Reference no: EM132070602

Question: INTRODUCTION Doorknobs have been made of many materials, including wood, ceramic, glass, plastic ... INTRODUCTION Doorknobs have been made of many materials, including wood, ceramic, glass, plastic and different types of metal. Brass is one of the most popular materials because of its excellent resistance to rust. BACKGROUND By year 2000, AMERILOCK Doorknob Company (ADC) has grown into one of the major suppliers of doorknobs for both commercial and home use. Competition was fierce. Consumers would evaluate doorknobs on design and quality. Each doorknob had to be available in many different finishes. Commercial buyers are more interested in price than the average homeowner, who looks at doorknobs as a decorative piece, not the price. ADC did not advertise much, some advertising appeared in trade journals. Most of their advertising funds were spent on twice a year home and garden trade shows and the annual builders trade show. For example, one large builder could purchase more than 10,000 doorknobs to be used in new construction of a hotel or apartment complex. Missing an opportunity to display the new products at these trade shows could easily result in lost revenue for several months. OPERATING CULTURE at ADC ADC has a non-cooperative culture. Marketing and engineering would rarely talk to one another. Engineering wanted freedom to design new products, whereas marketing wanted final approval to make sure that what was designed could be sold. The conflict between marketing and engineering became so fierce that early attempts to implement project management failed. Nobody wanted to be the project manager. Functional team members refused to attend team meetings and spent most of their time working on their