Introduction | Module I | Module II | Module III | Summary & Closing
Introduction | Module I | Module II | Module III | Summary & Closing
This is the challenge: It is 2005 and your team is the management team for a service or management company. The St. Petersburg Times has asked you to write a short article on the keys to help business succeed. Recent trends outlined by Drucker on challenges for the future are listed in the assignments that follow. Drucker estimates that individuals will hold five different jobs, that there will be increased technology and globalization demands, and there will be demands to keep employees current and challenged in their work.
Assignment for Teams 1 and 2:
The Keys to Successful Growth as a Service-Provider
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It is 2005 and you are the management team of a service company that has jumped from 478 to 320 to 56 on the Inc. Growth 500 list in the last three years. The St. Petersburg Times has asked you to write a short article describing the keys to successfully growing a company in the first decade of the new millennium. These "keys to success" fall into two categories: the timeless elements of running a good business, and new strategies that take advantage of powerful trends in society. The "timeless elements" are strategies or techniques that make businesses successful in any business environment. The "new strategies" are responses to the five trends that Peter Drucker points to as the driving forces in society for the foreseeable future. 2. The skyrocketing growth of computer and network technologies. 3. Increasing globalization and competition. These trends include both international business and political relationships. 4. The dual trend of increasing importance of "knowledge work" (the generation of value through processing information) over manufacturing and the increasing importance of maintaining a knowledge worker's job satisfaction (see Trend # 1). 5. Major demographic changes, including the aging of the American population. (Someone in the U.S. turns 50 every minute.) These five trends that became powerful around the turn of the century have encouraged your business to explore new and innovative strategies that you feel have been critical to your success. Prepare a five-minute synopsis of your Times article to present to the rest of the group in 45 minutes. After brainstorming and sketching ideas on your team's two-panel wall, outline your "Keys to Success" on a single-panel wall. (Use this wall as reference during your presentation.) Include in your Keys both the timeless elements and the new strategies, and briefly describe the value that each key brings to a business. |
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Team One Charles Canerday Deborah Espisito Sean McCormick Jerry Stettner |
Team Two Ginnie Eitel Pam Campbell Carl Kuttler Earnest Williams Bert Landau |
Assignment for Teams 3 and 4:
The Keys to Successful Growth in Manufacturing
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It is 2005 and you are the management team of a manufacturing company that has jumped from 478 to 320 to 56 on the Inc. Growth 500 list in the last three years. The St. Petersburg Times has asked you to write a short article describing the keys to successfully growing a company in the first decade of the new millennium. These "keys to success" fall into two categories: the timeless elements of running a good business, and new strategies that take advantage of powerful trends in society. The "timeless elements" are strategies or techniques that make businesses successful in any business environment. The "new strategies" are responses to the five trends that Peter Drucker points to as the driving forces in society for the foreseeable future. 2. The skyrocketing growth of computer and network technologies. 3. Increasing globalization and competition. These trends include both international business and political relationships. 4. The dual trend of increasing importance of "knowledge work" (the generation of value through processing information) over manufacturing and the increasing importance of maintaining a knowledge worker's job satisfaction (see Trend # 1). 5. Major demographic changes, including the aging of the American population. (Someone in the U.S. turns 50 every minute.) These five trends that became powerful around the turn of the century have encouraged your business to explore new and innovative strategies that you feel have been critical to your success. Prepare a five-minute synopsis of your Times article to present to the rest of the group in 45 minutes. After brainstorming and sketching ideas on your team's two-panel wall, outline your "Keys to Success" on a single-panel wall. (Use this wall as reference during your presentation.) Include in your Keys both the timeless elements and the new strategies, and briefly describe the value that each key brings to a business. |
Team Three Pam Davis Greg Wilson Denise Kerwin Team Four Joe Smiley Lara Butler Elizabeth Grady Esther Oliver Diane Reese
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Team 1 Report The Edge Corporation took a visionary look and created a virtual company. It was multiple industries that could work from any location by utilizing technology. It was necessary to hire the best and brightest support team. They opened up the world for students to be trained in a global environment. The management team contacted colleges to learn how students from different backgrounds and abilities learn and how this information could be used to provide a skilled, loyal workforce. They remained flexible and current and tried to attract a wide age range of employees. |
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Team 2 Report
This initiative on defining the Keys to Success focused on building the business and developing the people. The necessity to match skills with work environment was stressed. They pointed out that the success of the future lies with the people, their training and education, and their use and knowledge of technology. A business must understand their market, and then market that vision with effective communication, both internally and externally. On-going and continuing education will remain important. |
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Team 3 Report:
The company focused on How We Did It with product leadership. This required constant research on new products and their customer base. Success was accomplished through up-front planning with the company developing a vision, a mission statement, and performance expectations that were reviewed quarterly. To keep a nimble, flexible business, they developed project teams of 5-25, working independently, using innovative practices, with thorough planning. Technology was adapted to keep up with changes in a divided marketplace. |
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Team 4 Report: One Mart was a new company selling information that overcame the issue of privacy. They did this by making themselves indispensable to clients and exceeding their expectations. The company needed to experience a high global market. They had great employees, and provided so much support and training that they had a waiting list of people wanting to work there. They started in-house high school training and worked with those students to develop their fullest potential. Employees owned the company, and the company provided a support community for employee basic services. They had fluid authority, constant training, and daily in-house communications. And, continued research kept them first. |
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Summary |
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Key Components: Companies will need to invest in the right, skilled people. They will also need to invest in technology, and the continuing education of its employees. The challenges exist in the implementation and cost of these new global markets. Problems of dealing with clients in a different community from a virtual office must be considered. A company will need the edge in implementation. This will force them to get away from the hierarchical structure to develop effective teams. They will need to reduce bureaucracy and consider the value of time in the implementation process. They should be the first to grab the future. |
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Introduction | Module I | Module II | Module III | Summary & Closing
