Dim Lighting Company Case Analysis

The Dim Lighting Company is faced with a proposal that could potentially revive themselves from the 15 percent decrease in profits they have seen over the past two years. However, the new proposal for micro-miniaturization could put the Dim Lighting Company ahead of its competitors and contribute to higher profits despite the high costs of initiating the program. Jim West is the general manager and has been running the company for five years. Robert Spinks is the director of R&D and joined the company three years ago. West knows that changes have to be made in order to stay in competition with other companies; however, he must look at all of the pros and cons of each decision before any actions are taken. It’s hard to see the long-term benefit of Spink’s proposal when the company needs to make profit now in order to be in existence to benefit from the long-term results.
I. Problems
A. Macro
1. One of the biggest problems faced by Dim Lighting Company is the risk of failure and another year of lost profits if the new micro-miniaturization proposal made by Spinks is unsuccessful. The new proposal must be effective in order to keep Dim Lighting Company in competition with other similar companies. While Spinks gave the sales pitch he noted, “The energy crunch had long-term implications, and if they failed to move into new technologies, the firm would be competitively obsolete” (Brown, 2014, p. 81).
2. The Dim Lighting Company does not have the finances available without involving capital from corporate headquarters. This also puts strain on the already existing products within the company.
B. Micro
1. Problems with equipment that is already in use can result in more expenses if the proposal is accepted it will create an even larger financial burden on the company.
2. If the proposal is objected, West is concerned that Spinks will resign from the company in fear of losing the head of the R&D department.
II. Causes
1. The company does not want to risk new