103Making a case or
arguing a point
Conversation: Selecting a company officer
Boss: I’ve called you here to talk about the selection of a new director for the
Customer Service Department. As you know, so far there are only two
candidates, Martha Francis and Juliette Welch. First, I’d like to hear your
comments, both pro and con, about Martha’s qualifications for this position.
Ivana: Well, I think Martha is the perfect person for this position. She’s been
with the company for twenty years, so she knows the business inside out.
She’s conservative and serious; plus she gets along with everybody.
April: Yikes! In my opinion, if she becomes director, nothing will change.
I mean, we wouldn’t see anything new—just the opposite—we’d keep on
implementing the same programs as always.
Katie: She isn’t known for thinking outside the box. What’s more, we’d start
to see our current customer base fall off, simply because our competitors have
enthusiastic new people and innovative programs. I’m just sayin’...
Tim: I have to agree with April and Katie on this one. In the first place, Martha
is too conservative; plus she’d hardly inspire any enthusiasm among the
employees.
Boss: Anybody else want to put their two cents in? OK. Then let’s talk about
Juliette. What do you guys think?
Ivana: Look, if Juliette gets this job, it will be a total disaster for the company.
In the first place, her fancy degree isn’t worth squat because she has zero
experience. Besides, we don’t even know her very well. Good grief, she’s only
been here since March, and to top it all off, we all know that she was fired
from her last job.
Tim: Really. I’ve heard that her coworkers think she’s a bit uppity, like she
thinks she’s the queen of the office. She’s not exactly popular with the other
employees. I don’t think they’d be happy with her as the boss.
Stan: Well, since I put her name up, I have to say that I see her as a very bright
and competent person. Still, I recognize that she lacks experience. And now
that you tell me that her personality could cause friction among the
employees, then I’ll go along with your decision in this case.
Boss: Obviously, we haven’t found the ideal person to handle this job. We may
have to look outside the company, which I don’t particularly want to do. We’ll
meet here tomorrow at the same time. I’ll expect your suggestions—and
they’d better be more promising!· 10 ·