Fuzzy Math Case Study Summary
The companies as mentioned above have a business relationship thus guarded by a
contract. For the relationship to continue well, trust between the two entities must be guarded.
According to the case study given, Symbol is the client and thus paying for the services rendered
to it (Meredith, 2012). On the other hand, CONNECTCo is the one providing services. It should,
therefore, give services that meet or are above the needs of its clients. In this case, it is
shortchanging its largest client by charging for non-existent services. As its biggest source of
revenue, the managers and staff at CONNECTCo should ensure proper procedures are followed
for the client to be satisfied (Daft, 2014). The Internal Account Executives should be in line with
FUZZY MATH CASE STUDY 2
the agreement, and the empty territories should be as written down. Steve Puhl, Vice President of
Direct Sales at Symbol and Charlie Gallagher, Vice President of Canadian Operations should
have a similar understanding of the contract they signed and any amendments made especially
the most recent (Meredith, 2012). It will enhance proper understanding, and any hitch will be
solved easily.
The management of CONNECTCo lacked moral responsibility due to their flawed
accounting procedures and the fact that they were not adherent to the contract or its amendments.
It is very evident from the first step Davis takes by approaching Gallagher to get to the bottom of
some discrepancies (Meredith, 2012). Davis wanted to know to calculate the amount to be
credited for the available open seats. It was due to some staff resources his company was to be
supplied but had not and yet the client was paying for. Without any hesitation or any analysis,
Gallagher just told Davis to use the lowest cost yet they had not received any hint to do so. It is
despite the fact that Charlie had met the Symbol contact during a golf session. Even the usage
of only nine words amazed Davis due to the seriousness of the issue he had posed (Daft, 2015).
A similar reaction met Davis when he approached McDonald the Vice President and
Relationship Manager and who was in charge of the Symbol account. It showed that his greatest
concern was the money to be charged notwithstanding any service rendered.
According to the contract signed on 1st September 2002, there were 275 IAEs but in the
actual sense, 6 were empty territories thus not active yet CONNECTCo continued to charge the
services (Meredith, 2012). Section 5.2 was amended on 1st October 2003 and stated that only
225 IAEs were agreed upon. However, on 15th December 2003, there was another amendment
FUZZY MATH CASE STUDY 3
returning the IAEs to 275 (Daft, 2014). Then, there were three more open territories thus
becoming 9.
In a meeting with McDonald and Charlie, they both told Davis to run to run the days
including training days. It was to see the reduction of the money they had overcharged instead of
thinking of refunding. A company with a profit of above 35% and could not refund less than 1%
only served to reflect the greedy and corrupt nature of the management (Daft,2014).
Davis, as an honest staff, should not ignore this flawed process and should report to the
top management. It is, however, risky since Charlie is the Vice President, and he may want to
protect him by telling Charlie of the flaws. Still, in the management ladder, only Charlie reports
directly to the CEO and his reporting may be seen badly (Meredith, 2012). If so, this may result
to his sacking. It is a risk considering the plight of his girlfriend’s concerns. However, he can
cushion himself this risk through informing everybody involved of the financial risk involved.
Also bearing in mind that Symbol is their largest client. Still, no member of the management
would like to see CONNECTCo a bad image suffers like Enron and Adelphia (Meredith, 2012).
References
Daft, R. L. (2014). Management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Meredith Belbin, R. (2011). Management teams: Why they succeed or fail. Human Resource
Management International Digest, 19(3).
