Dear,
Please check the answers
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- D
- B
- C
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- Please suggest which theory ?
Thanks very much!~
Case analysis CEI Strengthening competitive position Concept Environmental Inc. (CEI), a public company headquartered in Delta, BC and supplier to the paintand coatings industry produces environmentally safe products to strip coatings, including paint, from any nonporous surface as well as a complete line of specialty products to clean, coat and protect wooden decks. Major customers include international retail giants in the home improvement and hardware industry as well as commercial interests such as aircraft manufacturers and airlines who must strip and repaint aircraft on a regular basis to facilitate safety inspections. After 25 years in business CEI undertook a comprehensive strategic review about 3 years ago. The review concluded that for CEI to maintain shelf space in major home improvement and hardware stores their line of products must be more environmental friendly. In addition the aircraft and shipping industries were moving quickly to adopt newer environmentally safe products. As a result CEI moved quickly to discontinue a number of product lines which relied on corrosive chemicals and refocused on a new technically advanced line of environmentally friendly "strippers\". Their products to clean and protect decks were already considered safe but product packaging was quickly re-designed to attract attention and maintain shelf space. A few months ago, after several weeks of record low share prices, CEI conducted a follow up strategic review which revealed a few current problematic issues. First, sales of deck cleaning and coating products were flat and some of their distribution channels were considering dropping the line. Sales of "safe strippers\" were growing slowly but adoption of this new environmentally safe technology by aircraft manufactures and other commercial clients was slower the anticipated. New competition had entered the market and CEI was losing market share. At a recent annual meeting of shareholders the CEI Board of Directors and Executives were criticised for failing to rebrand the company as environmentally friendly and committed to environmental stewardship. At that meeting the CEO also announced his plans to retire. The Board completed a formal CEO search and several months later hired Sharon Mason, an MBA and former VP Chemical Merchandising at Home Depot, Atlanta, Georgia. Sharon devoted the first few weeks in her new role getting to know her staff and employees as well as key suppliers, customers and other stakeholders. As time went on she began to have serious reservations about the CEI organizational structure and the interface between individual managers and departments. She was most troubled by the fact that a few key and senior department heads were located in cities across the US and Eastern Canada and worked from home. In addition she felt that headquarters staff were not functioning as a team and seemed to lack focus. For example: - Mike, The Senior VP of Sales for the last several years was located in Los Angeles, California. An older man, he had a long employment history in the US paint and coatings industry including a senior sales role at a large National paint manufacturer. He was pleasant and readily available at his home or on cell phone. Sharon had not met him while at Home Depot. - Reporting to the VP Sales was a Kevin, VP Commercial Sales, located in Kansas City, Missouri. Young and well spoken Kevin seemed competent and was apparently well known in the aircraft maintenance industry. He and Mike seemed to always travel together especially when visiting headquarters. - Gilles, VP Sales Eastern Canada, was headquartered in Montreal. Sharon had met Gilles at a few trade shows in the past. He was well liked and had a good relationship with Montreal based Rona. Harold, VP Production and Research, 66 years of age, and located in Delta had a Master's Degree in Chemistry. He personally developed the CEl line of deck cleaning and coating products and was often quoted in trade and industry publications for his research. His second in command was Ray Binder, an accomplished Industrial Chemist from India who devoted most of his time to improving the CEI line of environmentally friendly strippers. The General Manger of Production at the Delta plant also reported to Harold. He was young but seemed capable. He worked long hours and was always rushing to put out fires. Sharon had received complaints that he had been rude and dismissive toward Mike on several occasions. - Bob held a dual role of VP CEI Marketing and Director Sales Western Canada. He was close to the major hardware stores in Western Canada. He looked after marketing and advertising for all product lines. On his own he seemed capable and he was well liked and respected at head office. However, at quarterly sales meetings with all senior staff he appeared distant, perhaps disengaged. Sharon had reviewed each department's annual plans and budget. For the most part the plans were well written and the results attainable. Plans for Finance, HR and Administration were what she expected. The Production and Research plan was confused. Harold did not like to plan and said it wasted his time. He insisted his staff and employees knew theirjobs and constant meetings and plans in his eyes stifled creativity. When pressed he suggested maybe it was time to retire! She especially liked the tone and approach of both the Bob's Marketing and Mike's Sales plans. Each was aggressive but logical and designed to meet corporate goals and strategies. However what was also obvious to Sharon was that for the last 2 years overhead costs were rising and after a myriad of excuses sales and growth targets were simply not being met. She concluded that to be successful she would need to improve both the structure and interface between Marketing, Sales, Production and Research. She got right to work and began by ..................................... Multiple Choice Questions (1 mark each) 1. Sharon needs to carefully analyze the elements of CEI organizational structure. Which of the following is not one of those elements and of no concern to her task? a) Departmentalization b) Chain ofcommand c) Work specialization cl) Span of control e) Informalization 2. Sharon suspects key CEI departments are protecting turfand not interacting well which leads to narrow vision with respect to organizational goals. Which ofthe following is not a way jobs/departments are generally organized? a) Customer b) Seniority c) Functional cl) Geographic e) Product/process 3. Organizations with one headquarters and geographically dispersed senior department heads may have organizational issues with "unity of command.\" a) True b) False 4. Sharon knows that CEI organizational structure should support corporate strategy and is a means to help management achieve their objectives. Which of the following is not a major strategy dimension or framework? a) Innovation b) Imitation c) Cost minimization (:1) Employee bargaining 5. Sharon may conclude that while an organic organizational structure can foster employee freedom and flexibility and potentially increase creativity and commitment CEI may have to rely on a more traditional structure in the short term. a) False b) True 6. What 5 to 7 steps must Sharon take immediately to strengthen CEI's competitive position in its' market? Briefly explain each step
