Introduction

The Crystal Company is a software developer with products in the payroll and personnel records areas. Joshua and Alyson Bennett started the company 15 years ago. The Bennetts both have significant experience in programming and accounting. Alyson wrote the company’s initial programs when her daughter was an infant. At the time, Joshua was a manager at a public accounting firm and heavily involved with clients’ record-keeping activities. The products, named Crystal Payroll and Crystal Personnel, have been mainstay products for approximately 300 companies that use the software to compute and process their payroll and maintain all their personnel records. At the time the Crystal products were developed, they were one of the only software products that integrated both personnel records and payroll processing.

The company employs 12 customer service reps, who spend all their time helping clients use the systems and problem-solve all types of issues. A sales staff of 10 calls on small and medium-sized companies by phone and in person all across the United States. The Crystal Company is known for excellent customer service and its close ties with the Association of Personnel Management. Alyson and Joshua are frequent speakers at association meetings held at different times around the country. This combination of a good product, excellent customer service, and ties to the association has made Crystal a successful company.

At the beginning of this year, some dramatic changes in payroll tax rules occurred. In addition, competitive companies have introduced a new software product written in an easy-to-revise database format that has taken a significant amount of business away from the Crystal Company. These new products are being offered at much lower prices and give greater flexibility to the users. The Bennetts would like to start a project immediately to find a way to convert or rewrite their products into a new format that might bring some of the same benefits as the new competitive products. This project will require the focus of the entire company and will take great effort. The project will be extremely expensive—it might be expensive enough to put the company out of business if it is not successful.

Instructions

Create a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation that responds to the following questions:

1. What are some of the reasons people at Crystal may resist this change?
2. What actions might you suggest for helping the Crystal Company deal with the changes in a positive manner?
3. How might this new product development be turned into a case of innovation?

Organize your presentation as follows:

• Slide 1: Title of PowerPoint presentation and your name
• Slides 2-3: Answer question 1
• Slides 4-5: Answer question 2
• Slides 6-7: Answer question 3
• Slides 8-9: Include closing statement
• Slide 10: List references used

Be sure to follow these requirements in your work:

• Type your assignment in a PowerPoint document (.ppt or .pptx).
• Do not copy word for word from the textbook or any websites you visit.
• Use Times New Roman.