Scott McKnight

Karl Henderson of Metrionic Systems

Due Date: 10/13/17
A. Introduction and Summary
Karl Henderson works at Metrionic Systems, a Santa Clara, California-based provider of
networking solutions. He has recently reached his fifth-year anniversary with the
company, and had received numerous awards for his performance as Senior Manager, in
which he managed various cross-functional teams. In the past, Henderson’s work ranged
from managing the designing of low-end routers to post-production testing on fabricated
chips. However, with an increased threat of companies being hacked into, companies
were seeking advanced security devices that could prevent any further attacks. Due to the
success of Henderson’s work, he was bestowed the task of developing a “next
generation” network-security product with fellow coworkers from across the globe. The
selection process for these coworkers involved the VP of the company seeking 6
successful employees with a specific skill set to aid in the development in this new
product. However, Metrionic is an international company, with stores in every major city
in the world, so successful workers were not hard to come by. Henderson was eventually
sent a list of the six employees he’d be working with; Chris Haines is a Hardware
Engineer that has worked with Henderson in the past and has coding experience. Jules
Shelford is an Associate Director of Marketing in London that has researched extensively
the competitive landscape and customer needs. Vikram Malhotra is a Senior Manager
based out of Bangalore, India, and has extensive experience in managing teams. Sarah
McGraw is a Hardware Engineer based in Sydney Australia, and has three years of
experience in designing network-security devices. Charles Kiew is the Manufacturing
Head of Crystal Fabrication Labs in Taiwan, and has produced fabricated good-quality
chips at lower cost in the past with Metrionic Systems. Lastly, Diago Silva is the
Marketing Head at GB Systems in Brazil, and has been the preferred vendor for
Metrionic due to their state-of-the-art technology and expert engineers who understand
Metrionic systems.
B. Statement of the Problem
a. Team members are in different time zones, making it more difficult to
communicate.
i. Symptoms
1. In different regions
2. Difficulty to communicate
3. Difficulty planning meetings and deadlines
ii. Root Causes
1. Henderson’s has no international experience as a manager
2. Most of these employees have never worked together, so working
together virtually may be more difficult than ever
3. There may be a language or accent barrier as well, as these
workers of from different parts of the world
iii. The decision facing Henderson is how to ensure the team’s success in
manufacturing the product while overcoming communication and time
zone differences.
C. Decision Criteria and Alterative Solutions
a. A solution is effective if it establishes clear communication among members of
the group while successfully completing the task of developing the “next
generation” network-security product.
b. Alternative Solutions
i. Henderson meets via video conferencing site with his group each week,
even if one or more of his members may be meeting at a poor time (well
into the night)
ii. Henderson meets once a month in person to discuss where they are and
where they need to be in the future, and communicate small things via
conference call.
iii. Divvy up into teams based on time zones, and only do a major video
conference no less than once every couple weeks.
D. Recommended Solution
a. Henderson should divvy up into two teams, with Vikram Malhotra (the other
Senior Manager) in charge of managing and meeting with Charles Kiew and
Sarah McGraw, as their time zones are closest to each other and they have related
roles (designing and fabricating), while Henderson oversees managing Chris
Haines, Jules Shelford, and Diago Silva (Silva and Jules and both Marketing,
while Haines and Henderson have worked together before and are in the same
city). A meeting between all members of the group would still be conducted, but
it would happen no less than bi monthly. This system would allow for appropriate
conference hours for all members, and would allow for workers with similar roles
to work side by side. Conference calls between members would still occur, just
not on a planned basis, and would occur between only a select few of the
members. Henderson and Vikram would also remain in constant contact with each
other in order to stay on the same page as each other. One con that is a possibility
of this system is the potential for poor chemistry among each group, however this
solution has the best chance of providing success for the group while respecting
each other’s non-work hours.