I.

Synthesis

Avionics, a subsidiary of North American Based Corporation, was part of an

electronic division which primarily focuses in the area of electronic sensing devices
which specializes in antenna and other receivers using digital and analog
technologies. The company does manufacture products but rather focus on research
and development of electronics system that would the prototype to meet
specification and contract. The company had grown to over 1500 employees by
1995 and had some successful contracts. From mid 1970s into the late 1980s,
defense contracts were such that engineers had the freedom to go above and
beyond the original specs and design better than the specified system. The
government would pay for these additional costs through a system known as cost
plus. Beginning in the late 1980s, the nature of contracts changed. While the
companies still had to submit proposals and be competitively selected, they had to
be much more accurate about their costs because the government would no longer
pay any cost plus profit. This meant that the company had to anticipate cost of
designing new system and had to manage the costs if they expected a profit at the
end of their contract. Engineers who are used to be creative struggled to adhere to
the cost and disciplines now imposed on them. The management team complained
to Paul Riley (President) that he had not defined their roles and responsibilities
clearly enough. He suspected that their responsibilities were not related to clearly
defined roles but to something else. Likewise, He thought of three possibilities: (a)
Fear of change or not wanting to change. (b) That at least one of the senior
managers wants his position. (c) He had the wrong mix of people. Under these
circumstances, he was face with a challenge on how to acquire the contract at the
same time meet the ends of the engineers.
II.

Point of View
Paul Riley, top executive of Avionics. He also leading the Analog team
which is responsible for managing the engineering activities to acquire
new business and increase profit

III.

Statement of the Problem

How Paul Riley should address the problem of managing the companys
cost while attaining the retaining the creativity of its engineers.

IV.

Statement of the Objectives

Short Term Objectives
AVIONICS had a good reputation for designing state of the art
electronic system. Therefore, the companys objective was to design a
system specification that would meet the government specification as

well as manage the additional cost incurred to acquire the bidding

project.
V.

Areas of Consideration (Analysis and Assumption)

Strengths
The Defense units of NCA were not market leaders but were successful as
subcontractors for the leading defense industry corporations.
In AVIONICS, elite engineers and top scientists were chosen to start the
new venture.
Weakness
Beginning in the late 1980s the nature of contract changed. The
government would no longer pay any additional cost incurred thus
restricting engineers to go beyond the original system specs.
Engineers feel confused and frustrated due to the limitations of their
design caused by cost control.
Resistance to cultural change within the management team was high
(designing beyond the original system specs)
Team does not focus on new contract negotiation requirement, underbid
and end up using additional resources and does not think on the financial
side, but only their professional pride.
Rileys management teams criticized him that team roles and
responsibilities are not clearly defined, expectation to seek new profitable
business was unclear and management style has been changed from
team empowerment to being directive.
Negative group behaviors include too much cohesion and role ambiguity.
Opportunities
Top executives could take some technological advances in electronic
sensing systems to the commercial market.

VI.

Alternative Courses of Action

1.)
PROS:

CONS:

2.)Replace the core group team that would complimentary adapt to

Rileys style of management (More Directive rather than team
empowerment).
PROS:
Give chance to young engineers who only try to focus on technical
requirements rather than politics.
CONS:
Lacks the experience and expertise on handling projects.

VII.

Recommendation

The engineers of analog group have to cooperate among each other since their
product is usually a complex product, which requires teamwork. Aside from taking
care of its product development, they need to plan schedule and assign tasks to
each member to make efficient operating decisions along to resolve the conflict or
take action on its problem.
As for the case of the Analogs working group, they failed to perform to several of
these components. Firstly, Avionics is experiencing economic pressure due to some
parts of business that does not show enough profitability. This circumstantial effect
allows the organization of failing to support its resources on its various projects.
Likewise, due to lack of support from management, engineers therefore reduce job
effectiveness which can be seen as one of the most important aspect to have
effective and efficient work collaboration. Secondly, it is particularly important to
have good leadership and clear structure. The Manager of Analog group should be
able to delegate clear responsibility for engineers to fully identify with these tasks.
Likewise, reinforcing business skills and appropriate trainings would help deliver the
desired results. Thirdly, trust is the foundation of leadership, if Mr. Riley doesnt see
Dan Patrick as a competent person due to insufficient knowledge and lack of
expertise in analog technology; he should rather reappoint someone who is
competent enough to be Dan Patricks replacement otherwise he should step up to
lead the project. The trust between the leader and its subordinates is exceptionally
important thus creating harmony between the team is important to reduce the
difficulties and misunderstanding encountered by both parties.
Business environment should adapt to the changing market conditions. The
manager should ensure to allow its engineers to slowly adapt and embrace
flexibility through proper communication. The failure of Mr. Riley to penetrate
causes separation between him and the senior engineers. Furthermore, the original

compositions were engineers should work interdependently to efficiently

communicate among team members is important. In order for the team to be
successful, a team must be willing and able to adapt when conditions call for it.
Likewise, in order to solve the problem with time and cost management, the project
leader being the head of the team should be able aware of the specific product
requirement along with its timeline of planning and setting specific goals. This
practice can help the team to maintain to achieve better results. Lastly, the Analog
team is experiencing problems because everyone is just looking on one group
advantage rather than the longer perspective of the company.

Implementation
Create a functioning and working teams by spending more time and costs to
train its employees to be good team members. All senior engineers perform a
great job however, as conditions changed, they show an exceptional
weakness thus giving them the appropriate training and time adjustment can
improve the teams efficiency.
Hiring the right people for team work is crucial and necessary. The
performance of Dan Patrick does not satisfy how the upper management
steers the company. Though his position in the team is strong and important,
he can be called apple that can spoil the whole bunch. The management
should replace him if his incapable of adapting the market condition.

Learning Points
In this case, there were several aspects of work team functioning that were
not in accordance with the team effectiveness model, this includes lack of
proper training from senior engineers in order to capture both the business
and marketing essence which includes what the company expects from
them.
The financial difficulties that create pressure along with the environmental
changes should be made a sensitive matter and communicated effectively to
its subordinates.
The sudden change of management style from team empowerment to
directive style causes harm due cultural resistance which also prevents for
the subordinates to perform efficiently and achieve better results.