Stryker's Use of Teamwork in Redesigning Surgical Equipment

About Stryker and its mission

Case Study:

STRYKER’S USE OF TEAMWORK IN REDESIGNING SURGICAL EQUIPMENT

The Stryker Corporation was built on innovation. “When Dr. Homer Stryker, an orthopedic surgeon from Kalamazoo, Michigan, found that certain medical products were not meeting his patients’ needs, he invented new ones. As interest in these products grew, Dr. Stryker started a company in 1941 to produce them. The company’s goal was to help patients lead healthier, more active lives through products and services that make surgery and recovery simpler, faster and more effective.” Homer Stryker started Orthopedic Frame Company to sell devices for moving patients with spinal injuries. A short time later, he invented the first power tool for removing plaster casts after patients’ broken bones had healed. After that, the company began providing hospital beds. These early initiatives, but especially the oscillating cast saw, formed the foundation of what is now the Stryker Corporation, one of the leading companies in the worldwide market for orthopedic devices. Stryker, headquartered in Michigan, employs over 15,000 people with most of its operations being in the United States, Europe, and Japan. As a leading medical technology company and one of the largest in the $28.6 billion worldwide orthopedic market, Stryker manufactures replacement joints such as shoulders, knees, and hips; high technology tools like imaging systems that help surgeons reconstruct body parts; and a variety of other medical devices and products, including surgical tools and hospital beds.  One of Stryker’s recent orthopedic innovations was a navigation system for hip replacement surgery that permitted surgeons to observe via a computer screen the precise positioning of a hip replacement prosthesis. Due to the nature of hip replacement, the navigation system had to have the capability of withstanding the various physical stresses put on the equipment, including pounding with a surgical hammer. In addition, the navigation system ¾ especially its sophisticated electronics ¾ had to survive repeated sterilization under 270-degreeFahrenheit steam pressure. However, shortly after field testing of the hip replacement navigation system began, significant problems with the system were discovered. Numerous complaints were received from surgeons and the systems were returned to Stryker. Examination of the returned units revealed that the precision electronics of the system frequently failed and metal parts were broken or damaged.

Finding a solution to the navigation system problems was assigned to Klaus Welte, vice president and plant manager for Stryker’s Freiburg, Germany facility, which was acquired in 1998. Under its previous owner, Leibinger, the Freiburg facility had developed a magnetic imaging navigation system for use in neurosurgery. After the acquisition by Stryker, the Freiburg facility applied its navigation system technology and expertise to developing other surgical tools, including ones for orthopedics. Thus, the Freiburg facility was given the responsibility for solving the problems with the hip replacement navigation system. Welte’s first challenge was assembling a team to work on solving the navigation system problem. Welte believed that the team’s success “would require both a clear view of what had to be accomplished and a deep understanding of each team member’s abilities.” “Welte assembled a team of the best people at Freiburg in operations, computer-aided design, engineering, and research. One team member was talented in structural analysis, communication, and follow-through. Another member provided the “social glue” for the team and would never stop until all tasks were complete. Still another team member was an organizer who helped keep the team on task and from rushing ahead before it was ready. Yet another team member was especially knowledgeable regarding how a product design will successfully survive the manufacturing process. Another person was noted for highly innovative ¾ indeed visionary ¾ product design ideas. Although each team member’s abilities were important, how those abilities fit together was equally important. According to Welte, “Creating an effective team requires more than just filling all the job descriptions with someone who has the right talent and experience. ¼ By no means can you substitute one engineer for another. There are really very, very specific things that they are good at ¼ and how well the team members’ abilities combine is as important as the abilities themselves.” How well the Stryker team jelled became evident in their approach to problem solving. Due to the number of problems with the hip replacement navigation system, the Freiburg team addressed each problem separately, beginning with the most crucial issue and working down to the relatively minor problems. The solution for each problem was thoroughly tested before moving on to the next issue. Consequently, the team did not have a fully assembled prototype until all the problems were addressed. This approach proved successful, both in terms of the ultimate success of the prototype design and the team working effectively together as problem-solvers. In the first nine months after the redesigned hip replacement navigation system was released, the company did not receive a single complaint from surgeon’s ¾ an incredible achievement for complex surgical equipment.  

SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe how the Group Task roles and Group Social maintenance functions are operating within the Freiburg team.  

2. Discuss the extent to which the characteristics of well-functioning, effective groups accurately describe the Freiburg hip replacement navigation system team.

3. Explain why teamwork is important to effectively solve the problems which field testing of the hip replacement navigation system revealed.  

4. Explain why diversity and creativity are important to the effective functioning of the Freiburg team.