Bethel University, 2014-A Role Model

While working for the department, it became very apparent that the practices and management style of the Department Director significantly affected the culture and daily activities of the individual sections under his leadership. First, he would set objectives and standards for the individual sections. These objectives usually looked good on paper but were often unrealistic when applied to daily operations. These lofty ideals, set as goals to middle management, seemed overwhelming and out of touch with the reality of hands on field operations. As a result, middle management would frequently choose to either change or completely disregard the given directives. This disconnect in the chain of command would often cause confusion and inconsistencies at the operations level. Additionally, lack of follow-up meant the Department Director assumed his set objectives were being carried out while lower level employees remained uninformed.

Kerrie Peterson works for a Fortune 500 company named Access. She is currently a General Manager (GM), over the corporate leading business unit. Each GM was asked to cut back their operating cost and Kerrie agreed to set her goal to 15 percent, during a quarterly financial review planning session. She was confident about meeting the 15 percent goal, but the challenge was getting her senior manager on board with the ideal. Kerrie called a meeting for her senior management team, to inform them of the changes. Kerrie stressed the fact that by their department being the largest department they must join this effort, in order to meet the goal for the greater good of the company, (Lester & Parnell, 2007, Case E). As general manager, Kerrie

Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2009). Management: Leading & collaborating in acompetitive world (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Available from theUniversity of Phoenix eBook Collection databaseDisney, March 2009. Corporate Responsibility Report, Retrieved from on 5/28/09http://corp

Jon Fries (CEO), Fletcher Anderson (COO), Craig Schuster (CFO), and Catherine Sprauer (division controller) were the four central figures in this case. Identify the key responsibilities associated with the professional roles these individuals occupied. Briefly describe the

This case was prepared by Associate Professor Marc L. Lipson. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2010 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation.

According to Frates (2014), Mr. Edwards understood that the physicians played a critical role in the organization and could possibly assist in the plan to control the hospitals cost. However, allowing the new COO to terminate the employment of Dr. Harris (hospitals radiologist) without calling on the physicians to analyze the problems and perhaps recommend any solutions that would be beneficial in cutting cost and did not show good leadership power (Frates, 2014). As evidenced within this study, the way that leaders and individuals in positions of responsibility handle themselves in turbulent times is crucial to any organization and leaders must understand how to use power judiciously when making decisions that would determine the organizations success (Frates,

Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75(1),

Comment by HJ: The term ?Abstract? is not in boldface per APA p. 41. Keywords in APA format are not in bold. See APA manual p. 41 or http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01.

I have taken several personality tests through my time with Bethel. Taking this test helped me figure some things out about myself in a new way. I got the opportunity to re-evaluate myself and see if my strengths and weaknesses have changed over the last couple of years while going through the program. And I can honestly say that yes, things have changed for me. My strengths and weaknesses have changed and I have become a more rounded person overall.

Kerrie's has been charged with reducing operating expenses and her solution includes getting a team that would help in creating strategies and implementing them to reach their goal. The goal was to reduce costs in her business unit by 20%. The team is also responsible for coming up with recommendations that help in the monitoring of the implemented strategies within the required period. The account management team is angered and resistant, but the senior management helps the team with dealing with it (Lester & Parnell, 2007).

1. The main Organizational Behavior problem in “The Overhead Reduction Task Force” case is in creating a leading an effective team, specifically “Office of the President” team. Williams is fretting nervously and rightly so. Our take on the situation is that Dixon just “threw him under the bus”, by putting him in charge of the team and leaving for much needed two weeks vacations after being on the job for one week.

“Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved” – Mattie Stepanek. Over the last two centuries the framework of industry and the business world has undergone several major transformations. The first shift occurred during the Industrial Revolution. In response to the rapid technological and social changes of this period, most organizations adopted a hierarchical organizational structure. This organizational structure permeated industry and business across the globe. Organizations with this type of organizational structure resemble a pyramid, with communication and direction flowing downward from the Chief Executive Officer, through the chain of command down to front line or assembly line employees (Morgan, 2015). Top down organizational structure was extremely resilient and enabled organizations to easily communicate culture, direction and maintain a position of strength in a manufacturing centered economy (Morgan, 2015).

In this case study, we are examining the case of Giovanni, a very ambitious and talented team leader in Bathurst Bank. The position of HR director in the bank needs to be replaced as Liz, the HR director is going to take her maternity leave. After looking at Giovanni’s assessment, Bathurst Bank’s CEO, Ingrid Sanders decided not to let Giovanni take the position and give him a 10% raise in his salary instead because even though he has done a very good job in his work but he still lack some key skill to be a good leader. Not being appointed to be the new HR director, Giovanni is quite upset and he wants to have another talk with Ingrid to find a different way to get through the problem as he believes that he is capable of taking the

In the “New Vice President” case study, Mid-West University faced a hiring freeze and leadership dilemmas. With the change in executive positions, Jennifer Treeholm, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, acquired the new vice president role. At first glance, she was the perfect candidate. Jennifer dedicated her career to improve the overall culture and mission, and she was familiar with the vice president’s duties. Although Jennifer was highly qualified, her previous relations with the staff rendered her ability to lead and make decisions effectively. As a result the college faced stagnant progress from delayed solutions and preventative measures. Thus, the staff began to doubt her abilities as a leader, which caused the previous employee structure to weaken.