question : _{What might happened if benchmarking studies indicate that either marketing or engineering are at fault? Propose (25 marks)}

Instructions There are FOUR (4) questions in this section. Answer ANY TWO (2) questions in BACKGROUND By 1999, Clark Faucet Company had grown into the third largest supplier of faucets for both commercial and home use. Competition was fierce. Consumers would evaluate faucets on artistic design and quality. Each faucet had to be available in at least twenty-five different colors. Commercial buyers seemed more interested in the cost than the average consumer, who viewed the faucet as an object of art, irrespective of price. Clark Faucet Company did not spend a great deal of money advertising on the radio or on television. Some money was allocated for ads in professional joumals. Most of Clark's advertising and marketing funds were allocated to the two semiannual home and garden trade shows and the annual builders' trade show One large builder could purchase more than 5,000 components for the furnishing of one newly constructed hotel or one apartment complex. Missing an opportunity to display the new products at these trade shows could easily result in a six-to twetve- e following comments were made during engineering interviews: - "We are loaded down with work. If marketing would stay out of engineering. we could get our job done." - "Marketing doesn't understand that there's more work for us to do other than just new product development." - "Marketing personnel should spend their time at the country club and in bar rooms. This will allow us in engineering to finish our work uninterruptedl" - "Marketing expects everyone in engineering to stop what they are doing in order to put out marketing fires. I believe that most of the time the problem is that marketing doesn't know what they want up front. This leads to change after change. Why can't we get a good definition at the beginning of each project? mployees. He daimed that this would protect them from the continuous conflicts etween engineering and marketing. THE EXECUTIVE DECISION The executive council mandated that another attempt to implement good project management practices must occur quickly. Project management would be needed not only for new product development but also for specialty products and enhancements. The vice presidents for marketing and engineering reluctantly agreed to try and patch up their differences, but did not appear confident that any changes would take place. Strange as it may seem, nobody could identify the initial cause of the conflicts or how the trouble actually began. Senior management hired an external consultant to identify the problems, provide recommendations and alternatives, and act as a mediator. The consultant's process would have to begin with interviews