...into the boardroom. a dozen high-level executives found their customary favorite seat and waited for the meeting to begin. Joe, the President, walked in and said, “let’s go.” For the next 90 minutes, Joe looked around the room, daydreamed, listened on and off to the weekly reports from each individual. It’s the same old same old, thought Joe. “Production is light right now, but it’s in line with other manufacturers in our 昀椀eld,” reported sylvia, the VP of Production. Jim, the sales VP chimed in, “sales are up 2 percent from last year but are down 15 percent, according to plan. we have at least one major customer who is currently indicating he is no longer interested in representing our umbrellas, and six other customers have told us that they will be offering competitive umbrellas in addition to our’s.” Joe woke up, asking, “you mean we may lose some major customers? what’s going on here?” 4