CASE STUDY

Applied Research Technologies,

Inc.: Global Innovation’s Challenge
SUBMITTED TO
Dr. Neetu Yadav
Assistant Professor
SUBMITTED BY: GROUP 6

ARAVIND. R 2019H1490822P

MEGHA GANDHI 2019H1490834P

NANDIGAM SANDEEP KUMAR 2019H1490854P

RADHIKA GUPTA 2019H1490844P

TATHAGATA. B 2019H1490833P

Department of Management Studies

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Executive Summary
Applied Research Technologies, Inc. (ART) is a technology world’s giant which grew
to it size by acquisition of numerous technology-based industrial companies in the
year 1980s and 1990s. By 2006, under the leadership of current CEO, David Hall,
the portfolio of ART consisted about 60 business units, with a revenue of $11 Billion.
In year 2000 the R&D group opened the India Technical Centre (ITC) with a hope to
improve global presence and serve as a model for further expansion. Exhibit 1
shows the organizational structure of the company.
ART success had been built on its innovative and entrepreneurial culture
coupled with a decentralized management philosophy. “Tinker Time” was a time
allotted in the working hours to experiment, brainstorming Ideas of the employees.
For testing innovative solution a phase called “Beta Testing” is done to establish
“proof of concept” and then invested upon based on the results of beta testing. The
benefits of its executive’s compensation was tied to aggressive performance
objectives of earning 10% of sales growth, 15% of pre-tax margin and 20% on
invested capital.
Under ART portfolio of Water Division Business there was the Filtration
Business Unit headed by Peter Vyas from the year 2001(Refer Exhibit 1). He
reshaped the structure of his team and hired motivated people for his project. His
contribution to the team are discussed in depth in the case. His team was working on
developing a water purification system headed by project manager Jane Wagner.
After two fail attempts in producing a successful product the team is focused on
getting it right the third time. A new Vice President, Cynthia Jackson for the water
division is appointed and she is determined to cut the losses occurring in the filtration
unit. She suggested a three phase business model of result oriented working for the
filtration and team. During the initial discussion of the work Cynthia’s contribution led
to the Vyas and his team agreeing to work on the Residential Irrigation Mini
Oxidation System (RIMOS) than on Agricultural Irrigation Large Oxidation System
(AILOS).
Introduction:
Moving on to the current situation Mr. Peter Vyas has got the funding request

from his team for an amount of $2 Million for the RIMOS project, he is confident that

his team would succeed this time but given the situation the unit’s existence and

even his own career was on the line. Jackson was also contemplating about the

RIMOS project, as a newly promoted VP, Jackson understood that her actions were

watched and she wanted to make sure that any investment made on the team would

yield results.

Case Analysis:

Putting ourselves in Vyas shoes, as per the Wagner’s estimates in Exhibit 2

and Exhibit 6 we can infer that the market has a lot of potential and the is low

competition in the market, which give ART a unique advantage to capture the

market. As suggested by Cynthia the filtration team has worked with HAVC and

Health Care department of the organisation to reach a common consensus on the

working of the product. As per Wagner’s analysis of sales model and cost model

displayed in Exhibit 3 and 4 show that the model falls in line with the companies,

performance index and this model has also been proof tested. Going on ahead from

Exhibit 5 we can infer even if a small percent of 10% of the target population accept

the product the revenue to the company will be huge. The possibility of diversifying

the product line because of the use of this technology can give a better position for

the company to capture more market share. If the Beta testing is successful the

perception of the customer on ART Filtration product will change and this will in turn

affect their buying decision.

 Putting ourselves in Cynthia’s shoes, we find that this is an emerging market

with a presence of few competitors outside the U.S. The team has achieved the

targets in the roadmap of their project which was all thanks to Cynthia’s grooming.

Recognising the efforts of the team and taking them forward, she should go ahead

with the proposal if submitted by Vyas. Going by the saying “Fastest Finger First” if

ART fails to experiment early in the market ART might lose its competitive advantage

over the period of time due to emergence of competitor.

From the case we infer that Vyas had a crucial role to play in grooming the

unit as team by hiring motivated workers like Wagner and improving the employee

turnover. He changed the management structure to improve efficiency and found

interesting projects for the team to work on. He recognised the contribution of the

ITC team worked along with them to improve their model, this in turn gained him the

trust of this team which was crucial in solving later problem in RIMOS project. He

handled the external issues for the team so the team could be more focused on the

problems at hand. When Cynthia narrowed the focus of the project form Global to

American, it was the qualities of Vyas that kept the Indian team on board for the

decision. The extent of his contribution is such that when Wagner rushed the Indian

counterpart on deliverables, the team wanted to make sure that they are delivering a

good product for Vyas. All his traits are summarised in Exhibit 7.

Despite having an apprehension towards the filtration project, Jackson did not

cancel the project on the first request, instead she groomed them to achieve their

objective, this clearly show that she works in the best interest of the company and

the team and not letting her personal belief cloud her judgement. She was aware of

the losses and failure of the team to put a good product in the market, this forced her

to challenge the team at every stage and made the team realise “to ask for help
within the organisation”. She simplified the product roadmap into three phases and

set clear deadlines.

Conclusion:

1. Peter Vyas should go ahead with the proposal submitted by the team

2. Cynthia Jackson should go ahead with the proposal submitted by Vyas.

3. Peter Vyas is an effective front-line manager.

4. Cynthia Jackson is an effective ART division Vice-president.

Appendix
Exhibit 1: ART Organisation with Filtration Unit Details
Exhibit 2: Wagner’s Market Research

Total Market Value

106290 Millions

32.8

Water Treatment Equipment Delivery Equipment Chemicals

Contract Operations Consulting/Engineering Maintenance Services
Instruments and testing Wastewater Utilities Drinking Water Utilities

Exhibit 3 Wagner’s Sales forecast

Forecast Sales ( $ millions)

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2006.5 2007 2007.5 2008 2008.5 2009 2009.5 2010 2010.5 2011 2011.5
Forecast Sales ( $ millions)

Exhibit 4 Wagner’s Operating Forecast

Forecast Operating Income (%)

25

20

15

10

0
2006.5 2007 2007.5 2008 2008.5 2009 2009.5 2010 2010.5 2011 2011.5
Forecast Operating Income (%)
Exhibit 5 Revenue Estimation for Target Population
U.S Residence In Millions
Total Housing Units 116
Single Family Detached Homes 70
Drought Indicators In %
% of the continuous U.S in severe to extreme drought 13
%of the continuous U.S in moderate to extreme drought 26
Total 39

Potential Customer Base In Millions

Total no of households that can be accessed by RIMO 72.54

Cost of unit sold to a house 2000

Income potential from 10% Population(in Millions) in 2006 14508

Assumption:
Only 10% of the drought affected population will adopt this product. This is done to
understand the revenue perspective of the product if the product is successful.

Exhibit 6 Summary Risk Analysis and Risk Mitigation for RIMOS

Exhibit 7 Peter Vyas Qualities

Team
Leader

Optimistic Motivator

Peter
Initiator
Vyas Advocate

Critical
Persuasive
Thinker