Critical Case Study Assignment Maurine Shaughnessy GEN/480 Paul C. Moretti, M. B. A. September 12, 2006 I am the newly hired Vice President of Organizational Development. My responsibilities include creating the Organizational Development Department.
I look forward to working with all of you especially with finding a new and improved product based on our already developed retinal scanning system i Scanner. First of all I am going to discuss assumptions made by Kelly Thomas, Pat Lambert, Cliff O’Connor and Chris Martinas. After each employee assumptions will be their arguments and my evaluation of whether the argument is sound or unsound and why. Kelly Thomas – Senior Engineer, Product Development 1. Assumed that Pat, Director of Marketing knew nothing about QC (quality control).
2.
Assumed that all the features for the retinal scanner could not be developed in the time frame allotted. 3. Assumed that due to lay-offs last year they would not have the staff to develop a new product. 4.
Assumed the customer would be “short changed” because the company may not be able to comply with the customers expectations. 5. Assumed Pat did not have any technology experience because his past experience was with the cereal business. 6. Assumed Pat was going behind his back because Pat spoke to the programmers first without consulting with Kelly.
Kelly argued that new product was much more complicated to produce than Pat had implied. He also argued that Pat had no understanding as to how the i Scanner worked and would have a better understanding if Pat took the time to involve him in other areas of the business not just marketing. Kelly’s argument was logical and sound because he based his decision on the time it took the staff to develop the i Scanner. Past history of creating a new product can give you an idea of how long it would take to produce a new product. He also did not want to jeopardize his reputation or the company’s by producing and inadequate product. Pat Lambert – Director of Marketing 1.
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Assumed the new product would be a simple addition to the new product. 2. Assumed programmers had plenty of time to work on new product even though he knew staff was cut last year. 3.
Assumed because they were not agreeing with him they were not committed to the new product. 4. Assumed that the job could be done by outside contractors in the specified time frame. Also with money being a problem. 5. Assumed a meeting would resolve all problems.
6. Assumed the customer would be happy with whatever product was developed and launched. 7. Assumed Kelly was being a “smart ass” because he questioned his knowledge about QC.
Pat argued that the scanner needed to be launched in retail, not banks or other easy markets. He also argued with Chris, Kelly’s manager, that Kelly informed him that it would not be a problem to expand the i Scanner. Another argument he made is he had bigger problems than to listen to than answering other questions presented by other staff members. Pats decision to launch a new product in a new market was sound. To be the first company on the market with a new product to get ahead of your competitors is a good market strategy. His idea to use an outside contractor was unsound because we are already in a budget deficit and there is now guarantee that the contractor would have the product completed in time.
His statement about having bigger problems than to answer questions from other staff members was an emotional one. I think he felt nobody wanted to work with him and he was taking on this responsibility all by himself. Kelly evidently mislead him was his feelings. Pats had two fallacious arguments. The first being that he stated other staff members din not the new product developed was fallacious. The other staff members had been with the company longer than Pat and knew what they had to accomplish in order to get a new product off and running.
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Another fallacious statement was that an outside contractor would be able to produce the new product in the allotted time given. The outside contractor is unfamiliar with the company’s product. So the contractor would have to take the same steps as AcuScan to produce a new product. Cliff O’Connor – CEO 1.
Assumed Pat’s history in marketing for a cereal industry would enable him to produce the new product for AcuScan, Inc. 2. Assumed the staff would overcome any hurdles for the goodness of the company. 3. Assume there was enough money in the budget to pay for the cost of the new product. Argument made by Cliff O’Connor was that the retinal scanner would help them regain position as the leader in technology.
He also argued that the product could be developed and launched even thought the company was facing a budget deficit. I feel Cliff was making a logical decision based on the past history of the company and it would probably regain their position as the leader in technology. Although his decision was logical it was and unsound decision to assume a new product could be launched in a new market at a minimal cost. Chris Martinas – VP, Product Development 1. Assumed it was a simple project all that was needed was adding to the i Scanner. 2.
Assumed it would take a little repacking to get the scanner into retail. 3. Assumed it would not take much time to produce new product. Arguments made by Chris were that the company had to expand into a different market. He also stated that they had to act quickly to beat the competition and also argued that if the product did not hit the market by early 2004 it would put the company at a disadvantage with its competition because Secur-a was working on a new product.
If felt if we acted first this would put us back on top of the market Chris’s argument that the company should adventure into a new market is logical and sound because the company needs to produce new revenue. He also realizes that in order to keep the company on ground and help the budget deficit new and innovative products will bring in revenue and keep ahead of its competitors. Chris made a fallacious argument about the company being on top again if the company developed a new product. The company is not sure whether retail markets have a great need for the new product.
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Also the cost of the product might be too costly for smaller retail stores. In conclusion the company was faced with many problems trying to produce and launch a new product. The first problem stemmed from the fact that Pat Lambert was not familiar with marketing a new technology his expertise was in the marketing or cereal. I think the biggest problem was how they are planning to develop a new product when the company is already facing a budget crunch. Another problem was nobody met face to face.
There should have been ongoing meeting face to face with where ideas could have been thrown out, progress development could have been discussed, and staff needs could have been worked out. Another problem was everyone was working against each other. Nobody was working as a team; everyone has their own opinions and did not take any other staff members into. The CEO should have assisted the staff in working out their differences.
Instead he left if up to the staff. My recommendation would be to have the CEO look into other ways to increase revenue instead of creating a larger deficit. The possibility of expanding the i Scanner into hospitals and other government buildings would be a path to explore. I think before a new product should be developed or launched the company should find innovative ways to increase revenue.
I think a new product should be launched at a later date when budget is not a major problem and feel as though a committee should be developed to plan out any ideas for new products for the future.
