Question

Evaluate the characteristics of the top-level management in the MWM organisation at the end of the simulation. Develop a managerial succession plan for the blue buddies organisation. justify your responses and discuss disadvantages.

1.Introduction to the MWM Organization

MWM was originally a family business and the Dexter family is still the largest single shareholder even though their shareholding is under 5%. Their presence on the external board is largely honorary now. Frank Dexter was a solid state physics graduate who specialized in the development of hard drive storage and access protocols. Both his son and nephew, best friends from their earliest years, had graduated with majors in mathematics and physics respectively. These two, Marc and Stephen, were among the earliest gamers in the late 1970’s and had a vision for the industry. They built the company into a profitable and successful one and largely liquidated their shareholding in the mid-1990s.  

The organization still holds strongly to the values of fairness, integrity and innovation that the original founders had. MWM appears to new employees as an organization which can achieve good outcomes but can be rather sloppy and unsystematic in the way that it got there: it marches to its own drum. In the past, new console launches have been delayed by up to 6 months. When it has mastered something as an organization, it can be quite good at ongoing execution. However, when it needs to do something quite different from ‘business as usual’ it struggles. It lacks a ‘project management’ discipline which is usually taken for granted in most organizations in the technology industry.

MWM employs over 5500 staff. 85% are in the Roundland continent, the majority being located in three factory sites linked to distribution hubs – East Coast, Mid-Continent and West Coast. Head office consists of 500 people, and the Research Centre 800 people. The remaining Roundland employees are in Sales, spread across the Roundland continent. The 825 employees located in the Starland continent are mainly in Sales with some minor local support functions.

A– CEO

A has been with MWM for 15 years, previously playing the role of marketing manager. An enthusiastic gamer himself, he is often on the front cover of industry magazines and always willing to give opinions on the industry to journalists, many of whom he would count as his personal friends.  

His office wall is lined with trophies and citations awarded at the annual video gaming awards ceremony held in mid-January every year – just after the high winter sales period. A is a capable businessman and manages to keep the profits of MWM steady when those of competitors have been declining, although even he has been unable to stem the downward trend in profits experienced over the last 3 quarters. He has given his word that he will remain at the helm of MWM for as long as the shareholders still need him. It is well known that he is privately very wealthy and wishes to spend more time fishing.

B – CFO

B has only been with MWM for 6 months. He was previously a partner in a medium-sized accounting firm and had long wanted the chance to be part of an organization with tangible products and services. An active and sophisticated gamer himself, he leapt at the chance to join MWM when he noted the position advertised in a gaming industry magazine.  

B has become increasingly concerned by the drop in unit sales, although

he realizes that this is mostly due to the trend in the industry overall. He

believes that what the industry needs most is novelty, a new technological breakthrough which will “wow” customers to such an extent that they will be happy to replace their existing consoles, as they have done for each new generation of gaming console in the past.

C – Marketing Director

C is a well known figure in the video gaming world. She began her career in marketing at a well known consumer goods organization. After a thorough training in marketing, she made an industry switch to become the managerial assistant to Stephen Dexter. She is an avid gamer and extremely knowledgeable about the industry and its customers, and is deeply respected for this knowledge within MWM and the industry. She was the first person in the industry to accurately segment the market and to point out that gamers now ranged from under ten to over 40 and comprised 3 separate demographic and psychographic groups. Many of the competitors had adopted her classifications of the different customer segments. She had encouraged the other major players to subscribe to a panel which collected and distributed monthly information on certain vital customer purchasing and usage patterns. She is a popular conference speaker, often headlining industry events.

D – Operations Director

D has been with MWM for over 20 years, longer than A who he remembers inducting into the organization all those years ago.   D is a real devotee to the gaming industry. At home he has installed an impressive home cinema, complete with 7.1 surround sound and a $25,000 projector. When the MWM research laboratories want to test their latest graphics and sound systems, D is their number one test customer – if he likes it, it will be good enough for anyone in the market. D has seen the market develop from the first colored blocks moving on a screen to the massively impressive and realistic 3D pictures and great sound being offered today. After an early career in the mail distribution center and then in sales, D worked his way up through the business and took over the helm of Operations two years ago. His main challenge has been to deal with balancing staffing at the factories with the unpredictable demand pattern for consoles. The patterns that existed with peaks during the winter season and just before the summer break no longer occurred.   

E – Sales Director

E was seen as a strategic hire when she joined MWM just under a year ago from a major global computer giant, where she was deputy Global Sales Director. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and was a prominent researcher before her management career development led her to doing a stint in Sales. Following MWM’ struggles to change its culture, E was seen as the right person with the intelligence and initiative to make a real impact at MWM.

Answer 1

MWM organization holds a strong befief in integrity, fairness and employees have a positive viewpoint regarding its outcome. However it lacks in the project management discipline and struggled many time when it comes to innovation and doing something different from other businesses. The organization has a total staff of 5500 employees. Top management of MWM organisation includes CEO, CFO, Marketing director, Operations Director and Sales Director.

Ans 1 Characteristics of the top management of MWM organisation includes the following points:-

1) CEO (A) - The most vital quality of Chief Executive officer is to manage the business and look after the loopholes if any. CEO of MWM organisation had been with this company since for last 15 years wherein he was intially playing the role of marketing manager. He has successfully contacted with jounalists for the latest updations in the organisation and as a businessmen, he kept the profits of the company steady by facing competition. These qualities are essentially required to be a successful businessmen and employees, customers also endure such qualities.

2) CFO (B) - B was with the organisation since from last 6 months and the best quality in him was that he was a sophisticated gamer and believes in innovation as he was of the view that new technology and new products will win the hearts of customers. Such positive attitutde can attract new customers.

3) Marketing Director (C)- She is an avid gamer and is respected for her knowledge in the industry. She was the one who pointed out that gamers now ranges from under 10 to over 40 and comprises three separate psychographic and demographic groups. She has encouraged the players to subscribe to a panel for getting information related to customer's choices, preferences and their purchasing habits. Such calibre is required to grow the industry.

4) Operations Director (D)- He has been with MWM organisation over 20 years and his major characteristic is that he had a vast exposure in mail distribution centre, sales and now he is in the operations. He had faced may challeges in his work profile and as he was the real devotee to this gaming industry, he was considered the number one test customer. Based on his qualities, it can be said that he is giving new life to the organisation by sharing his experience.

5) Sales Director (E)- She was hired in MWM organisation under a year ago and holds a PhD degree. She was seen to make a real change in the culture of the organisation and such initiatives helps the company grow more and more.

Ans 2. Succession plan for the organisation:-

MANAGERIAL SUCCESSION PLAN

Position Title    Incumbent Name   Current status      Number of staff ready      Remarks

     CEO A        15 yrs experince D, having 20 yrs of exp. D should be promoted      CFO B 6 months exp A, having 15 yrs of exp. A should be below D     D who is currently working as the Operations Director should be appointed as the CEO as he is having more than 20 years of experience than anyone else in the industry. On the other hand, A who is currently working as a CEO should be appointed as a CFO instead of B as B is having 6 months of experince only.    

Disadvantages of succession planning:-

1) At times, the person appointed to suceed the current employees may prove wrong to fit in the position

2) It requires a lot of time to think strategically to whom to succeed

3) Lowers the motivation of employees

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