In late 1994, James Down, member of the Executive Committee of Mercer, has to decide whether it should promote the writing and publication of a book about the growth - at a time when the more successful business publications focus on re-engineering and cost reduction. He sees this as an opportunity to position Mercer in the consulting market and align the organization - itself a result of several mergers - around a common platform. He faces resistance within the company, however, especially from the European offices of the company, who do not see this requires knowledge of the product. Proceeding without Europe can lead to incomplete product and company share. If he waits, however, it may miss a critical window market. Housing provides earlier growth framework. The product in this case is based on the knowledge of the company assets, and very different from the industrial equipment or software. "Hide
by Dorothy Leonard, Carin-Isabel Knoop Source: Harvard Business School 16 pages. Publication Date: April 4, 1997. Prod. #: 697084-PDF-ENG
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