1. How effective is Don Rogers communication skills?

He was never a good fit for the EPD. Rogers never anticipated the increase in competition (mistake 1) which shows he was not tied to the sales force. It was mentioned that he does not listen in meetings and not holding managers responsible for their goals (mistakes 2&3). He split up marketing, sales, and product development causing confusion and miscommunication (mistake 5). He replaced several top managers when the EPD was sucessful with rather inexperienced people. (mistake 6) Most of all he seems to have no sense of urgency with the dire situation the company faces. His division could implode at any time costing everyone their jobs. He is now just realizing changes need to be met? He needs to go. (Suesse, 2007)

Rogers transferred Rogers needs to be physically present ot learn about and lead a fractious organization. Market conditions require marketing to be closely coordinated with sales and the plants and everyone to be in colose communication.

2. How well does he perform in planning and organizing?

3. 4. Short term: - Manufacturing and sales should be housed together to create a plan that would allow for continued growth and decreasing manufactures costs. This would also allow for better communication and foster an environment for collaborations and cooperation. - Rogers should put into place a clear and focused vision that all departments understand, respect and perform to. In putting this vision of the organization together, Rogers should get the opinions (negatives and postivites) from the employees - Rogers should put back into place the evaluations - He should have a more visible presence in the organization. He is well trained in the technical aspects but needs to learn more about the other apsects of the division. Long term: - EPDs organization should reflect the style Allentowns. More frequent meetings and interactions with employees will help to strengthen communication skills and ensure that the company is on the same page for success. - EPD should put into place incentives encourage employees to share their opinions. Employees should feel empowered to contribute to the growth of the organization. - Rogers needs to acknowledge that he is part of the problem and be willing to change his leadership, management and communication skills. This will establish sound relationships within the company, develop his/the companys reputation and in turn increase sales. - Monthly seminars or workshops on leadership/management/decisions building skills will help the company. The divisions need sound leaders who can communicate well. To help EPD be more competitive in the short term, manufacturing and sales should work together to develop a plan to increase the companys quality and service while keeping manufacturing costs low. Additionally, manufacturing and product development should collaborate to develop ideas for low cost components they can use in new products to keep costs down. Also, Don Rodgers should develop a vision for EPD and ensure that all departments are aware of this vision and what their role is in carrying it forward. He should also restart the evaluation effort that he killed upon arrival and be more attentive to day-to-day operations. Over the long term, EPD should change their culture to be similar to that of Allentowns corporate center there should be more frequent meetings and informal interactions between employees. EPD should reward new ideas to inspire employees to speak up about solutions they may have for EPDs many problems. Continuation of Bennetts programs (pp186) of evaluation in management and organization with plans for improvement to be discussed. -Rogers decided to review what he knew about each of the functional areas Implementing mandatory monthly meeting with the manufacturing, sales, marketing, product and development managers to discuss new products, to coordinate schedules, to ensure high quality of standards and to open a forum for discussions would significantly improve the working conditions and lead to better communication. -Even though Johnson is the marketing development manager, should Moss, the product development manager or even Rogers who is the head, be leading the product development meetings? In order to be more present in the organization, part of the project development and functions of the organization and give reassurances, Rogers should lead the meetings. It should be mandatory for the appropriate managers to attend this meeting. Open dialogues between Rogers and the managers should occur nor only at the formal meetings but also informal settings. - Personnel have the right to disagree, but unsolved conflicts will not solve the underlying problems at the organization. What good is it to have an agenda/meeting but have nothing positive come from it? Goals need to be firmly established and successfully achieved, perhaps with incentives to go along the way. -The overall success in the organization is reliant on developing new products and marketing them soundly to compete in the business world. The two cases point to example of new products that would have been successful if everyone was aboard. Realistic changes need to be put into place, starting with the housing of marketing and sales in the same location.. A thought: It is interesting that both Johnson and Rogers would not have taken their respective position knowing what they know now. The text doesnt mention if Johnson was previously employed there but Rogers being hired up, surely he must have been aware of some of the issues occurring in the organization.

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22. Suesse, J. (2007). Allentown Materials Corporation: The Electronic Products Division (Abridged). In W. Ellet. The Case Study Handbook, How to Read, Dis 23. 8) Yes Rogers did not foresee the increased competition; however, marketing itself had a hard time predicting the market. 24. 9) Problems also existed with Bennett. Employees also felt the pressures and unrealistic goals set by him. The managers in EPD were unsure of the stability of the company.

In order to turn the ship around action is a necessity on Don Rogers part. He needs to regain what he is lacking in his leadership skills in order to achieve the prior successes of the EPD. In the short term he needs a sense of urgency. He needs to rectify the separation of marketing and sales and bring the product development team back with their manager. He immediately needs to hold monthly meetings with all department managers and himself at the helm to make sure everyone is on the same page. This change alone will dramatically affect the communication deficiency that is occurring. He also needs to readdress the vision that the EPD will need going further. What is their purpose? They seem to be going through the motions. There also needs to be management mentoring or seminars for these newly hired rather inexperienced people. This will give them the confidence to start making decisions for themselves and communicating better with Rogers. He needs to lead by example by showing them the way. In the longer term