Case Name :      Cooke & Rodak LLP

Authors :           John S. Haywood-Farmer, David Leith

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            910D14

Discipline :        Operations Management

Case Length :    11 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

The managing partner of Cooke & Rodak LLP was devising a recommendation to be presented to the executive committee regarding a significant change to the firm’s program for articling students. The current program had a structured rotation system, and after interviews with several current articling students it had been suggested that a move to a more entrepreneurial-based approach, thus allowing students flexibility in choosing their work, would be welcomed. Would this entrepreneurial-based approach be seen as an opportunity to find their niche, or would it be seen as too unstructured and “scare off” potential candidates? Could the firm maintain its current strong reputation among students by choosing this strategy? It was thought that eliminating the rotation system would enhance development of the firm’s students, but since no other firm had taken this approach, it was unknown how this change in strategy might affect recruiting efforts towards future candidates.