Product details

In 1994, Millipore Corporation had established a marketing presence on the World Wide Web. This effort had been a skunkworks project. The vision was to use the Internet to attract new customers and better serve existing ones, while simultaneously reducing the company's operating costs. On 2 November 1998, a group of Millipore's senior managers faced a major decision of whether to more fully fund Anderson's efforts to develop and implement electronic commerce transactional capabilities on the company's website. The strategic implications of this proposal affected the entire company and all of the divisional managers held an opinion. Some were eager supporters, while others voiced concerns about possible negative effects on their business. As the day of the meeting approached, Anderson wondered what would happen if his proposal were not funded. Would it die or simply be put on the back burner for reconsideration at a later date? He had provided a clear business case backed by ample data. What more would he need to do if Millipore's managers didn't buy into his vision?