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Running Header: Case Study Assignment Case Study Assignment Part One: 1. Assumptions: Kelly: Chief Engineer of Product Software ? Marketing people don’t seem to have any understanding of – just throwing away money at a problem doesn’t make it go away ? Believes that the only feature they can work with is identifying customers through retinal scanning; no other features can be produced ? The numbers that they came up with he feels are very optimistic ? That Pat shows a complete lack of knowledge of how the product actually works ? Assumes the Program is not going to work Assumes Pat went behind his back and talked to his programmers ? That the product can not be completed in 6 months Pat: Director of Marketing ? Believes in order to succeed AcuScan needs to expand its technology into new markets and again become the cutting edge leader by creating a solution to an as-yet recognized customer need. ? Believes that the timeline is reachable and outsourcing is key to meet all deadlines and to launch product ? Assumes that customers will love a incomplete project ? That on of the programmers assured hat they could build the product ? Assumes that he can get it done without help from Kelly Assume that the finished product will be ready by August Cliff: CEO of AcuScan ? Assumption that there was a need to produce a new product ? Hiring of Pat who has no experience in the technology department and assume that she will take them to a higher level ? Assumes that the company will be successful and take the market by storm in the following year ? Assume the project will launch on time by the end of the year ? Assumes that more cut backs will save the company ? Assume that the employees know what the consumer’s wants and needs are Chris: Vice President of Product Development Assuming that he will be able to make budget cuts without laying off present employees ? Kelly is the reins of the company and is the true expert 2. Explain arguments made by each of these people Cliff O’Conner ? Believes that a new product needs to be produced in order to bring sales back to top numbers. ? Believes that with some new features added to the iScanner, that the company will be able to bring their numbers back up to the highest for the year because of the previous success rate of the original product Pat Lambert ? Believes that outsourcing may be helpful in producing the product and getting in completed by the due date. Believes that they must expand their new product into new markets and that there is a strong need for this product in a retail setting Kelly Thomas ? That there is no way to launch this product on time and to ensure that the product and its features are all functioning. ? Only one feature will be ready by the due date and Pat is to pick one feature. ? Kelly argues to Chris Martinas that everyone is placed on the line in developing the new product by the due date. The product will not be ready by the desired date due to loss of manpower and lack of resources.
Kelly argues in an email sent to me about the progress report for the new product. There is a process to follow to ensure what is developed will meet Quality Control standards and the customer’s needs. Quality control is a big factor in ensuring the product is developed correctly. ? Relational databases are not something someone can just add on and make it work with a few more lines of code. Chris Martinas ? Chris argues to both Kelly and Pat a challenge occurred within the creation of the new product, however, both team members must find a way to get it done. Budget cuts must ensue even with the new product being developed. Through instructions from the CEO, budget cuts must be 15%. 3. Evaluations Ciff O’Connor ? Logical and Sound: the argument is valid that in order to bring up the numbers of the company it would be in their best interest to introduce a new product Pat Lambert ? Sound and logical: the argument is valid and true because it will save the company time and money to outsource, and by introducing the product to a new market they are able to service a bigger market of consumers.
Kelly Thomas ? Sound and logical: Kelly is right about the manpower of the company is weak due to the recent cutbacks. The man power is not strong enough to run the product line and produce the finished product on time. Chris Martinas ? Sound and Logical: Chris’ argument is valid because the company needs to cut the budget by 15% in order to stay afloat. By producing a new and innovative product this will help to keep the company in business. 4. Describe specific fallacious arguments and identify the people who hold them. Ad hominem: Kelly: “To do what, argue again”? ; This statement made by Kelly to Pat when asked when was a good time to meet, by Pat. ? Ad hominem: Pat: “BTW I know what QC means; I don’t appreciate the snide remarks”. ? Slippery Slope: BTW don’t go behind my back to talk to my programmers, they have enough to do than dealing with you: This was said in an email from Kelly to Pat. ? Slippery Slope: “Never mind I will get this done without you. All you want to do is the same old things the same old way and CYA in the process, I don’t need this”.
This statement was made by Pat to Kelly because Pat was very furious with Kelly. The emails just kept getting worse. ? Slippery Slope: Kelly marking up Pat’s document which entails the features and cost of project. Conclusions 1. Describe all problems in this situation ? The revenues of the business are declining and without sales the business will close. ? Producing a great product in time to market it by August. ? The working management team not Seeing Eye to eye making it difficult to finalize decisions and get started on the new project. . for each problem listed above, describe the data, arguments, and reasoning that contribute to the problem. ? The company is just in a slump right now due to economical issues that surround them. The economy is not doing so well in turn the company is not going to do so well either. Producing a new and innovative item to sell to the market, the business can further their revenues. ? There is not enough time to produce the finished product by August. There is not enough man power to assist with the production of the new item. The Management team has tried to come up with solutions to the problems of getting a new product out to the market but the team can’t seem to get along and compromise to ensure that this product gets to the consumers. 3. What is the underlying problem that is the base cause of the conflict with AcuScan? ? The underlying problem that is the base cause of the conflict with AcuScan is the lack of respect for each individual’s ideas. The management team can not get a long and keep undermining each other’s work so nothing is getting done. 4.
What alternative solution would propose for this solution? ? For all members of the team to meet in person and all together to pan out any issues or barriers that they may come across when dealing with the production of new product. ? Brain storm ideas and come up with a game plan to meet all necessary deadlines ? Communicate, Communicate, Communicate 5. State the relative strengths and weaknesses of each alternative solution. Strengths: ? Working as a team ? Communicating and expressing ideas ? All on the same page trying to obtain the same goal The finished product will be on time and complete Weaknesses: ? Some team members may hold grudges from prior fall outs ? Some team members may not pull their share of the work load ? Miscommunication which can damage the project 6. Which solution will you recommend to the CEO and why? ? For all members of the team to meet in person and all together to pan out any issues or barriers that they may come across when dealing with the production of new product. ? Brain storm ideas and come up with a game plan to meet all necessary deadlines ?
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate ? All 3 solutions combined will help to better the team as a whole and help to ensure that the project is a success. Part Two: Executive Summary To the CEO of AcuScan: Here is a final report that I have put together for you which describes the current situation at AcuScan and some recommendations and actions that should be taken and why. Chris Martinas, VP of Product Development and Pat Lambert, the new Director of Marketing have been working together on a new product the needs to be launched by the end of the year.
The new product would be the iScanner, which they have already marketed but will have new features, making it new and more innovative. The two have been working on how to reduce the budget by 15% and focus on not having to not lay off existing employees. The two of them have a budget of 400 K to work and must meet with the necessary departments to get the project off and running. There was an incident that occurred via email between Pat Lambert and Kelly Thomas, Chief Engineer of Product Software.
Kelly created the original iScanner that became the leader in the emerging retinal scanning security business. After talking to you about the production of the product and staying within 400K, Chris emailed Pat and Kelly on how to do just that and how they could make the August deadline. The first response to that email was from Pat Lambert, the email was very positive and explained how Lambert didn’t feel that it was going to be a problem to produce. The next email that followed was from Kelly stating that the team was putting themselves on the line with this project.
Kelly asked Pat, “How can we maintain our existing service with our already short staff, and find time to make up something new”? Kelly also goes to state that “product development just doesn’t work that way”. The following email after that was from Chris and it states that the project may be a challenging one but they must find a way to get it done. This project is the future of the company, so you two should sit down and work out a detailed project development plan, stated Chris. Pat sends out an email and asks Kelly when she wants to get together. Well the emails were ok until this point.
Kelly makes a smart comment to Pat in the next email which states, “To do what? Argue again? Kelly reiterates in her email to Pat that there is no possible way to come up with all the new features “just like that”. Kelly goes on to say in her email that it is not just key strokes-there’s planning, testing, oh, and something you may not have heard about-QC. Only one feature can be done by August and she asks Pat to pick one. The two continue to email back and forth with Pat asking why they can’t get the project done by the deadline and Kelly responding with rude and snide comments.
The reasons Kelly provided for not being able to complete the project was due to the fact that the company has 25 % fewer programmers. They just don’t have the time or man power to complete the project by August. There were more emails with assumptions from each of doing wrong to one another. The emails from both Pat and Kelly were unproductive and very childish. The end result of the emails was that Pat gave up with trying to work with Kelly and stated that he would do the project all on his own and put the blame on Kelly for not caring and not being supportive towards the project. This was just a summary of the events that took place between Kelly and Pat that I wanted to bring to your attention. When running a business people will obviously have their own ideas and ambitions. The first problem that I see here is that there was a lot of communication between the team members but it was not positive communication. There was a lack of motivation amongst some managers and the team never met in person to brainstorm and talk out some of their suggestions and ideas with one another.
All the communicating happened via email and ended up getting out of hand due to sarcasm and snide remarks made between the two employees. There are three solutions to this problem that I have come up with: For all members of the team to meet in person and all together to pan out any issues or barriers that they may come across when dealing with the production of new product; Brain storm ideas and come up with a game plan to meet all necessary deadlines; Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. I believe with these three ideas in place in your company, ou will be able to meet the deadlines that are set for you for launching a new product. This will help your business to grow by having the employees know what good team work is and what helps a good team to succeed. Working together as a team is very important, with the ideas and suggestions from all active team members you can have yourself an abundance of great material and work that will help to produce the product you want. The first step I believe you should do as CEO is set up a meeting with all three managers and sit them all down and let them know what is expected from each and everyone of them.
Let your managers know that you appreciate what they do for the company and how to better the success of future projects. Have your employees express their concerns with you and help them to find the solutions they need to ensure they can all give 110%. Good Luck Cliff and I hope that this summary of problems and their solutions helps to build the number one business you have always wanted. Good Luck on all your future endeavors with the company and your employees. Sincerely, Evalani Rodrigues VP of Organizational Development References 1. www. mycampus. phoenix. edu UOP Assessment Case retrieved online on March 24th, 2008.