Steps to follow to take Lenox out of its Technological turmoilDiane Sullivan

Companies such as Lenox often invest in technology to stay ahead of the competition.
However, while doing so, the company should share a common vision amongst all its
departments, with each of the department chiefs taking ownership to make things work. They
must take responsibilities and work as a team, rather than blaming each other for failures. In
the context of this case, it is rightly said by James K. Sims and Thornton May, CEO and VP
respectively of the Cambridge Technology Partners that- Vision cant be delegated or
outsourced. Vision has to be shared by the companys managers, believed in, and acted
upon. No doubt Diane Sullivan committed few mistakes or took wrong decisions in the past
that are irreparable today, however she should not be the only person held responsible for the
success or failure of the Lifexpress system. Having said that, the current situation is still
manageable and if I were Diane Sullivan, I would go after the following steps to ensure it.
Firstly, I would accept my responsibility and take control of the current situation, however I
would make everyone realise that execution and success of Lifexpress is dependent on each
and every individual in the company and that a single person cannot make it work without a
team work. As expressed by John King, President of King Information group
that-Accountability belongs to the person who can deliver the results and not to the person
who delivers tools to achieve results. As a CIO of the company, to speed up the delivery of
the system, I would form a committee, brainstorm them about the present situation and take
immediate reparative actions. This would include documentation and gathering of inputs to
include all of the companys insurance products and security offerings on the Lifexpress
system. I would set up deadlines for every activity, to keep a track on progress and would
conduct a 10 minute standing meeting every day (considering the gravity of this project) to
ensure that everything falls in place as expected and the system goes into operation at the
earliest.
Secondly, I would request James Bennett, CEO and President of Lenox and Clay Fontana, CFO
of Lenox to stop comparing Lenox with other companies on the technological front, simply
because the competitors product range, their employees age group and their corporate
strategy are different from that of Lenox. Just because our competitors were successful in
implementing their system in place before we did, does not necessarily mean that they are
successful. There are lot many factors that decide whether a system is successful or not.
Lenox should serve as a paradigm for its competitors, a leader, instead of being a follower. I
would alter the company goals, setting up realistic goals based on the current situation and
see to it that we stick to these goals. Before including all of our products on the Lifexpress
system, to begin with, I would develop and test only a few of our products and ensure
thorough training of all the employees on this new development.
Lastly, I would suggest the organization to realign its goal of implementing the Lifexpress
project in accordance with the current scenario. As expressed by James K. Sims and Thornton
May, CEO and VP respectively of the Cambridge Technology Partners- Applications that
directly affect the revenue and competitive position should be built in a year or less. Taking
longer increases the risk that the company will not get full value of the investment. Given
that Lifexpress is a massive project of transforming traditional business into a technology
based business, a company like Lenox should assign enough workforce on the project and at
the same time such projects must be developed and implemented at a lightning speed to gain
maximum advantage of technology. To avoid the arousal of such situations in the future, I
would remain alert in all the situations, take preventive steps from time to time, and see to it
that such projects are undertaken and executed within the shortest possible time limit, all the
documentation and data collection necessary for executing the project is done prior to the

project initiation and all the resources needed to develop and execute such projects are
available well in advance.
In conclusion, if we follow the above steps carefully, I am confident that we would be able to
repair the current situation and stay ahead of the competition.