History of Ecton Company

Ecton, Inc. was founded in early 1996 with the goal of improving the technology that allows cardiac ultrasound to become an affordable screening and monitoring tool. Ecton’s specialty was the development of Doppler echocardiography instrument that was easy to use. They were aiming to price the instrument at $38,000 which was less than half the price of low-end full scare machines that already exists on market. Ecton had an exceptional group of people who were talented, experienced and hard working. In addition, company was led by Michael Cannon, who had been an executive for 11 years prior to this commitment at Ecton; this suggests that Ecton was in good hands.

If I was an entrepreneur of Ecton, I would prepare to remain independent for number of reasons. First of all, for a new company Ecton was showing signs of a future giant. Exceptional teamwork was helping Ecton put its name out in the market in reputable manner. Ecton’s main tool was Doppler echocardiography instrument and many hospitals and physicians were starting to show interest in them. There was a high possibility that Doppler echocardiography instruments would eventually replace the most expensive tools used to obtain images of soft internal body tissues. Moreover, in early 1990s the purchases of new machines were held back therefore it was possible that the demand for modern equipment was likely to be high in future. There was also a demand for an inexpensive and convenient tool for pediatricians to assess whether infants had congenital defects in the way their hips had formed. X-rays diagnosis was very expensive, inconvenient and involved radiation. Therefore, using compact ultrasound machine could be very helpful for pediatricians.

Remaining independent company also required skills and resources to compete with larger companies. Ecton not only has a core of talented engineers but it also possesses the skills required in marketing, production and sales. According to 2x2 matrix the fit within organization’s process and value was poor for Ecton. Their innovation was disruptive and larger companies were less likely to retaliate on Ecton. This is one of the main reasons to remain independent and stick with the innovating ideas rather than selling or merging with a larger corporation.

Ecton designs and manufactures compact echocardiography tool for ultrasound diagnostic application which means they have a tremendous opportunity in North America where the healthcare services are drastically growing. While merging with bigger corporation would bring in better resources and larger market shares, I believe it will also minimize the potential that Ecton currently holds. Ecton could go on to become a large successful company. Company should focus on creating unique selling proposition through precise instruments in different segments of healthcare. This will help them gain more control over market through new opportunities. In addition, Ecton could look to improve sales, marketing and production resources. They have developed a product that challenges a higher priced instruments providing satisfactory results for customers. This was achieved by engineering and design talents. This is a fairly new company and the product is almost completed. Once the product is released it is highly possible that the market share will increase for Ecton and this will benefit Ecton to improve the overall quality of the company.