The Vision Failed
Question 1:
If I were to consult with the HTE board of director soon after Harold started making changes,
I would advise them, regarding the transformational perspective, to follow carefully how
Harold is implementing these. In fact, to benefit from those changes and achieve Harold’s goal, the board of director should encourage him to adopt a transformational leadership.
First of all, to be such a leader, Harold would have to be an example in the company. As a leader, he should inspire trust and communicate a clear vision on the changes he wants to make in the company and why. Moreover, those changes would rather emerge from the common interest and not from Harold only. The board should encourage Harold to review
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We can say it is an “attractive, realistic, and believable future” (Bennis and Nanus,
1985). This clear vision is simple and understandable. In fact, it should create energy and motivation for the employees to take part in this change. Unfortunately, this vision did not come from the whole company but only from Harold. He chose to reorganize things that would more reduce employees’ efficiency than improve it. Because he did not take into
account all employees’ opinion he did not took the accurate decisions. As a consequence, it is challenging for the employees to support something they did not participate in. Over and above, the changes did not correspond to employees’ needs. They did not identify themselves in this vision and rather consider it as a forced change.
Then, even if the vision seemed clear to Harold, his role in implementing it wasn’t a success.
While Harold wanted to positively transform HTE the result was that the company felt apart.
Harold lost his employees’ trust. They needed a sense of identity within the organization and a sense of self-efficacy (Shamir et al., 1993) that Harold did not clarify it.
To finish with, the sentence “no one understood in which direction they were going” highlights doubts among employees. As a matter of fact, the vision was only correct and appropriate for Harold but he did not know how to shape the company’s future.
Question 3:
From my point of view, Harold wasn’t effective as a change agent or a
Alison or Cabletronica didn’t do any kind of motivational analysis. Will employees accept the change? What is the predisposition of employees toward the change? Will they support or resist it? This is the single most important question to assess the organization’s readiness for change because high motivation leads people to acquire the needed skills and to exert the extra effort that contributes to success.
I was one of the few employees that were willing to ride the waves and give the new changes time to develop and work themselves out. The leadership could have avoided falling into the same trap of employee turn over, if they had put the effort to provide the necessary support during the stages of change and refreezing. (Nahavandi, p. 284)
Third, there is resistant to across-the-board employee cuts. Many offices were already operating with a very tight staff whereas other offices were allotted a larger employee budget. Fourth, there was strong perception among line workers within the organization that senior management, who were generously rewarded, would not effected by the difficult decisions that had to be made. Last, the CEO of Broadway Brokers was proposing to release a memo to all employees explaining the decisions that had been made. The management teams was asked to look over both the concerns highlighted above as well as consider and prioritize a list of suggestions for change. The team would meeting for the next few days and needed to have a tentative plan in place for top management in three days.
At the beginning he was told to report to Jenkins, however, once he got to the site he was assigned to Jeff Hardy. After the company reorganization, he found himself wondering whether he should report to Knight or Hardy. However, despite the confusion, he never brought up this question to Hardy, Jenkins or Knight. He perhaps then fell into the trap of a “bosssubordinate relationship” and went with the structure he felt was assigned without truly understanding its reasoning. ii. He didn’t take enough time to understand HQ’s perspective on various issues a. Replacing the chief engineer, rejecting frequency reuse patterns, or failing to get sign off on agreements for GMCT cell sites indicate failures in managing upward management relationships. Problem #2: Employee Dynamics Strengths 1. Peterson was committed to building an empowering environment for employees. i. Peterson called weekly construction meetings, which invited all to report on the company’s weekly progress and issues. Shortcomings 2. He failed to consider alterations in team dynamics when making hiring and salary decisions. i. He hired Trevor at a higher salary rate to the resentment of other employees, causing significant damage to the trust and respect between employee and manager.
Kotter tells us that “change, by definition, requires creating a new system, which in turn always demands leadership.”[i] In the case of Renfield Farms there is no doubt that Jackson provided the necessary leadership for change. Her change plans started strong with a personal understanding of the need for help and the company wide town halls. In doing this she followed Kotter’s first rule of change and was able to create a sense of urgency, she publicly address the perception of the company, and the need to restore their reputation.[ii] She “hit the ground running” as one her colleagues stated. Jackson outlined changes to the company’s structure and reporting lines and spent time getting feedback from trade partners and consumer groups which she then shared with senior managers and their teams.
He found out that the company was latent with financial and operational problems which threaten Home Depot’s future. The company was distinct in retail and extremely entrepreneurial based, along with customer focused business. Nardelli was not necessarily a tyrant, he just assumed he could treat Home Depot the same way he would any of his previous companies he worked for. With Nardelli being industrial based versus retail based, he concentrated on overhauling the processes but swept aside the elements that made Home Depot special in the process. Nardelli has a tough-minded approach to changes, which he probably learned at GE, but this set him on a collision course with the free spirited and close-knit culture fostered by his Home Depot predecessors. By the end of this case study, many of the original leadership for Home Depot were gone, whether they retired, were let go, or quit. Of course, Nardelli would still make himself accessible and was comfortable interacting with all levels of an organization, from CEO’s to factory workers. He was firm but still considered to be “a breath of fresh
Not only were the leaders impressed by the employees insights, they took action to address all of the problems. As a result, participation increased, communication improved, relationship between employees and management improved, and access to training and development opportunities were wide-spread. But most importantly, once the original change initiatives were introduced, employees embraced the initiatives, offered insights on how to improve their outcomes, and ensured their success.
It is clearly that the company is experiencing some growth; however, the management needs to find a solution to solve the arising issue where their employees are lacking of motivation in their job. However, the executive team’s decision to raise pay rates for its customer service staff and the vested profit-sharing plan does not improve the employees’ work performance or customers’ satisfaction.
Duane has been smart in setting up his company with a transactional and Democratic style of leadership. The Democratic style is an excellent fit in the service industry because of the fast pace at which the industry changes and adapts to the ever-changing ideas and perspectives of consumers. The Democratic approach allows for all employees to be heard and recognized. The leadership style fits well with Duane’s personal belief of how a company should be managed and the relationship between employer and employee. He is able to retain open communication with employees, discuss concerns and issues as they arise, evaluate ways to prevent problems, respect all comments and suggestions, and explain openly and freely why the final decision was chosen. (Leadership Styles, 2014)
All the while, Robert proved through his influence in the work force and his management strategies that endured the countless changes in the value systems. Each employee brings their individual values to the table. However, through direct leadership and influence those values in conjunction with organizational values make for a prosperous
Moreover, there is Sarah Robertson and Jared Cohen, Chiefs risk management officer. This is Jared Cohen who wants to sell all toxic assets. He suggests to the CEO. John Tuld wants to dismiss Sarah Robertson after.
Change can be successful if a company or group within the organization changes the way an individual presents oneself (Spector, 2010). Behavior change is based on how an individual works within the environment. The employees of Concord Bookshop were not consulted therefore did not have an opportunity to verbalize their concerns or provide input to assist the company to move the bookstore in a new direction. The management team was aware of the financial distress and was willing to participate in any financial changes required. The employees of the bookstore had an abundance of knowledge and experience that may have contributed to ending financial turmoil (Schein, 2011).
It is extremely difficult for leaders in large organizations to set aside their own egos and take recommendations from a customers or lesser qualified individual. Michael and Andy decided that the success of the organization was not about their track record, salaries, or qualifications, but had everything to do with satisfying consumers and continuing to provide employment for the hard working individuals in which they employed.
Complacency, acceptance of new ideas, poor communication and implementation of change within the department were captured as areas of opportunity. PEC focus groups shared concerns that management does not promote innovative thinking and many times individuals feel the adage of “this is the way we have always done it” only promotes the feeling of comfort and inhibits the opportunity for growth. This feeling of comfort sometimes impedes the department from finding more efficient means and promotes complacency with a status quo mentality. Subsequently, a cycle of complacent mentality is being passed to new employees within the department. Finally, employees mentioned when change is implemented, training is not sufficient and individuals are left to figure out on their own and resultant in not obtaining the full benefit intended. Personnel are left to rely on what is comfortable or simply not changing current practices.
Primary reason that indicates the employee resistance was that vision of change project are not understandable by the employees. Employee did not understand clearly that why this change is happening, nor did they have adequate knowledge regarding the change itself. Employees did not have the answer to the question, “what’s in it for me?” . This could include, "Will I have a job?," "How will it impact my daily work?," "How will I benefit from the change?".