Essentials of Management - Case Study Example

MANAGEMENT by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Introduction Oticon Company was founded in the year 1904 by a man known as Demant, Hans Demant. He was challenged by the fact that his wife had difficulties in hearing. This made him so determined to help his wife and other people suffering the same fate. He then started importing aids for hearing from the United States. The imports grew big and within no time, Demant was already setting up offices in charge of sales and expanded the products he would sell. In the year 1979, the company had become the leading manufacturer of hearing-aids. The company however, lost its grip in the year 1987 and starting losing some money. Urgent action was needed since the company was facing its worst fears of losing it to other competitors. This led to the recruitment or hiring of Lars Kolind as the managing director. This was a move aimed at restoring the glory of the company and placing it back to its initial position in the global market. Kolind propelled the company through a number of actions and decisions. He initiated developments that moved the company from a “commanding company” to a “problem solving company”. This led to major developments in the company such as the manufacture of a hearing aid that was automatic. This was the first of its kind hearing-aid manufactured in the year 1990 and later on developed in the year 1991. The company later on started developing the first ever digital hearing-aids. These are clearly development strategies that were aimed at solving situations. The company clearly moved from fighting to command the global market to trying and solve arising situations. It became more and more dynamic. Analysis of the case study This is a case study comprising one company, Oticon. The case study involves strategies that were developed by the managing director known as Lars Kolind. Kolind was a mathematician. This literally means that he is a problem solver. He was hired at a time when Oticon had slipped to the third position in the manufacture of hearing aids. The fall was facilitated by the company’s inability to keep up with the stiff competition and its inability to keep up with new technologies that kept on chipping in. this made the company incur lots of losses and its fiscal power kept on dwindling. Kolind came up with a different approach to the problems facing the company. He saw it best to come up with an approach in which each and every job would fit someone and not vice versa i.e. someone fitting the job. Each person in the company was entitled to certain functions and each individual had a mandate of developing their job. This clearly meant that if anyone had nothing to do then they had to look for something to do or else the company did not need them. Kolind came up with strategies that changed the structure of the company its processes of organization, careers and the contents of job in the company that was eighty six years old. The managing director knew this was a risky course to undertake but he was determined to make it through. Change was inevitable in the company that was under a new director. Kolind basically did not see the need to have a large number of hearing aids being manufactured and yet they were low-margin and conventional aids. He instead saw a need to manufacture products that were not just creative but also fast and that embraced new technological needs. The strategy was mainly aimed at ensuring there is satisfaction for all those who needed to use hearing-aids. Another idea was being unique and efficient. When a company becomes unique, its products get to sell more as long as the products are effective and lead to satisfaction. This in turn leads to mass production due to the high demand of products. In the long run this leads to a company reaping more and more profits and dominating the market. This was the main strategic idea of Kolind. Generally the strategies initiated by Kolind were both business strategies and also corporate strategies. This is because he changed or dismantled the departments that were functional in the company and instead set up the company to be project based. This would ensure that everyone in the company would be more involved in developing hearing-aids. Employees also became more entitled to more jobs and project teams were set up. This was a communication strategy by Kolind in which knowledge and communication would be more closely shared among members in the project team. Kolind also shaped the company into an open and accountable company in which everyone was able to access other people’s files at Oticon. Kolind was generally able to shift employees focus to the tasks mandated to them and to the customers and to products that were new (Rolf 2008). Key Issues in the case study Issues are situations that are usually meditated on. In the case study of Oticon, there are a number of issues. The issues have risen as the company started to slip in the global market and then it adopted some new work methods that were initiated by the new managing director, Lars Kolind. The main issue in the case study is how the company would be dominant and relevant in the global market or the leading manufacturer of hearing-aids. The company was initially the leading manufacturer of hearing aids but this changed as the company started to face lots of competition and the fact that it was unable to adapt to the dynamic world of technology. This is a main issue since it heavily contributed to the losses that were incurred by the company. Another issue is the company’s ability to remain in the market and incur profits. This is an issue in this case study because the company had to address this question. The company was falling out in the market and thus incurring heavy losses. The measures it had to undertake had to be aimed at ensuring that the company was back on its fit and that nothing of the sort would ever happen again and that the company would always have an upper hand in the manufacture and sale of hearing-aids. Another issue in the case study is the issue of management. The reason the company was falling and slipping was perhaps attributed to its management. This is perhaps to an extent a pointer on why the company had to hire a new managing director. This is also a main issue because the company not only needed a quality managing director but also one who would be able to initiate change in the company. Change that would help the company to rise back o its feet. It is also a main issue since the company needed a new managing director who would be able to come up with solutions to solve the problems facing the company. They also needed someone who would wipe off the fears that had already gripped the company as it started experiencing losses. Another main issue in the case study is the need to have strategies in the organization. This is an issue because the company clearly lacked any strategies and if it had any strategies they were not good enough. I am saying this because the company generally had not been able to withstand the stiff competition it was facing. If a company has strategies then it is highly likely able to withstand competition in a highly competitive market (Frank 2000). It should also be able to enact its power in such a market. This was not the case with Oticon which makes “strategies” an issue in this case study. Another thing is that the company was not able to adapt to technological needs. This would not have been the case if the company had clear strategies that would have changed the course of the company and made it to be more dynamic. There are four main issues that present themselves in this case study. I have explained why they are main issues and the fact that the company addressed them meant that it was able to be on its feet again. Conceptual approaches to the issues There are four main issues that I have come up with in this case study like I stated earlier on. One of the issues was how the company would remain dominant and relevant in the market and manufacture of hearing-aids. This was a main issue because it was aimed at ensuring that the company which was eighty six years old does not collapse and that it is able to hold itself together. One of the approaches to this problem was coming up with a way to create unique hearing aids. This was an approach that was mainly aimed at customer satisfaction. When a company or organization achieves customer satisfaction, it is able to incur lots of profits. The company thus ha to come up with an approach that was mainly aimed at solving situations by creating unique products. This was done when the company made the first ever automatic hearing-aid. It then moved on to manufacture the first ever digital hearing-aids. This is a business approach. In a competitive market, people or customers often go for those materials or products that are unique. When Oticon started manufacturing unique products it was thus able to capture the needs of so many customers who use hearing-aids. This basically meant that the company was able address one of the main issues which was to remain dominant and relevant in the market (Rolf 2008). The second issue was management. The company ended up hiring a new managing director Lars Kolind who was a mathematician. Mathematics is all about solving problems and solutions. This perhaps explains the reason as to why the new managing director came up with problem solving strategies. The company, Oticon, had to move in and address the issue of management. In any organization, business, firm or company, success or failure goes down to the management. Managers are the key people in the company that are mandated with the task of ensuring that the company is able to achieve its goals and objectives (DuBrin 2008). If something goes down e.g. if the company makes losses, then the managers take the blame. If success e.g. if the company makes more profits this also becomes attributed to the manager. What am trying to say is that Oticon faced with so many problems had to come up with an approach to address the problems facing it. The company having identified management as one of its main issues went ahead and solved by issue by hiring a new managing director. The company in real sense needed someone who would turn things around and that’s why they had to hire a “turnaround manager” to help in solving their issues and problems. The need for strategies was also another issue in the company. A company that has strategic approaches to situations is usually at a better point of succeeding and conquering the highly competitive market. The company through its managing director Kolind came up with strategies that were aimed at ensuring success in the company. Kolind adapted business strategies that were mainly aimed at having an upper hand in the market. One of the business strategies adapted by Kolind was the manufacture of unique products. The company adapted this strategy and manufactured “multifocus” the first hearing-aid that was automatic. This was a unique product which was innovative, efficient and effective. The company then developed the same product in-order to achieve customer satisfaction. The company then made another unique product “Digifocus” which was another hearing aid but more technological as it was a digital one and the first hearing aid to be digital. This was a business strategy by the managing director that was aimed at addressing the issue of strategies in the company. The company through Kolind also developed corporate strategies also aimed at addressing the issue of strategies. The company through Kolind came up with the idea of braking up departments and instead setting up project teams. Kolind together with ten other managers formed the “managerial team” that basically acted as the owners of the projects. Project teams on the other hand were led by “project managers” who were self-appointed. The project teams had the power to hire or recruit employees to handle their projects. Overall there was a “projects and products committee” whose main task was to approve any ongoing or set to take place projects. This was a unique corporate strategy that went ahead to attract other businesses in the world (Rolf 2008). It was a more objectionable strategy that was aimed at ensuring the employees in the organization paid more attention to their projects and to new products. It also maid employees pay more attention to customer satisfaction. The idea of having project teams is also a communication strategy. When an organization embraces project teams, information flows more easily. This is because members in the team share information and then the information through the project managers is then shared among all teams and the executives. In Oticon for example, accountability became more and more enhanced. Everyone was free to access ideas and files from their fellow employees. Kolind’s calendar was for example available for all to see. In this way information and communication becomes easy. It is easier to share information and people get to work harmoniously since the working environment is conducive. Another issue was the ability to make or incur profits by the company. As I earlier stated, this was an issue since the company was making huge losses. It thus had to identify the issue and try and come up with solutions or approaches aimed at addressing the issue. This is an issue that was addressed by the strategies that I have mentioned above that were initiated by the managing director. The company was able to increase its production of highly competent and solution solving hearing aids. The company was also able to come up with business strategies that ensure that customer satisfaction was achieved (Rolf 2008). Kolind had an idea of trying to manufacture not just hearing aids, but hearing aids that would solve the problems faced by all those who use the hearing aids. When he introduced new and unique products in the market, the company was able to reap back profits and attract new markets. Critical Evaluation of the Case study This case study is a great business case study that goes down to management. In most cases, companies would rather not risks like those undertaken by Kolind and would instead opt for other approaches e.g. recruiting more staff or even laying off some of their employees, increasing their production. In this case study, Kolind has involved not just strategies but creativity and has thus been able to come up with new approaches that have helped Oticon make lots of profits. In conclusion, Oticon case study is the story of great management concepts that are unique and adopted by a company that is willing to survive in the market through solving solutions and emerging issues (Gaughan 2010). Reference List DuBrin, A., 2008. Essentials of management. New York: Cengage Learning. Frank, A., 2000. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Chicago: University of California Press. Gaughan, A., 2010. Mergers, effective project management. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Hill, C., 2007. Project mmanagement: an integrated approach, 8th edn. New York: Cengage Learning. Rolf, T., 2008. Information, Organization and Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More