Q3. Why did Allison fail? What he could have done differently?

Ans) During the course of the case certain factors have been identified which mite have
contributed in Allison failing to procure a $1.2 million opportunity with Northern Paper Inc.
The opportunity was to design, and supply and install an automated control system for
Northern’s wood chip handling system.
1) Failure to recognise the problem : Allison was not able to recognise the customer
requirement clearly. The Allison and the company were trying to help the customer
by stating the merits and suggesting advanced technologies and equipment, but
actually the customer wanted to go with the existing prevalent technology due to
numerous reasons which included budget constraints and the preference of the
operators who preferred uncomplicated systems that they are familiar with.
Northern Paper was looking for a solution to replace their existing control system
which was uneconomical meaning they wanted a modified rebuy. However, in the
interest of Boise Allison was keen to provide a new automation system with superior
technology. Boise and Allison tried to push their proposal by reinforcing the fact that
they have used a far superior technology which adds flexibility to Northern paper
making them indifferent to their customer needs.

2) Failure in understanding the Customer Value Assessment of the product : Boise had a
reputation for high customer satisfaction due to the efforts it tried to put in
understanding the customer requirements. But this time, when a job is tried to be
done in a more perfect manner in an attempt to provide additional value to the
customer, Boise had tried to push in its opinion for a latest technology on to the
customer. Boise had failed to understand that for the customer price was of lot more
importance. The company failed in understanding this point even after the customer
had repeated it multiple times by giving them hints were they stood with respect to
their competitors. Northern Paper had tight budget constraints, and hence their
evaluation of proposals was based on whether the proposals met the specifications
given and at a competitive price.
3) Lack of research of the Competition : Boise did not have in depth knowledge of their
competitors, their growth, status etc. in the market.
a) Canada had approximately five to 10 large manufacturer solution providers,
including large global competitors such as Honeywell, Siemens and Rockwell.
Advantage of manufacturer solution providers was their deep technical
knowledge of their products and, usually, their worldwide resources with client
industry experience and expertise.
b) Canada had approximately 20 large multinational engineering firms in addition to
several dozen mid-size independent integrators and hundreds of small
independent integrators.
Advantage of independent integrators was their ability to employ the equipment
that best suited the application, regardless of the manufacturer. This led to loss
of order when the time called for it.

4) Informal sources of Communication: The company tried to approache the client by

multiple sources in an attempt to convince the customer for the latest technology at
their disposal. Though this may be type of aggressive marketing or proactive
 marketing, it showed indiscipline from the side of company in approaching someone
other than the official contact person. This might have lead to a loss in customer
trust and might have a loss of credibility.
The following different approaches could have been used by Allison to procure the order
1) The ease of use issue which was a common concern among the operators, could
have been addressed by requesting Northern Paper to hold a training session free of
cost for their workers at production line conducted by Boise so that they understand
the new technology. This could have been a portrayed as a promotion strategy for
the new technology.
2) Rather than contacting by making informal calls with the corporate office, Mr. Allison
could have tried to build a rapport with Mr. Jason Li and the mill manager Mr. Bob
Muma in make them convince about the new technology. It is only they who could
have convinced the entire Northern paper team.
3) Allison should have studied thoroughly about Boise’s competitors standing in the
market and also positive and negative points of their technology features. If it was
identified that all its competitors were having old technology then a good
presentation could have been made which stated the cons of using the old one and
pros of the new technology. A comprehensive comparative study between the two
technologies should have been absolutely necessary.
4) Allison could have tried making a projected financial savings which compared and
gave the projected savings in the future in using between the two technologies If he
could have made such projections and convinced that the savings brought about in
account of using the advanced technology clearly outweighed the premium price
they are charging for it, then Boise could have stood a good chance of bringing the
order.