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1/25/2021 ✏ Case: Innovation and E-mail Rules

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✏ Case: Innovation and E-mail Rules

Due Sunday by 11:59pm Points 40 Submitting a text entry box
Available until Feb 10 at 11:59pm

Submit Assignment

Due Date: January 31
Goal and Purpose

The goal of this assignment is to analyze processes and controls within an organization.

Directions
Read the following case (taken from Chapter 10 of our textbook). You are welcome and
encouraged to do additional research of your own.

This chapter provides insights into how manufacturing and service organizations can implement
processes and controls to increase efficiency, manage expenditures, and increase profits for the
organization. For companies such as General Motors that need to manage suppliers and make sure
that all components are procured on time and at the best costs to ensure the final assembly runs
efficiently, and for service organizations such as Marriott, which wants to have clean rooms and an
efficient check-in process when guests arrive, the main lessons of this chapter are readily apparent.

All companies, however, need to innovate continuously to improve their products and services.
Automobile companies such as General Motors have to constantly measure customer tastes and
needs and provide products that meet and exceed their expectations. Likewise, Marriott needs to
cater to the needs of business and leisure travelers in a variety of locations.

Perhaps no company in recent years has captured the attention of the public more than Tesla and
SpaceX, both headed by CEO Elon Musk. Tesla is named after the inventor Nicola Tesla, a
contemporary of Thomas Edison, who designed the first electric engine. SpaceX is a company that is
known for innovation such as reusing rocket launchers to reduce costs. While Tesla and SpaceX still
manage their operations with all the processes covered in this chapter, their constant innovation
requires new processes.

Perhaps no aspect of modern business has had a bigger impact than the proliferation of e-mail. No
longer confined to the desktop, e-mail messages are delivered via mobile devices, and managers
must find ways to manage the proliferation of communication to keep on top of things.

Elon Musk communicated the processes and rules for communicating at Tesla in this e-mail to all
employees.

1/25/2021 ✏ Case: Innovation and E-mail Rules

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Subject: Communication Within Tesla

There are two schools of thought about how information should flow within companies. By far
the most common way is chain of command, which means that you always flow communication
through your manager. The problem with this approach is that, while it serves to enhance the
power of the manager, it fails to serve the company.

Instead of a problem getting solved quickly, where a person in one dept talks to a person in
another dept and makes the right thing happen, people are forced to talk to their manager who
talks to their manager who talks to the manager in the other dept who talks to someone on his
team. Then the info has to flow back the other way again. This is incredibly dumb. Any manager
who allows this to happen, let alone encourages it, will soon find themselves working at another
company. No kidding.

Anyone at Tesla can and should email/talk to anyone else according to what they think is the
fastest way to solve a problem for the benefit of the whole company. You can talk to your
manager’s manager without his permission, you can talk directly to a VP in another dept, you
can talk to me, you can talk to anyone without anyone else’s permission. Moreover, you should
consider yourself obligated to do so until the right thing happens. The point here is not random
chitchat, but rather ensuring that we execute ultra-fast and well. We obviously cannot compete
with the big car companies in size, so we must do so with intelligence and agility.

One final point is that managers should work hard to ensure that they are not creating silos
within the company that create an us vs. them mentality or impede communication in any way.
This is unfortunately a natural tendency and needs to be actively fought. How can it possibly
help Tesla for depts to erect barriers between themselves or see their success as relative within
the company instead of collective? We are all in the same boat. Always view yourself as
working for the good of the company and never your dept.

Thanks,

Elon

Submission Instructions
In the textbox, answer the following questions:

1. Why would an e-mail rules memo like this work better at an innovation-driven company such as
Tesla rather than at a manufacturing-driven company such as General Motors?

2. What are the potential problems that could arise out of this approach to e-mail?

Grading and Feedback

1/25/2021 ✏ Case: Innovation and E-mail Rules

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Innovation and

Email Rules

Please view the rubric for a description of the grading and points. Please use proper spelling
and grammar. The total word count of your response should be at least 300 words (total, not
per question). You are welcome to write more if you choose.

Important Information on Turnitin:
This assignment uses Turnitin, a plagiarism checker that is integrated in CANVAS. You can find
information on submitting an assignment to Turnitin here.
(https://help.turnitin.com/integrity/student/canvas/assignments/submitting-an-assignment.htm)

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How do I submit a text entry assignment? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-
14129-4212833572)
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Sources: Justin Bariso, “This Email From Elon Musk to Tesla Employees Describes What Great Communication Looks Like,” Inc., https://www.inc.com,

accessed February 20, 2018; John F. Wasik, “Tesla the Car Is a Household Name. Long Ago, So Was Nikola Tesla,” The New York Times,

https://www.nytimes.com, December 30, 2017; Ken Costlow, “Ground Broken on New General Motors Supplier Park,” Arlington

Voice, https://arlingtonvoice.com, June 19, 2017.

https://help.turnitin.com/integrity/student/canvas/assignments/submitting-an-assignment.htm

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-9539-421241972

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10663-421254353

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-14129-4212833572

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-14128-4212833582

https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/canvas/lti/student/submitting-a-paper/submitting-a-paper-by-file-upload.htm

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Total Points: 40

Criteria Ratings Pts

15 pts

15 pts

10 pts

Email Rules

Why would an e-mail rules memo like this work
better at an innovation-driven company such
as Tesla rather than at a manufacturing-driven
company such as General Motors?

15 pts
Full Points

The question was
answered in full with
a detailed and well-
thought response.

7 pts
Partial Points

The question
was answered
but could use
more detail.

0 pts
No
Points

The
question
was not
answered.

Problems

What are the potential problems that could
arise out of this approach to e-mail?

15 pts
Full Points
The question was
answered in full with
a detailed and well-
thought response.
7 pts
Partial Points
The question
was answered
but could use
more detail.
0 pts
No
Points
The
question
was not
answered.

Spelling, Grammar, and Word Count 10 pts
Full Points

The assignment was
at least 300 words (in
total) with correct
spelling and grammar.

0 pts
No Marks

The response was either
under the required word
count and/or had spelling
and grammatical errors.