Case Study: Cascade Engineering
Terrence Robinson is a newly hired associate engineer at Cascade Engineering. His role is to provide estimates for new products and programs as well as for customer-specific orders or modifications to current projects. In his position, Terrence played a key liaison role among the sales, engineering, and manufacturing teams. During the first town hall meeting since being hired, Terrence heard Cascade Engineering’s president, Mark Miller, discuss the company’s financial results, and executive vice president Kenyatta Brame discuss its social programs and B Corporation certification. Almost every slide, regardless of topic, displayed the triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet. Terrence was inspired and recalled a TedX talk that discussed the WaterWheel, a device that could provide access to clean water in the developing world.
Instructions
Carefully read the case and supplementary materials, and answer the following questions:
1. What is the vision, mission, and culture of Cascade Engineering, and how does WaterWheel align with each? (15 points)
2. How would you assess whether WaterWheel aligns with the business strategy of Cascade Engineering? Defend whether or not WaterWheel aligns with the business strategy of Cascade Engineering. (15 points)
3. Who are the two most important stakeholders within Cascade Engineering who might support Terrence Robinson the strongest, and what is motivating their support? (15 points)
4.Which internal stakeholders might require more persuasion so they do not create roadblocks? (15 points)
5.What are the rational, i.e. fact-based, and emotional arguments for the WaterWheel that Terrence can use with his stakeholders? (15 points)
6.Assume that you are Terrence, and that you have discussed WaterWheel with your direct supervisor who is supportive. Which stakeholder would you look to first to discuss your idea? Why? What messages would you communicate to persuade this key stakeholder? (15 points)
7.Assume that Cascade Engineering decides to pursue the WaterWheel program. How will you measure and report the progress of the program to the leaders of Cascade Engineering? Define the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), how you would collect and verify the data needed for each KPI, and how you will report the KPIs. (10 points)
Case Study: Cascade Engineering