Evaluate the characteristics of the top-level management in theMWM organisation at the end of the simulation. Develop a managerialsuccession plan for the blue buddies organisation. justify yourresponses and discuss disadvantages.
1.Introduction to the MWM Organization
MWM was originally a family business and the Dexter family isstill the largest single shareholder even though their shareholdingis under 5%. Their presence on the external board is largelyhonorary now. Frank Dexter was a solid state physics graduate whospecialized in the development of hard drive storage and accessprotocols. Both his son and nephew, best friends from theirearliest years, had graduated with majors in mathematics andphysics respectively. These two, Marc and Stephen, were among theearliest gamers in the late 1970’s and had a vision for theindustry. They built the company into a profitable and successfulone and largely liquidated their shareholding in themid-1990s.
The organization still holds strongly to the values of fairness,integrity and innovation that the original founders had. MWMappears to new employees as an organization which can achieve goodoutcomes but can be rather sloppy and unsystematic in the way thatit got there: it marches to its own drum. In the past, new consolelaunches have been delayed by up to 6 months. When it has masteredsomething as an organization, it can be quite good at ongoingexecution. However, when it needs to do something quite differentfrom ‘business as usual’ it struggles. It lacks a ‘projectmanagement’ discipline which is usually taken for granted in mostorganizations in the technology industry.
MWM employs over 5500 staff. 85% are in the Roundland continent,the majority being located in three factory sites linked todistribution hubs – East Coast, Mid-Continent and West Coast. Headoffice consists of 500 people, and the Research Centre 800 people.The remaining Roundland employees are in Sales, spread across theRoundland continent. The 825 employees located in the Starlandcontinent are mainly in Sales with some minor local supportfunctions.
A– CEO
A has been with MWM for 15 years, previously playing the role ofmarketing manager. An enthusiastic gamer himself, he is often onthe front cover of industry magazines and always willing to giveopinions on the industry to journalists, many of whom he wouldcount as his personal friends.
His office wall is lined with trophies and citations awarded atthe annual video gaming awards ceremony held in mid-January everyyear – just after the high winter sales period. A is a capablebusinessman and manages to keep the profits of MWM steady whenthose of competitors have been declining, although even he has beenunable to stem the downward trend in profits experienced over thelast 3 quarters. He has given his word that he will remain at thehelm of MWM for as long as the shareholders still need him. It iswell known that he is privately very wealthy and wishes to spendmore time fishing.
B – CFO
B has only been with MWM for 6 months. He was previously apartner in a medium-sized accounting firm and had long wanted thechance to be part of an organization with tangible products andservices. An active and sophisticated gamer himself, he leapt atthe chance to join MWM when he noted the position advertised in agaming 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 industryoverall. He
believes that what the industry needs most is novelty, a newtechnological breakthrough which will “wow” customers to such anextent that they will be happy to replace their existing consoles,as they have done for each new generation of gaming console in thepast.
C – Marketing Director
C is a well known figure in the video gaming world. She beganher career in marketing at a well known consumer goodsorganization. After a thorough training in marketing, she made anindustry switch to become the managerial assistant to StephenDexter. She is an avid gamer and extremely knowledgeable about theindustry and its customers, and is deeply respected for thisknowledge within MWM and the industry. She was the first person inthe industry to accurately segment the market and to point out thatgamers now ranged from under ten to over 40 and comprised 3separate demographic and psychographic groups. Many of thecompetitors had adopted her classifications of the differentcustomer segments. She had encouraged the other major players tosubscribe to a panel which collected and distributed monthlyinformation on certain vital customer purchasing and usagepatterns. She is a popular conference speaker, often headliningindustry events.
D – Operations Director
D has been with MWM for over 20 years, longer than A who heremembers inducting into the organization all those yearsago. D is a real devotee to the gaming industry. Athome he has installed an impressive home cinema, complete with 7.1surround sound and a $25,000 projector. When the MWM researchlaboratories want to test their latest graphics and sound systems,D is their number one test customer – if he likes it, it will begood enough for anyone in the market. D has seen the market developfrom the first colored blocks moving on a screen to the massivelyimpressive and realistic 3D pictures and great sound being offeredtoday. After an early career in the mail distribution center andthen in sales, D worked his way up through the business and tookover the helm of Operations two years ago. His main challenge hasbeen to deal with balancing staffing at the factories with theunpredictable demand pattern for consoles. The patterns thatexisted with peaks during the winter season and just before thesummer break no longer occurred.
E – Sales Director
E was seen as a strategic hire when she joined MWM just under ayear ago from a major global computer giant, where she was deputyGlobal Sales Director. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and wasa prominent researcher before her management career development ledher to doing a stint in Sales. Following MWM’ struggles to changeits culture, E was seen as the right person with the intelligenceand initiative to make a real impact at MWM.
