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Assessment 1 on transformational leadership in organization
Assessment 1 on transformational leadership in organization
Assessment 1 on transformational leadership in organization
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Marconi PLC
The case deals with two major transformational organisational changes that take place within a span of 5 years in Marconi PLC. The first change process was under the leadership of Lord Simpson who took over this large diversified conglomerate in 1996 when the company was in a mature phase, already in decline. The company was under performing, had a rigid structure, lacked a clear vision and the employees had become change averse and complacent. To recharge the company Lord Simpson lead a change process with a clear vision with a growth oriented strategy, acquisition and a cultural change process for the employees. To motivate the employers to embrace the cultural change he introduced an attractive stock option plan.
The change process started producing results until the “Dot Com Bust” hit the industry like a “tsunami”. Like all other major players in the Industry Marconi plc faced a dramatic down turn and within a matter of few months the company was hit with a crisis for survival from the peaks that it scaled as a result of the change process introduced by Lord Simpson.
Lord Simpson and some of the key members of his team had to standown and Mark Parton took over the company in September 2001. His basic challenge was to introduce fresh transformational organisational changes to save the company and turn it around back to profitability. The case deals with the initial phase of this change process where in the strategy was to divest noncore activities to generate the immediate requirement of cash to reduce the debts and to restructure and downsize the company to reduce the losses. In resulting situation of high demoralization of employers, Mark Parton had to push forward the cultural changes introduced by Lord Simps...
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...nt presentation and a workshop were conducted where behaviors expected of Marconi leaders were dealth with, ie
• Be highly capable and respected for their contribution
• Say with clarity and honesty of what they think and feel
• Challenge the status quo, to improve business performance
• Be confident and expected to succeed.
• Be ambassadors of the company internally and externally.
• Be great leaders, leading by example and living our shared values
• Be good managers, consistently achieving results.
Through this conference Mr Parton was able to get most of the top managers of Marconi to not only understand the change process initiated by him but also get their commitment to take it forward. Though Mr.Parton has huge challenges facing him, he appears to have at least made a good beginning in the much needed transformational organisational change for Marconi.
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Change is the only constant in life. And therefore it should be understood as part of a continuing work in progress that calls for a much broader canvas that seeks out competing voices, and works with the resulting ambiguities, contradictions and tensions of messy reality (Graetz, F. & Smith, A., 2010). In this submission I try to show that organizational change is majorly based on the environment surrounding it much more than the desire of the members or change agents working in that organization. This view diverts from that of Lippitt, (1958) who suggests that implementing planned organizational changes successfully depends on premeditated interventions intended to modify the functioning of an organization. It also diverts from the traditional approaches to organizational change that generally follow a linear, rational model in which the focus is on controllability under the stewardship of a strong leader or ‘guiding coalition (Collis, 1998). In this discussion therefore, comparison made between the different philosophies of change and I try to show that successful change implantation largely depends on an organizations appreciation of what goes on around it rather than what they have planned as a strategic direction.
The New England Wire and Cable (NEWC) present a situation that was quite possibly very common amongst many towns and smaller cities in the United States during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. As large corporations with new technology swept across the country, small town American and its legacy manufactures and companies struggled to keep pace. This case study references the New England Wire and Cable Company that in some ways was resistant to change. John P. Kotter’s article, Why Transformation Efforts Fail, outlines eight classic errors that are made in the transformation process. Likewise, Kotter’s article also outlines eight steps that could spearhead transformation within an organization. There was clearly a commonly hidden problem within the NEWC the so many times goes unseen. That problem was the leadership of NEWC.
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
In conclusion, after my comprehensive consideration, I believe that Johnson should go with the Team 4ward, however, she needs to change her management strategy: macro-mange the company and initiate a comprehensive plan (with and without Johnson) and a blueprint of the Williamsport plant’s future. Then motivate and persuade employees and management team, and empower them to approach the Level 4 CI goal. By taking these steps, Williamsport plant has a high possibility to achieve Level 4, with or without the existence of Johnson.
Change is a fundamental element of individuals, groups and all sorts of organizations. As it is the case for individuals, groups and societies, where change is a continuous process, composed of an indefinite amount of smaller sub-changes that vary in effect and length, and is affected by all sorts of aspects and events, many of which cyclic are anticipated ones. It is also the case for organizations, where change occurs repeatedly during the life cycle of organizations. Yet change in organizations is not as anticipated nor as predictable, with unexpected internal and external variables and political forces that can further complicate the management of change (Andriopoulos, C. and P. Dawson, 2009), which is by itself, the focus of many scholars in their pursuit to shed light on and facilitate the change process (Kotter 1996; Levin 1947; et al).
Kotter, JP 1995, Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. In Harvard Business Review on Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
The change agents of British Airways behaved like coaches. They deliberately shaped the BA’s capabilities, created the proper set of values and skills to reach the intended outcomes. During the implementation of change, John King and Colin Marshall acted like coaches as they assisted to “structure activities to help the organization members solve their own problems and learn to do that better” (French & Bell, 1995, p.4).
Changing situations throughout the world affect all organizations in business today. Therefore, most organizations acknowledge the need to experience change and transformation in order to survive. The key challenges companies face are due to the advancements in technology, the social environment caused by globalization, the pace of competition, and the demands regarding customer expectations. It is difficult to overcome the obstacles involved with change despite all the articles, books, and publications devoted to the topic. People are naturally resistant to fundamental changes and often intimidated by the process; the old traditional patterns and methods are no longer effective.
However as you take a look within the organisation, there are issues that need to be addressed and looked at further. The case has not drawn to any financial issues, therefore the business in itself is growing, and it just needs to be directed correctly. The issues that are raised has an impact on the atmosphere of the park, and the morale. For labour turnover to occur or to increase within the park will create a huge amount of pressure on the management team, so it is essential for rapid solutions to be made. A systematic approach may help the performance of employees, and a more constructive organisation. AWF’ management must take many approaches, policies, enforce rules in order to stay competitive. Nevertheless, AWF cannot be flawed by the skills of each
Kotter, J. P. (2007). ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail’. Harvard Business Review, January: 96-103.
She has one goal: bring the company back on track. Hence, she started various changes to the firm, and also to the management performance system, which will be deeply reviewed in this research.
He began to shift his style from Telling to Participating. In Participating, the situational leader gives more responsibility to the employees. The leader provides direction but the decisions ultimately lie with the followers. The role of leader is to provide feedback and increase the confidence of the employees for the task completed. This type of leaderships style would allow the followers to be more involved and hence act as an incentive for them to work hard for the company because their decisions matter. When they feel important to the company, they would naturally put extra effort and commitment. Paul listened to the collective feedbacks of his top people and established a turnaround strategy that he believed would help the company to thrive. Thus, he made clear of its company’s goals and made several tough decisions such as closing a titanium plant that was losing out, to help the company overcome hard
The idea of change is the most constant factor in business today and organisational change therefore plays a crucial role in this highly dynamic environment. It is defined as a company that is going through a transformation and is in a progressive step towards improving their existing capabilities. Organisational change is important as managers need to continue to commit and deliver today but must also think of changes that lie ahead tomorrow. This is a difficult task because management systems are design, and people are rewarded for stability. These two main factors will be discussed with reasons as to why organisational change is necessary for survival, but on the other hand why it is difficult to accomplish.
One of the first scholars to describe the process of organizational change was Lewin (1974). He described change as a three-stage process that consists of unfreezing, moving and freezing stage. During the unfreezing stage the organizations become motivated to change by some event or objective. The moving stage is like implementation when the organization actually makes the necessary change. Furthermore the freezing stage is reached when the change becomes permanent. Organizational change has also...