SLP Essay Example

SLP Essay Part IThe organization under consideration is a manufacturer and distributor of computing products , both in hardware as well as software. It is one of the largest organizations in this domain with a global presence and has niche products and niche markets.The organization had been organized in two product based divisions, with common marketing , financial and distribution functions. The nature of the product necessitated creativity and continuous innovation in the product nature and features. Growing very fast, the organization had picked up a lot of marketing and sales people from the   Ã‚  industry , and they had done well with this organization . The distribution network had been home grown and developed by James Anderson , an executive within a span of the last three years.Initially, the organization was organized functionally, especially because one product constituted almost the entire sales. As the product profile and mix grew, however, and as new people joined, frequent re organizations took place, and a clear conflict began to arise between the product organization and the functional organization. A further complication to this was the geographical spread of the organization , which made it that much more difficult to implement any structural change within the organization.Part IIJames Anderson had formalized and developed a well-oiled distribution structure, including 6 distribution centers for North America. He was known to be a performer within the organization, who had a thick skin and a confident outlook. Now, just about 4 months back, the CEO of the organization, recently back from his visit to Japan, had suddenly proposed dismantling of the entire distribution structure and moving to Just-In-Time ( JIT ) practices. James had studied the proposed move in detail and had formed the opinion that it was infeasible to implement. However, since the proposal had come from the very top, it had gathered some support within the organization, and was thre atening James’ job as well the entire work he had put in over three years. The conflict here was therefore between James and the CEO, and the question was whether to dismantle the current distribution structure or not.Part IIIFor the purpose of this paper, I have chosen to take the side of James Anderson in this ongoing conflict. My reason for doing so are threefold. Firstly, there is far more information available about him and his work than the CEO’s, which would help me form more informed opinions. Secondly, I believe the onus of negotiation, and the larger stake in the negotiation, is James’ here, and therefore I would like to take his side. Thirdly, I believe that as far as preparations are concerned, James would be far more inclined and willing to prepare thoroughly, and it is his preparation therefore, which would serve to be a better case study for me.Part IVJames prepared long and hard for this negotiation, by studying the financial and operational feas ibility of the JIT system in this organization’s context. He talked to their suppliers, logistics service providers, and dealers and retailers as well. He took inputs about past data on distribution parameters, and prepared a detailed scenario analysis to support his case of continuing with the current distribution network and fine-tuning it. He also tried to gather support from other managers and executives to mobilize opinion.The major interest was to save his own job and to save his work of three years for getting dismantled. He would enter the negotiation in a leadership meeting planned for the next week, and would be leaving only if everything fails, in which case his job would either have gone, or he would have a radically redefined profile, which would set back his career growth in a long way.Part VIf I were in James Anderson’s shoes, I would have defined my interests slightly differently. My primary interest would have been to retain my job, but I would also ha ve looked at the new JIT system as an opportunity for myself . This means that my interest in saving my previous work would have been diluted, and I would straightaway have avoided negotiating on this aspect.I would still have negotiated on the time, scale and manner of implementation of JIT, to make it more feasible, and to ensure that the organization truly benefits from it, and I become the key implementer of this idea. This would have prevented the issue from becoming a confrontation, and also allowed for the small chance of the CEO listening to my logic better, and probably even changing his mind to dismantle the current distribution network.