Harvey Hatfield has been a Product Development Director for BLACK STAR Medical Devices for about four years. In this post, he is responsible for the development of new products at the 50-plus-years-old medical device company.

Two factors drive the product development process at BLACK STAR: 1) the rapid advances in medicine, and 2) the cyclical market (70% of sales coming after the first of the year). Product Development Teams must be able to conceive, design, and produce their product quickly to capitalize on the current market trends and ensure marketing, product recognition, and availability during the marketing period. All new product prototypes must be reviewed, approved, and funded by the Product Committee, composed of the CEO, VP of Finance, and VP of Marketing.

Harveys team has recently completed the development and initial testing of what he believes will be a major new device, SNOREAWAY. The brainchild of one of the departments best minds, SNOREAWAY represents a new generation of sleep apnea devices that are designed to be used interactively with specific types of music and link exclusively with online music services such as Spotify and Pandora. Harvey expects that SNOREAWAY and its support pieces will have major market impact if introduced in late September. It could mean significant revenues for BLACK STAR. It is important to Harvey personally, as well as for BLACK STAR, to have a successful season. Sales have been down for the past two years and Research and Development is under pressure to better its performance. Last years major product line, COLO-ROOTER (a pre-colonoscopy cleansing tool), was introduced late because of design improvements requested by Quality Testing and subsequent necessary machinery modifications. As a result, it did not perform up to expectations. If this years product line is not successful, Harvey anticipates a reduction in funding for the department and the possibility of some or all of his function being outsourced.

Preliminary market analysis indicates that SNOREAWAY could be a crossover device, appealing to not only humans, but also animals who tend to snore loudly, keeping their owners awake. The potential is enormous. However, to make it successful, Harvey is going to need a significant increase in immediate funding for testing and startup costs, as well as the guarantee of available funding for an extensive marketing effort to kick off and establish the product. Being part of a new generation of devices, SNOREAWAY has the potential to become synonymous with the field if the right foundation is built. In short, to do it right will require a large commitment of capital, but Harvey believes that BLACK STARs future depends on it. Harvey and his design team have decided to develop a plan for ensuring that SNOREAWAY gets approved by the Product Committee and receives the financing that it needs to succeed. They review what they know about the players:

George Smith CEO and chairman of the Product Committee. George rose up through the ranks at BLACK STAR over a period of 28 years. He has been CEO for the past five years. Because of two years of flat profits, George has been under increasing pressure from the board to enhance the companys performance. While heading the Product Committee, George has always supported team decision-making for new products, believing in the committees collective wisdom. He trusts the people who report to him and offers them loyalty in return. While Harvey has not spoken directly to George about SNOREAWAY (in fact, Harvey hasnt had much contact with George at all), he believes that the CEO may have concerns about the initial startup costs for Production and Marketing, and that he might see the new product as too risky.

Russell Jones Director of Quality Testing. Russell reports directly to George Smith. Harvey sees Russell as his biggest roadblock to gaining approval. As Director of Quality Testing, Russell was directly responsible for the delay in introducing last years new product COLO-ROOTER (his exact comment was how in the world are we going to market something that people stick up their rear end?). He is, by training, an engineer, and is relatively new to BLACK STAR, having come on board four years earlier to head the newly formed testing function. Because quality is so important at BLACK STAR, testing was placed directly under the CEO in the table of organization. Russell has a good relationship with George, who values his opinion. That is of concern to Harvey because he knows that Russell will be leery of any new technology, and especially so of this proposal since it comes from Harveys group. Harvey and Russell never did hit it off, and since Russells delay of the COLO-ROOTER product-line, there has been bad blood between them. They simply do not trust one another. Russell has been a proponent of outsourcing the R&D function. In fact, this year he has gone so far as to approach the Product Committee with a product proposalNASALREAMER, a seasonal allergy remedy, generated by an outside design-source.

Susan Oliver VP of Marketing. A member of the Product Committee, Susan is bright, ambitious, and looking to position herself to take over for the CEO when he retires. The smart money says that will be within the next two years. But Susan needs to demonstrate to the Board that she can envision BLACK STARs needs and make the right decisions for the company. Her support of last years big product bust, COLO-ROOTER, cast doubt on her decision making in the eyes of some board members. She has a very good relationship with George Smith and she absolutely detests Russell Jones for his role in delaying the COLO-ROOTER (Who is Russell to tell me I cant sell something? Ill demo COLO-ROOTER on him right now!) product last year. Since marketing is such a critical part of any products potential success, Susan is seen as being a key decision maker at BLACK STAR. Harvey is somewhat concerned about Susan. He was the one who pitched COLO-ROOTER to her, and since its failure, their relationship has been cooler than he would like it. While Susan has not openly opposed SNOREAWAY, she appears concerned about the potential retooling costs.

Ed Harris Director of Marketing. Ed reports directly to Susan Oliver. Susan relies a great deal on Ed, who is her heir apparent. He is a great source of information about all things marketing. While not a member of the Product Committee, Eds opinion does matter. Susan respects his judgment and business acumen. Harvey and Ed have a good relationship. Ed has expressed guarded interest in the SNOREAWAY product line and, while not a direct supporter, sees it as having considerable potential.

DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT SOLUTIONS

Gloria Rawlings VP of Finance and member of the Product Committee. Gloria is seen as relatively neutral at this point. She has a good relationship with the CEO and other members of the committee. Although Harvey hasnt had much contact with her, he has heard through the grapevine that she is very cautious and likely to consider the product too risky. Harvey has heard through a personal friend that Gloria has been quietly speaking with the Board of another corporation about leaving BLACK STAR to take a new position as their CFO. Harvey believes that if this were to become public knowledge, BLACK STARs CEO would view Gloria as disloyal and possibly remove her from her position.

Mark Levinson Director of Operations. Mark reports directly to George Smith. Mark essentially serves as the plant manager for BLACK STARs production facilities. He has been with the company for more than 20 years and has spoken of retiring in the next 34 years. Mark is a no-nonsense, hands-on engineer who sees his role as holding the organization together. He would very much like to see BLACK STAR positioned well for the future. When Harvey has spoken with him about SNOREAWAY, he has been enthusiastic about its potential. In fact, he has been working on some ideas that he believes will reduce the retooling costs for SNOREAWAY. Mark has a good relationship with Harvey and the CEO.

Copy and paste the questions in a word document and respond with your answers. Upload to D2L under Assignments.

1. What is Harveys biggest challenge right now? What is the ROOT CAUSE of this problem? This should be a minimum of paragraph roughly 250 words

2. What specific actions should Harvey take to achieve his goal in this situation?

Make your answers in bullet format with a little explanation

3. Will your suggestion work? If not, how can you prepare to head off obstacles? This should be a minimum of a paragraph roughly 250 words