Business Management With The Tip of the Iceberg Free Essay Example

In David Hutchens book, “The Tip of the Iceberg” he tells the story of the penguins and walruses coming together as a collaborative business unit for the greater good of clams. This story touches on two key components that are seen in everyday businesses. These two key components are system management, and adapting to change. The primary system described in the story was for the penguins to share their iceberg that they resided on with the walruses’ which had a plentiful supply of clams.

The challenge was that the penguins had no way of catching and harvesting the clams.

The walruses’ could catch and harvest the clams but were territorial with the iceberg so a Protocol was formed. The primary system was for the walruses’ to catch the clams from the penguins’ iceberg and in return the penguins will extend an all u can eat invite to the walruses. One last note, the walruses were not to eat the penguins. The system created stability for both the penguins and the walruses.

The larger system that took place at the iceberg was that of systematic management of the initial success of the protocol. Everything on the iceberg was going great and everyone had a plentiful supply of clams.

But then Sparky the penguin asked do we have enough clams to feed everyone who is showing up to the island? From there Juneau, a penguin “who knew numbers” said, “We could fit a hundred times as many as this – and still have space left over.

” From there, their motto was, “don’t mess with success”. This was the downfall of the iceberg. Both the penguins and walruses were blinded by their success and they only saw the “tip of the iceberg”. But they soon found out like in any business a good thing doesn’t last forever. Since there was such a plentiful supply of clams the penguins and walruses were coming from everywhere to share the reward.

But soon enough penguins were turning up “missing” due to the overpopulation of the iceberg. There were too many mammals on the iceberg and they had to revise their protocol. The penguin’s initial efforts to change things were to bring in a high priced management consultant named Hans and urge every penguin and walrus to attend his sensitivity training workshop. But this was not the solution to their challenge so they needed to find a better way to adapt to change or become better in their systematic management styles. So they got together and found out what they want to happen and then they decided on what they need to happen.

This was done through brainstorming sessions and technology. From there they were able to transport other penguins and walruses to other icebergs and also create a new website klamz. com. The reason the system reacted so negative towards the penguins was because they were only trying to solve what they could see. The penguins and the walruses didn’t have the business acumen to see the whole picture. They could only see the success of the clam soup, clam chowder, and clam daiquiris. They didn’t see the underlying problem which was the overpopulation of the iceberg which was actually seeking the iceberg, walruses, clams and the penguins.

They didn’t realize this until they saw their flag barely stick out of the water. From that point on they knew that they had to come up with a business plan very quick to save the iceberg. What the penguins learned here was that you need to have a true understanding of your systems and your success. You cannot ignore the challenge that you might face later underneath the surface. This teaches us that we need to be mindful of change and be able to adapt to change quickly if we want succeed in what we are doing. Also have a solid business plan and always observe your surroundings from top to bottom.

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get a custom paper by one of our expert writers.

Get your custom essay

Helping students since 2015