Chapter 3: High-Performance Teams and Conflict Management


Overview

"Today, more than ever, success depends on having the ability to communicate and execute a consistent, unified vision across product, advertising, sales, packaging, etc. ”and that requires a team that to the consumer appears as one."

”Lew Frankfort, chairman and CEO, Coach

When word of the World Trade Center attacks hit the street on September 11, 2001, New Yorkers rushed to the aid of those who had been trapped in the towering infernos. Having no idea that the majority of the victims had been killed outright and anticipating that a large number of injured people would need blood, they rushed to local hospitals and blood centers to donate the gift of life. Americans throughout the nation quickly followed suit.

Soon, what had begun as a response to the disaster became a crisis in itself. All the blood that was donated needed to be tested before it could be processed and stored for later use. And the tests needed to be carried out within a week of donation, or the blood would need to be discarded.

Only two U.S. companies, Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson's Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. (OCD), manufacture the instruments and software that are used to test donated blood for hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other infectious diseases. On September 11, the amount of product that the two companies had shipped to blood collection centers and kept in inventory had been based on forecasts made months before the tragedy ”and was only between one-quarter and one-third of what was suddenly needed. At both companies, manufacturing, quality control, regulatory testing (materials must pass inspection by the FDA before they can be shipped), and distribution all needed to be ratcheted up instantly to meet the unexpected demand.

Cathy Burzik is president of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. Reporting to Burzik is a board composed of OCD's functional vice presidents . Tony Zezzo is vice president and general manager of sales and marketing for OCD operations in the United States. On September 11, Burzik was in Japan, so it fell to the OCD board to come up with a solution to the crisis.




When Goliaths Clash. Managing Executive Conflict to Build a More Dynamic Organization
When Goliaths Clash: Managing Executive Conflict to Build a More Dynamic Organization
ISBN: 0615198686
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 99

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