Hefty Hardware Case Study

Executive Summary
Hefty Hardware has identified communication issues between their
IT department and their business department. An analysis was performed and uncovered that
Hefty Hardware had two core issues, the first issue identified was a disconnect between the IT
Department and the Business department. Two solutions that were suggested to help bridge the
gap between the two units were team building training and additional personnel. The
recommended solution is to provide team building training to each department individually
which will allow them to work as a team to and build their core business structure to improve
how they do their jobs, which will eliminate the need for additional personnel.
The second core problem that was identified was actually found to be
two-fold, there were issues with communication between the IT department and the Business
department and the business department complained of the IT department taking too long to
complete a project which uncovered a time management issue within the IT department. After
the analysis was completed it was recommended that the IT department and the Business
department undergo training for effective communication. The effective communication training
will teach the units to listen effectively and provide value and useful feedback to not only their
teams but to the other teams as well, this will help clarify what is being and what needs to be so
that everyone involved is completely aware of what is going on or going to happen. It was also
further recommended that the IT department complete training in time management to allow
them to improve their performance and turn-around time on job completion which will keep the
business departments from having any unnecessary down time, thus allowing the Business
department to continue expand the Hefty Hardware business.



Hefty Hardware Case Study
Introduction
One of the main core problems faced by Hefty Hardware was the lack of a relationship
between the companys IT and business divisions. The four components needed for a foundation
on which a solid relationship could be built; competence, credibility, interpersonal interactions,
and trust, were not in place between the two divisions (McKeen & Smith, 2012). First, the
business division felt IT lacked competence when dealing with business needs since the IT
division did not have knowledge of Hefty Hardwares business concerns, goals or processes.
The business division also had the perceptions that IT was missing credibility, and could
not be trusted to perform business projects successfully. The IT division missing these two
components was further reinforced by the perception that it took IT a long time to install new,
business required technology, which often did not work as expected, and that Hefty Hardware
had a high CIO turnover.
Lastly, the interpersonal interactions between the two groups during meetings usually
failed. During meetings the business team members often felt lost, confused, and would even
tune out while listening to IT describe technology details. Whereas IT team members when
listening to business discussions on broadcasting cycles, have found it hard to stay focused on
the speakers presentation (Hoffman, 2011). Hefty Hardwares lack of a solid foundation and a
strong relationship between the business and IT divisions has become a main core problem in
current dealings, and in building future growth for the company.
The second core problem faced by Hefty Hardware is lack of communication between the
IT and business divisions, due to neither understanding the functional or technical language of
the other. The IT division does not take the time to explain what theyre doing to support the
business functions, and enable the organization to meet their goals. In meetings, the IT team
talks to the business team in an overtly technical language, which they cannot understand. There
is confusion in the chain of command, which could contribute to the lack of communication.
There is not a clear path of communication in the organization; it is all over the place.
Communication is the sharing of information between two or more individuals, or
groups, to reach a common goal, which helps a company, stay efficient and productive.
Communication is essential for effective functioning in every part of an organization, and both
managers and employees must be effective communicators. When all members of a team,
department, or organization are able to communicate effectively with each other, and with people
outside their group, they are more likely to perform well (fmlink.com, n.d.).
One of the more important forms of organizational communication is interdepartmental
communication, whose importance becomes evident when that communication is nonexistent, or
breaks down. Hefty Hardware lacks interdepartmental communication. This lack of
communication between the departments has failed to build trust within the organization.
Without the two departments trusting each other to deliver accurate and understandable
information, finger pointing, arguing, and conflict occurs, with a breakdown in interdepartmental
communication, as you can see in the Hefty Hardware Case Study. When departments engage in
conflict, the productivity of your entire organization is affected (Anderson, n.d.).



Analysis
In addressing the first core problem of the relationship disconnect between the IT and
business division, it is apparent that the root of Heftys first core problem lies at the top of the
organization, or the C-level. According to The Retail Owners Institute, companies like Hefty
Hardware only averaged between a 0.8 - 2.0% net profit margins from 2006 to 2011. Even retail
giants Wal-Mart and Target had net profit margins of only 4% (Unknown, 2012). This spells out
a business environment characterized by fierce competition. In order for the company to succeed
in this environment, they must be unified to increase value in the eyes of their customers.
By representatives from the two departments going together on the trip which Mr. Vogel
suggested, progress could made in building the relationship between the departments. A better
choice would be to invest in professional seminars aimed specifically at building the skills of
working in unison and understanding others. This is an approach that could potentially yield
dividends to help Hefty Hardware get the Savvy Stores project launched on time.
In order to establish and grow the culture needed to foster a relationship across
departments, Hefty Hardware could invest in team building exercises for departments at every
level. To create and maintain a culture characterized by harmony, which in turn creates synergy
for the business, management could invest in their bright IT professionals, who are having
trouble connecting with the business folks. In-house training could increase the IT divisions
business understanding and help develop their soft skills. The business division could learn
basic network knowledge. This training would increase understanding and communication when
the two divisions would need to work together.
The downside to this approach, or risk, is that they may have what Jim Collins wrote
about in Good to Great, the wrong people on the bus.
Another alternative Hefty Hardware could implement to alleviate intradepartmental
frustrations, is to implement an IT Portfolio Value Management Process (IT-PVMP), where
sufficient resources would be allocated to tactical, strategic, and infrastructure projects. These IT
resources would have the soft skills to adapt their communication skills when working with non-
technical co-workers, and also have understanding of the business divisions processes, projects,
and goals.
Based on the sentiments of CIO Farzar and chief architect Sergei Grozny, who are up to
[their] wazoos in alligators, from the IT departments perspective they are understaffed and
underfunded. The IT division has been able to successfully support the day to day tactical
business needs cost effectively, but strategically they seem to be frantic. By implementing a
robust IT Portfolio Value Management Process (IT PVMP), when Mr. Vogel requests a cross-
functional business trip to a store, he will know exactly what it will cost his business team. The
IT department would also know via the IT PVMP their cost, and what will have to be sacrificed.
One of the keys to the success of implementing this process is buy-in by top
management, but the benefits they will reap are worth the investment, as research has shown.
Ginzberg wrote in his article, Achieving Business Value through Information Technology,
Research has found that the quality of the IT-business relationship is central to the delivery of
IT value. Mutual trust, visible business support of IT and its staff, and IT staff who consider
themselves to be part of a business problem-solving team all make a significant difference in
how much value technology is perceived to deliver (Ginzberg, 2001).
Both of these proposed solutions would positively contribute to laying a firm foundation
of competence, credibility, interpersonal interactions, and trust that the organization can
strategically build a solid relationship between the departments on.
In addressing the second core problem, effective communication can play a prominent
role in developing long lasting motivation at Hefty Hardware. A positive benefit that can be
gained from establishing a well-organized communication plan would be to improve the
relationships between Hefty Hardwares IT and business divisions. Improved communication
between the IT and business teams will help everyone in understanding goals, and along with
face to face interactions, will help improve the workplace culture at Hefty Hardware.
Time management of the teams is also important, especially since the business team at
Hefty Hardware thinks the IT team takes too much time to complete a project. Time
management skills can have unlimited positive effects on both divisions at Hefty Hardware.
Productivity and motivational improvement is just a couple of the realized effects (Effective
Communication In The Workplace For Motivation, Solutions And Success, 2009). Time
management will help the IT division to set goals and prioritize projects. This will allow the IT
division to meet the needs of the business division, and also minimize down time, which will
improve Hefty Hardwares productivity.
Although effective communication is a good way for the IT team and the business team
to gain productivity and meet the needs of the organization, there are some barriers that could
make communication less effective. Two of these barriers are making assumptions and
conflicting messages. Making assumptions cuts corners to save time by ignoring the path of
communication, making the team to possibly miss important information (Unknown, 2009).
Conflicting messages can cause the communication process to breakdown, including the other
division to ignore the message altogether.
Communication at Hefty Hardware should always be a work in progress. As long as the
IT and business divisions work together in removing any communication barriers, the two teams
will be successful in keeping communication going (Gartenstein, 2012).

Recommendations
To build a foundation so that the IT and business divisions can grow a solid relationship,
I would recommend Hefty Hardware invest in an ongoing team building training program. Team
building programs would allow the two teams to interact and bond together, in a fun way. The
benefit of a team building program is that it would allow the existing IT and business division
personal to build a trusting, functional, and cooperative environment using team building
exercises (Baum, 2011).
The first task of building the relationship using team building exercises is to determine
what the problem is between the two divisions, and what outcome the company wants as a result
of the team building program (Choosing the Right Team). In Hefty Hardwares case, the two
divisions dont understand each others goals, processes, or technology. There is animosity
between the two divisions team members. The goal for the IT and business divisions would be
a better understanding of each others roles within the business, and for the team members to
interact on a friendlier, professional basis.
With the relationship problem and goal defined, Hefty Hardware could now implement a
team building program customized on their needs. Dependant on time schedules, and budget,
Hefty Hardware has several options available to implement their program. One option is to bring
in training with a team building professional, where employees spend a select number of hours,
or days in a classroom setting. In addition, ongoing scheduled short meetings can occur where
team building exercises can be performed around a conference table. This would ensure the IT
and business divisions relationship remains solid.
Developing a communications plan for Hefty Hardware would improve the way
departments communicate between one another, and the way communication runs down the
chain of command. Communication is the most important component within any project. The
success of most projects, whether handled by a dedicated project team or a cross-departmental
team, depends upon a set of crucial communication skills and techniques (Charvat, 2002).
Developing clear, measurable objectives is critical to the success of a companys communication
plan.
A communication plan includes specific recommendations and cost estimates for the
numerous tactical applications that are required to launch and sustain a new product, brand
organization or event. A good communication plan clearly identifies objectives, target
audiences, key messages, tactics, projected timeline, estimated costs and success measures
(artsincubator.org, 2012). One of the benefits of providing a communication plan is that you
really cant over communicate. Not everyone processes information in the same way, so you
cant communicate one way and expect everyone to get it. You have to use every means
possible, especially on really important messages. Therefore, using newsletters, blogs, email
blasts, one-on-one meetings, department meetings, divisional meetings, and all other employee
meetings, is a good way to get the communication across in an accurate manner (Hyatt, 2007).
Such means, as what communication methods will be used in your organization, will be
described in the communications plan.
One of the biggest challenges faced when implementing a communications plan is the
limited time and human resources available for carrying out communications activities.
Departments have limited time to do communications activities, despite strong commitment to,
and enthusiasm for, communications. Many companies have found it critical to have a person
with strong communications skills champion the communications within the company. This
person would coordinate the overall communications strategy, and support the organization in
implementing the communications plan (South, 2011). When implementing a communications
plan it is imperative to ensure that the correct information gets across without overloading
employees with reams of documents that are irrelevant, or contain repetitive information.
Skilled managers know how to plan their communications, understand what type of
information each team member needs, and utilize a wide range of communication methods
(Charvat, 2002). When implementing a communications plan into your organization you should
strive to achieve balance in the communication process. The key factor is that managers should
facilitate project communications, encourage openness, and allow the departments to be
empowered with the right information to do their tasks. The correct balance is needed within a
department when it comes to communications. Sending too much communication can hamper
the amount of work that gets done; too little communication and there may be misunderstandings
and confusion. The important factors involve communicating how the project will be managed,
including how information will flow into, and out of the project. When implementing a
communications plan you should provide a clear and concise plan as to how you will address
project responsibilities and the types of communication that will take place (Charvat, 2002).

Conclusion


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