Multiple problems with the Therac-25 Factors were lapses in good safety design Insufficient testing of the software Bugs in the software that controlled the machine Inadequate system of reporting and investigating accidents Attorneys for the family against the hospital. Hopsital technicians made gross errors when operating the Therac-25. Errors became so common, hospital technicians habitually performed overrides. Warnings were ignored or assumed to be benign errors. Employees also failed to take standard precautions, failed to make constant contact with patients during procedures.
2. What people, organizational, and technology factors contributed to these problems? Contributing to these problems was management’s unwillingness to spend the appropriate amount of money on the needed software to ensure security, the lack of training of their employees, almost non-existent procedures, and outdated software. With proper management and procedures in place, the employees would not have been so sloppy in their work, the software would have been updated and perhaps the firewall would not have been breached. 3.
April 26, 2013 Case Name: Captiva Conglomerate I. Major Facts: A. Captiva Conglomerate has procured a new software product to provide a custom inventory management system. This system is not providing the information that the company needs, is behind schedule and over budget. B. The Inventory and Spares Manager has reported that that the system is “a disaster,” and “my people can’t use it.” The Materials Manager wonders whether or not the company should sue the supplier.
Since this system was organized by an internal authority, it did not work too well. People in controls were on the same level so alliances were formed. They were not honest with reviews and the average workers were fearful to report and wrong doing to the superiors in fear of angering the higher ups. This dishonesty started the downward spiral of the unstable culture. 2) Discuss whether Enron’s officers acted within the scope of the authority.
• Though there was a Robust ERP system, the system failed due to major inconsistency of important information across different parts of the corporation. This made it difficult for executives to monitor and compare performance. • Even with Data warehouse initiatives, there were issues of the technical expertise required to extract meaningful data from the warehouse and data useful for predicting the future. • SYSCO’s competitive advantage was dependent of the decision of Twila Day to implement the BI Software, which would give SYSCO an advantage over its competitors. Initiative Objectives/Benefits No Objectives Benefits 1. Business Intelligence Software gave users access to data that was relevant to them • Avoid the need for employees to write complicated database queries or engage in programming tasks.
Managers took gamesmanship to improve their performance indicator without producing any positive economic effects. These problems had surfaced earlier, but the company top management fails to attach enough importance due to the following reasons. The setting of sales targets is not reasonable for all divisions at one rate.
Under this situation, the hard working did not earn any appraise for him, instead of reward, the unexpected discontinue made him feel not being fully respect. Therefore, he felt “lose face” and being distrust. However, on the other side, Charles Tang perceived different message through the lack of communication. In Charles mind, Yong Li, as a talent manager, disobeyed the corporate norms and culture. In reality, stereotypes are sufficiently subjective that emotions can negatively distort the meaning of an opponent’s actions, thereby gradually generating perceptions of conflicts (Sandra, 2009).
Erik seems hampered at quickly knowing exactly where the 21 towers stand. 2. What are the underlying causes of these problems (offer at least one reason)? Erik Peterson lacks the leadership quality which is vital in the position he holds in the company. On more than one occasion he displayed his conflict avoiding trait instead of trying to sort the situation on.
From a standpoint of a shopper I would evaluate the store as a confusing mess that seemed like a sale every time one shops. Sales are advertised but employees don't necessarily push the sales. The management goals reflect the employees' goals to let the products sell themselves. This hurts the company knowing that consumers can shop products on a "take it or leave it" attitude. Most people are aware of the lack of customer service Best Buy does not provide.
The fact of providing an excellent outcome with customers may not be on the same level of balancing ordinary internal records and reporting. Similar incidents to Bob's termination are potentially happening in other companies due to the lack of consistency in coaching from the management side and discipline of the employee in balancing both sides of the game (clients vs. management). The case pointed continuously that Bob was unorganized and and did not do enough background research on his customers. Therefore, he did not follow the company’s protocol in promoting their products or plan his meetings in advance. John Meredith, Bob’s first manager was great at evaluating Bob.