Critique answer for Discussion Question

The Critics will accomplish the following by Thursday:

PLease answer this question for review the case shown below:

• Review the case presentation of your designated Presenter.
• Critique your designated Presenter's paper, answering the following questions:
  • How well did your Presenter define the problem presented?
  • How well do you think the diagnosis will lead to a solution?
  • What questions has the presentation suggested?
  • What else would you suggest that your Presenter consider in his or her identification?
  • Post your critique as a response to your Presenter in the Discussion Forum
• ==========================================================================

• Problem:

  General Electric (GE) invested $28 million dollars into Project C, which was a new type of dishwasher that has three objectives (Ellet, 2007, p. 197).  The first objective was to become a leader in the quality and profitability of their dishwashers (Ellet, 2007, p. 197).  The second objective was to achieve leadership in the process quality, productivity and the life of their product and the final objective was to increase job security (Ellet, 2007, p. 197).  GE was previously known for having dishwashers that used excessive water (which equals high energy usage), loud and has products that would rust and decrease the life of the machine (Ellet, 2007, p. 200).

  Diagnosis:

  In theory PermaTuf is a great product, it is cheaper to make as it is one single piece and it could not rust, dent and was less likely to break (Ellet, 2007, p. 201).  The problem was the GE had a previous image of selling dishwashers that were not high quality and when the PermaTuf product was released it was viewed as ‘cheap’ because it was plastic (Ellet, 2007, p. 201).  GE produced three different models of PermaTuf dishwasher and all three of them were removed from the market.  GE decided to rush into the production of dishwashers made with PermaTuf even though it was not fully tested (Ellet, 2007, p. 201).  The problem then evolved into customers and salespeople no longer wanted to sell the product due to the history of the company (Ellet, 2007, p. 201). 

  Proof of Causes:

  The state of the Louisville dishwasher plant was far from ideal and did not match their goal of being a world leader in quality, productivity and quality of work life (Ellet, 2007, p. 203).   Workforce changes need to occur to increase employee satisfaction and workforce production.  This can be done through a union and increasing the team aspect of the work environment (Ellet, 2007, p. 203).

  GE invested millions of dollars into a project that was not fully tested or researched, the product itself was good but because of the rush to get the product onto the floor and the company’s previous image, customers associated plastic with the product being ‘cheap’.  This caused the sales to falter since the dishwasher was being advertised as a high-end affordable product. 

  References:

  Ellet, W. (2007). The case study handbook; How to read, discuss, and write persuasively about cases. Brighton, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press.

  406 words