The Dim Lighting Company

Doug Blackledge

Webster University HRDV 5630

Case Analysis on The Dim Lighting Company

Sept 16, 2015

Mr. West, the Manager of the Dim Lighting Company is facing a major decision that will involve resolving potential conflict between the various divisions that he manages. They are deciding whether or not to pursue a new lighting project that could keep them a viable company, however this project could be time consuming and sequester company resources that could be otherwise used to generate revenues quickly. There are many considerations that are going into the big decision. Among the four divisions he manages, they seem to be equally divided between developing the new project versus utilizing current resources to generate immediate profits and upgrade production line equipment for currently ongoing projects.

According to the company’s organizational chart, each of the four divisions appear to have equal weight in their inputs to the company. The challenge for Mr. West is to allow for innovation to avoid stagnation in the company while balancing managerial effectiveness, efficiency, and maintaining a productive motivational climate (Brown, 69).

Innovation is essential to furthering efforts in any corporate culture, but often there is resistance to change. This can be termed as “idea killing”. According to one article in the Harvard Business Review, “One possible solution to this ‘idea killing’ problem is to change the structure ideas have to move through. Instead of using the traditional hierarchy to find and approve ideas, the approval process could be spread across the whole organization.” (Burkus, 2013)

There are some potential micro problems with innovation. Because of his autocratic personality, it is possible that Spinks has an overbearing influence on the decision. The other managers know that Spinks is an important part of the organization, and losing him may negatively impact the company. Their decision may be swayed to satisfy Spinks. However,...