E705-A5

Tesla Inc. Implementation Plan Paper

Introduction

This paper is about Tesla Inc. implementation plan. In this paper, discussions will highlight the main elements and critical thinking of company’s plan. Furthermore, the physical and technological resources, implementation schedule, project review processes, and intrapreneurship at Tesla Motors have also been discussed below.

Main Elements and Critical Thinking

Tesla Inc. is looking at expansion of its market share both at the fronts of technology and automobile development. The lean operations and usage of physical and technological resources are the company plans that Tesla is going to implement at the lowest cost possible. Tesla also prepares to employ proficient staff for improving technology side and continue environmental sustainability. In any case, it confronts firm rivalry in creating units that go up against the routinely fuel controlled units. Then again, Tesla can utilize its technological innovation brand to set up its effect in the more extensive car industry.

Physical and Technological Resources

The main objective of Tesla Motors is to maximize its profits. To achieve this, the company plans on implementing lean operations and most importantly, acquiring all the physical and technological resources at the lowest cost possible. Ghassemieh (2011) has pointed out that some of the state of the art alloys that are used in the manufacture of vehicles include metallic alloys such as aluminium, and magnesium. However, Ghassemieh adds that these alloys are more expensive as compared to iron and iron casts that are being used currently by motor companies. As such, Tesla Motors plans on obtaining mostly iron and iron casts that will be used in making its cars. To obtain these sources, Tesla plans to subcontract companies that will supply raw materials including motor vehicle spare parts including rubber, plastics and chemicals. These will be sourced locally to avoid logistics related expenses. Further, sourcing the materials locally as opposed to abroad will ensure that the costs related to importing such as import duties.

In terms of technology, Tesla plans to employ expertise including researchers and engineers that will ensure that the latest technology is deployed in the manufacture of Tesla vehicles. Since an automobile is a “highly engineered, sophisticated product that meets stringent reliability, durability, and social requirements” (Fine, Lafrance and Hillebrand, 1996, p. 41), the company has a plan to include a comprehensive research and development which will result in in-houseproduct development. Further, Tesla believes in environmental sustainability. As a result, the company plans to employ technology that will result in low emission vehicles. The low emission technology will be generated at the lowest costs possible, and in-house product development will ensure that the technology minimizes both costs of production and emission levels.

Implementation Schedule

In order to succeed in its goals and objectives, Tesla motors plans to implement a plan that will lay out what is to be done, in what order and temporarily by whom. Auer, Mayrhofer and Sihn (2012) have outlined that the vehicle manufacturing plan is important since it helps to discover major challenges in the production process for the vehicles. Additionally, for Tesla Motors, planning will ensure that the project goals and objectives are achieved in a timely manner. Tesla plans to have an organization structure that will ensure that the plan is followed sequentially in a cost effective way.

The first stage of the implementation plan will be to design the budget for the project. The company has assigned this duty to the accounting department and will be spearheaded by the vice president of the accounting department. The budget will lay out in detail all the costs that will be involved in the acquisition of the resources named above, as well as any other costs that will be covered in the due course of the implementation process. Secondly, relying upon the planned number of vehicles that are planned for phase one production, the sales and marketing tem will draft a marketing plan that will ensure that the vehicles produced are effectively marketed. The sales and marketing department lead by the vice president of the sales and marketing department will then determine the expected demand for the vehicles manufactured, and design marketing strategies for the vehicles before the vehicles arrive at the market place.

This will then be followed by generation of a production plan and sequencing of the production activities. The human resource vice president will then be informed of these plans and the required skills for each stage of the value chain. Following this, the hiring process will then commence, upon which the various personnel will be recruited by the human resource department. This will be followed by the production process, which will take off three months after the budget is approved. This will allow time for acquisition of the required for the production process. Production will be led by the vice president of the department to whom the other employees and supervisors will report. Concurrently, the administration will be set up to coordinate the departments and ensure that every employee in the organization is in synchrony with everyone else.

Project Review Process and Indicators of Success

The success of the project will be dependent on review and assessment to ensure that everything is going in accordance with the lid out plan. Banik and Bhaumik (2002) have pointed out that lack of project assessment and review can be costly if any errors are detected late. Based on these views, Tesla Motors plans to install an implementation plan that will focus on constant monitoring and assessment of the project.

Von Zedtwitz (2002) has pointed out that the major challenge in project review is lack of time and lack of personal interest. To curb the problem of lack of time, Tesla plans to incorporate evaluation and review process in the project timetable. As such, it will be part of the organizational culture to carry out monthly reviews to track both production and sales. The major marking point will be the comparison of the predicted sales and actual sales. Additionally, the efficiency in terms of both time and cost will be calculated to ascertain if they meet the set objectives. Monthly reviews will ensure that any errors are detected in time and therefore prevent costs associated with lack of remedial actions.

In the event that a fault is detected, contacts will be made to the necessary department for amends. Remedial action will then be swiftly planned by the expertise in the respective field. Any reviews made will be documented and filed for future reference as well as identify weak points that may need overhauling all together. In general, the review plan will reduce the costs and ensure that the production process continues as usual. The accounting will set aside emergency funds to cater for any foreseeable problems that will be identified during the project review and evaluation process.

Intrapreneurship at Tesla Motors

The company is already in existence and is seeking to expand into new territories. As such, the main process that will be involved is intrapreneurship. Parker (2009) has defined intrapreneurship as the “practice of developing a new venture within an existing organization, to exploit a new opportunity and create economic value” (p. 20). As such, Tesla plans on setting up a research and development department that will deal with coming up with new ideas or modifying the existing ones. Suchideas as designing lower emission engines as well as shape design to reduce resistance will be developed at Tesla.Designing engines with lower emissions will be a way of conforming to environmental sustainability. On the other hand, shape design to reduce resistance will match customer requirements.

Tesla will safeguard its new ideas from competitors by registering its trademarks and copywriting all the new ideas that the company generates. This will shield the company from any unscrupulous organizations that may intend to illegally use the company’s intellectual property. Additionally, patenting new ideas will ensure that the company maintains its unique selling point to the customers. As such, the result is that the company will enjoy a particular share of the market that competitors cannot access unless by legal means.

Conclusion

In general, for Tesla Motors is planning the lean operations and usage of physical and technological resources to implement at the lowest cost possible. It will ensure that the project goals and objectives are achieved in a timely manner. Tesla by registering its trademarks and copywriting all the new ideas will safeguard its new ideas from competitors.

References

Auer, S., Mayrhofer, W., & Sihn, W. (2012). Implementation of a Comprehensive Production Planning Approach in Special Purpose Vehicle Production. Procedia CIRP, 3, 43-48.

Banik, A., & Bhaumik, P. K. (2002). Project Management in the Caribbean: A Case Study Approach. Economic and Political Weekly, 4036-4040.

Fine, C. H., Lafrance, J. C., & Hillebrand, D. (1996, December). The US automobile manufacturing industry. In Meeting the Challenge: US Industry Faces the 21st Century (p. 35). Citeseer.

Ghassemieh, E. (2011). Materials in automotive application, state of the art and prospects. In New trends and developments in automotive industry. InTech.

Parker, S. C. (2011). Intrapreneurship or entrepreneurship? Journal of Business Venturing, 26(1), 19-34.

Von Zedtwitz, M. (2002). Organizational learning through post–project reviews in R&D. R&D Management, 32(3), 255-268.