Companies are not unlike species, they must both change with the current environment or risk becoming extinct. Charles Darwin succinctly states this idea, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change.”1 In the case study, “Other People’s Money,” in the scene presented there is a proxy vote going to take place by the shareholders of the New England Wire and Cable (NWC) Company. But, before the votes are casted both the Chairman of the Board and patriarch Andrew "Jorgy" Jorgenson and the potential majority shareholder Lawrence "Larry the Liquidator" Garfield are afforded the opportunity to deliver speeches to the body of the shareholders. While Jorgenson’s speech is nothing more than as Garfield puts it a prayer that appeals to nothing more than the emotions of the shareholders, more focused on blaming the environmental factors that the company’s leadership was unable to navigate than laying out a plan for the future. Garfield is quick to counter Jorgenson’s speech appealing to the logic of the shareholders. According to Garfield the company is dead because it failed to adapt and technology changed making wire obsolete. He tells them that they need to have the decency to sign the “death certificate” for the company and get out while there is something in the company that is worth something. The scene ends as the proxy vote is about to take place. Jorgenson being the Chairman of the Board must be the leader of change in this organization prior to the proxy vote taking place. He then will be able to talk about the progress they have made and the way ahead for the future of the company. One of the most important changes that Jorgenson must make is mov... ... middle of paper ... ...e way we do things around here,” …seep[ing] into the very bloodstream of the [organization].”7 Meaning that the change vision that Jorgenson and his team worked so diligently to in place at NWC has begun to become normalized within the culture and there is a sense of shared values throughout the organization. This step is designed to provide the leadership the ability to further solidify the change vision into the organizations fabric. The leadership of NWC must make the connections for the organization on how specific attitudes and behaviors have affected positive change in the organization and how those changes fit into the overall vision for change. Works Cited _______________________________ End Notes: 1Class Notes, 2Ibid, 3Ibid, 4Ibid, . 5John P. Kotter, Leading Change. (Harvard Business Review Press. 2012), 6Ibid, . 7Ibid, . 8Ibid, 47. 9Ibid, 55.
During the late 1800's and early 1900's, change in American society was very evident in the economy. An extraordinary expansion of the industrial economy was taking place, presenting new forms of business organization and bringing trusts and holding companies into the national picture. The turn of the century is known as the "Great Merger Movement:" over two thousand corporations were "swallowed up" by one hundred and fifty giant holding companies.1 This powerful change in industry brought about controversy and was a source of social anxiety. How were people to deal with this great movement and understand the reasons behind the new advancements? Through the use of propaganda, the public was enlightened and the trusts were attacked. Muckraking, a term categorizing this type of journalism, began in 1903 and lasted until 1912. It uncovered the dirt of trusts and accurately voiced the public's alarm of this new form of industrial control. Ida Tarbell, a known muckraker, spearheaded this popular investigative movement.2 As a journalist, she produced one of the most detailed examinations of a monopolistic trust, The Standard Oil Company.3 Taking on a difficult responsibility and using her unique journalistic skills, Ida Tarbell was able to get to the bottom of a scheme that allowed the oil industry to be manipulated by a single man, John D. Rockefeller.
Drury, Bob and Calvin, Tom. The Last Stand of Fox Company. 1st ed. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.
Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company who utilized horizontal integration to dominate the oil industry; Rockefeller was another capitalist considered to be a “robber baron” of industrial America between the time period of 1865 and 1909 who acquired a great amount of wealth. This money was acquired with the usage of cutthroat tactics that disadvantaged his competitors immensely; Rockefeller did anything to increase his own wealth. He ran competitors out of business, lowered his prices drastically in places where competition was rough, and even threatened companies into bankruptcy, such as Ida Tarbell’s father’s business. Rockefeller believed that industrial combinations were a necessity and firmly believed in them being of benefit to the public (Doc. 6). James B. Weaver, a Populist presidential candidate, however, {disproves} this alleged belief that trusts were for the benefit of the public {theory} in his book A Call to Action by stating that trusts are the product of “threats, intimidation, bribery, fraud, wreck, and pillage” (Doc. 3). He further discredits trusts by providing an example of how the Oat Meal Trust in 1887 proved to be extremely unfortunate for and to the disadvantage of the laborers at the mills who lost their jobs (Doc. 3). This shows that the trusts that Rockefeller thrived on and made Rockefeller wealthier, though advantageous for consumers and Rockefeller himself, could often be to the disadvantage of the laborers. Rockefeller
In 2014, JB Hi-Fi announced the retirement of their CEO Terry Smart. He had been with the company for more than 14 years. In an interview with Smart Company, Smart explained the process for hiring his successor. Smart (2014) stated that succession planning is not something that can be done overnight, it’s a long-term process and it’s part of the board’s role. When JB Hi-Fi promoted Richard Murray to CEO it was because of his extensive experience, knowledge, skills and contribution to the organisation over 11 years (Keating 2014). This example of JB Hi-Fi’s succession planning not only demonstrates their diligence in following their charter but also the emphasis placed on laying the right
Leaders need to see more deeply into why it is so hard for our organizations to change, even when there is a genuine, collective desire to do so. More than just seeing why, leaders need to learn how to take action effectively to help our organizations actually become what they need and want to be.
The 7 Levels of Change provides a different way of thinking to enhance behaviors and processes. The author demonstrates throughout the book a seven process of change that builds upon the next. He believes that by thinking differently, being creative and stepping out of the norm is the catalyst to solutions and results beyond one’s expectations. Although the author uses the analogy of a new work environment to expound on the level of changes, the fundamentals can be used in both your personal and professional life.
As an emerging leader whose desire is to see progress in his/her organization change is inevitable and necessary. Although change is an important component of moving forward and growing a lot of people resist change, this resistance can be contributed to our fear of the unknown which is what change represent to many people. Hence, when it comes to implementing change it would be best to start off by recognizing and identify what needs to be change ad how to bring about that change. You can’t convince others to go on a journey if you are not aware where you are going.
...the agents to be the gatekeepers for keeping the corporation alive. While some of Dr. Friedman’s opinions came across bold and harsh, ultimately I feel that he presents a strong case for developing a profit-motivated company that does not treat its stockholders inappropriately.
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,
We need to embrace change by having an individual take a leadership role. There can be more than one leader, but at least one person has to realize change is needed for the better and success of others. Another way to embrace change is by bringing the ...
The general public in today’s society only see’s the outside appearance of the world’s big companies instead of looking at the inner exterior of all corporations. For example Enron a United States exchange Corporation collapses in 2001. The energy exchange company went into bankruptcy after being established since 1999, the company’s executive selected an accountant that in the end dishonestly inflated Enron’s profits. Many leaders inside on Enron’s corporation were stealing large amounts of money over a period of time. This dilemma was seen as a bad performance of an unstable business corporation.
As a long term strategy, we recommend James to be made Head of Operations of Controls Asia Pacific in Singapore because he is the best suited person who not only understands the culture and vision of the parent company in the US, but also can transcend that ideology to the Controls Asia-Pacific HQ and the joint venture.
CEO Johnston also has plans to bolster the company’s leadership with the best minds available and also use motivational techniques to invigorate his employees. These ideas show the character of the CEO in enhancing productivity from his work force.
Louis Borget, the president of Enron, stole $3M from the company and transferred into his personal offshore account. The men of this company never considered the consequences their actions would have on stakeholders, such as the employees. Step #3 tells us to consider all stakeholders involved in a decision, but we saw that Enron was clearly blinded ethics. The company encouraged all employees to put all of their money into stocks, even though they knew the company was collapsing. 4. List the points of the movie you agreed with and state why. a. Rappaport said, “ Ultimately, the fatal flaw with Enron was a sense that brains and wiliness could out think the way that system will eventually work.” I agreed with this assumption because throughout the movie this was a common theme. For example, Enron made a deal with Blockbuster to try and sell movies online. When a Canadian bank heard about this they gave Enron a loan of 115 million dollars, in exchange for the profits. When the plan tanked, they counted the loan as a profit from the venture. 5. List the points you disagreed with or found unhelpful. a. The whole was able to give me a general understanding of what happened to