Acuscan Critical Thinking Case Study

Assignment Overview

Prepare a report for the CEO about this situation in two parts:

Part One: Respond to the specific questions on the worksheet that follows (100 points possible).

Part Two: Write an executive summary for the CEO (100 points possible).

PART ONE:

Use the case materials to complete this assignment.

ANALYSIS

1. Describe one (per instructors change week one) assumptions seen in any documents provided.

a. Kelly - Through several emails and communications, Kelly assume that there is not enough time to meet the deadline of August for the project. Even though Pat seems to show that, there is some chance to do so.

b. Pat - believes that an "Operation Optimization" project needs to be embarked on now to improve the market shares of AcuScan. She believes that they can accomplish this by an August time line and for 2/3, the original projected cost. He also believes that Chris is not supporting him and is trying to undercut him while he is CYA.

c. Cliff - understands that he has to reduce the budget by 1/3 keep the company in a fiscal sound position. He also understands that the necessity of meeting the August time frame is important.

d. Chris - like Kelly is not sure that the August deadline is possible. Chris is also assumes that Pat and Kelly can work out the details on the project without any involvement of other resources

2. Explain the arguments made by each of these people.

a. Cliff O'Connor - believes that AcuScan needs a new product for their market segment. Their current product has little growth potential which is indicated by dropping revenues and current economical conditions. He also understands that the current out lay of capital cannot exceed the original request of $575K. According to Pat and Chris, "a confidential source states that Secur-A Corp. is in the process of developing some kind of retail application. It is only a matter of months before Secur-A will come to market with a competitive product.", with this information, the deadline for August has been set. This deadline seems to be more emotional the set in fact. No one knows the market reaction or actual release date of the competitor product.

b. Pat Lambert - from a marketing direction, Pat knows the company needs to find some new product or directions to boost revenues. She knows that if AcuScan can get some type of prototype by August and beat their competitors, they can establish a position with their current customer base and future ones. Pat also understands that the prototype that may not have all of the features nor works properly is more important to deliver to the market before their competitors can establish AcuScan as a leader to their market segment.

c. Kelly Thomas - in conversations with Pat, Kelly believes that the project is possible. However when all is put down on paper, Kelly is not sure, nor will commit to the August deadline. He believes that there are too many changes to take place by the deadline and that the purposed features should be reduced. Another argument for Kelly is that his staff has been reduced by 25 percent and he does not have enough staff to accomplish the task and that the current load is pushing his programmers.

d. Chris Martinas - is looking at the new product as the future of the company in their market segment. As VP of Product Development, he would understand the need of new feature set to keep the edge on their competitors. He also understands that there is a very quick turn around time in research, development and delivering to the market a new product. He understands, like Pat does, the idea delivering a product without all of the requested features.

3. Evaluate each argument listed above as sound or unsound and why. Indicate whether they are emotional or logical in nature.

a. Cliff O'Connor - For the most part Cliff's arguments are emotionally that have been encourage by the position of the company and the economics of the market. He is basing some of his arguments and discussion on the idea that their competitors are releasing a product in the near future.

b. Pat Lambert - in the position of marketing has a good grasp of the market place and the economics of their segment. With this information, Pat's arguments are sound and logical.

c. Kelly Thomas - arguments for the most part are emotional and unsound. Kelly seems to view the others are trying to remove power from him.

d. Chris Martinas - arguments seem to more emotional and some what sound. He is basing a lot on his experience as the VP of product and the understanding of the market segment and the limitation of the current product.

4. Describe specific fallacious arguments, and identify the people who hold them.

a. There are several in the company that believe that the new product will increase the companies market share and stay in front of their competitors. The stakeholders for the new product are Chris, Cliff, and Pat. Cliff, being the CEO, has directed the others to venture to other market segments and position the new product in those markets. There are some in the organization, like Kelly that believe that AcuScan does not have to have a full feature new product to be released to the market. There are some issues with how Acuscan is going to finance the new product. These concerns are coming from Cliff.

CONCLUSIONS

5. Describe all problems in this situation.

The largest issue is the deadline that has been imposed by what some inside information about the company's competitors. This along with economical issues and reduced budget has created lack of communications and the feeling of too much in to little time frame.

6. For each problem listed above, describe the data, arguments, and reasoning that contribute to the problem.

In the area of communication, there are little direct discussions with all parties. There are lots of emails, but little team work. Because of the type of communication, there appears to be less understanding of the issues, concerns or solutions on all parties.

7. What is the underlying problem