allentown materials case study

allentown materials case study

• 1.
  HISTORY Allentown Materials Corporationwas established in late 1800’s in Allentown, Pennsylvania Leading manufacturer of speciality glass Eight Line Divisions The Electronic Products Division manufactured high quality electronic components It had unique technological capabilities. Shifted to Commercial Market in late 1980s. It is known as a leading manufacturer. It has an annual growth rate of 10%.
• 2.
  MAJOR PROBLEMS EPD washeaded by Joe Bennett up until 1990, when he passed away. He was determined and very authoritative. Don Rogers became the new General Manager following Bennett. He was too soft and not very involved. Now EPD is facing a number of problems. Operating margin came down significantly after 1990 Lack of mutual confidence and trust amongst departments like marketing, manufacturing and sales Company is not able to develop new products because of lack of coordination and internal rivalries
• 3.
  MAJOR PROBLEMS EPD ishaving a hard time understanding their missions and goals. Don Rogers does not seem to push them to reach these goals. The core problems faced by Rogers are:  Decline in sales and service  Decrease in morale  Lack of mutual trust and confidence  Fierce Competition • Problems could be caused by the workplace environment and lack of cohesiveness and the change of leadership styles between Rogers and Bennett.
• 4.
  ACTION PLAN • Rogersneed to take responsibility and work on his leadership skills before anything changes through workshops, counselling sessions or training. Team comprising for new product development should have employees from all the functions i.e. – it should be cross-functional Sales team should be incentivized on the basis of doing greater business. More team activities should be there so that trust, confidence and relation can be built amongst the teams Customer service level should be improved by taking feedback from the customers to know the satisfactory levels Accountability should be increased in meetings by giving responsibilities and defining the exact parameters for achieving targets.