Management of Technology

1
Management of Technology InnovationBUSI
4607Improving the Product Development Process
at Kirkham Instruments Corp. Problems,
alternatives and recommendationsMarch 3,
2008John Callahan
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Perceived management problems/issues

• Company having a tough time supplying customers
  customers looking for systems that integrate
  functions of multiple pieces of lab equipment
• Each business unit (Mass Spectrometer,
  Chromatography, Optical Equipment, Waterloo
  Instruments) working on too many projects
• No universally accepted definitions for project
  types
• Strategy does not help prioritize resource
  allocation

3
Time line of developments
Nov 15-19 1995 New product development seminar
with Harvard profs
Feb 16 1996 One day crash course with Derrick
Feb 17 1996 Bad meeting of Executive Committee
with Derrick
Apr 1 1996 Hoole presents diagrams, etc. at
Quarterly Executive Conference
Sep 1996 Review and audit by Derrick,
Fetzer-Woolley to present report soon
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Mistakes that were made

• Education and training
• Done by external people, too early in advance of
  any action
• Delegation to Quinn
• She had responsibility but no real power,
  Donaldson not interested in actual details
• Hiring Fetzer-Woolley
• Just avoiding decisions, will feed back what they
  are told
• Documents for communication rather than
  decision-making
• Really hard to produce, for very little or no
  result
• Started by trying to cut projects from total list
• Managers were given incentive to hide projects

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The situation now as of Sep 1996

• Exhibit 9
• Derricks audit

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Core issues

• Role of Donaldson in the management of the
  company
• Incentive structure for managers of separate
  business units
• Allocation of resources within the company

7
Alternatives what they can do now?

• Short term
• Try the approach that Derrick champions within
  one or more individual units
• Long term
• Go to one business unit (get rid of separate
  business units each with a profit-loss statement)
  or start a business unit that produces systems
  with integrated functionality
• Develop a useful strategy
• Allocate resources (funds for RD, overhead,
  margins for products) according to a real
  strategy
• What would that strategy be?
• Develop consistent integrated information system
  for both communication and planning

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Recommendations what they should do now

• Short term
• Try the approach that Derrick champions within
  one or more individual units
• Long term
• Start a business unit that produces systems with
  integrated functionality
• Develop consistent integrated information system
  for both communication and planning
• Start this with individual units that try
  Derricks approach and with the new unit

9
References

• Wheelwright, S.C. K.B. Clark (1992). Creating
  project plans to focus product development.
  Harvard Business Review, Mar-Apr, 70-82.