Too Old to Learn
CASE STUDY: TOO OLD TO LEARN?
VIEWPOINT: C.J. Albert (CEO of Armor Coat Insurance)
TIME COTEXT: CY2000
PROBLEM STATEMENT: Armor Coat Insurance Company has to move into web era to compete in the market and stay in the industry for five years.
STATEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVE:
To move the company into an internet-based business in order to stay on top in the insurance industry.
AREAS OF CONSIDERATION: Strength: 1. C.J. Albert (CEO) knows the need of the company to move into the web era to continue its existence in the market. 2. Ed McClynn is expert in customer relations which made him top performer 6 of the last 10 years and had pulled in most of Armor Coat’s major accounts. 3. Roger Sterling expertise in cutting-edge technology as web guru, and took the job at Armor Coat because he was convinced that the insurance industry was ripe for an e-commerce revolution. 4. HR Department already started mentoring program: all salespeople are strongly encouraged to choose a young mentor who could teach them how to store and call up information from Armor Coat’s new on-line databases and how to surf the Web.
Weaknesses:
1. Clashing behaviour between Ed McClynn and Roger Sterling. 2. Ed McClynn is suspicious of technology and reluctant to change. 3. C.J. Albert (CEO) not exercising real leadership by not resolving the conflict sooner, instead, he delegated the authority to his men to solve it for themselves. 4. The salespeople felt betrayed when top management fired 10% of sales force in order to cut cost.
Opportunities: 1. Customer’s mentality is changing. People want information fast. 2. No company to date had found a way to overcome the customer’s desire for human contact.
Threats:
1. Many traditional insurance firms were considering going on-line. 2. Internet-only start-ups had already discovered cheaper, more efficient easy to replace the ingrained and expensive agent networks.
ALTERNATIVE
VIEWPOINT: C.J. Albert (CEO of Armor Coat Insurance)
TIME COTEXT: CY2000
PROBLEM STATEMENT: Armor Coat Insurance Company has to move into web era to compete in the market and stay in the industry for five years.
STATEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVE:
To move the company into an internet-based business in order to stay on top in the insurance industry.
AREAS OF CONSIDERATION: Strength: 1. C.J. Albert (CEO) knows the need of the company to move into the web era to continue its existence in the market. 2. Ed McClynn is expert in customer relations which made him top performer 6 of the last 10 years and had pulled in most of Armor Coat’s major accounts. 3. Roger Sterling expertise in cutting-edge technology as web guru, and took the job at Armor Coat because he was convinced that the insurance industry was ripe for an e-commerce revolution. 4. HR Department already started mentoring program: all salespeople are strongly encouraged to choose a young mentor who could teach them how to store and call up information from Armor Coat’s new on-line databases and how to surf the Web.
Weaknesses:
1. Clashing behaviour between Ed McClynn and Roger Sterling. 2. Ed McClynn is suspicious of technology and reluctant to change. 3. C.J. Albert (CEO) not exercising real leadership by not resolving the conflict sooner, instead, he delegated the authority to his men to solve it for themselves. 4. The salespeople felt betrayed when top management fired 10% of sales force in order to cut cost.
Opportunities: 1. Customer’s mentality is changing. People want information fast. 2. No company to date had found a way to overcome the customer’s desire for human contact.
Threats:
1. Many traditional insurance firms were considering going on-line. 2. Internet-only start-ups had already discovered cheaper, more efficient easy to replace the ingrained and expensive agent networks.
ALTERNATIVE