2. Can you meet the needs of your customers in developing countries simply by customizing your existing offerings? When is clean-slate innovation needed? Please elaborate as appropriate from your readings and experience. No, only customizing innovation is not enough to be acceptable, because the needs and challenges are different in developed and developing worlds.
Development of new drugs and getting them to market is critical for remaining competitive in the pharmaceutical industry. The final option I see for Merck in this situation is to create new capabilities through a spinout organization. As it stands, Merck is unprepared (with its current competencies) to rapidly move into the pharmacy management arena. This is primarily due to the fact that most of their resources are devoted to drug research and development. Spinout organizations, however, should primarily be used when a separate organization is required because the
And there is a very good possibility that you will have to change your business process to conform to the ERP system. 2. Do you try to cost-benefit justify such a system, and, if so, how?
I believe that they need to get a business manager first that can help the business grow by coming up with new ways to restructure the company. Also, he/she needs to build a marketing plan for the services offered and software produced, and decide what other hires are needed to get the plan implemented. 3. Question: Do you think the major hesitance of changing the organization is the first time costs that will be incurred or more so the behavioural and structural changes needed? From the way Pay Zone is portraying its services and future plans, especially thinking of retiring soon, the owners will contemplate costs.
This is the MOST important of all these points as without proper computing operations, this can hinder the productivity of each unit in the company. 2. Contain the capital
Also, any changes to the business plan will need supply management’s assistance to implement the changes successfully. Under-valuing of supply management by the upper management of an organization is a fast way to lose profit potential and improved business operations. Supply managers have a responsibility to be flexible and creative to adapt to the challenges facing organizations in the 21st century. Materials Management leaders must be up to date on supply management trends and enthusiastic toward the success of the supply management team; fostering a self-leadership model. Supply Management professionals are called on more and more to be part of cross-functional teams, but not as much as they should to make a project successful.
It was inevitable for the companies to come up with ideas to overcome the obstacles such as sharing real-time data. Different levels of technologies as well as IT infrastructures between the companies were also a big issue, which was also linked to implementation issues. Due to the complexity of designs, much smoother communication was needed as well as importance of patents and intellectual property related issues had to be discussed. To be more collective and be “tightened”, collaboration through information technology was no longer an option for them, but a “must” to survive. 2.
Keda required to enhance its maintenance support and rethink its IT system and embark on an ERP implementation project. 2. Processes for implementing an off-the-shelf ERP system - Keda lacked IT competence, and it required to build a team for development which would be very expensive and highly time consuming2. Zhu had to classify the core needs of his system and believed that customizing an existing system would be more efficient, cost friendly, and of higher quality. To do so he was required to choose an ERP vendor who could support complex operational process across multiple production plants.
Case Study: Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. 1. What kinds of benefits has DPSU received from implementing an Intranet? - Some of the benefits that DPSU has received from implementing an Intranet was that employees started to use FizzBiz to register electronically for the national sales meeting and other corporate meetings or incentives. They now also have an online employee suggestion box which allowed employees to post messages in different forums. It also allowed field sales employees to input the marketing requests directly into the marketing funds system.
Video Case Teaching Notes Video: GM Global Research Network Time: 11:02 Summary: GM’s top managers realized that the organization was too self-contained and that to increase its competitiveness, they needed to change the company’s business model. They restructured GM to create a global team environment for research and development. By building an extensive network of engineers that allows it to tap into R&D expertise around the globe, GM aims to reach the level of innovation required to differentiate itself from its competitors. Topics Covered: ▪ Globalization ▪ Global teams ▪ Research & Development ▪ Innovation ▪ Technology Discussion Questions: 1. How does technology influence organizational structure at GM?