ANN LYMAN'S PROPOSAL Ann Lyman was recently hired by the Challenge Products Corp (CPC) as a senior marketing executive for the electronic houseware division. Her previous experience at Pearces, a major competitor, had earned her a reputation for being a creative and hard-working manager. Her department at Pearces had increased its sales at least 15% per year in the past five years, and she had been featured in a lead article in Contemporary Management. This combination of competence and visibility was what attracted the attention of John Dillworth, the CEO of Challenge. John was troubled about the two-quarter decline in electronic sales. This was the core of CPC's business, and he could not risk losing market share. In the past, CPC's products had dominated such a large market share that, ironically, marketing wasn't considered very important. Production touted its high quality and low costs, purchasing emphasized its contribution to keeping cost low, and engineering stressed the durability of its designs. CPC products, it was argued by many, "sold themselves." But that was before the cheaper, "look-alike" products from Asia flooded the discount stores. No longer could CPC expect high customer loyalty simply because it was the older, best-known, most reliable name brand on the shelf. Ann was convinced that in order for CPC to stay competitive, the company needed to expand its product line, offering more options at different price levels. She felt it also needed to branch out into "trend designs" that appealed to the contemporary lifestyles of young adults. These changes had far-reaching ramifications for other departments at CPC. For one thing, they meant engineering would have to shorten its design cycle, provide support for a broader range of products, and emphasize customer-oriented, rather than functional, features. There changes would obviously not sit well with the production department, which jealously protected its long production runs based on standard orders and relatively few model changes. It also stressed ease of fabrication and assembly. In addition, purchasing would be required to find new sourcing alternatives for non-standard parts, which would make it more difficult to get volume discounts and ensure quality. After 3 months on the job, Ann felt she was ready to make her proposal to John. She pushed her staff hard to add the finishing touches before John left on his two-week vacation to Lake Tahoe. She wasn't disappointed - he thought it was a winner. He was excited and ready to "sign on." But he was also realistic about the difficulty they faced convincing others that these changes were necessary. Ann's counterparts in production, purchasing, and engineering would certainly object. "While I'm away. I'd like you to design a plan for getting the cooperation of the other departments. You can count on me for general support, but the culture in this organization is not consistent with sending out an edict. You'll have to figure out how to get their support some other way." QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: 1. What factors, both organizational and managerial, should Ann consider in selecting an influence strategy or strategies? 2. What sources of power might Ann possess and how might they factor into her strategy? 3. Which influence, or leadership style should Ann apply and why? 4. How would you advise Ann to implement the chosen strategy? What arguments should she use to convince each one of the opposing departments. Be specific in terms of what she should say and do?