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Management of Technology

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Management of Technology & Innovation BUSI 4607 Improving the Product Development Process at Kirkham Instruments Corp.: Problems, alternatives and recommendations – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Management of Technology


1
Management of Technology InnovationBUSI
4607Improving the Product Development Process
at Kirkham Instruments Corp. Problems,
alternatives and recommendationsMarch 3,
2008John Callahan
2
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
4
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

5
The situation now as of Sep 1996
  • Exhibit 9
  • Derricks audit

6
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

8
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.
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