5.3 Toysmart case exercises - student module  (Page 2/19)

Each decision point requires that you take up the position of a participant in the case and work through decision-making frameworks from his or her perspective. You may be tempted to back out and adopt an evaluative posture from which to judge the participants. Resist this temptation. This module is specifically designed to give you practice in making real world decisions. These skills emerge when you role play from one of the standpoints within the case. You will learn that decision-making requires taking stock of one’s situation from within a clearly defined standpoint and then accepting responsibility for what arises from within that standpoint.

Cases such as Toysmart are challenging because of the large amount of information gathering and sorting they require. Moral imagination responds to this challenge by providing different framings that help to filter out irrelevant data and structure what remains. Framing plays a central role in problem specification. For example, Toysmart could be framed as the need to develop more effective software to help negotiate the exchange of information online. In this case, a software programming expert would be brought in to improve P3P programs. Or it could be framed as a legal problem that requires ammending the Bankruptcy Code. What is important at this stage is that you and your group experiment with multiple framings of the case around your decision point. This makes it possible to open up avenues of solution that would not be possible under one framing.

Tackling large cases in small teams also helps develop the communication and collaboration skills that are required for group work. Take time to develop strategies for dividing the work load among your team members. The trick is to distribute equally but, at the same time, to assign tasks according the different abilities of your team members. Some individuals are better at research while others excell in interviewing or writing. Also, make sure to set aside time when you finish for integrating your work with that of your teammates. Start by quickly reviewing the information available on the case. This is called “scoping the case.” Then formulate specific questions to focus further research on information relevant to your problem solving efforts. This includes information pertinent to constructing a socio-technical analysis, identifying key “embedded” ethical issues, and uncovering existing best and worst practices.

A case narrative, STS (socio-technical system) description, and two ethical reflections have been published at http://computingcases.org. This module also links to websites on bankruptcy and privacy law, the Model Business Corporation Act, consumer privacy information, and the TRUSTe website.

Toysmart narrative

Toysmart was a Disney-supported company that sold educational toys online from December 1998 to May 2000. After disappointing Christmas sales in 1999, Disney withdrew its financial support. The greatly weakened dot-com company lasted less than a year after this. On May 22, 2000, Toysmart announced that it was closing down and brought in a consulting firm, The Recovery Group, to evaluate its assets, including a customer data base of 260,000 profiles, each worth up to $500.