...Case Study Analysis 1: TerraCog GPS Terracog was a successful privately held firm specializing in high quality Global Positioning system and fishing sonar equipment. Even though TerraCog was always not the first to market new products, but their products were successful because of their high quality and effectively addressed customer needs. When their competitor Posthaste introduced a GPS prototype called BirdsI that displays satellite imagery, TerraCog did not view it to be a threat and believed it was a non-essential fad. TerraCog realized their mistake in judging BirdsI and the product was a huge success. In order not to lose the market, TerraCog planned to launch a GPS with satellite imagery Project Aerial. A redesign within existing GPS platform was proposed and the projected costs threaten to destroy the project. Ed Pryor VP of sales feels the new product Aerial should be priced below $425 to capture the lost market share to the competitors. The estimate for the price would at minimum be $475 and the sales teams deemed it too high to consider. The managers of each division gather in a pair of combative meetings that contain anger, finger pointing, and blame but do not produce an effective conclusion. Personal and individual objectives which were contrary to one another led to the current situation. The sales staffs’ main concern was to have a GPS device that would be superior to their competitors’ and would be priced competitively. The product design & development...
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...TerraCog GPS: 1. How have departmental and individual objectives lead to the current situation? * There are no OBJECTIVES/ Goals no clear agenda of what needs to get done * Emma needs to become more assertive and instructive * She doesn’t know what she wants * Pressure to get it onto the shelves is stressing everyone and thus ruining the cooperation among members * There are different departmental objectives they are based on a functional form of organization * Advantages of it: * Economies of scale * Greater specialization * Opportunities for technical development * Disadvantages of it: * Coordination problems * Slower adaptation * The departments only care about what they want to do there is no cooperation thus resulting in conflicts and also no concrete decision * Each department is stubborn not willing to corporate to find a solution together team-building activities needed 2. What is the current decision-making process? * They are in a conflict stage no one listens to one another and everyone states that it is impossible instead of jointly figuring out a solution * They have defined the problem and found a solution and are running into problems that they are slowly identifying. However, they have not found any alternatives yet since there is no corporation. * The separate functions are not coordinating with one another * Every department decides...
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...Written Analysis and Communication I Assignment 1: Terracog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and communication on project Aerial Submitted to Dr. Gita Chaudhuri By Viswesh Kurtarkar Section: B On 08.07.2014 ------------------------------------------------- Business Memorandum Date: 08 Jul. 14 To: Emma Richardson, Executive Vice President From: Viswesh Kurtarkar, Executive Assistant Subject: Recommendation to Terracog’s new venture, Project Aerial. Case Analysis summary Terracog specializes in high-quality global positioning systems. They are skilled at translating market and user feedback into outstanding products. Their GPS line of products were the finest in the market, applauded for its durability, navigational accuracy and value added features. In October 2006, Posthaste launched BirdsI, a handheld GPS that displayed satellite imagery, and it took the market by storm. Terracog had not anticipated such response from the market as they felt the users we smart enough to choose performance over graphics. The large response from the market for Posthaste’s BirdsI saw Terracog decide to launch Project Aerial by October 2008, it very own product with satellite imagery. As time was a constraint to get the product in the market, it was decided to redesign the existing GPS platform. The Design team provided the product design as requested by sales team by December 2007. Initial cost estimates of $550 provided by production department were too...
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...Participant Name: Munaim Akhtar (ERP ID: 10426) Case Title: TERRACOG GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS: CONFLICT AND COMMUNICATION ON PROJECT AERIAL Case Analysis: This case is about TerraCog, a well-known high-tech firm that develop product like GPS for consumer market. This case describes the failure of new project initiated by TerraCog named project Aerial due to organizational conflicts between sales, production, and design, development department of TerraCog. Problems: Posthaste, a competitor in market introduced a GPS prototype called Birds I at summer 2006 outdoor retailer show that displays satellite imagery in form of static satellite photographs. The TerraCog management were not impressed by innovation of competitor and dismissed the posthaste concept as a vogue. However Product Birds I proved to be a great success in consumer market. In order to save the position is consumer market TerraCog management decided to launch a GPS with moving satellite imagery named project Aerial without the feedback from Design, development and production department. At last, due to high production cost, non-availability of latest technology and time limit, project Aerial launching was not supported at all. Solutions/Recommendations: There was lack of Interpersonal relationship between departments at TerraCog which reflects in the quality of work/discussions. Furthermore, higher management without deciding at their own end should have consulted with design, development and production...
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...Introduction: This case study discussing the failure of the project “Aerial” due to the lack of communication between TerraCog management and design, development departments. Background: In earlier starting days 1977, TerraCog providing high end sonar equipment to serious sports fishermen and boaters (Beer & Yong, 2008). Around the late 1990s, TerraCog started providing high quality GPS units, these units sold well, as the company already created a name for themselves. Problem: When a competitor “Posthaste “introduced a GPS prototype called BirdsI´ that displays satellite imagery, the TerraCog management signed off the competition as a fad but the product BirdsI´ was a huge success. In order not to lose the market, TerraCog management Richard Fierro, the company president, and Ed Pryor, the vice president, launched a GPS with satellite imagery named as “Project Aerial” without discussing with the design and development departments. Due to various reasons production cost, Unavailability of new technology better than BirdsI and busy with other projects initially they are not supporting the “Project Aerial” Opportunities: TerraCog had an opportunity to open door communication within different departments, this would give employees opportunity to contribute to the success of the new product. An employer’s attitude towards co-workers reflects in the quality of the work. By improving their interpersonal relationships, the company can regain their customer base. Recommendations:...
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...“TerraCog Global Positioning Systems” WAC II ASSIGNMENT I Submitted to: Prof. Danesh Gojar By: Vinod Dubey (FSB I - 60682) Date of Submission: 11th March, 2012 TerraCog Global Positioning Systems February, 2008 To, Mr. Richard Fiero, The President, TerraCog. Subject: Launch of ‘Aerial’ Dear Sir, This report is an analysis of options available regarding project Aerial and strategy regarding dealing with the emerging competition in the market. Executive Summary The redesigned version of Aerial which includes features like satellite imagery is planned to be launched in the coming holiday season. TerraCog is losing its market share to Posthaste’s BirdsI, a similar product already present in the market and is eager to hit the market with Aerial. But the cost of redesigned Aerial is high ($475) and it is not profitable to price Aerial below $475, which is $75 higher than BirdsI. Also at current set price of $475, company cannot expect sufficient sales due to price sensitive nature of the product. Thus company should delay the launch by six months and should come up with better technology at a lesser price. Contents Sr No | Topic | Page No | 1 | Executive Summary | 03 | 2 | Situational Analysis | 05 | 3 | Problem Statement | 06 | 4 | Options Available | 06 | 5 | Criteria for Evaluation | 06 | 6 | Evaluation of Options | 07 | 7 | Recommendation | 09 | 8 | Action Plan | 09 | Situation Analysis TerraCog specializes...
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...Terracog Global Positioning System : conflict and communication on project Aerial. Problem essay : Position statement: From the outset of the case it appears that determination of price point is the sole bone of contention between various players. However, a deeper analysis shows that the problem is beyond determination of the price point. According to my point of view the root cause of all the conflicts within Terracog is the lack of leadership, effective communication and vision and inter-groups conflicts. Lack of leadership is evident from the role the president , Richard Fiero. He was persuaded into making the decision by the sales Vice President Ed Pryor. Richard Fiero went ahead and took the decision based on only one source of information – Sales. He did not consult the other important players – Production and Design and Development. This shows his sheer lack of leadership skills. Before announcing the decision he should have consulted these important groups and come out with a consensus. The case shows Richard in a reactive mode. He thinks he can force the price he wants from Tony Barren. This is not what a leader should do. Further he clearly does not take help from Harold Whisler. As evident from Exhibit 2 Harold is a co-founder of Terracog and comes with thirty one odd years of experience. Harold also has a sound engineering background and in the past has contributed significantly to Terracog’s key sonar equipment products in 1980s. The president clearly chooses to...
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...Without a unified goal and a lack of leadership and communication, TerraCog has found itself in a tough situation on whether to sell its new GPS system, dubbed Project Aerial, at a competitive price or at a higher price. Their main competitor, Posthaste, has been slowly taking shares from the company with their satellite imagery GPS system that has been on the market for almost two years. As the threat of this competition continues to pressure the company, TerraCog seems to be straying away from its core competency of producing higher quality products compared to its competitors. Internal issues also arise as personal goals within departments interfere with other department goals, hindering the success of their main objective. Emma Richardson, the Executive Vice President, now must make a final decision on how to price the Aerial. With Harold Whistler, the VP of Design and Development, near retirement, Allen Roth, a current director within the same department, aims to take on the role of vice president. Project Aerial has been taking away time from Roth to complete more exciting projects that he could use to promote himself as a strong candidate for the soon to be available VP position. This is an example of Value Theory of Job Satisfaction: a theory suggesting that job satisfaction depends primarily on the match between the outcomes individuals’ value in their jobs and their perceptions about the availability of such outcomes. Without the opportunity to complete the projects...
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...TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial GEB314 – Group and Organizational Dynamics Professor Barry Atkins Carlos Albizu University Monica Estopinan Spring 2013 Introduction TerraCog is a private company specializing in high-quality Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and fishing sonar equipment. In spring 2007, the company took on a project to enhance their high-quality GPS handheld with satellite imagery; the project was named Project Aerial. The decision to develop the new enhancement resulted from increased customer demand, and loss of market share to competitor Posthaste, who in October 2006, introduced BirdsI, the “only handheld GPS with satellite imagery” (Beer, Young, 2008). By the end of 2007, TerraCog had developed a prototype of their version of a GPS unit with satellite imagery and planned to launch the product by the holiday season of 2008. Emma Richardson, the new Executive Vice President, was tasked with the launch of the newly developed GPS unit; she needed to finalize decisions on costs, pricing, and initial production volume. Emma’s main focus as the new EVP was to move the company toward greater operational alignment and increase cross-departmental cooperation. This focus was in response to existing tension between the U.S headquarters in Chicago and the production team in China. The development of the new Aerial would no doubt add to this tension. The design conditions of the Aerial GPS were handed off...
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...LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS(Draft Syllabus) B01.1302.25 Spring 2010 Professor R. Kabaliswaran Office: KMC 7-56 E-mail: rkabalis@stern.nyu.edu Office Hours: 11:30 AM– 1:00 PM on class days and by appointment Class Hrs: Wed 1:30-4:20 PM on Jan 27; Feb 3, 10, 17, 24; Mar 3, 10, 24, 31; Apr 7, 14, 21, 28. Due Dates Team Case Write-up: 2/24. Final Team Project : 4/28. Indiv Take Home Final: 5/2. ____________________________________________________________ _________________ Course Overview Welcome aboard! What do leaders do? What happens inside organizations? And how do these relate to each other? In a nutshell, that’s the stuff this course is made of. Business organizations of all types face chronic management problems that pose significant challenges to them. These problems include the difficulty of designing organizations capable of coping with highly dynamic business environments, the challenge of developing strategies and structures for hypercompetitive conditions, the greater complexity of managing global enterprises, the difficult task of shaping a corporate culture, managing politics and conflict between individuals and organizational units, motivating employees who are more mobile than ever, designing attractive incentive systems, managing and harnessing intellectual capital, and so on. Such challenges and how the top leadership can deal with them are the subject of this course. The course has two major components. The first is “macro” in nature. It focuses on organizational...
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