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Case #10
“Quantum Corporation – Business and Product Teams”
Harvard Business School Case #9-692-023 (February 17, 1992)
Academic instructors who are registered with the publisher’s
website (http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu) may download the Teaching
Note #5-693-004 (July 31, 1992) for this case free of charge.
ABSTRACT
Quantum Corporation employs cross-functional teams to
minimize cycle times and to push for more efficient and on-target
advancement of their new disk drive products. Company management
TEACHING OBJECTIVES
Guiding the product development team to success is of
critical importance to any engineering manager. This case
compares the performance of several cross-functional teams for
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR CLASSROOM DISCUSSION
1. What is required to be successful in the Winchester Disk
Drive (WDD) industry?
2. What accounts for Quantum’s success?
3. What is your evaluation of Quantum’s progress to-date in
developing and practicing the team concepts?
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8. Develop an action plan to address the above team-related
issues (assignments, milestones, expected results).
ANALYSIS
1. What is required to be successful in the Winchester Disk
Drive (WDD) industry?
The WDD industry is characterized by several factors:
continuous improvement in cost per Mb; increased speed,
performance and efficiency of development efforts; short product
2. What accounts for Quantum’s success?
Quantum achieved great business success during the period of
1989 – 1991 due to a number of factors: (a) they had experienced
leaders (Dave Brown and Steve Berkeley) from Plus Development
Corporation to head the business; (b) they implemented known
FIGURE C10-1. SALES REVENUES
3. What is your evaluation of Quantum’s progress to-date in
developing and practicing the team concepts?
By and large, Quantum has been quite successful in engaging
teams to develop products and manage businesses.
4. How effective have the major Quantum teams been?
Some Quantum teams have been successful (Cheetah, Wolverine).
5. What accounts for the primary differences in effectiveness
among the Quantum teams?
Strong team leadership is of critical importance. The
Cheetah team was led by Mike Spencer. The Aerostar team was not
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to think like general managers, and (d) efficiency in team
operation (e.g., facilitator to solve problems and functional
supports for resolving specific issues).
TABLE C10-1. TEAM PERFORMANCE COMPARISON
Dimension Cheetah Aerostar Wolverine
Team Leader Strong (Mike Spencer) Mixed/Weak Strong (Tom Peterson)
6. How do you recommend that Dave Brown address the three team-
related issues raised at the end of the case write-up?
The three issues raised by Dave Brown are: (1) team
management – what to do in the future when products are more
technologically challenging and complex and team members are less
experienced in general managerial thinking; (2) supply of capable
7. Are there other issues of concern which should be added to
his list? Why?
There are several other issues of concern:
A. Depth of Technical Expertise – When teams become fast tracks,
who will focus on technological and functional excellence to
maintain company competitiveness? A continued imbalance between
TABLE C10-2. INCOME STATEMENT FROM 1982 – 1991
Income Statement Items 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Revenues 13.7 41.8 67.1 120.3 121.2 120.8 186.5 208 446.3 877.7
Balance Sheet Items
Cash 20.8 18.7 47 78 65.6 59.1 50.9 79.3 139.6
Total Assets 56.6 74.8 99.5 107.2 137.3 141.7 157 243.2 497.5
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FIGURE C10-2. GROSS MARGIN
8. Develop an action plan to address the above team-related
issues.
To address the three issues raised by Dave Brown, the
following may help:
A. Outsource or engage external consultants to assist in
developing products of increasing complexity and technological
challenges.
D. Continue to use facilitators to foster team operation.
E. Analyze and document learning gained from past teams and
share experience widely. Preserve the refined procedures of
problem-solving and team operations.
9. What performance metrics should be used to monitor progress
in implementing such an action plan?
The following performance metrics will help monitor the
progress of this action plan: (1) number of patents awarded and
10. Do you have an Action Plan for other issues?
The plan for resolving other issues noted above may contain
the following actions:
A. Search and Acquire specific technological firms to broaden
the company’s technical expertise. The capital needed for such
acquisition is to be raised by debt financing.
11. What else should be recommended for Quantum to improve?
Applying the “template” of management functions will permit a
systematic evaluation of all of its key activities.
Areas to improve include: (1) actively forecasting
technology, (2) preserve learning from past teams, (3)
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TABLE C10-3. MANAGEMENT REVIEW
Quantum
Planning
Forecasting Do more
Action Planning Excellent
Issuing Policies Excellent
Establishing Procedures Do More
Set Standards Do more
Measure Performance Excellent
Evaluate Performance Excellent
Control Performance Do More
12. Learning gained from this case.
Teams can be effective if they are (a) led by capable leaders
(resolving conflicts, communicative, technologically innovative);
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Engineers with managerial perspectives and business savvy are
ideal candidates for team leaders and team participants.
To sustain corporate growth and profitability, companies must