The Kittihawk Case

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Isabella Piazzesi MET MG541 SB1 “Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of the Kittyhawk” The extent of this report is to analyze the Kittyhawk case and provide a proper recommendation of what could have been done alternatively. Content * Background * Analysis * Recommendation * Conclusion Background In 1992, Hewlett Packard decided to produce 1.3-inch disk drives to become the market leader in a new market and increase HP’s revenue. The initial product held 20 megabytes of storage and could withstand a three-foot drop without losing any data. Bruce Spenner, HP’s Disk Memory Division (DMD) General Manager set ambitious requirements for the project to succeed such as: launch the product into the market in 12-months, generate $100-million in revenue within 18-months after launch, and make the break-even point within 36-months. The team focused on the emerging personal digital assistant (PDA) market, which in the early 1990’s was believed to have explosive growth potential. As a consequence the team created a product that had incredible shock resistance and low power consumption, and weighed less than an ounce. However, things didn’t develop as the Kittyhawk team expected. They failed to sell the new product to the customer they planned. Even though some new customers were interested in this advanced technology, the price of 1.3-inch disk drive was considered to be too high and sales were very low. In the end, HP decided to shut down the Kittyhawk group. Analysis Utilizing the RVP Framework as discussed by Christensen, HP had managed the Kittyhawk Project as though it was a sustaining technology, and failed to recognize the new product as a disruptive innovation that was not ready to compete in the existing market From a project management point of view, HP did everything right. They had set up an autonomous project team, and gave the project heavy senior

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