Assignment Overview
Asian Company is a company that deals with the development and provision of security systems to business organizations. It provides technical security services in many sectors such as airports and many others. According to the company’s CEO, Cliff O’Connor, the company boasts of capturing about 40% of the market share in the industry within the whole of America (University of Phoenix, 2003).
However, the company faces stiff competition from other players in the market and the company’s market shares are falling. It is therefore important that the company introduces a new product in the market to regain its position as the leader in the market. Developing a new product for the market is crippled with serious management issues of finance, logistics, and leadership. The company’s management does not have an inclusive forum for planning its activities and therefore lets departments play their roles independently or collaboratively.
Assignment Analysis
Assumptions made by the Managers
Kelly Thomas
He is the company’s chief engineer in software products and is responsible for the development and maintenance of the company’s iScanner security product. However, his assumptions greatly affect the company. His first assumption is that there is no need to change existing from the existing security system and that any future innovations should only be developed from the existing one. He does not understand that the old system might hinder the full development of a new more advanced technology. Secondly, he assumes that anybody operating in the company must have adequate technical know-how of the iScanner operation.
And as such anything to be done concerning the iScanner should only happen after consultations with him. He feels that the marketing department should be headed by somebody with adequate knowledge of the iScanner. Thirdly, he assumes that nobody in the company including the management team has the moral authority to ask any information about the development of the iScanner from his juniors without passing through him. Fourth, he also assumes that any budgeting in his department should not be interfered with. His financial estimations are final. He also assumes that customers can only be attracted to technologies that are complete and not those presented to them in phases.
Pat Lambert
She is the new head of the marketing department and is charged with the duty of driving the company to regain its market share. Being a new member of the company, she tends to make crucial assumptions. She assumes that the marketing department has the sole right of making budgetary allocations for development activities in the company. She, therefore, does not consult Kelly who is the chief engineer in the company.
She also assumes that she can set deadlines for project completions without consulting other concerned departments. She even goes ahead to make promises to customers. Pat assumed that her experience in marketing can be replicated in any company without first understanding the technical concepts of the company and the project. She, therefore, comes up with unrealistic deadlines and features for the project.
She also assumes that clients are normally easily swayed by improvements in technology even if the improvements are minimal. She also assumes that every individual in a department understands the logistics involved in the project development and therefore can be relied upon to give accurate information.
Pat feels that regaining the market share position depends on how fast the company develops a new technology to venture into new markets. She does not see the need to expand the market opportunities by including market possibilities. Thus she assumes that she is the only one in the company with appropriate marketing technological know-how and as such only, her views should be considered. Pat also feels that nobody except Chris has the moral authority to meet the CEO to discuss anything on the project since they are the ones heading the project development.
Cliff O’Connor, CEO
Cliff also makes some critical assumptions but dangerous assumptions. First, Cliff believes that AcuSan is an undisputable market player in security management. He believes that AcuSan provides the best services in the market (University of Phoenix, 2003). He also assumes that the best managers are those with much experience and therefore he does not give a chance to his existing lower rank employees to rise to the management level.
Pat was arguably the best marketing director in the cereal industry but has little knowledge in this industry. He also assumes that cost-cutting involves retrenching employees from every department. He does not make any special or logical considerations for any department. Cliff believes that managers would perform their jobs better with little interference and as such he only receives reports on the progress and does not involve in decision makings within departments. He only must approve. He also assumes that not much can be done to earn more revenue from sales; he, therefore, focuses the company’s investment on the provision of services and not on developing products for sale.
Chris Martinas
Chris assumes that they are the leader in the market and that their competitors including new players in the market cannot develop more advanced technologies in security management. Thus he assumes the potential of their competitors. He assumes his duty of resolving conflict that exists between his department and the marketing department. He believes that solving such problems is above his capacity.
Arguments
Cliff O’Connor
Cliff argues that the company is able and is confident that it will regain its market share due to their superior experience in the market. He believes that experience gives the company the required expertise to develop security systems that can enable the company to expand its market and generate more revenue.
Pat Lambert
Pat has several arguments to support her reasoning. First, she argues that the company should not focus on expanding its services to other sectors such as banks with the existing technology since they are bound to end up in the same problem that they are in (University of Phoenix, 2003). She also argues that the programmers can develop the project within the limited time and if not, should contract other programmers to help develop the project to beat the deadline set for the program. According to her Kelly does not seem to understand the market mechanisms.
Kelly Thomas
According to him, Pat does not understand how the iScanner software operates and that is the reason why she set unrealistic deadlines and budgets (University of Phoenix, 2003). He argues that improving the iScanner to meet the required standards is a long process that should take about one year and not six months. He believes that her limited knowledge in the industry limits her understanding of the logistics involved in developing the project. He also argues that the currently available employees in his department are too few to balance between the ongoing maintenance process and the project.
Chris Martinas
He argues that AcuSan has the confidence of regaining its market position since its competitors lack the capacity and expertise to develop a more advanced technology than them. He feels that the level of technology that the company posses are superior to that of its competitors.
Argument Evaluation
Cliff O’Connor
Cliff’s argument is not realistic to the existing situations in the market. The level of expertise in business organizations vary but are not static. Companies can develop advanced technologies by investing in innovativeness and creativity. He also does not consider other constraints within the AcuSan Company that might hinder the company from achieving its vision; such as limited finances. This implies that the reasoning is emotional and not logical.
Part Lambert
Her main concern is the completion of the project within the set deadline. She does not consider all the processes involved in improving the iScanner technology before setting the deadline for the project. She does not consider providing long term solutions to the company as well as those of the customers. Her reasoning is a survival tactic of attracting the customers to the company but providing little services to them. Providing a solution in phases is dangerous since other competitors can steal the idea and fully develop it before the original company exploits it.
Kelly Thomas
Kelly’s argument is sound since he looks at the viability of the set deadlines and the budget critically. He reasons from a practical point of view and wants to improve the technology that meets the current market requirements in regards to the company’s ability. However, his arguments are rather emotional but logical.
Chris Martinas
His arguments that they can recapture their position in the market due to their high level of expertise can not be substantiated since creativity is dynamic and does not occur in one individual. He underrates other competitors’ potential with little proof. His argument is emotional and not logical.
Fallacies
Kelly’s reasoning that the best results for the security system market can only be achieved by improving the existing system and not by developing new technology is a fallacy. He reasons that it can take lesser time but in reality, it takes the same time limit. Developing a new one and improving the existing one takes one year. Besides, some features in the old system might hinder the full development of the desired technology.
Cliff and Chris also hold the same fallacious reasoning since they both feel that AcuSan has the highest level of expertise and skills in the market. This is not true since it can not be substantiated. Secondly, the level of expertise and creativity is not static. Other companies also have the chance to hire more talented and creative employees.
Kelly also thinks that those in the marketing department do not understand how the iScanner software operates (University of Phoenix, 2003). He uses this to defend his fall out with part. This is a fallacy since some marketers are IT experts who also have some knowledge of marketing.
Cliff believes that their experience in the business a major factor that will enable them to regain their position in the market is also a fallacy since new players in the market have always come up and outpaced the already established companies. This reasoning implies that other new companies are not able to acquire substantial market shares. He praises Part’s creativity in marketing without considering her knowledge in the industry.
Problems in the company
The major problems that exist in the company include the existing financial constraints due to the falling revenues, lack of proper problem solving, and communication means within the company as well as attitude and prejudice among employees. Employees are not willing to swallow their pride and they also feel that the company is superior to other companies in the market.
A financial constraint is the source of the problem for working under a minimal budget for the project and each department. The budget proposal for the project development is too low to meet the requirements, plus other employees have also been retrenched to cut costs. Kelly argues that the programmers are too few to balance between the project development and iScanner maintenance.
According to the emails sent between Pat and Kelly, Pat argues that Kelly should not approach the CEO to discuss matters of the project without passing through her while Kelly also questions Pat on why she went behind his back to acquire whether it was possible to meet the deadline (University of Phoenix, 2003). The magnitude of the problem between the two exploded although the project is not personal, but for the company. There should have been a better forum for solving these problems instead of leaving it for the two.
The problem exploded because none of them was ready to back down on his or her ground. While Pat insisted that completion of the project is viable, Kelly insisted that due to the existing constraints, it is not possible to meet the target and the deadline. The two assumed that they are experts in their fields of practice.
The underlying problem
The underlying problem here is that Kelly does not seem to recognize Pat as his superior. He views her as a new person in the industry who has no knowledge or experience in the industry. Therefore he is not willing to let her take the credit for improving the company’s market share. He may have agreed to the proposals but later disowned the whole thing (University of Phoenix, 2003).
Solutions
For the company to overcome this problem, there is a need to evaluate the capacity of the product development department to complete the job within the set deadline and set a more realistic deadline. This should involve all the concerned managers and leaders within the company. It is also important to set up forums for problem-solving within the company as well as clear procedures for formal communications.
Evaluating the capacity of the product development department will enable the company to set realistic deadlines and goals for the project. It will also enable it to understand the deficiencies that exist in the department that may hinder it from achieving the company objectives. However, evaluating it also means more resources have to be available for improving its capacity.
Putting in place forums for solving problems would enable the company to better solve conflicts that might arise among employees. However, putting in place chains for communication is bureaucratic and would most likely delay communication processes within the company.
Recommendation to the CEO
It is important to evaluate the capacity of every department within the company before initiating a project. This would enable the company to develop alternative solutions to problems that might arise. It would better help the company in achieving its set goals. The CEO has to meet with everybody in the management team who are responsible for the project development and make them understand the urgency of the project. He has to remove the obstacles standing in the way of the project.
Executive Summary
The Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the case study is to analyze the problems that normally arise in the management of business organizations particularly the problems of relevance, accuracy, and logical reasoning of the leaders in business organizations. It seeks to analyze some incorrect reasoning or illogical assumptions that leaders in business organizations tend to make. It also analyzes some fallacious reasoning that some managers usually meet in organizations. In general, the assignment’s overall goal is to evaluate the major cause of problems in the management of business organizations.
The scope of the analysis covers the assumptions, the arguments, and argument evaluations as well as some fallacies that managers tend to make. The scope also covers the existing problems and the underlying problems as well as recommendations for problem solutions.
Summary of the situation
The document examines the assumptions and fallacies held by some individuals in the company as well as some arguments logical and illogical made by some individuals in the company and how they affect the company. Companies tend to make assumptions that may be dangerous for their business operations. There exists the assumption that the company has adequate experience and expertise in a particular field is what is necessary to beat other competitors in the market.
It, therefore, overlooks other important factors that would enable it to maintain its reputation and market position. Companies tend to assume that experts can always solve every situation without putting in place other mechanisms that would solve other dynamics involved. The assumptions made by individuals within the company may hamper the achievement of company goals and objectives. The document also examines the attitudes and prejudice held by some people in the top leadership and management within the company and how these affect the company.
Key points relating to the situation
The key points in this document include arguments, assumptions, and fallacies.
The key points in this document are the wrong assumptions made by the individuals in a company and the risks that such assumptions pose to the company. Some assumptions and prejudices are bound to create conflicts that may hinder the achievement of goals. Another key point is the importance of understanding one another and being tolerant of each other’s ideas and positions. The negative impacts of not finding a common solution to a problem are also highlighted in the document. Fallacies held by individuals especially those in the management team may contribute a lot towards most management problems experienced within and outside the company.
Conclusion
Every individual needs to apply critical thinking skills in their operations. Company goals and objectives should be harmonized to contain all the departmental goals and everybody within the company needs to understand the situation and the environment in which the company is operating in. It is also very important that leaders humble themselves when dealing with one another. Part’s and Kelly’s communication via email revealed their emotional involvement in what was supposed to be formal communications.
Managers in business organizations need to help their members understand the need to separate emotions from their formal communications. Individuals in business organizations need to be encouraged to respond to situations and not to react negatively. If possible, people need to meet and talk instead of responding through email. These would help improve positive communication and interactions within the company.
Recommendations
Managers need to evaluate the company’s and departments’ capabilities for undertaking projects before initiating any project. It is also important that the management understand the details and cost of the project while determining its viability. This would help the management determine whether the department to undertake the project or not.
Everybody in the leadership team should be involved in setting the goals and objectives of projects to be initiated by the company. The expectations of the quality of the outcome of the project need to be clear to everyone. The quality expectations to be delivered need to practice and within the company’s means of production. The standards set for the outcome must be those that the company can effectively achieve using the resources that are within its reach to avoid changing the criteria and quality before the completion date. The expected outcome of the project must be communicated to all the employees involved in the project so that they know exactly what they are supposed to achieve and therefore organize their actions in the direction of the project.
It is also important for companies to educate their members on the need to co-exist and operate as a unit. Tolerance and humility are very important virtues and should be inculcated in all the employees in the company. Conflict resolution forums or committees should be set up to help resolve problems that might arise among employees of the company.
When considering recruitments in the company, it is important to consider the relevance of the individual’s skills and the relative contributions that he or she can bring to the company. There should be clear procedures for addressing inconsistent behaviors, recruitment as well as performance problems.
Reference
The University of Phoenix. (2003). Critical Thinking GEN 480: Assessment Case Version 2.1. AcuSan.