Mairon Brandwajn

Isaac Safdeye

Archana Thani

Prof. Parise and Taylor

19 April 2006

FME-02

Boston Software: Solutions

1. First off, Jane is not in full communication with her departments. For example,

she communicates to Greg, which communicates to Luke, which in turn communicates to

Jen, and then to Jane, forming a type of game, in which the information either doesn’t get

communicated or is distorted. Second, there is a great concentration of different

communication silos. Jim and Jared both have a great deal of people communicating

information to them which creates a sort of heavy traffic, creating delays in the

implementation of any new techniques, or simply gets lost within the ruckus. The issue

that Jane is having with Dave Clarke is because she communicates with Jim, which

communicates with Ellen, which then communicates with Dave. Lastly, some

communication channels are simply one way, so the person sending the information does

not necessarily get a response, causing confusion and uncertainty.

2. The main reason why there are communication problems is because the

relationships amongst workers are “siloed” in that VP’s and important members hold

communication one-way; thus most information is lost. I recommend having a company-

wide meeting explaining the restructuring of communication, which will go as follows:

Department members must communicate with each other and their VP’s, but not
necessarily as structured as it is now. We can assign two people from each department to

be in constant communication with two people from other departments not minding if it

is between co-members, VP’s, or member-to-VP’s. Also, we would mandate that no

single member has less than two or more sources of communication. Also, we would

implement a bi-monthly newsletter informing the company of events and news. The

project manager, Dave Clarke, will be not only in touch with his department, but also

with the VP’s of every department, the administrative assistant, and the CEO. Therefore

managerial decision shall be taken into action more rapidly according to project

performance.

3. Jim Stokes seems to have several connections within the company, being the

middle man between departments. People seem to be comfortable with going to him for

advice or anything else. His departure might impact the company in the sense that it

might disrupt their network. Jim is a very central person. He holds the network together

and is an important source of expertise. Jane should develop new means of

communication, for example, communication forums such as project tracking databases

and weekly email updates to keep everyone in the company on the same page. She could

also staff internal projects with members of each group. She could also transfer people to

other groups to ensure networking is going on and she could make personal changes to

the structure of the business to remove a bottleneck structure. Jane should be constantly

promoting interaction with people beyond departmental boundaries and encouraging

people to make contacts with others outside the organization.

4. Because I would want to be promoted sooner or later, I would want to start early

on with a networking relationship with Jen Cho, my marketing manager, Jim Stokes, the
founder and ex-CEO (now VP R&D), Ahmad Chalad and Tran Vin (one from Boston

and one from New York), and hopefully Dave Clarke.

I would want to have a good relationship with Jen Cho so that in the future she

could help me take her position if she gets promoted. She has also contact with the CEO,

Jane Summers, and she could put in a good word for me. Jim Stokes, the ex-CEO and

founder has the highest seniority and respect of the whole company. Probably, he is the

one that has the final decision whether he isn’t the CEO anymore. He is also in control of

communicating how the project is going to Jane. I would want to be friends with two

people in sales team because the marketing department would naturally be in cohesion

with the sales department; therefore, I chose two people, Ahmad from the Boston office

and Tran from the New York office. Finally, Dave Clarke, who is the project manager

and a good friend of Jim’s, would be a good candidate to have a networking relationship

with. He could help me put in a good word with Jim and give me beneficial updates on

the project.