Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Suspicious Sales for Swellesley Blankets

Greenberg, Danna, ...

Case

Suspicious Sales for Swellesley Blankets

Greenberg, Danna; Schlesinger, Phyllis

OB-1196 | Published February 28, 2010 | 2 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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This case is part of the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) curriculum. To see other material in the GVV curriculum, please visit http://store.darden.virginia.edu/giving-voice-to-values. In this case, a student takes on the role of overseeing sales of stadium blankets for his team in a "Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship" (FME) class. At first, sales are 50% higher than the team had projected, which is wonderful, but the student soon learns of some questionable sales practices: one of his team members has told a prospective customer that proceeds get donated to a nonprofit (which is against the rules of the class), another has made a business-to-business sale to a family member's company, and a third team member has boosted his sales numbers by buying the product himself. With grades for the FME class tied in part to sales numbers, the student finds himself conflicted about what he can do to make sure that the team is both successful and ethical. This case works well in sales management, marketing, team management, management communications, and ethics courses, as well as stand-alone workshops.