Identify several problems/challenges in order to better position ABC Company in the expansion of its operation globally. Who are the key people in making decisions and what are their roles? Why are they important? Explain.

Module Five Case Study

Scenario
ABC Company, Inc., has been in existence for 10 years. It has 50 employees and currently only one location. ABC Company manufactures one product: widgets. It has managed to stay in business by holding onto a small portion of the widget market, but it is far from the market leader. Over the last five years, ABC Company’s market share has stayed more or less stagnant. The president of the company is an older gentleman who mostly works from home. He makes decisions through meetings with his managers over the phone and is rarely seen at the company. Mid–level managers don’t have much contact with each other and basically focus exclusively on their individual departments. The rest of the staff members are very distrustful of management, and there has recently been a lot of turnover. Outside of interoffice griping, there is rarely any company wide communication. Recent economic developments and technological advances in the widget industry have resulted in a greater demand for widgets in emerging markets, as well as in the United States. In order to stay competitive, ABC Company is considering expanding its operation globally. ABC has come to you, an expert on organizational change, for consulting advice.

Prompt
First, read and examine the ABC Company information provided to you in a thorough manner. Take notes, highlight relevant facts, and, if needed, underline key problems. Focus your analysis on identifying a minimum of 2 to 4 key problems/challenges. Use your critical thinking skills to uncover possible solutions. Review course readings, discussions, possibly outside research, and your previous learning/own experiences to tie into your understanding of the case study scenario.

Next, using the scenario, address the following:
 Give a brief overview of the company
 Identify several problems/challenges in order to better position ABC Company in the expansion of its operation globally.
 Who are the key people in making decisions and what are their roles? Why are they important? Explain.
 What teams/staff will need to be involved in the day to day work of this initiative? Why are they important? Explain.
 What does the team collaboration communication plan need to incorporate in order for the effort to expand globally?
 What does the timeline leading up to completion of an operation expanding globally look like?
 Identify 2–4 solutions that ABC Company will need to successfully implement in order to expand its operations globally.
 What assumptions did you use in providing for the solution(s) to expanding globally?