42 Business Spotlight 6/2019 BUSINESS SKILLS
bribe [braɪb]
, Bestechungsgeld
bribery [ˈbraɪbəri]
, Bestechung
compromise sth.
[ˈkɒmprəmaɪz]
, etw. kompromittieren;
hier: nicht im Einklang mit
etw. handeln
corporate governance
[)kɔːpərət (ɡʌv&nəns]
, Grundsätze der Unter-
nehmensführung
empower sb.
[ɪmˈpaʊə]
, jmdn. autorisieren
food for thought
[ˌfuːd fə ˈθɔːt]
, Denkanstoß/-anstöße
malicious
[mE(lISEs]
, hinterhältig,
heimtückisch
perception
[pəˈsepʃ&n]
, WahrnehmungCase study: Feedback (see p. 40)
The following comments are provided as food for
thought. Different interpretations are, of course,
possible.What is the key decision that Peter is facing?
In fact, Peter has a number of decisions to make. First,
he has to take a decision on how he is to discover the
true facts around the supposed bribe paid by Raj. It is
very important to note that, at this stage, he does not
know all the facts. He has only been told something,
so he needs to uncover the truth in a sensitive way
that does not prejudge Raj or that could be seen as
accusing others.
Second, Peter needs to take a decision on how to
handle the situation after he uncovers the facts. If
the person telling him about Raj is giving him false
information, Peter needs to inform them of this and
discover whether their motivation is malicious, and
then deal with that reality. If the information is cor-
rect, Peter probably has little choice but to fire Raj for
compromising corporate governance rules.
The third decision that Peter has to make is how to
communicate the decision. Peter can either commu-
nicate this independently or together with Raj’s team
leader. He will also have to decide whether to com-
municate this in writing or personally in meetings.What do you think about Jess’s advice to give Raj
a second chance?
Jess is well intentioned in suggesting to give Raj a
second chance. If the “bribery” was done uninten-
tionally, this might be an option. If the bribery was
done on purpose, Peter will have no choice but to
follow the legal framework.How important is it for Peter to talk to Raj’s team
leader?
It is important for Peter to talk to Raj’s team leader
so that he feels consulted on what is a very difficult
issue. Also, Peter might decide to make Raj’s firing
a joint decision with the line manager, both to em-
power this person in the eyes of the team and to
minimize the risk of negative
perceptions of himself
as being the big, bad
overseas boss. At the
same time, it is im-
portant for Peter to
communicate clearly
the rules of corporate
governance — what
is permitted and what
is not.- What is the basis for our
decisions?
Once you have decided on the scope
and goals of your decision-making, you
face another decision: what is the basis
for choosing what to do? Where do you
draw information from? Which sources
can you trust in a world of “fake news”
and multiple political interests?
Conventional answers to these ques-
tions are generally built on a powerful ra-
tionalist logic. We simply need to collect
sufficient relevant data, and then churn
this data through a robust process that
contrasts and compares options against
rigorous criteria — and we will come up
with the best solution. Indeed one of the
promises of artificial intelligence (AI) is
that it can analyse large quantities of data
faster than the human brain to come up
with the best decisions. Currently, most
people rely on more traditional tools for
taking decisions, such as a SWOT anal-
ysis (which lists strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats), Force Field
Analysis (which looks at the strengths of
the arguments for or against change) or
the modern stand-ups and visualizations
of agile management methods (see also
Business Spotlight 2/2018).
Ask yourself: What decision-making
tools do I currently use? What other tools
are used by colleagues or competitors that
might be useful? What can I do to learn
more about these tools and their use in
decision-making?Such tools can certainly help us to reach
more informed decisions, and it is worth
testing a variety of tools in your working
context. But we can enrich the value that
decision-making tools can deliver if we
consider a number of insights that chal-
lenge the entire rationalist logic on which
many of these tools are built.a) Pure data does not exist. “There are
three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and
statistics.” This phrase was popularized
in the United States by Mark Twain, who
attributed it to a former British prime
minister, Benjamin Disraeli. The phraseagile [ˈædʒaɪ&l]
, agil, flexibel
churn sth. through sth.
[)tʃɜːn (Tru:]
, etw. durch etw.
durchlaufen lassen
(churn , durchrühren)
enrich sth. [ɪnˈrɪtʃ]
, etw. bereichern;
hier: steigern
stand-up
[(stænd ʌp]
, kurzes Meeting im
Stehen
SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses,
opportunities, threats)
[swɒt]
, Stärken, Schwächen,
Chancen, Bedrohungen