Building a Business

I have been hired by Tommy Toys as the new manager of its Tiny Tot division. Tiny Tot is a toy line for ages 3-6 and because it is at all technological it is losing market ground to the tech toy market. I have been hired to revitalize this department and turn around the market. During my observations of the department over the last few weeks I have noticed several areas that will need to be improved.

Right now the 30 employees of my division are currently divided into groups of 3-4. Each group is responsible for a particular toy line and they work on it from start to finish. The Tiny Tot toy lines have remained unchanged for the last ten years and the division has fallen into a creative rut. The first thing that I am going to do is create a new mission statement for the division which will give a compelling ideal of the new vision (Pettit). This will help to initiate the process of creating positive change within the product line. I will use this mission statement as a guide post for the reorganization of the current employees.

I am going divide the division into 5 teams of 6 members each. The larger team size will enhance brainstorming sessions by having many opinions to be creative with. The teams will be arranged so that each one consists of multiple talent levels. The reorganization is going to be based on the organic organizational design featuring a highly adaptive and flexible design (Coulter & Robbins). The teams will be rearranged as needed to keep up with products. The employees will be aware of the ability of change and will be given a vote as to the changes that are necessary.

In order to save this department we will need to shift our focus from a "profit first" to "vision and people first". We need to gather information from research groups, play sessions, and economic reports to determine a new line of toys that will bring youth and vigor into our product line. Employees will be empowered with an equal vote of the division's direction which will encourage employees to take an active role in turning around our toy line (Pettit).