Organizational Behavior, Third Edition

CONCLUDING CASE STUDY: CENTURION MEDIA: Doing the Right Thing

Carolyn Conn, St. Edward's University, Aundrea Kay Guess, St. Edward's University

Jonathan Hiatt, St. Edward's University

Each time Richard Bennett reached across his desk for the mail and other documents his assistant had placed in his in-box, he smiled because he thought of the friendly disagreement with his wife about the "proper" way to handle this task. His approach was "top-down." Whatever was on top of the in-box was dealt with first, then down through the stack until it was all finished. His wife preferred the "priority" method, first sorting through everything to determine the urgency of each item. Bennett felt that was just a waste of time. "By the time you've gotten your stuff sorted, I've probably finished with at least one-third of the items in my in-box," he had kidded her. Bennett was thinking of his wife again that morning as he sat down at his desk. Tomorrow, July 12, 2006, was their wedding anniversary. How could forty-one years have gone by so quickly? His reminiscing was abruptly interrupted when Bennett saw the item on top of his in-box.

A special courier had delivered a package from the corporate office of Centurion Media. Inside the package was a contract signed by Joseph Fowler, the new president of his division. (Refer to Exhibit 1 for corporate structure.) As Bennett read through the contract, he had a sick feeling. The contract required all of the cable television systems in the Centurion cable ...