Dynacorp Case Essay

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Strategic Design at Dynacorp CCWe)re too slow, too unresponsive to the market, and too undisciplined about costs. And the main reason is how we)re m;ganized-it just isn)t working any more. We)ve outgrown the old design in so many ways, but we)re still trying to manage with the same structure we had when we started the company.)) -Dynacorp product manager cCThere)s a lot of talk now about changing our organization design. But we should be careful that we)re not throwing the baby out with the bath- water. We)re fixating on what)s wrong with the organization instead of thinking about how to make it work better.)) -Dynacorp engineering manager The Dyna Corporation, known in the industry as Dynacorp, is a major global information systems and communications company. Originating in an office equipment company that moved into high- technology applications in the 1960s and 1970s, Dynacorp had, by the 1980s, established a position as an industry leader, known for its technological innovation. Dynacorp was first to the market with innovative and high-quality products that were sig- nificant advances on anything its competitors were offering. Customers would gladly wait months, and even a year or so, to talce delivery ofproducts bear- ing the Dynacorp logo. The customers were typi- cally sophisticated users who were willing to do some of their own applications work and to figure out how to integrate Dynacorp's new products with the rest oftheir operations. During this period, the company grew at a very fast rate, and expanded its market to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The 1990s were a much more difficult period for the company. It continued to grow, but at a slower rate, and experienced periods ofsignificantly reduced earnings. Critics both inside and outside the company attributed Dynacorp's difficulties to a loss of leadership in getting new products to mar- ket,
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