Discussion:
The Intrusive Manager-
A large product-distribution company is having a problem during its group meetings: One department manager is constantly disrupting the meetings while trying to get his ideas across. He has so consistently intimidated his coworkers that they are reluctant to speak up. As a result of
Case:
Coca-Cola: Deciding on the Look What do Yao Ming, LeBron James, and Earl R. Dean have in common? The first two are professional basket- ball stars, of course, but who's Earl R. Dean? He happens to be the person who designed Coca~Cola's familiar "contour bottle," the shapely container with a middle diameter that's larger than its base. That was back in 1915. How do Yao and LeBron fit in, you ask? They too designed Coca-Cola bottles, but more recently, in 2008 to be exact. Now, before you start thinking that only celebrities such as Yao, LeBron, and the now-departed Earl get to do such cool things, you too could have designed your own bottle. In fact, in conjunction with
the Olympic Games in Beijing and Vancouver, tens of thousands of people from around the world visited Coca- Cola's Web site, where, with the aid of a drawing appli-cation, they put stunningly beautiful finishing touches on classic Coke bottles.
Why did Coke bother with this? The ansWer is simple: Coca-Cola has been in the process of deciding on a new bottle design and they stand to get great ideas from the submissions. And because visitors to the site are asked to his intrusiveness, people's good ideas are not coming across.
1. Explain what steps might be taken to avoid this problem.
2. What is your rationale for this advice?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the tactic you identi?ed?