Role of Vision at Mentor Graphics - Case Study Example

However, later on it had to be changed because it was no longer effective in motivating its employees and growth problems began to emerge. When the company used the vision “Six Boxes”, it somehow weakened the company because when one of the businesses failed, the company did not have the option of closing it down. If they do so, then the “Six Boxes” vision will no longer be applicable because there will only be “Five Boxes”. This vision weakened the company because it prevented management from making the appropriate financial decisions. 3. Identify three key reasons that the vision failed at Mentor Graphics.

The first reason why the vision failed at Mentor Graphics is that some of the visions that they developed were too vague. In the case of the vision “10X Imperative”, the customers did not understand it; most probably even the employees did not know what it meant. The vision is blurred and did not present a clear picture of what the company will be in the future. The second reason why the vision failed is that it is too unrealistic. The vision “Six Boxes” combined the goals of the six different businesses of Mentor, so much so that when one of the businesses failed, they could not even shut it down.

The expectation was that all six businesses will be profitable which was very unrealistic and hard to achieve. The vision at Mentor also failed because it was “too disconnected from the present” (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009). Their vision in 1989, “Changing the World Designs Together” was described by Mentor’s President Gerard Langeler as having little to do with the actual businesses of the company. 4. Discuss issues of vision content, context, and process in how vision was introduced and changed at the company.

The initial vision of Mentor is “Build Something That People Will Buy”. However, this vision had to be changed to be more competitive. Eventually, Mentor’s vision progressed from being concrete in “Beat Daisy” to becoming too abstract as “10X Imperative”. The “Beat Daisy” vision was practical and answered the needs of the firm at that time. The content and context was well understood by the employees; thus, it was easy to achieve. It was very precise and clear; therefore, it served as a guideline for all employees.

In “Changing the World Designs Together”, the company transformed its vision to become too idealistic rather than making it tangible and realistic. The development of the visions of Mentor depended on the effect it had on the company. If it was not effective in driving the company towards its goals, then the vision was changed. If it was no longer applicable in the current position of the firm, then the vision was changed too. After “Beat Daisy” most of the visions formulated by Mentor were inspirational though quite ambitious.

In the end, Mentor had to revert back to its original vision which is “To Build Things People Will Buy”. Langeler realized that this was the more pragmatic vision for the company which was attuned with the core business of the firm and would help them make sound business decisions. 5. Discuss whether or not the vision helped or hindered change at Mentor Graphics There were instances when vision helped the company like when their vision was “Beat Daisy”. “Six Boxes” on the other hand hindered change at Mentor because even if they wanted to close down one of the six businesses