due in no small part to sales manager Ken Bodine and to the skills of the savvy
young sales staff that he had assembled. Bodine prided himself on finding and
hiring top grads from two major business schools in the area. In addition to
the top salaries offered by Pace, the grads were attracted by Bodines energy,
innovative thinking, and can-do attitude. He was the embodiment of Pace
culturemoving fast, ahead of the knowledge curve in high-tech. Paces sales
force consistently stunned the competition with their high performance level.
Among other

The rapid growth of Pace Technologies was
due in no small part to sales manager Ken Bodine and to the skills of the savvy
young sales staff that he had assembled. Bodine prided himself on finding and
hiring top grads from two major business schools in the area. In addition to
the top salaries offered by Pace, the grads were attracted by Bodines energy,
innovative thinking, and can-do attitude. He was the embodiment of Pace
culturemoving fast, ahead of the knowledge curve in high-tech. Paces sales
force consistently stunned the competition with their high performance level.
Among other things, Pace had the reputation for aggressive business
intelligence. Competitors found both amusing and frustrating the companys
ability to outmaneuver others and capture accounts. Bodineenjoyed the air of
mystery surrounding the Pace organization. Awareness that some competitor sat
on the verge of a big sale always stirred Bodines passion for sales and ignited
his desire to one-up these guys and grab the sale out from under them. If
this was a poker game, one board member mused, Pace would win every hand.
Its like Bodine as well as his staff possess the uncanny ability to know the
cards your company is holding. He keeps a straight face, a low profile
throughout the game, and then suddenly he lays his cards on the table and
youre sunk. Here at Pace, we all love it. A former military intelligence
officer, Bodine brought that sneaky air into the Pace culture, adding a bit
of excitement to the day-to-day business of sales. With a great product, great
staff, and great business intelligence, Bodine was fond of saying, you can
dominate the market. He wanted everyonecustomers, competitors, and the mediato
see Pace everywhere. Every time the competition holds a staff meeting, he
said, the first question should be, Whats Pace doing? The sales staff was
a mirror image of Bodineyounger, but with the same air of invincibility, and
very competitive with one another. This, too, Bodine encouraged. A chess
player, he enjoyed observing and encouraging the competition within his own
sales staff. And seeing the thrill it brought the boss, ambitious salespeople
worked vigorously to prove their competitive worth. Bodines latest competitive
match pitted Cody Rudisell and Ali Sloan in an intellectual and strategic
struggle for a coveted assignment to a potential major account with a company
that had just expanded into the region. Bodine let it be known that Cody and
Ali were being considered for the assignment, and that each could submit a
proposal to lure the account to Pace and away from its top rival, Raleigh-Tech.
Both Cody and Ali eagerly grabbed the opportunity to expand their influence
within the company and to build their reputations. Putting together their
presentations within a short time period meant working long days and late
nights. On the evening before the presentations, Cody bounded into Alis office
and dropped a file on her desk. Top that! he said. Ali began thumbing through
the file, and as she looked up in startled amazement, Cody slammed his hand on
the folder and jerked it from her desk. Thats like a watershed of
Raleigh-Techs trade secrets, Ali said. Where did you get that? My secret,
sweetie, Cody replied, taking a seat andnoisily drumming his fingers on
the folder. With thisinformation, R-T doesnt have a chance. And neither
do you. You could get into all sorts of trouble, Ali said. When you lay
that on Bodines . . . Bodines espionage side will love it, Cody
interrupted. This is classic Bodine, classic Pace. You cant tell me that with
all of the brilliant moves hes made over the years, Bodine hasnt done the
same thing. This is business, cutthroat business, and I may have just topped
the master. See you tomorrow. As he left, Ali sat in stunned silence.
Cutthroat, indeed, she whispered, reaching for the phone. She held the phone
for a moment, wondering who she should call. This is unethical, illegal, she thought.
She hung up the phone. Should I let him hang himself tomorrow? What if Bodine
really does love it? If I call some manager tonight, will everyone see me as a
sore loser and a crybaby? Is this really what it takes to win in the big
leagues? Is this really the culture of this organization?

1. How has Ken Bodine shaped the sales
culture at Pace Technologies? Do you consider this culture to be at a
preconventional, conventional, or postconventional level of ethical
development? Why? 2. What should Ali Sloan do? What would you actually do if
you were in her place? Explain