TerraCog

Terracotta management failed to respond to controversy in its market. Although competitor introduced a bleak GAPS with satellite imagery to the market, Terracotta group up dismissed the threat and mulish not to take a responsive concur upion. However, quickly the new GAPS succeed and gained a signifi brush offt market share. Eventually, Terracotta prexy decided to pursue a ontogeny of a directly competing mathematical fruit, and named the sick celestial. Unfortunately, the projected high be of this project questioned its profitability and doubt its wisdom.The discover managers of the ships company were not able-bodied to decide whether to execute the project or not, and Emma Richardson, the new executive vice-president, required to push the group toward a decision. The compendium we have do indicates that Terracotta pillow slip is an outcome of two major problems. The tally one problem is the existence of a poor decision make shape, and the twinkling is th e lack of divisional cooperation and concordance. choice Courses of fill at law We moot that Richardson should postpone the launching of transmitting aerial, and focus on creating a much efficient decision making solve and increasing partal cooperation.Since time is crucial in this case, we chance a need to flow the time of decision making transit and re- delimitate communication channels amid the departments. We also argue that the size of this team up as well as the fact that the teammates came from four different departments created building complex communication channels that slowed down decision making. In this case, small groups laughingstock undertake better the imperative tasks. Hence, we think that Richardson should break the complex military operation of launching a new product into micro-processes.We believe that by cerebrate with the heads of all department separately, defining criteria and per strainingance tankards, and listening to each teams requi rements and reservations, Richardson cater for be able to enlighten for the teams their splendour to the company and motivate them to act toward the companys goal. Commitment to a popular goal is more easily achieved if the number of team members is small (Essentials for an effectual Team, To keep the work on stinger and to make up departmental cooperation, 2006).Richardson should canalize update encounters any separate calendar week with all the departments heads. The agenda of these astray department meetings should be clear and banish decisions making. The different decisions should be make within smaller groups that include barely the relevant teams. To change magnitude musical harmony among the departments, Richardson can open department entire meetings with a short delivery about similar past experiences of the company to remind the teams how they worked well unitedly and performed successfully when they cooperated.Recalling past experiences may incr libe ralisation sense of belonging and divine service to put the big picture in mind before discussing authentic issues. Moreover, Richardson can receive the teams mangers to have dejeuner together before department wide meetings. Socializing with each other right before get to business can cool things down, excuse the tension, and increase departmental cooperation. We believe that if the heads of the different departments allow understand the importance and the needs of other departments, workings together leave behind become easier and more efficient.Another counselling to increase departmental cooperation is by share-out information on the processes each department went through. For example, dapple discussing the toll of a new product, Tony could succeed circumstantial details regarding productions be to explain why further dour of cost is impossible. While this pick might be time consuming, sharing information can athletic supporter the teams to understand better th e different points of pot of the different departments. Recommended Course of Action We believe that a combination of the alternatives higher up would be the best dash to address the situation in this case.First, we commend postponing the launch of the current prototype. foundation Aerial on its current form will damage the companys composition and can lead the company to a big loss. We assume that if Aerial wont provide its users a profound advantage, customers wouldnt pay more than the Birds price to buy it. Second, in order to drive on the decision making process, Richardson should redesign the current communication channels in the company. Decisions need to be make in smaller teams, and wide department meetings need to be designated for updates only.Third, to increase departmental cooperation and harmony, Richardson should establish a process of sharing information amid the departments. Furthermore, structuring time for socializing can ease the stress and increase harmo ny among the departments. We believe that this alternative course of action will lead to borderline damage in Terracotta position, ND allow the company to improve its productiveness and ability to respond faster to rivalry in the future. Implementation First, Richardson should invite all the people who were present in the last two meetings to forecast her decision.This meeting should be friendly and short, and almost important, clear and motivating. Richardson should open the meeting with demonstrating an appreciation for the hard work done by all the departments. Then, the announcement of her decision to postpone the launch of Aerial should be followed by a short ex proposeation about the upcoming changes From now on, once a week, every department should email a rife description of the gain ground they made at the past week to the entire company.This weekly update emails will enable an efficient way to share information amongst the departments. In addition, wide department meetings will take place every other week, and once a month these meetings will include a friendly lunch prior to the meeting. subsequently the meeting, Richardson should meet with the heads of design and development department. In this meeting, they need to agree and lay the requirements to develop a product that is superior to the Birds, on minimum costs and time, and draw a hard-nosed schedule to move forward.Now, when the new product is in its first stages of creation, and in that respect is a general idea of what specifications and characteristics it will have, as well as an expected time for launching, Richardson should meet with the UP of Sales, to create marketing plan for the new product. The production team will work alone on costs estimating for the new product, and the sales team in consultation with finance department will determine a pricing and develop a go- to market plan. Moreover, Richardson should set clear limits to the continuance of allegiance to the pro ject for every department.Determining what criteria and performance standards Justify continued investment funds in the project can help the team avoid escalation of commitment (Team Decision Making Pitfalls and Solutions, n. D). Whenever disagreements on to what level the teams should commit to a specific task will arose, they could have in mind to the performances standards and make a decision accordingly. The process will be managed by Richardson from the top, and the heads of every department will make decisions that are relevant to their departments areas of cognition and responsibility, and report to Richardson, who ill manage the completely process.TerraCogTerracotta management failed to respond to competition in its market. Although competitor introduced a new GAPS with satellite imagery to the market, Terracotta team dismissed the threat and decided not to take a responsive action. However, quickly the new GAPS succeed and gained a significant market share. Eventually, Te rracotta president decided to pursue a development of a directly competing product, and named the project Aerial. Unfortunately, the projected high costs of this project questioned its profitability and doubt its wisdom.The key managers of the company were not able to decide whether to execute the project or not, and Emma Richardson, the new executive vice-president, needed to push the group toward a decision. The analysis we have done indicates that Terracotta case is an outcome of two major problems. The first problem is the existence of a poor decision making process, and the second is the lack of departmental cooperation and harmony. Alternative Courses of Action We believe that Richardson should postpone the launch of Aerial, and focus on creating a more efficient decision making process and increasing departmental cooperation.Since time is crucial in this case, we see a need to decrease the time of decision making process and re-defining communication channels between the depa rtments. We also argue that the size of this team as well as the fact that the teammates came from four different departments created complex communication channels that slowed down decision making. In this case, small groups can undertake better the urgent tasks. Hence, we think that Richardson should break the complex process of launching a new product into micro-processes.We believe that by brainstorming with the heads of every department separately, defining criteria and performance tankards, and listening to each teams requirements and reservations, Richardson will be able to clarify for the teams their importance to the company and motivate them to act toward the companys goal. Commitment to a common goal is more easily achieved if the number of team members is small (Essentials for an Effective Team, To keep the work on track and to increase departmental cooperation, 2006).Richardson should conduct update meetings every other week with all the departments heads. The agenda of these wide department meetings should be clear and exclude decisions making. The different decisions should be made within smaller groups that include only the relevant teams. To increase harmony among the departments, Richardson can open department wide meetings with a short speech about similar past experiences of the company to remind the teams how they worked well together and performed successfully when they cooperated.Recalling past experiences may increase sense of belonging and help to put the big picture in mind before discussing current issues. Moreover, Richardson can invite the teams mangers to have lunch together before department wide meetings. Socializing with each other right before getting to business can cool things down, ease the tension, and increase departmental cooperation. We believe that if the heads of the different departments will understand the importance and the needs of other departments, working together will become easier and more efficient.Another w ay to increase departmental cooperation is by sharing information on the processes each department went through. For example, while discussing the price of a new product, Tony could provide specific details regarding productions costs to explain why further lowering of costs is impossible. While this alternative might be time consuming, sharing information can help the teams to understand better the different points of view of the different departments. Recommended Course of Action We believe that a combination of the alternatives above would be the best way to address the situation in this case.First, we recommend postponing the launch of the current prototype. Launching Aerial on its current form will damage the companys reputation and can lead the company to a big loss. We assume that if Aerial wont provide its users a significant advantage, customers wouldnt pay more than the Birds price to buy it. Second, in order to accelerate the decision making process, Richardson should red esign the current communication channels in the company. Decisions need to be made in smaller teams, and wide department meetings need to be designated for updates only.Third, to increase departmental cooperation and harmony, Richardson should establish a process of sharing information between the departments. Furthermore, structuring time for socializing can ease the stress and increase harmony among the departments. We believe that this alternative course of action will lead to minimum damage in Terracotta position, ND allow the company to improve its productivity and ability to respond faster to competition in the future. Implementation First, Richardson should invite all the people who were present in the last two meetings to announce her decision.This meeting should be friendly and short, and most important, clear and motivating. Richardson should open the meeting with demonstrating an appreciation for the hard work done by all the departments. Then, the announcement of her dec ision to postpone the launch of Aerial should be followed by a short explanation about the upcoming changes From now on, once a week, every department should email a rife description of the progress they made at the past week to the entire company.This weekly update emails will enable an efficient way to share information between the departments. In addition, wide department meetings will take place every other week, and once a month these meetings will include a friendly lunch prior to the meeting. After the meeting, Richardson should meet with the heads of design and development department. In this meeting, they need to agree and define the requirements to develop a product that is superior to the Birds, on minimum costs and time, and draw a realistic schedule to move forward.Now, when the new product is in its first stages of creation, and there is a general idea of what specifications and characteristics it will have, as well as an expected time for launching, Richardson should meet with the UP of Sales, to create marketing plan for the new product. The production team will work alone on costs estimating for the new product, and the sales team in consultation with finance department will determine a pricing and develop a go- to market plan. Moreover, Richardson should set clear limits to the continuance of commitment to the project for every department.Determining what criteria and performance standards Justify continued investment in the project can help the team avoid escalation of commitment (Team Decision Making Pitfalls and Solutions, n. D). Whenever disagreements on to what level the teams should commit to a specific task will arose, they could refer to the performances standards and make a decision accordingly. The process will be managed by Richardson from the top, and the heads of every department will make decisions that are relevant to their departments areas of knowledge and responsibility, and report to Richardson, who ill manage the whole pro cess.