Hitting the Mark at Alcon Entertainment case study Scott Parish is the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Alcon Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based entertainment production company. Since its humble beginnings in a rented apartment 20 years ago, the company has grown into a respected and profitable enterprise, making hit movies such as The Blind Side; P.S., I Love You; and Dolphin Tale.16 Parish left a successful career in logistics and transportation to pursue his dream of working in the film industry. He took an hourly administrative job at a film production company to learn the craft. By taking initiative to develop his understanding of the entertainment business from the ground up, Parish was able to rise in management over the years. Now as a member of Alcon's top team, he is credited with helping grow Alcon from a boutique film company into a respected creator of films, television shows, and music. Maintaining Alcon's growth is a significant challenge in a turbulent and everchanging entertainment industry. Managers like Scott Parish must produce content that earns profits. Film creation is a complex process. It can take years to shepherd a film from inception to distribution. As a result, significant planning is invested in production long before the cameras roll. Parish and Alcon's leadership team are constantly on the lookout for innovative ideas that give them an edge at the box office and must identify and produce ideas that have a strong potential to connect with audiences. For example, Alcon recently produced a sequel to the successful Blade Runner movie, which stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford. Once viable ideas are obtained and vetted, Parish must acquire funding for projects that can cost millions of dollars. Financing films often means attracting outside investors, so Parish and his team must be able to explain complex production processes to those not familiar with the business. These outside investors represent important stakeholders in the film production process. After representing Alcon to investors and obtaining needed financing, Parish builds the right team to produce and market new films. This means negotiating with and retaining the services of directors and a cast who can help turn concepts into reality. Missteps at this stage of a film's development can be highly detrimental to its eventual success, and Parish and his team must also balance the needs of Hollywood superstars against the creative demands of directors to create products audiences will pay to see and enjoy. In addition to the challenges of managing film production in a competitive environment, Parish is helping lead Alcon in an entertainment industry being transformed by technology. Consumers increasingly prefer to watch digital content, so Alcon has broadened the way it distributes its products. Previously, film production companies like Alcon worked with movie theatres and brick-and-mortar retailers to sell content. Although these distribution channels are still used, Alcon's content can now be found on streaming subscription services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. Alcon also retains the rights to its films, meaning it earns residual income from its catalogue of content. With changing consumer tastes, managers like Parish are challenged to find new ways of ensuring profitable content creation and distribution. To perform the four managerial tasks efficiently and effectively, organizations group or differentiate their managers in two main waysby level in hierarchy and by type of skill. First, they differentiate managers according to their level or rank in the organization's hierarchy of authority. The three levels of managers are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managersarranged in a hierarchy. Typically first-line managers report to middle managers, and middle managers report to top managers. Second, organizations group managers into different departments according to their specific job-related skills, expertise, and experiences, such as a manager's engineering skills, marketing expertise, or sales experience. Within each department are all three levels of management. Next we examine why organizations use a hierarchy of managers and group them, by the jobs they perform, into departments. Levels of Management Organizations normally have three levels of management: first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers Managers at each level have different but related responsibilities for using organizational resources to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Alcon also announced the creation of a new division, Alcon Interactive, which will partner with leading virtual reality company, Oculus, to make and distribute virtual reality experiences for consumers. This latest business strategy by Alcon underscores the company's ongoing diversification beyond its core business. Running an entertainment company is difficult work. Managers like Scott Parish must help companies stay creative and create profitable content in an industry rapidly evolving amid changing consumer tastes and technology. Questions: 1- What type of organizational structure you think Alcon is using? What is the benefit of this type of organization? 2- Is this structure coping with the nature of industry? If you are to suggest another structure what would it be and why? 3- What are the 4 essential managerial tasks? Derive 2 of them from the case. 4- How can you ensure the efficiency of such a company? 5- What made Parish a successful manager? 6- Mention 4 types of organizations and which one applies on Alcon? 7- What is the company trying to do to keep a competitive advantage