Management and the Technology Professional – B302

Case study answer 2

Whilst having the role of a supervising engineer the tasks of performing the final tests falls to me. Should one of the tests be missed it could create considerable setbacks for the company however dependant on how they act determines if these setbacks are short term or long term.

The actions available are either to let the semiconductors that have missed step 6 to be recalled and undergo the step 6 testing again or to hypothesize that those that missed this process had no faults. The points to weigh up include Intel's reputation and in some case the more important factor of cost.

The option of recalling carries with it both short term and long term issues. The task of recalling could cost the company a considerable amount dependant on the amount of semiconductors that were produced in the time frame. From the critical path analysis it can also be seen that steps that take place after step 6 will be affected in particular, step 7 ‘Configuration for market’, step 8 ‘Product marketing for localisation’ and step 9 ‘Shipping’ as step 6 is a predecessor to all three. Although costly this is a short term factor but damage will be done to the reputation of the Intel Corporation which it may have to burden for many years as it would be seen as being accountable.

By choosing not to recall we run the risk of either having disruptive long term issues or none at all should there be no problems with the semiconductors. Semiconductors have proved to be an integral part used in multiple products and so if fault exist then recalling may not be as easy as just recalling the semiconductors themselves but may require products existing on the market to be recalled as well. Again the reputation of the company will be in jeopardy but will suffer a far harsher blow should it be brought to light that the Intel new of the possible errors and decided not to act.

Also considering that one of the faults could be something that affects the future production of semiconductors and being that the testing phase is an important part of the critical analysis it could be argued that it does not matter whether it be a onetime or continuous problem and it is a point I would agree with.

The primary factors to consider include the critical path analysis and also the fact that missed test occurred only on the previous day. In my opinion I would recommend that the products be recalled and re-go the testing which takes part in step 6. Although this would have some short term implications I believe it far outweighs that of the long term issues and thus is the best course of action.