On Assignment 1: TerraCog Global Positioning System:

Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial

A report Submitted to
Prof: Danesh Gojer

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Written Analysis and Communication-I

By
Vaibhav Singh
Section D
Roll No. 177227

On
02-07-2017
To,

Emma Richardson

Executive Vice President

From,

Vaibhav Singh

Executive Assistance

Date: 02/07/2017

Subject: Launch of Project Aerial

Emma,

This is the situational analysis regarding launch of project Aerial and strategy regarding launch
keeping various option.
Situational Analysis

TerraCog, a privately held firm, was a leader in area of fishing sonar equipment and Global
Positioning System (GPS). It had an exception skill set to incorporate end user and retailer
feedback into the design of their products. Despite always being a follower in the industry, the
company enjoyed customers trust because of their ability to better cater to their needs. The
company always had a repute of producing high quality products which ultimately gained
increased acceptance by word of mouth. But now, post the entry of other players in the Global
Positioning System (GPS) industry its market share was at stake. It was caught amidst a crisis.
However, this time they were being faced by a dual challenge. The dual challenge was external
in the form of strong competitors and internal in the form of inter-department mental conflicts. In
their current product, they had completely ignored use of static satellite imagery to enhance the
product. They prioritized the quality of their existing product and ignored this functionality as a
fad. By doing this they had ignored a huge market opportunity in the form of satellite GPS
system, which their competitor Posthaste had captured brilliantly by its product BirdsI. BirdsI
was seen as an improvisation over TerraCogs product as consumers were able to relate more to
the actual static satellite images in the product while navigation. In retaliation to the increased
popularity of the competitors product and to redeem the lost market the management launched
Project Aerial to foray into satellite imagery GPS. This called for a complete redesign and
reconfiguration of their existing product. Project Aeria had been launched to incorporate all the
latest features to counter the competitors product but was getting hindered due to
interdepartmental conflicts. With addition of latest features, the new product was bound to have
price on a higher side and also to continue their quality perception, design team was not ready to
compromise on quality resulting in higher price. The individual departments had independent
goals which were aligned in favour of that department. Ed Pryor, VP Sales, wanted the retail
price to be capped at a maximum of $425, which was $25 more than the competitor, so that it
would be easier for his sales executives to convert sales. On the other hand, even the most
conservative cost estimates by Roth and Barren, representing production and design, were quoted
at $475. Roth was confident that there was no more scope for cost cut for a product loaded with
such features complying the requirements given by the sales team. This mutual conflict had put
the success of Project Aerial on hold. Emma Richardson had experience on both production and
sales side and was newly promoted to executive vice president. Now, the responsibility rested on
Emma, to make a deciding call for the next course of action.

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