Alfred Baker established Baker Corporation in 1970. Alfred was keenly interested in helping people locate drinkable water throughout the world. Having spent his entire childhood in the desert, Alfred understood the importance of knowing where to find drinkable water and what would happen if it weren’t possible. The Baker Corporation sought to provide solutions to this problem by creating a process by which fresh water was created using the sun and camel fur – both of which were very accessible. In 1975, Baker Corporation revealed the HydroSolartron 5000. The HydroSolartron 5000 created fresh water from salt water in less than 24 hours. This was a remarkable innovation, but required a large supply of salt water, thus only serving coastal communities. Regardless of this limitation, the HydroSolartron 5000 was a huge success. In 2000, Baker Corporation entered into a Joint Venture with Camel Corporation. Each corporation was vested 50% in the new entity; Backemel. Backemel positioned itself as a research and development company. Its primary mission was to develop a way to turn camel fur into water. The company boasted 52 researchers from around the world, as well as other supporting staff. The table below shows the breakdown of employees. Backemel offers its employees the opportunity to travel to any of its locations around the world and work for extended periods of time. This came as a result of numerous requests by employees to experience the life and culture of other countries without having to put their jobs on hold. As Backemel valued its employees and what they had to offer back to the company, they created an “exchange” program. There are currently 5 employees on the waiting list for an “exchange” this quarter. Each Backemel site specializes in a particular area or skill. Below is a high-level breakdown of each region and their respective skillsets. In addition, Backamel, like many other diverse corporations, suffers from the typical cultural, social, and physical challenges. Below is a brief summary of a few problem areas for which Backemel struggles. Technology has come a long way since 1970. Offices are n
ow able to connect to each other via Skype, Chat, and an internal social networking site developed by an in-house team in Boston. Currently, Backemel is struggling with inter-regional communications of its research progress and often finds itself with overlapping research. As Backemel is still in its infancy as a corporation, it desperately needs a “win” under its belt. Any fresh water extracted from any type of animal without killing the animal would provide that needed “win” Backemel needs. The problem is how do they pull together an already busy set of employees to focus on this idea? Below is additional information about existing commitments: Using what you have learned about organizational structure, size, and project execution, provide your thoughts on the following: How do you think Backemel should obtain innovative/creative ideas to solve the problem of obtaining fresh water from a living animal? Consider the employees at Backemel outside industry. Once Backemel has decided upon a product idea, how should they create a team that can provide the necessary resources to get that “win” Backemel seeks. Consider the following: Size of the team Skill set mix Any cultural differences Where are team members from – what regional office(s)? A table listing the region, employees within each skillset, and rationale for your choice is sufficient. For example: Is this a long-term project or a short-term project? As Backemel has already recognized that there is a communication problem, what are some ways that they can fix that problem? How will the new team communicate? How will you measure whether the project is successful or not? If there is information you feel you need and it is not included in the case, create the information. Be sure to point out where you have created new information (you can even put the word “assumption” next to any newly created fact). The idea of this exercise is not to judge you on the facts, but to judge your understanding of team dynamics, resources, and development processes as they relate to innovation. Use the text (chapters 11 and 12) for guidance on what concepts to focus on.