Big Shoes to Fill

After reading the article “Big Shoes to Fill” by Michael Beer, I think the ways Jack Donally was an effective manager and leader include: his ability to command respect, his commitment to build a reputation on quality, and his desire to grow sales and locations. Jack worked at Innostat for many years and during that time his workers grew to have immense respect for him. They saw his passion and grew to believe his ideas were the only good ideas. He devoted himself to coming up with new products and pushing them through production. His workers saw his dedication and respected that. As for building his reputation on quality, he kept a close eye on manufacturing making sure Innostat products were error free. He wanted the medical world to know Innostat‘s healthcare products were top notch. During his tenure at Innostat he also grew sales and locations. When he began working at Innostat, the company was a small local manufacturer of scalpels and other surgical equipment, and today it is the world’s best–known maker of prosthetic limbs and surgical implants. Sales reached $2 billion and there are more than 5000 employees at locations in Boston, Los Angeles, and Dublin, Ireland. They also had sales and marketing country organizations around the world. He was passionate about Innostat and it showed in many ways.

However, Jack Donally was also an ineffective manager and leader. The ways he was ineffective include not engaging in team discussions of new products, and not staying competitive by not launching new products. By not engaging his team he did not take full advantage of everyone’s knowledge and experience. He thought he knew what was best and decided his way was the only way. This caused the company to face strong competitive challenges in key markets. He should have listened to others to find ways to develop competitive products. By not launching new products he lost out on profits. Other companies had found ways to get around Innosat’s patents...