Introduction: A company’s mission, vision, and values
must be aligned with the company strategy. Then each of the functional areas of
the company have their own strategies that align with the overall company
strategy. In this assignment, you will explain how a company can link their
compensation and performance evaluations to the organization’s innovation
objectives and strategy.
Read the case study below, and respond to all
the checklist items.
Case Study: Evaluations, Compensation, and Firm
Objectives
Braintrust Toys is a toymaker that has as its
mission, “Our purpose is to expand the minds of children 1 month–100 years
old.” Currently, they use a product development strategy but believe that maybe
they need to orient their company towards an innovative strategy.
Their current objectives are to:
Invent 10 new toys every year and reinvent at least 10 more.
Increase revenues by 15% per year.
Employ motivated and committed workers.
Provide safe and intellect-expanding toys for everyone.
Braintrust Toys has operated as a medium-sized
company for about 20 years. Their compensation to date has been based on
longevity at the company. The employee evaluations were performed by their
managers after reviewing their results based on their influence on (1)
increased department product output (75%), and (2) increased department sales
(25%) at the end of the year. With the increasingly mechanized and digitized
toys, and now robotics involved in toy making, many employees have been let go
or offered early retirement due to their obsolescence.
The new objectives in
line with the new innovation strategy include:
Enhance attributes and convenience in at least 20 existing products.
Launch at least 15 new products that appeal to new customers and new markets.
Develop five new markets.
Hire personnel that think innovatively.
Hire diverse support personnel and designers who are customer service oriented to support new products
and markets.
The 200 remaining employees are beginning to
worry, and feel their compensation and evaluation process needs an overhaul.
Checklist:
Explain how Braintrust can link their compensation and evaluations to the company’s new objectives and innovation strategy. Describe how compensation and evaluations work together to help the company achieve its new objectives and innovation strategy.
What methods of performance evaluation might they use?
Explain your reasoning for using the methods of evaluation you chose.
