Analysis Of Vigor Skin Care Case Study

In this report we will analyse the Harvard Business Review, “Should this team be saved?“ case study where Peter Markles helped Vigor Skin Care making remarkably good results with the help of his teammates Sandy Fryda and Josh Bartola. They rejuvenate the business, and he and his team managed to construct a new product line. The team is now receiving the company’s highest award for performance, but they are falling apart due to difficulties to communicate, lack of crisis management and situation analysis. Peter is facing whether to salvage the Vigor team or not. The task is to identify evident issues, underlying problems, and recommend a solution to the problems.

The firm faces evident issues such as problems with manufacturing, and the fact that the group is drifting apart. Poor communication and crisis management are underlying problems. It is critical for the future of the company that a solution is brought to the table, a possible solution can be to reorganize the structure of the firm.

Evident issues and underlying problem manufacturing

Only 66% of the new product line had made it to the market due to control and supplier problem, and the company had obvious problem with manufacturing. This was an evident issue. We can use Henri Fayol´s management theory, a French engineer, to explain some of the problems Vigor faced. He looked at the necessary elements for managers to apply to be successful in an organization. There are six principles, where one of them is managerial, and focus on control, coordination, command of people and planning. He meant mangers should take part in producing, distributing and selling the products.

An article by Lucia Dobrucká written on the reframing planning theory in terms of five categories of questions show the importance of managers asking five questions. what, who, when/where, how and why. It is shown that current planning theory is to focused on the end and means, and by implementing these five questions managers can plan better. To plan and address for future problems was one of the areas the team failed. If they had taken into account delays with suppliers and quality control they may had started distribution earlier, or approached it in another way. Underlying problems like poor communication and coordination within the organizations departments have contributed to the evident issue in the manufacturing process.

The company is now in a new phase in its life, and change in companies is natural in these situations. An outdated framework of the firm may have contributed to the problems in communication and coordination. Anthony P. Raia. Introduced the concept of “managing by objectives” in the 70`s, and is a technique where managers and employees work together with setting goals. The theory builds up on four principles: a common language, setting an eclectic framework, focusing on what managers do, and applying familiar terms and concepts. Further Raia argues that everybody in an organization are preforming management roles, but the key point to success in “managing by objective” is the managers ability to apply changes.

Vigor may have forgotten to work together towards common objectives due to a poor organization management. Maybe the fact that Peter had never gotten an MBA contributed to this.

Another evident issue is the team drifting apart when they faced problems. They only tackled the problems when the problem had gone over to being a crisis, which show their poor crisis management. Crisis management is according to Hetu, Gupta, Vu and Tan “a set of direct actions taken to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate a crisis event”.

Peter should for instance have intervened earlier the fact that Sandy got burned-out. Avoiding crises is impossible, and the importance of handling them in the right way through management is crucial. Here the team failed. Underlying problems for lack in crisis management may be because of little motivation and enthusiasm from Josh and Sandy, but also because of different objectives within the team. All of the team members come from different backgrounds. Josh is used to being a “winner” after successfully starting his own firm, and Sandy is not used to work in the higher division. The combination of different objectives and personalities may have contributed to the team drifting apart when they faced problems. In the book “team of teams” General Stanley McChrystal faces problems with his team because of a diverse group, it meant the team couldn’t integrate their efforts and collaborate effectively. The Vigor team is individually very competent, but without enabling strategy like embedding key personnel in other units and upgrading their teamwork abilities the team doesn’t achieves its potential.

Solutions

This brings us on to the solution to the problems. The firm is now facing changes, the turnaround operation is now done, and the focus should now shift over to a sustainable leadership where collective objectives must be defined. The theory of cross-functional teams should be implemented, where different departments work together towards common goals. Studies done on cross-functional teams show that the teams develop a psychological bond that have significant impact on sales and operations planning, further it will contribute to promoting identity.

Maybe the question isn’t if the team should be saved, but whether how he can reallocate the consisting resources, and implementing new ways of management? Sandy’s and Josh’s position in the team should be changed. Josh’s may need to think about if his personal objectives and eagerness is suited to continue in Vigor, and Peter and Josh therefore needs to have a talk about his future in the firm. Sandy and Josh may be better in other parts of the firm. Sandy should be promoted to COO, because of her experience working in lower divisions, and the importance of having a contact person reporting between divisions, that keeps the communication flowing. Peter should find some new contribution of leadership to the team. In this situation cross-functional teams would fix the manufacturing problems due to common objectives and goals, and a reconstruction of the team will lead to better communication and allocation of competence.

Conclusion

Problems with the team, manufacturing and distribution was a sign of the need to changes. By implementing some of the theories like cross-functional teams, crisis management, managing by objectives and restructuring the firm, the company can achieve a more long term and sustainable workplace. This may take some time, but they are critical for the future of this firm.