Fletcher Ball Bearings (Summary Report)
Fletcher Ball Bearings is a leading manufacturer of precision bearings and bearing products that
sells to various industries, including aerospace, communications, health care, and defense. The
company is divided into several divisions, with the Aero division focusing on manufacturing and
selling bearings for use in various aerospace end products. The Aero division employs salespeople
with an aerospace or engineering education and relevant work experience, but the level of
expertise varies among them. The new director of sales, Gordon Chase, recognized the need for
training to keep salespeople up to date with product knowledge. However, the senior board of
the company voted down his training budget request, and he had to settle for a reduced budget
of $2,000 per salesperson. The training program provided five hours of classroom training per
month for each salesperson, which covered company orientation information, bearing
specifications, and information on prime industry players and their products. However, the
training was criticized by some senior salespeople for being a one-size-fits-all approach,
frustrating them as they had to sit through information they already knew to get new information.
The new salespeople felt they did not receive enough introductory training and struggled to
understand the more advanced technology updates. The feedback collected from the employees
after each classroom training session was negative, prompting Chase to make improvements
before the next budget year.