Developing an Innovative System in Ware - Sturata - Case Study Example

Developing an Innovative System in Ware Name Institution Developing an Innovative System in Ware Organizational Design Plan Executive Summary The proposed name for the new company will be Sturata Inc. It will be situated in Vermont, USA. Its main goal will be to execute the business ideas of an entrepreneur, Dr. Ryan O’Neal and an investor, Jeff Hoffman of developing an innovative system in warehouse order fulfillment. The system will consist of a group of autonomous mobile vehicles which will move quickly through the warehouse and load and move orders to the fulfillment platform (Glindinning, 2009). A very vital requirement in this project proposal is to put into operation the business idea and launch the product within a period of 10 months. It will employ 1000 people for this period. If this happen Jeff and Ryan approximates that there will be a set of committed customers in the U.S. to sustain future venture funding. A funding of $12 million will be made available. Company Description Sturata Inc will be committed to make certain that the innovative system is available for installing at customer sites in 10 months from the start date and a production operation is also in place by that time to develop the vehicles at a rate of 50 units per week and control station at one per week. Sturata Inc. Likewise design and development would be outsourced to Ryoichi so that it maintains its current structure which is running fine. Because it is a start-up company, Sturata will only offer stock options Mission To provide efficient and high quality innovative systems to our clients so as to satisfy their needs Vision To be the most preferred developer of innovative systems in the entire region. The Management The executive team of the company will be as follows during the set-up stage except the position of chief finance Officer which will remain vacant for a short while. This is because the project is at a beginning point. I, project developer: Chief Operating Officer; Jeff Hoffman: President and Chief Executive Officer; Dr. O’Neal: Vice President, engineering and Chief Technical Officer; Miss Yamaguch: Vice President, Administration. By the time the project progresses towards completion, the organization form should have changed so as to meet the new demands of the company and the market. Restructuring will also assist to shape a formal hierarchical organizational structure. It will be as follows: Chief Executive Officer in charge of overall operations, a Finance Manager responsible for providing financial advice and support, a Human Resource Manager responsible for staffing and recruitment; Marketing Manager to promote products; Team Leaders and Technical Staffs to ensure line operations are accomplished. Significant Issues To ensure a positive outcome, the following issues must be adhered to. First the product needs to be expansively tested in a live warehouse environment before it can be rolled out or even before performing test installations on potential customer sites. Secondly, safety regulations should be put in the fore front as the mobile vehicles will be operating in warehouses and people will be present too (Pelton and Jakhu, 2010). Fourthly, the project is of a noteworthy size and is demanding in numerous dimensions, so the project team needs to be gathered. The staffs are to be employed speedily and the team members to be recruited must start working as soon as they are hired though it will take a bit long before tasks are assigned thus staff will be selected cautiously. Fifthly, the project will be in phase A (Research, Design and Development) and phase B (production). All the necessities should be put in place before production starts. The sixth concern is about the suppliers. A good administration need to be established with suppliers to ensure a reliable supply of components and subsystems (Nellore, 2001). Due to the ever changing demands of project undertakings the research aspect is very critical. Dr. O’Neal will be of great help as he has a fruitful background in research. Nevertheless, a connection role needs to be facilitated to border with the academics concerned in the venture. Lastly, up to this point there is no company that is set to work on the project; both legal and administrative work to outline a lawful business is also incorporated in the project. An interface Diagram Phase A Phase B Sturata Inc. Ryoichi (Design and Development) CEO HR MGR Finance MGR Marketing MGR Team Leaders Social Organizations Political Organizations Technical staff Regulating bodies At these interfaces various leadership skills will be needed for interactions. They will ensure a peaceful working surroundings as the structure of the company will be complex. They include: capacity to control the teams to make sure there is equal participation, ability to represent groups equally, sharing leadership and resources wisely to shun divergence, receiving and giving out information. Resolving Potential Conflicts Jeff Hoffman proposes a small company called Ryoichi in Tokyo, Japan, which undertakes contract work. He believes they have the skills and expertise needed by Sturata to design autonomous mobile vehicles. The company has 13 closely-knit engineers. Dr. O’Neal was also impressed by the portfolio of contract work Ryoichi has delivered. Jeff wants to buy Ryoichi, using a mix of stock options and cash to finance the purchase. Ryan instead wants to use Ryoichi as a contract company; he is concerned about language barriers, the entrepreneurial spirit of that team, and the fact that the team members are very tightly knit together. For that reason concrete activities and a plan to resolve the potential conflict between Jeff Hoffman and Dr. O’Neal about Ryoichi will be looked at. The proposal plan will emphasize that all major decisions should be made by the entire executive team and stakeholders to ensure fair and just contributions and decisions. Leaders will be attending trainings regularly to boost their skills and their capacity to solve conflicts within the company (Kloppenborg, 2011). Negotiation also plays a very significant role in settling disputes; it allows deep discussions and arguments to the later after which a solution is reached at. In conclusion, outsourcing design and development to Ryoichi using stock options will finally settle the conflicts between Jeff and Neal. This will quicken the operations thus timely completion. Behavioral Issues As a result of cross-cultural backgrounds there is a likelihood of behavioral issues coming up but specifically with regard to Sturata Inc. buying Ryoichi. Different organizations have different organizational cultures; a change is sometimes resisted by the team members due to certain fears concerning the tenure of their jobs. Therefore I will give emphasis to realization of a new structure so that Ryoichi employees are incorporated cohesively within the new organization. This will assist to bring the two team members together hence a friendly and stress free working environs. Managing Stress The project plan for the start-up almost collapsed. Ryoichi requested a revision in the buyout offer to a 50/50 cash/options ratio. Jeff Hoffman suffered a mild heart-attack and is currently hospitalized. Dr. O’Neal had to take a leave of five days to travel to Ireland for the funeral of his grandmother. Stress is an evident aspect especially in start-up projects. Thus, a plan will be initiated so as to manage leadership and team members stress individually and collectively. To manage stress personally, professional counseling will be encouraged, physical exercise and socializing. Leaders need to involve those they direct in most of the undertakings. This will ease the burden, safe time and deliver faster decisions. Leaders should also develop communication systems to facilitate smooth flow of information plus feedback thus fair presentation (Gregson, 2000). Leaders can reduce stress for team members by allowing independent workings, supervising and giving guidelines when the team members are in difficult, delegating well defined tasks and appreciating or rewarding them when they have achieved positive outcomes. Change is normal in projects, so it should be well handled to avoid stress. A Code of Ethics There will be a professional code of ethics with a value system that the organization will embrace keeping in view its multi-cultural and cross-functional nature. All employees will be expected to exemplify a positive conduct to all despite the background; conflict of interest is highly discouraged as well as post work activities (Ladd, 2003). A great emphasis will be given to recording organizational communications for reference purposes. We acknowledge the important role played by suppliers and we will ensure we maintain a good relationship for quality supply. Our customers and partners are given a high priority and an extensive relationship will be enhanced. Gifts, favors, and commissions will not be accepted for personal gains. The company will carry out activities that will demonstrate Responsibility to society and environment. References Glindinning M. (2009). Kiva robots save Zappos shoe leather’, Material Handling Wholesaler [Online]. Available from: http://www.mhwmag.com/article.cfm?id=27246&PageNum=1 (Accessed: 22 February 2009). Joseph N. Pelton and Ram Jakhu (2010). Safety Regulations and Standards. London, U.K: Elsevier Press Rajesh Nellore (2001). Managing Buyer-Supplier Relations. New York, USA: Rout ledge Timothy Kloppenborg (2011). Contemporary Project Management. New York: Cengage Susan R. Gregson (2000). Stress Management. Chicago: Capstone Press Ladd, John (2003). "The Quest for a Code of Professional Ethics: An Intellectual and Moral Confusion." New Jersey: Prentice Hall Read More