Purpose of Memorandum
The purpose of this memorandum is to present the conflicting issues that senior management employees at Barker Sports Apparel have. Additionally, an analysis of the situation, coupled with the necessary recommendations for resolving it, will be made in this memorandum.
Specific Issues Presented
The first issue presented in this case is communication. From the beginning, communication is seen as a challenge as the 360-degree reviews reveal real feelings and views about employees. Although it is an important tool, it shows the deeper communication issues that the company has through negative reviews. For instance, one of the comments directed at Damon Ewen, which the CEO suspects are from Ahmed Lund, calls him a control freak (Groysberg & Baden, 2018). The second issue is the lack of presence by the CEO, Lance Best. When he is conversing with his father, Lance confesses that he may have let the conflict escalate. What is more, in his conversation with Nina, he says that he had tried to convince himself that these were ordinary problems that would sort themselves out (Groysberg & Baden, 2018). This is because he was focused more on profits and the workforce as a whole without considering individual employees, particularly the conflicting CFO and the head of sales.
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The third issue presented is the CEO's democratic nature. As Coleman explained in his six leadership styles, a democratic nature often involves the opinions of others in decision making (Goleman, 2000). Lance portrays this trait through his conversation with his father, Nina, and Jhumpa. The latter, who is the head of product and merchandising, suggests that both of the conflicting employees should be fired, a decision that he starts to warm up to. While this is the case, the CEO consults too much, and this makes him appear weak. According to Goleman (2017), a leader should be pacesetting and commanding. This involves creating and taking control of initiatives and steering the company towards success. For the CEO, the conflict weakens his control as it makes the employees dysfunctional and unmotivated. Although listening to the opinions of other staff members is crucial in decision making, most of the decisions should originate from the CEO after a careful analysis of the situation.
Recommendations for Resolving it
According to Kotter (2001), effective leaders prepare organizations for change and help them cope with it as opposed to making plans, organizing, or solving problems. However, based on the escalation of the conflict at Barker Sports Apparel, the first thing that is needed is solving the problem. First and foremost, the CEO should have a sit down with the two individuals. It is crystal clear that the problem is not personal, which means that the talk will be purely professional. Nevertheless, he should also concentrate on the silos that the executives operate in, including those that he has overlooked and enabled. This is because the environment is as important as the conflicting individuals. After that, Lance Best will clarify the kind of collaboration he wants the see in the company and give an assignment that will require everyone's input as a way of encouraging collaboration and teamwork. At this point, a thorough in-house cleaning is far more necessary that sourcing for outside help. However, outside coaching services will be kept at bay in case the strategies fail to work. The CEO should also be more involved by conducting regular meetings with the staff and chipping in when necessary. Doing so will restore his presence and a sense of authority in the firm.
Conclusion
Firing Damon and Ahmed is not the best solution because the root cause of the conflict will be left unaddressed. For this reason, the CEO needs to rectify the situation by calling upon a mutual collaboration of all the workers in the company towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives.
References
Goleman, D. (2017). What Makes a Leader? (Harvard Business Review Classics) . Harvard Business Press.
Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results (Harvard Business Review Classics) . Harvard Business Press.
Groysberg, B, And Baden, K.C. (2018). Case Study: When Two Leaders on the Senior Team
Hate Each Other . (Harvard Business Review Classics). Harvard Business Press.
Kotter, J. P. (2001). What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review , 79 (11).
