An Evaluation of Elizabeth Winters as Manager of DMPSRelationship BuildingMs. Winters' predecessors had learned the hard way the importance of a built-in peer network. When Maddox reorganized the divisions in 1999 to encourage collaboration and improve the mix of expertise between units, he unintentionally separated the marketing and product development teams. Similarly, as some DMPS employees noted, CW tended to isolate its new businesses "while they were incubating" – perhaps due to the existing culture that valued individual contributions over combined efforts – and that there was indeed a need for a broader approach. integrated network of groups. An important first step taken by Ms. Winters was the way she moved quickly to take advantage of the senior management support provided by Nick Kennedy and Anita Fields to meet with middle management. This achieved two objectives. First, she managed to spread the news of her arrival and the new direction and projects of the DMPS, thus creating momentum. Second, she was able to quickly introduce herself and network across multiple stakeholders across the company – a method that proved invaluable in establishing allies and gaining support in personally bringing a high-level initiative to the mid-level at a time when many felt they were facing a problem. crisis. Involving internal and external managers in the project would have contributed to the reorganization of DMPS. Organization The existing individualistic culture had developed around a need for product development. Although smaller "silos" were indeed conducive to supporting the flexibility and innovation inherent in this culture, and suited to creating a wider range of product designs within the existing business, they have been found to promote a certain degree of duplication of effort as well as limit knowledge sharing within the organization. New businesses require the support of the parent company and its resources and this needed to change for DMPS to succeed. With this in mind, Winters' efforts to change the structure of DMPS were, in my opinion, necessary. Creating a system in which individuals reporting to multiple managers accomplished multiple goals. First, it facilitated greater awareness of ongoing activities across the organization. Second, it allowed for a stronger strategy to be developed with advice and guidance from multiple inputs and a wider range of experiences. Finally, this structure was parallel to that of the parent company, allowing us to better understand what these activities represented...