Segway LLC
The Segway, though a breakthrough and innovative product, fails to live up to its pre-debut hype and revolutionize they way people get around due to several key reasons, some of which are discussed in further detail below.
Leadership:
It’s evident from the very beginning that Segway’s top executives including Tim Adams, CEO and Mike Ferry, VP of Marketing were not qualified to be leading a company with so much potential and growth opportunities. Dean Kamen also fails to realize that his executives may not share his grand vision for the Segway as passionately as he does. Kamen needs set aside his loyalty and remove Adams and Ferry from their positions. These two positions, especially at such an early stage in the company will dictate how successful the product will be. He will need to fill the positions with much more capable people who have experience with consumer technology products.
Vision:
Kamen is never able to shake his high expectations for the Segway long enough to see all the short-term and big revenue opportunities his product. The Segway isn’t a product that would have been able to revolutionize the way people get around overnight. It would take years for people and cities to adopt this new technology. Kamen should have only designed and marketed the product with a strong focus on commercial use from the very beginning. He would have been able to use this niche target market as a “Pilot Program” to gain valuable insight and feedback on how the product tested in real climates, terrains and situations. He could have then used this information to make improvements before he release a version suitable to the general public. This would have resulted in a much better product, with fewer issues, fewer concerns to alleviate about safety. Ideally, this would have also have lead to advances in the technology used in the product and reduced manufacturing cost, which could have translated to a smaller price tag.
Financial Scenarios:
With a
Leadership:
It’s evident from the very beginning that Segway’s top executives including Tim Adams, CEO and Mike Ferry, VP of Marketing were not qualified to be leading a company with so much potential and growth opportunities. Dean Kamen also fails to realize that his executives may not share his grand vision for the Segway as passionately as he does. Kamen needs set aside his loyalty and remove Adams and Ferry from their positions. These two positions, especially at such an early stage in the company will dictate how successful the product will be. He will need to fill the positions with much more capable people who have experience with consumer technology products.
Vision:
Kamen is never able to shake his high expectations for the Segway long enough to see all the short-term and big revenue opportunities his product. The Segway isn’t a product that would have been able to revolutionize the way people get around overnight. It would take years for people and cities to adopt this new technology. Kamen should have only designed and marketed the product with a strong focus on commercial use from the very beginning. He would have been able to use this niche target market as a “Pilot Program” to gain valuable insight and feedback on how the product tested in real climates, terrains and situations. He could have then used this information to make improvements before he release a version suitable to the general public. This would have resulted in a much better product, with fewer issues, fewer concerns to alleviate about safety. Ideally, this would have also have lead to advances in the technology used in the product and reduced manufacturing cost, which could have translated to a smaller price tag.
Financial Scenarios:
With a