Case study innovation in information technology

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IT-515 Innovations in Information Technology

Analysis #4

The Company Alfred Baker established Baker Corporation in 1970. Alfred was keenly interested in helping people locate drinkable water throughout the world. Having spent his entire childhood in the desert, Alfred understood the importance of knowing where to find drinkable water and what would happen if it weren’t possible. The Baker Corporation sought to provide solutions to this problem by creating a process by which fresh water was created using the sun and camel fur – both of which were very accessible. In 1975, Baker Corporation revealed the HydroSolartron 5000. The HydroSolartron 5000 created fresh water from salt water in less than 24 hours. This was a remarkable innovation, but required a large supply of salt water, thus only serving coastal communities. Regardless of this limitation, the HydroSolartron 5000 was a huge success. In 2000, Baker Corporation entered into a Joint Venture with Camel Corporation. Each corporation was vested 50% in the new entity;Backemel. Backemel positioned itself as a research and development company. Its primary mission was to develop a way to turn camel fur into water. The company boasted 52 researchers from around the world, as well as other supporting staff. The table below shows the breakdown of employees. Location Title Number of Employees Experience Philippines (Manila) Senior Researchers 1 >20 yrs. Junior Researcher 1 <5 yrs. Support Staff 3 ~5-10 yrs. South America (Argentina) Senior Researchers 5 >10 yrs. Junior Researchers 10 <5 yrs. Management 5 >5 yrs. Support Staff 1 <10 yrs. USA (Boston) - Headquarters Senior Researchers 10 >20 yrs. Junior Researchers 10 <5 yrs. Support Staff 5 <10 yrs. Africa (Chad) Senior Researchers 3 >20 yrs. Junior Researchers 2 <5 yrs. Support Staff 0 n/a

Backemel offers its employees the opportunity to travel to any of its locations around the world and work for extended periods of time. This came as a result of numerous requests by employees to experience the life and culture of other countries without having to put their jobs on hold. As Backemel valued its employees and what they had to offer back to the company, they created an “exchange” program. There are currently 5 employees on the waiting list for an “exchange” this quarter.

Each Backemel site specializes in a particular area or skill. Below is a high-level breakdown of each region and their respective skillsets.

Region	Skillset
Philippines (Manila)	Salt water chemistry and rapid separation processes This team is responsible for 5 separate patents on both separation processes and new technology to support the separation process.
South America (Argentina)	Biochemistry Partnership with Leloir Institute (a non-profit research center focused on biochemistry among other things) Despite their low numbers of senior researchers, this regional site has access to students and researchers from the Leloir Institute.
USA (Boston)	Pharmaceutical process innovation The Boston office has worked alongside the pharmaceutical industry to develop and patent several chemical separation processes.
Africa (Chad)	Geographic insight As Chad is in the middle of the Sahara desert, researchers in this region have unlimited access to a waterless environment.

In addition, Backamel, like many other diverse corporations, suffers from the typical cultural, social, and physical challenges. Below is a brief summary of a few problem areas for which Backemel struggles.

Region	Skillset
Philippines (Manila)	As Manila is located on an island and is a popular tourist destination, the culture is greatly impacted. Many of the employees love to surf and have no problems working a 5-hour day (as opposed to the usual 8 hours) so they can enjoy the surf. In addition, resources are sometimes difficult to obtain quickly due to the fact that they are on an island.
South America (Argentina)	The South American team is a hard-working bunch, but they are not very good at sharing. Employees here were part of the Camel Corporation and were moved (without choice) into Backemel when the Joint Venture was formed. Because of this history, they tend to be skeptical of anything coming from the main headquarters and do not trust many of the other regional offices. They do trust the Africa office though, as they have some friends in that office.
USA (Boston)	The Boston team is a formidable bunch. Many are MIT and Harvard graduates and many hold patents in the own right. It was this office where the idea of an internal social network was born. However, there is one Senior researcher that is notorious throughout the company as being a troublemaker. This researcher tends to criticize other people’s ideas frequently.
Africa (Chad)	The Chad team is very sociable and is generally a likeable bunch. There is one junior researcher who tends to “disappear” though. This usually happens when a deadline is nearing.

The Problem

Technology has come a long way since 1970. Offices are now able to connect to each other via Skype, Chat, and an internal social networking site developed by an in-house team in Boston. Currently, Backemel is struggling with inter-regional communications of its research progress and often finds itself with overlapping research.

As Backemel is still in its infancy as a corporation, it desperately needs a “win” under its belt. Any fresh water extracted from any type of animal without killing the animal would provide that needed “win” Backemel needs. The problem is how do they pull together an already busy set of employees to focus on this idea? Below is additional information about existing commitments:

Regional Office	Commitments	Level of Commitment
Philippines (Manila)	10 year grant to study the texture of dolphin skin	10 years, 1 Senior researcher This research is not a full-time job. It requires 20 hours of dive time and analysis of data per week. The rest of the time, the senior researcher plays poker with the junior researcher.
South America (Argentina)	Endowment from the Leloir Institute for the study of molecular separation of cow dung.	2 Senior, 5 Junior, 1 Management, .5 Support Staff for 6 months
USA (Boston)	Collaborative effort with Harvard, MIT, and Tufts Medical center to research the affects of sugar on diabetics	5 Senior researcher, 5 Junior researcher, 1 Support Staff for 1 year
Africa (Chad)	Cultural collaboration effort to assimilate into the new environment. Study on cultural impacts and the ability to find scarce resources.	1 Senior Researcher for 3 months and the entire team is involved in the assimilation exercises.

The Assignment

Using what you have learned about organizational structure, size, and project execution, provide your thoughts on the following:

A. How do you think Backemel should obtain innovative/creative ideas to solve the problem of obtaining fresh water from a living animal? Consider the employees at Backemelas well as outside industry.

B. Once Backemel has decided upon a product idea, how should they create a team that can provide the necessary resources to get that “win” Backemel seeks. Consider the following:

a. Size of the team

b. Skill set mix

c. Any cultural differences

d. Where are team members from – what regional office(s)?

A table listing the region, employees within each skillset, and rationale for your choice is sufficient. For example:

Regional Center	Employees	Rationale
South America	1 Senior Researcher	Current biochemistry research could be leveraged into a search for water.

C. Is this a long-term project or a short-term project?

D. As Backemel has already recognized that there is a communication problem, what are some ways that they can fix that problem?

E. How will the new team communicate?

F. How will you measure whether the project is successful or not?

If there is information you feel you need and it is not included in the case, create the information. Be sure to point out where you have created new information (you can even put the word “assumption” next to any newly created fact). The idea of this exercise is not to judge you on the facts, but to judge your understanding of team dynamics, resources, and development processes as they relate to innovation. Use the text (chapters 11 and 12) for guidance on what concepts to focus on.