Boise Automation Canada Ltd.

: The Lost Order at Northern Paper

Problem Statement: The company was unsuccessful in understanding that the requisite of the
proposal was to set a competitive price. The need of the client (Northern Paper Mills) was not to
update their technology because they lacked resources and the technology proposed by Boise
Automation exceeded the budget of the client. Also, as pointed out in Exhibit 2, Northern Paper
lacked the required skill set (like internet connectivity) for implementation of Boise
Automation’s solution. Although Boise Automation Ltd, had competitive advantage in terms of
greater technology and a competent engineering department but the extremely “structured” sales
process was a problem.

Suggestions for Boise Automation Canada Ltd. The following suggestions and solutions are
presented that the company should implement in order to prevent future loss of clients:-

- “Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.”- David Packard.

This statement is essentially true in this case. The marketing department and the top
management of Boise Automation Canada Ltd. should have involved members from
various other departments such as technical, finance, etc. This would have in-turn
introduced a much needed holistic approach to the proposal. For instance, an employee
from the finance department could have assessed financial viability and profitability of
the project. Jean- Marc Belanger, the vice president of finance, entered the situation
extremely late and his only contribution was to warn about the profitability forecast and
cash flow projection. His greater inputs were required.
- Continuing from the previous point, a proper financial analysis could have revealed the
cost benefit analysis of the proposal, which would have allowed the management to
understand even if pursuing the Northern Paper Mills was beneficial or a wasteful effort.
Boise Automation devoted a lot of time and effort towards Northern Paper Mills which
could have been used elsewhere. They understood that the client is not interested on May
9, (as per exhibit 2 wherein the company understands that Bob Muma- The plant manager
is uninterested through the five minute conversation) they still continued to pursue them
till September 9. In any business decision, the benefits must not exceed the cost incurred
by the company.
 - They should have undergone a comprehensive analysis of the competitors. This research
could have been pertaining to their sales, pricing and marketing methods used. This
would have enabled them to understand the company’s position in the market and take
better decisions in regards to the pricing strategy that they adopted for their product.
- Continuous training and development is a necessary activity in the discipline of human
resource management. It is evident in the case that the employees of Boise Automation
Canada Ltd, were unaware about the market developments. The decision making process
of Boise Automation Canada Ltd was not in sync with requirements of the client. A
proper training and development of the employees regarding understanding customer
need and wants could have prevent that. Thus, it was required that the employees of the
Boise Automation Canada Ltd undergo proper training. They could have also give
manuals to the employees consisting tech that Boise Automation Canada Ltd is
developing.
- The ripple effect in the organization could have been prevented. An alternate “win plan”
was the need of the hour. If the sales department had an alternative strategy to prevent the
loss of profitability (as pointed out by the vice president of finance) the situation of the
organization would have been completely different. For instance, they could have start
pursuing other clients in order to cover the potential loss of revenue from Northern Paper
Mills (they understood that Northern Paper Mills in uninterested in the initial discussions
itself)

Conclusion: What should Rob Allison have done differently? Although this question has
been addressed comprehensively in the above mentioned suggestions, it is important to
understand the primary solution too. The primary solution for the company was to understand the
fact that Northern Paper Mills had budget constraints. They should have acted according rather
than boasting about their competitive advantage in technology which even their competitors
possessed to a certain extent. (Exhibit 2, April 7: Other bidders had satisfied all the requirements
of Northern Paper Mills from a commercial point of view) A business must be more customers
centric rather than following a stringent sales process and pricing strategy.