Becton Dickinson: World Wide Blood Collection Team Essay

Problem IdentificationBecton Dickinson a manufacturing company, with operations ecumenic, and revenues of over $2.7 billion was founded in 1897, and had ten core businesses organized into 2 result sectors medical and diagnostic. Mainly US domestic operation was beginning to concord charge to expanding supranational sales, warranting a separate partitioning in atomic number 63. By 1970s, the company was organized by business divisions centered in US and focusing on the largely domestic US market, and an International sector. Since close revenues were earned from the domestic market, priority tended to be domestic, which frustrated managers in distant countries who wanted to focus more on the resources on their local market. qualifying international, better said, transnational was the beginning of an evolving problem that Becton Dickinson would face in the future years.Causes of ProblemBecton Dickinson and Company (BD) was a supplier of medical products and diagnostic syst ems to healthcare professionals, the medical industry, hospitals and the general public which included mostly medical gloves, hypodermic syringe needles and intravenous catheters in the medical sector. Blood collection devices, automated systems to of importtain and identify bacteria and blood cell analysis systems were one of the few diagnostic products that Becton Dickinson produced. During the 1970s BDs managers did non really buck the international market as serious as they should do. Orders were only processed, when the domestic ones were make full out and completed. Furthermore, the managers refusals to accept and consider new product requests from abroad were a big terror to the company. In 1980, BDs elder executives decided to take attempts to develop products and strategic ways to meet the worldwide demands of marketing necessitate for medical technologies. The competition did non sleep and started expanding into atomic number 63, which began to be another(preno minal) threat to Becton Dickinson not only for the international sector, but in addition for the US market.Realizing this, BD started to create europiuman Strategic Business Units (SBUs) that reported to the home base in the US. growth concerns about emphasis given to international sales,especially with European managers voices befitting loud, concerns led to a study senior managements bent to consider a new construction of BDs worldwide activities. A consulting firm offered two structural solutions The Worldwide Product Division and Europe as an Equal Partner, which was appealing as a way to ensure greater dedication of resources to Europe, but as well threatening to gemination efforts and costs, with the danger of diverse strategies slowly emerging in each division. later on meeting with Harvard professor Chris authoriseher Bartlett and his colleague Sumantra Ghoshal The Transnational Solution was natural in cooperation with the senior managers. The solution has three faces to it. The first was the challenge confront by MNCs to simultaneously achieve global efficiency, local responsiveness and worldwide innovation. The second was that these objectives postulate an surroundings of international differentiation and asymmetry. Thirdly, they advised firms not to merely change formal reporting lines, but to focus on belowlying cultures and values.A typical image reaction was, that these circumstances unnatural how Becton Dickinson faced a challenge in implementing a twist that would crucify challenges posed by the growth of business outside of USA. Lack of work out vision and goals by previous management, a lack of clear vocalization of the same to second line management and other employees down the chain of command are just some of the few problems that BD had to solve.AlternativesChanges to the existing organisational structure. A change to the existing structure is urgently needed, so that thithers a shift from a corporate mentality to an physical composition goaded by Strategic Planning. This would include meeting the need for a global collaboration and local flexibility that they so badly needed as a fast growing multinational company. Managers and company itself were not prepared, which the case showed, and the lack of anticipation for the need of a suitable structure for a growing company then led to the issue, of busy fixes.This room that whenever managers in other parts of the world were discontent, only then did slide by management in the US would start to respond and make quick fixes to structural issues.Cooperation and commitment between top management, middle management and employees is another grievous part of the change. With no cooperation, and divisions going in different snap the company soon showed signs of urgent need for structural re-designing.Disadvantages to this re-designing could result in a complete departure from the existing task based intercellular substance structure, while others wa nted to retain the structure but with minimum changes. This could as soundly lead to dissatisfaction at bottom the managers and even employees. Secondly, another problem to restructuring is how well conflicts are managed or avoided all together as the company continues to stomach more divisions out of its central control.Open Research and Development kit and caboodles in Europe and Japan. With the more and more growing market in these two sectors, Becton and Dickinson should focus on creating R&D centers within these areas and not only in the US with organizations in non-US divisions. Kozys thoughts about the future should also include that the European sector is an immensely fast growing one. at heart seven years the net trade sales increased by over a $100 million, whereas the US sector increased by only $80 million. Looking at the numbers, you can see that Europe is on the move. A Research and Development center in England, for example, would support to produce local needs and act faster than going by means of the unanimous process of talks with US R&D departments and the European R&D organizations.Knowing that with Dufresne BD has a champion on its boat, he should be able to set up his own team of researchers, kind a real Development center and take some things in his, better said, the European divisions hand. Japan not to exclude, which has also rising numbers and different marketing needs would also improvement from an own R&D plant. Different needs require different solutions, at that placefore having the US as the only R&D plant, get out not help the company nor its divisions. Even with regional R&D managers, like Dufresne, and R&D organizations outside the US, he pipe down does not have team to work and interact with on a daily basis. This would also help to accelerate new product development and prime(a) standards, while maintaining the current distribution systemsBudget restrains are a study disadvantage in BDs case. Total expenses a re high in Europe and the numbers jumped in the years from 1985 1992 from ca. $10,000 to a high $31,000. The plant would not only bring extra costs, but land had to be bought, people would have to be hired, and machines would have to be purchased. Another cast out aspect looking at a plant in Europe or Japan would be the loss of power that the US headquarters and R&D currently have. Becton Dickinsons US division still wants to have a sure power over its foreign ones. thence giving up the R&D department to a certain extent would not be everyones favorite in the senior managements committee.Give Europe and Japan divisions more operate power. As for now, BDs European and Japanese divisions are quite under the control over the parental guidance and supervision of the US division. The ontogeny from this classic structure to a new transnational company is a very important part in the future of Becton Dickinson. Even with the accounting entry of World Blood Collection Team (WBCT), I think that a division in itself should have more power in deciding which products to introduce, which marketing steps should be taken, etc. In the early 80s the Japan division suffered from not being heard upon on what is need in this division. BD lost small market share in that time.The WBCT illustrated in Exhibit 8(p. 385) illustrates the Strategic, the Operations and the merchandise Team within the whole company including the whole World Blood Collection Team. In my eyes, a smaller group separated in regional divisions would help the mastery of the company. For example, they could combine the President BC Europe, the Director Manufacturing Europe and the Director of Marketing Europe in one group to run the regional division Europe. They would then have the power to decide which steps should be taken, what to even out and how and where to do the marketing.The negative aspect of this approach is that this might leave the trend that WBCT and BD in general have taken up until no w and over again this alternative might run into problems and dissatisfaction with the headquarters. It could also lead to complete insulation of the diverse division from the headquarters mission and plans on where the company wants to go. silk hat AlternativeLooking at Becton Dickinsons past and the way they employ to business, the best alternative would be the first one mentioned of the three. Changes to the existing organizational structure, which is also part of the third alternative, would be affecting the outcome the most. The way the company will be working, how the employees will be situated within the company and most importantly how the whole company will be structured, not just domestically, but in the transnational field, is what makes them more competitive. effectuation StepsIt would appear that the phenomenal growth of the business was an ambition in the managers plans, but they did not make any efforts to construct a structure that would suit for a company whose operations were growing with big leaps. However, there is need to make some changes to the existing structure, so that theres a shift from a corporate mentality to an organization driven by Strategic Planning. In order to create organizational learning, top management has to create a sense of shared purpose and belong for all divisions and individuals in the company.There is no better way to do it than to implement an organizational structure that stomachs and pushes free flow of information from division to division, and back to corporate headquarters without a feeling of restrictive set-ups. The main task of the top management is to shape behaviors of people and create an environment that enables them to take initiative and be more and more cooperative.Another important step is to restructure systems to reflect a willingness to accommodate different geographic and product needs. The old system was structured to suit an operation roughly the US, and was only slightly changed to a ccommodate European operations, which were still not considered equal by the US headquarters. Now with sales and operations fully develop outside of the US, it is wise to decentralize some decision-making centers so as toallow for innovation, local responsiveness and flexibility.