Question:Provide a brief summary of the case study (need to be 500Words)Case Study:
Parker Industries is a company that specialises in the production of portable audio devices. Parker Industries has been the dominant global market leader for over 80 years, due to the high quality design and affordability of their product, combined with a lack of competitors. The company, based in the United States, is structured according to four main functions: manufacturing; consumer services; business services (e.g., finance, marketing, HR); and research and development. The core business strategy for the company has always been focused on producing the highest qualityproduct at the lowest price, and the organisation’s culture and structure have been intentionallyaligned with this strategy. Within the manufacturing department, for example, a clear chain of command exists, and managers are required to closely supervise employees to ensure they follow rules and processes to maintain uniformity in the quality of products that are sold to customers. Employees are expected to exercise a high degree of precision and attention to detail when completing their tasks. Rewards systems are predominantly based on the quantity of output and adherence to guidelines for producing a high-quality product. Performance bonuses are provided to the highest performing individual employees within the department on a quarterly basis: these performance bonuses are highly valued by employees and stimulate competitive behaviours between individual employees. Within the research and development department, employees are encouraged to focus on increasing the efficiency of production systems in order to minimise costs. As the current systems already work so well, employees within this department are extremely cautious about suggesting projects involving major changes to production processes or introducing radically new techniques, as it is well known that being part of a failed project will have professional consequences within the organisation. On the rare occasion an employee within the department proposes a new initiative to diversify the product features, their suggestions are usually ignored by managers who are unwilling to support the new initiative for fear of project failure.
Within the past ten years, the company has been experiencing a decline in market share, as they have failed to adapt to technological advances, customer demands for diversity in product features, and the emergence of several start-ups revolutionising the market. Although initially resistant to the threat, Senior Executives of Parker Industries have become increasingly aware that their failure to innovate and diversify their product line has resulted in a declining market share and is likely to have further serious consequences for the company.