Introduction
This is a case of Terra Cog, a privately held company specializing in high-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) and fishing and other outdoor sports surveillance tools and equipment. The company is set to release a new product called Project Aerial or simply Aerial as it was referred to in their pre-launch meetings . The current case revolves around the Emma Richardson, the newly promoted executive vice president, and her dilemma on how she would be able to come up with a new product that would rival the leading GPS product in the market, Birds I by one of their strongest competitors, Posthaste.
Diagnosis of the Problems
The problems that the author of this paper was able to diagnose in the case can be divided into two: practical and technical problems. Between the two, the technical problems would easily prove to be more important as the process of solving these ones would determine whether the company would be able to successfully launch their product or otherwise. It would also directly affect their target market’s reception and acceptance of their newly-launched product. The practical problems, on the other hand, are also important in that they are required in order to enable the different working teams such as the production and engineering team, the sales team, and the president of the company to find a peaceful resolution to their pre-launch impasse which centers on the cost and specifications of the Project Aerial product. The main technical problem is the inability of the company to position itself in a rapidly growing GPS market which resulted in their inability to develop a product that has a competitive-enough production cost. The main practical problem, on the other hand, is the lack of effective communication among the various groups and teams working on Project Aerial.
Analyzing the Case
Terra Cog is one of the most dominant companies operating in the GPS manufacturing and distribution industry. It is known for its premium (i.e. high end) and durable products. This is part of the reason why its customers accept the higher price point of its products relative to that of its competitors. Recently, the company was contemplating about releasing a new product. They had two options. The first one was to focus more on the performance and durability factor and less on new innovations like GPS graphics improvement through the use of satellite imaging. The second option was just the opposite of the first one—more focus on innovation and less on performance and durability which are the qualities the company has long been known for. After numerous meetings, they came up with the first option. The decision was based on the idea of conservatism in that the company did not want to risk messing up with a new and untried concept in the GPS market. In contrast, one of its competitors named Posthaste developed and released a product named Birds I. Birds I’s design is based on the option that Terra Cog ditched—more focus on innovation. It uses satellite imaging and therefore provides better graphics for its users. Terra Cog’s managers frowned upon the concept; they widely expected Birds I’s sales to be mediocre at best. Evidently, they were proven wrong. Their competitor’s product rocked the market. The new product they released did not gain much of an audience. As a result, they were forced to release a new product based on Birds I, which in turn is based on a product concept that they ditched. This is what gave birth to Project Aerial.
Product design and development takes a significant amount of time. The more complex the product is, the longer the time it takes to develop and finally release into the market. Rushing the steps involved in product design and development often leads to quality and pricing-related compromises and other consequences, something which a renowned and established company like Terra Cog cannot afford to be associated with—which is why they stuck with the first option. Unfortunately, innovation is also important as it can be an X factor that can make or break the existing status quo in market share statistics. Without enough time to design and develop a new product based on Birds I, Project Aerial’s production team were not able to meet the price point set by Emma Richardson and the company’s sales team. To give them credit, however, they were able to present a product that is on par with Birds I in terms of specification even with only a limited amount of time. The real technical problem was the price point as with the current specification, the only way for them to attain an acceptable price margin is if they would price their product at a point $100 to $150 higher than Birds I, something which according to the sales team would be senseless because they would surely lose market share; plus they would not be able to regain their lost customers when Project Aerial was not yet released and Birds I was the only product of its kind in the market. The president (i.e. Emma Richardson’s boss) wanted to push the price lower by some sort of redesign to make it more competitive in the market; the production team, however, is reluctant to do so citing quality issues and concerns, not to mention the fact that such could ruin the company’s premium reputation. After postponing the pre-launch meeting, the production team was able to cut the production costs by as much as 8%, which was impressive. However, according to the company’s stakeholders, this still was not enough as the company’s retail price would still be significantly higher than that of Birds I.
The practical problem, on the other hand, is centered on the lack of effective communication between the groups and teams working on Project Aerial. One of the main causes of such communication problems is the inability of the teams to effectively listen to what the other parties are suggesting, which is an important component of effective communication according to a study published in the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice . Through active listening, members of a conversation would be able to make more informed decisions without offending and directly opposing what the other party is suggesting . This prevents the occurrence of stalemates between various participants in an otherwise healthy, productive, and constructive conversation . This is something that Emma Richardson could have used and applied in the current impasse in the pre-launch meetings of Project Aerial. During the meetings, it was evident that the members of the production team were being harassed by that of the sales team, which was understandable given the things that were at stake in their current situation. Moreover, what the sales team wanted was for the production team to push themselves to the limit by introducing a product that had two important qualities namely a competitive price point and a good enough set of hardware and software. The rationale behind that was for them to be able to compete effectively with the product of Posthaste. However, the pressure in their current situation was so high that they failed to practice effective communication, especially active listening.
Recommendations
In conclusion, what is recommended is to actually communicate with each other and to try out a plan that would not compromise each group and ultimately the company’s interests. Only then can the company be able to determine what course of action is best regarding the launch of Project Aerial. In this situation, given the time constraint, it would be fair to judge that what the production team presented would be their best bet despite the uncompetitive price point. They could not afford to lower the quality as that would be a step that carries bigger risks for the company, especially its future.
The key problems in Terra Cog GPS’ case can be divided into two: technical and practical problems. The main technical problem was the inability of the company to introduce a product that satisfies these two criteria: low and competitive price point and a set of specifications that is good enough to rival that of their competitors. So far, the company’s production team was only able to introduce a prototype that had the necessary hardware and software specs to rival their competitors’ products. The only real problem was the price point, which was estimated to be about $100 to $150 above the most premium offering in the market.
The practical problem, on the other hand, was the inability of the teams and groups working on the project to promote active listening and comprehension skills so that they would be able to focus on the solution rather than on the problem. They arrived at an impasse during the pre-launch meetings.
It is important for Richardson to focus on the two problems, given that that is the only thing that would enable her to move on from the impasse and come up with a working solution—which is hopefully based on what the production team has already come up with.
Works Cited
Beer, Michael and Sunru Yong. "Terra Cog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial." Harvard Business School Publishing (2008): 01-10. Print. 19 July 16.
Caspersz, Donella and Ania Stasinska. "Can we teach effective listening? An exploratory study." Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice (2015): 01-16. Print. 19 July 16.
Likaj, Manjola. "Teaching Listening as a Communicative Skill in Military English." Journal of Education and Practice (2015): 01-08. Print. 19 July 16.
Luo, Chunpin. "An action research plan for developing and implementing the students' listening comprehension skills." English Language Teaching (2008): 01-04. Print. 19 July 16.
