VP of R&D starting his presentation to his firm’s board of directors: Okay. In as far as our
middle sudser market goes, there is really not a better product that we can copy in our nation.
We’re looking around the world to see if there isn’t one we can copy that, come in and it
has great productivity or whatever then we can use that [ sic ]. Otherwise, we have to either
improve on one of the product characteristics, meaning washing power and gentleness, or
else try and bring the cost down and compete on that basis. The retail high sudsers, again the
competitors meaning Team 2 and Team 3, both have very good products. Our improvement
research has brought our 7.5 product in washing power from a 1.5 to a 4.5 as indicated here
[in the slide presentation].
Chairman of the Board: Would we be fair in assuming that what you’re telling us is that
we can spend our research bucks to get an expected result?
VP of R&D: In using which kind of research?
Chairman of the Board: I don’t care. I mean do you have some recommendations and
some ideas there on how you would like to spend the money to achieve some product
improvement?
VP of R&D: Yes.
Chairman of the Board: Okay. Well from a policy-setting point of view, does the board have
any more questions on that subject? Okay. Let’s move on to the next subject on the list then.^13 Cognitive Processes in Audience Decision Making
What prompted the chairman’s abrupt remarks to the VP of R&D, remarks excerpted from a board
meeting of a simulated detergent manufacturing fi rm run by MBA students and overseen by a
board of experienced business people? In essence, the VP had failed to activate the appropriate
schema in the mind of the chairman. Had the VP activated the right schema before diving into
product characteristics and competitor positions by fi rst explaining what he would be recommend-
ing and why, the chairman might have been able to follow the VP’s line of reasoning and to have
made a decision about the VP’s recommendation. Without knowing what the VP wanted him to
do with the information being delivered, the chairman became more and more frustrated with
every additional, and seemingly meaningless, detail.