Black & Decker Case Study
Questions
1. What do you think of Grunewald’s plan for creating a “global lock business”? What factors favor this action? What factors stand in the way?
I think Grunewald’s plan for creating a global lock business might turn out to be a profitable idea. His plan for a “global lock business” would include having marketing managers, product managers, and a project manager within each lock company. As well as each group having a group product manager that would help with the organizational design and also improve the effectiveness of the day to day operations. I think the factors that favor this action is that the global lock business would help in diversifying the existing portfolio of the company. The company already has a solid international base which can be used as a building block to promote Grunewald’s plan for creating a global lock business. It would also help to improve market knowledge along the dimensions of completion, consumer segments and product requirements. Another factor is that Black & Decker would now have a worldwide distribution system. the factors that stand in the way would be problems in loosing key managers, simplifying production design and engineering and overcoming regional differences.
2. What are the organizational implications of this strategy? What kind of structure, culture, and systems are necessary to make it work? What would be your action plan for implementation?
The organization implications of this strategy should designate formal reporting relationships of the managers and supervisors.I would say there should be effective communication, coordination and integration.The organizational structure should be designed to reflect a vertical and horizontal information flow. The culture should be a combination of management philosophy, management practices, relationships and the approach dealing with change. In order to make this work I would use the open system. my action plan would be to set a time line or milestone for
1. What do you think of Grunewald’s plan for creating a “global lock business”? What factors favor this action? What factors stand in the way?
I think Grunewald’s plan for creating a global lock business might turn out to be a profitable idea. His plan for a “global lock business” would include having marketing managers, product managers, and a project manager within each lock company. As well as each group having a group product manager that would help with the organizational design and also improve the effectiveness of the day to day operations. I think the factors that favor this action is that the global lock business would help in diversifying the existing portfolio of the company. The company already has a solid international base which can be used as a building block to promote Grunewald’s plan for creating a global lock business. It would also help to improve market knowledge along the dimensions of completion, consumer segments and product requirements. Another factor is that Black & Decker would now have a worldwide distribution system. the factors that stand in the way would be problems in loosing key managers, simplifying production design and engineering and overcoming regional differences.
2. What are the organizational implications of this strategy? What kind of structure, culture, and systems are necessary to make it work? What would be your action plan for implementation?
The organization implications of this strategy should designate formal reporting relationships of the managers and supervisors.I would say there should be effective communication, coordination and integration.The organizational structure should be designed to reflect a vertical and horizontal information flow. The culture should be a combination of management philosophy, management practices, relationships and the approach dealing with change. In order to make this work I would use the open system. my action plan would be to set a time line or milestone for