ICG faced a major confront in meeting requirements for engineers, managers, technicians and

productive workers.
Manager of the group was contented that ICG was effectively meeting the MEED’s needs
through purchase from outside vendors but was troubled about slower than expected progress
in gearing up internal design and manufacturing operations. Numerous tribulations that seem to
be root are:
Design projects were not being completed on time or within projected budgets
Labor market was exceedingly tight.
Managerial talent was pressing need.
Because of these problems mangers strongly urged to establish new positions concerned with
R& D.
MEED was exclusively involved in new applications in medical device technology; the
company the company had expanded its sights to environmental control application.
MEED now designed, manufacture, sold and serviced complex medical and environmental
control systems.
MEED sold direct to major end-users, provided some controls from OEMs and provided
equipment to smaller end users through international force of marketing representatives.
MEED had developed its own highly distinctive set of values.
MEED culture was;
unstructured
Informal
Rapid growth
Positive approach towards others
Make it happen.
IC group worked in both LSI and VLSI
ICG was MEED’s laboratory for IC design, the development of new manufacturing processes
and quick execution of prototypes.
In starting its own semi-conductor operation, MEED’s IC group needed the expertise of
experienced engineers and mangers from the industry.
The group was organized functionally into three sub-units: Advanced design, a circuit design
group, a manufacturing plant and materials.
In addition to purchasing of materials other major function was to assure quality of
components through complex testing procedures.
Scheduling was an issue. Delays in delivering parts to volume assembly meant unrecoverable
losses for MEED.
According to head of AD group the critical problem was that life cycles in semiconductors
business ended abruptly when new technologies obsolete a given device.
Through out the group other people as well were holding down to and sometimes three jobs.
While direct workers and other non-technical employees could be hired and trained relatively
easily, there was a significant problem in attracting engineers capable of state-of-the-Art work
that ICG technology demanded.
Attracting semi conductor engineers to the IC group meant in many cases, luring.
Recognizing the high cost of attracting experienced engineers from outside the IC group sought
to re-orient ICG recruiting towards meeting needs with existing employees and recent college
graduates. He also created a new college Relations Department for the group in order to build
long term relationships with universities.
Even among recruiting college graduates, numbers were not favorable.
There was no formal program of management development at ICG.
The general pattern was that engineers “moved up” into management.
ICG’s human resource needs were a benefit.
Materials acquisition function was divided into two groups: an operations group that focused
on such functions as production purchasing, and a strategic group that dealt with commodity
management.
Advanced design had two primary tasks: circuit design and development of CAD.
AD’s engineers worked on a contract basis, competing with outside semi-conductor houses to
design the chips for MEED’s products.
Many joined MEED with expectations that mobility would be possible that is moving rapidly
into new higher positions.
Bosses and subordinates found it difficult to conduct regular performance appraisals
A number of ICG managers agreed that despite the little labor pool recruiting was not the real
problem; it as assimilating the new hires.
ICG also faced potential problem with salary compression.