Acuscan Inc Case Study

AcuScan, Inc. Case Study

I am newly hired Vice President of Organizational Development, and will be responsible for creating the Organizational Development department over the coming year. This company is trying to find a new product based on their technology, a retinal scanning system, because revenues have been dropping. Two members of the management team have suggested a new product for a new market, but the manager of Product Development has refused to cooperate. This paper analyses the arguments made and offers recommendations to the CEO. I will first discuss some assumptions made by Kelly, Senior Engineer in Product Development. He made the assumption that Pat; Director of Marketing did not know anything about Quality Control (QC). He also stated that all the features for the retinal scanner could not be developed in the timeframe requested. He also said that due to the staff reduction last year, the staff would not have time to develop the product. Kelly stated that Pat did not know enough about the product, because he did not have the background or experience in the technology. He also stated that the product would not meet the need of the customer, because it would be substandard. He made the assumption that Pat was undercutting him by talking to his programmers behind his back.

Pat, the Marketing Director also made assumption, such as that the new product would be a simple addition to the iScanner they all ready had. He made the assumption that the programmers would have enough time to develop the product, even though they were short of staff. Pat also that because the staff was disagreeing with him that they were not committed to developing the new product. He thought that the job could be done by outside contractor in the allotted timeframe. He also thought that a meeting could solve the problems between the staff. He also made the assumption that the customer would be happy with what ever product they

developed and launched. He made the assumption that Kelly was being snide when he asked the question did he know what QC meant. Cliff, CEO of AucScan made a few assumptions also. He made the assumption that Pat would be able to launch the new product even though his experience in marketing was in another area. He also thought the staff would work together for the good of the company. He made the assumption that they had enough money in the budget to develop and launch the new product. Chris, Vice President of Product Development made the assumption that the retinal scanner would be just a simple addition to the iScanner that was already on the market. He also made the assumption that all it would take was repacking to fit the retinal scanner into the retail market. He assumed that the product could be developed in a very short period of time. He also thought that Pat and Kelly could put their difference aside and work together to get the product on the market. The arguments made by each staff member had some merit to them. Cliff argued that the retinal scanner would help them regain their position as a market leader. He also argued that the product could be developed and launch, even though the company was facing a budget deficit. Pat argued that the retinal scanner needs to be launched in a different market than the iScanner. He stated that an outside contractor could develop the product, but he would need more money. He also argued that Kelly told him that to expand some of the iScanner capabilities to fit into the new market would not be a problem. He argues that he had bigger problems than answering questions from other staff members. Kelly argued that the alterations to the iScanner were more complicated that indicated by Pat. He argued that Pat has a complete lack of knowledge of how the iScanner software worked. He stated that to develop a good product takes time and effort. He also argued that they were

putting themselves on the line with the project, because their staff was already committed to providing service to their existing customers. He stated that the Product Development Department could not develop all the features, because they have to plan, test and perform quality control before the product could be launched. Chris argued that AcuScan needs to expand their technology into a new market. He said that the company must act quickly to beat the competition. He argued that capital it would take to develop and launch the retinal scanner would be minimal. He argued that if the new product is not on the market in early 2004 it might put the company at a disadvantage in the terms of competition, because their competitor was already working on a similar version. Cliff argument that a new product could put the company back on top is sound. As the CEO, he was making a logical decision based on the history of the company. However, I believe it was unsound to think that this product could be develop and launched on a minimal budget, when the company was already in a budget crunch. Pat's suggestion that the new product needed to be launched in a new market was sound. To launch a product in a market that is already saturated with identical or similar items would defeat the purpose of launching the new product, because the competition would be tremendous. The idea is to be the first company on the market with a new product to get ahead of your competitors. His idea to use outside contractor was unsound, because the money is not there to pay for their services. And there is no guarantee that the contractor could get the product developed and launched in the allotted time. His statement that he had bigger problems that the rest of the staff was an emotional one, I believe that he was just frustrated because things were not going as easily as he hoped and he believed that Kelly misled him. Kelly argued that the alteration to the iScanner was logical because his decision was based on the time it took him and his staff to develop the original iScanner. He knew that to develop a good product it would take time, research and testing before it would be ready for the market. He did not want to come up with just any product that may or may not work and jeopardize his reputation and the reputation of the company. Chris argument that AcuScan needs to expand to a new market is logical because the company needs to find ways to bring in more revenue. He realizes that since