The Schneirocksie Corporation

Schneirocksie Electric is an asset-focused company that has been a successful manufacturer of high-quality electrical components that transmit, control, and monitor electrical power. Management has long considered sales and marketing's job as selling what the plants make. However, customer demand indicates that this approach will no longer work; lower-cost competitors are now capable of duplicating Schneirocksie's products and services. The company must transition to providing and selling solutions to its customers, but doing so will involve the creation of an effective strategic account sales position. The current company structure, compensation system, and culture are significant obstacles to this transition and must also be changed. Finally, the company's management must learn to focus first on the job its customers are hiring it to do and then redesign itself to do this job.