Mars,+Incorporated+Case


 * Mars, Incorporated Case**

====Immediate Issue/Problem Being Faced: Morel doesn't know whether he should continue to appoint internal associates to mandate innovation strategies or if he should hire an external group of employees to take on the innovation initiatives at Mars, Incorporated - he has so much negativity from within the company and little partcipation is initiated. ==== ====Morel needs to create a strategic plan for the company’s overall framework for innovation to be presented on August 2009. Morel doesn't know whether he should continue to appoint internal associates to mandate innovation strategies or if he should hire an external group of employees to take on the innovation initiatives at Mars, Incorporated - he has so much negativity from within the company and little participation is initiated. ====

Basic Issues:
- Current framework for innovation is very rigid - There are far too many innovation leaders in the organization making the process very convoluted - Mars pushes ideas onto the organization instead of slowly gathering buy in from individual regions - Mars is losing valuable employees because its long term vision for innovation is very blurry - Most employees have lost interest in the innovation strategies, as well, they could even be a little resentful that it is being pushed so hard on them. - Also Chyla, the innovation director has left the company because he and Morel came to a disagreement on how to properly instill innovation within Mars. A lot of managers and employees share three basic beliefs: 1. They are in disagreement of what innovation exactly entails while others believed innovation already existed 2. Progress cannot be easily measured, also if employees/innovators fail they feel guilty and lose motivation

3. people felt they had not time for innovation because they all had their own jobs to do which included making money, as well as making sure products were properly marketed, delivered, etc

====Urgency/Importance: II. If a decision isn't made now in regards to what to do, too much time can be wasted and Mars, Incoprated could lose what support they presently have for innovation initiatives within their regions. As well, the future of Mars, Incorporated would be uncertain because without innovation, they would not have a competitive advantage ====

Decision Criteria: -Need the support of corporate executives, senior level management, and all employees that it will effect (everyone) <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">-the framework needs to be created with the organization in order to receive this support <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">-the framework needs to be less formal. You cannot create an “innovation department” like you can create an accounting department. Innovation is the result of passion for the product, proper incentive, and a feeling of ownership from everyone involved. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">-the framework needs to be simple. They will need to communicate this information across 17 countries and in multiple languages. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">- Country managers need to get on board and realize that there is merit in creating innovation and not just dismiss it <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">- Does Mars have the manpower to sacrifice in order for innovation within the company to occur – employees involved with the innovation teams cannot fully focus on their assigned job responsibilities because they also have to think of the innovation responsibilities <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">- There is a probability that if Mars continues to pressure in-house staff to be innovative, they could be missing out on deadlines or doing ‘sloppy’ work, causing the company to lose out on profits <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">- If Morel keeps innovation responsibility within company, employees could leave/protest; employees won't be able to fully concentrate on their assigned jobs and jeopardize product quality and/or make some bad decisions because of being worn too thin; and with the acquisition of Wrigley, priorities have had to change because Mars, Incorporated had to borrow $11 billion, now they will have to concentrate more on profits to pay for that newly acquired debt. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">If outside innovators are hired, they could commit full-time to innovation and hopefully have fresh ideas because they have no other priorities

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Alternatives:
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">1.Continue the current structured innovation process with improvements made - offer internal employees better incentives and/or allow whoever takes an interest in innovation to become innovation ambassadors <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">2.Restructure the entire framework. The objective may be to create a completely transformative culture change that will be led by the corporate executive but will include the opinions and ideas of everyone involved – the root of some of the problems are the country managers refusal to cooperate, so to counteract this, when it comes to innovation, intervention from corporate staff should be allowed or encouraged <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">3. Hire an external team to concentrate solely on innovation

====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Missing Information: The cost of hiring external employees - will it outweigh the benefits (simple to find this information). Studies on which method would be better - internal vs external (a little bit difficult to assess and maybe time-consuming). Would there be enough participation from within to even warrant suggesting voluntary innovation embassadors (easy to get this info by doing a survey) ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Assessment of Alternatives:
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">1.Pros <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Employees within are ‘front-line’ and are most familiar with their company <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Don’t to pay extra money to outside personnel <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Employees could feel a sense of satisfaction <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Cons <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Employees still resentful towards company <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Processes will remain the same – not improving innovation within <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• May inhibit effectiveness of employees within their regular positions <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">2.Pros <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Employees within are ‘front-line’ and are most familiar with their company <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Sense of involvement within <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Cons <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Employees still resentful towards company <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Processes will remain the same – not improving innovation within <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• May inhibit effectiveness of employees within their regular positions <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">3. Pros <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• External employees would be fresh <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Internal employees would be able to concentrate on their jobs <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Specialization in innovation <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Cons <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• pay extra money to outside personnel <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• External employees may not be familiar with Mars, International <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">• Might take a long time for external employees to understand what management truly needs

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Selection of Preferred Alternative:
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">The best alternative would be option 2

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Assumptions:
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">As stated in previous readings, innovation often comes from informal conversations around a pool table at a bar or while playing cards with your friends. Innovation cannot be forced upon an entire multinational company without a careful strategic plan to get the buy in of the company first. Innovation comes from a passion for the company and the product. Forcing individuals to be innovative without showing them what innovation is a set up for a failed attempt. In fact, this formal structure is also a detriment to your operations. Communicating to your employees in such an unclear manner lessens the credibility of the ideas being implemented at a corporate level.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Action/Implementation Plan:
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.66px;">Morel needs to familiarize himself with all regions and research Mars’ current position before he can even attempt to create this strategic plan. Once he has understood the current state and resources available, he will have a better idea as to what is possible and what the company needs/wants.