Generic Benchmarking: Harrison-Keyes
Introduction
Harrison-Keyes is going through turbulent times. In addition to the challenges of an industry undergoing rapid transformation, the company is under new leadership and he is not an advocate of the e-publishing strategy initiated by the previous CEO. This paper will examine the most recent issues the company is facing and, using benchmarking, will compare their situation with other companies facing similar issues. The current company issues identified are; alignment, outsourcing, employee turnover, and the marketing plan.
Alignment
In the Harrison-Keyes scenario, there are several key players who are not in alignment with the e-publishing strategy. The new CEO needs to be convinced that the strategy is a sound business decision. The CFO is uncomfortable with the financial projections. The CIO is not skilled enough for the technical challenges and the VP of Marketing was clearly not prepared for the marketing efforts that would be required. In addition, the Board is not convinced of the strategy either.
Alignment must flow from the top to ensure success of the strategic plan. In the case of the Ford Motor Company, CEO Jacques Nasser declared Ford’s vision to become “the world’s leading consumer company for automotive products and services.” However, at the same time, he appeared to be steering the company away from its core business and down a new road of rapid diversification (Anonymous, 2003, p.9). Ford proceeded to invest in Internet sites, repair clinics and even scrapyards. Consequently, executives were distracted from the business of producing marketable automobiles. After three years of such leadership, Ford suffered a massive $5.5 billion dollar loss in 2001. The result was the firing of Mr. Nasser and the installation of Bill Ford Jr. Likewise, the tale of Carly Fiorina and the Board of Hewlett Packard is...