Q1: How should Bill Phillips lead and manage the change at Hancock? Discuss a set of actions that need to be taken to resolve the problems at Hancock. Use examples and insights from readings and class discussion forums as part of your answer.
Leading and managing change is a vital aspect that helps to ensure that an organization can accommodate change through the implementation of effective measures and strategies. At Hancock Product Inc. change was inevitable considering that the company engaged in a wide range of operations that aimed at enhancing growth and development within the company. The situation experienced by the company created the need for change to help in overcoming a wide range of issues that hindered the effectiveness of the company. Form issues of management to operational systems, the company required to change, which is a significant factor that would help to ensure that the company remains competitive in the industry despite past issues that affected the company. Bill Philips who is the Chief Financial officer has a vital role in leading and managing change in the organization considering the nature of products and services offered by the company.
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Considering that Bill had a top leadership position in the organization indicated that he had relevant qualities and characteristics to lead and manage the required change in an organization. The first important measure that would be implemented by Bill as part of leading change is engaging all the stakeholders in the organization. The company requires the indulgence of all stakeholders to ensure that they have a basic understanding of the issues faced thus an understanding of why change is important. The second important measure of how the bill would implement change would be through the implementation of high policy level strategies and policies (Ford & Ford, 2009). Bill may capitalize on ensuring that the company considers strategies that lead towards change considering the position of the company in the industry. Lastly, Bill needs to focus on ensuring that the employees of the company receive adequate training that is necessary for accepting change. The employees should appreciate the process of change in the organization.
Considering the problems experienced in the company, the management needs to focus on strategies that seek to create different solutions to ensure that the company regains its position in the industry. The main issues faced by the company during the time involve greater competition, which was mainly from offshore. Competition is a major issue that impacts on growth and development of a company considering that it impacts on the market share of an organization in any given industry. The second major problem experienced by the company includes the lack of business discipline, which is an issue that impacted on the rate of growth and development in the industry. Lastly, the company lacked budget integrity considering that there were no appropriate measures put in place to control and oversee the budgeting processes.
Considering the problems at Hancock Product Inc, it is necessary to capitalize on a set of actions that would help to create lasting solutions and those that would ensure that the company regains its competitive position. The first important measure, in this case, involves the implementation of effective leadership, which seeks to resolve the issues. Leadership is a significant aspect that may lead to ensuring that an organization moves in the right direction. The second measure involves increasing collaboration through the establishment of teams that seek to work together towards achieving the overall objective of the organization. Lastly, it is necessary to focus on the establishment of communication channels that helps to improve the relationship between the employees and the management. The measure may help to resolve major issues that result from a lack of proper communication in the company. The mentioned set of actions would be relevant in ensuring that the company taps the opportunities presented to become more competitive and gain the desired level of market share in the manufacturing industry.
Q 2: Consider in more depth the readings and class discussion forums on leadership: How are insights from various authors and class discussion forums useful for understanding the role of leadership in this situation?
Leadership is a primary factor that focuses on enhancing the process associated with organizational management. When focusing on Hancock Product Inc, it is important to note that the company experienced a wide range of problems that hindered effective development and growth in the industry. The problems experienced created the need for the implementation of change that would help to ensure that the company is in a better position to handle competition in the fast-growing industry. In that case, leadership was an important factor that would ensure that the company moves towards the right direction and focus on engaging the employees in different levels of management. Understanding the role of leadership in a company helps to ensure that all major stakeholders get to learn about the key aspects that concern the importance of having leaders with top leadership skills, which is crucial in running an organization.
Sinek (2011) maintains that leadership plays a significant role in setting a clear vision for the organization. The author maintains that leaders should have different qualities and characteristics that help them to foresee key issues in management and could devise measures and techniques that help towards resolving the issue. In this situation, the role of leadership that focuses on setting a clear vision for the organization is important considering that the company lacks proper establishment of goals and objectives, which is an indication of failure to have a properly defined vision of the company. The leaders in the company who include the CEO and the CFO should be at the forefront to identify the needs of the company, which is an aspect that helps in laying the vision that would guide toward meeting the identified needs. The vision set by the leaders should align with the goals of the company and based on the strengths and opportunities presented within the company.
Kotter (1995) focused on examining the element of leadership from a perspective of motivating the employees towards increasing their productivity, which is an aspect that helps to improve on the overall performance of an organization. The author discusses the fact that leadership is a vital aspect that helps in determining the level of motivation that the employees have in any given situation. In that case, the role of leadership as motivation is applicable in Hancock Product Inc. considering the need for the employees to be motivated to continue engaging in activities that improve individual productivity and the general growth of the company’s main operations. Considering the needs of the company, which involved the implementation of new performance systems, the top leadership must focus on motivating the employees towards accepting the changes relating to the new systems in a bid to enhance positive development.
Lastly, it is necessary to focus on the role of leadership from the perspective of guiding and influencing people towards change through work processes. Sutton (2009) maintains that leaders could guide employees towards change through the work process. It is important to note that leaders should have basic characteristics that focus on creating influence and leading other people by example. The role is applicable in the case of Hancock considering the need for the leaders to lead by example in different measures to ensure that the company moves towards the right direction. The leaders, in this case, should capitalize on capitalizing on their involvement in different activities that relate to the growth and development of the organization. The leaders should focus on ensuring that the employees focus on a process that that is important for organization growth and development.
Q3: Suppose this event occurred in another country or geographical area, such as Germany, Japan, India, China (you choose a particular country); would Bill Phillip’s CFO career get derailed? Why or why not? What is your definition of derailment?
Derailment refers to the nullification of a position in the workplace following different aspects that concern an organization. Derailment in the workplace mainly occurs when an employee or a top executive fails to perform effectively towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives. The derailment of employees often results in demotion or replacement, where an organization engages in measures to find a replacement that would have better skills and experience to help in meeting the set goals and objectives (Capretta, Clark, & Dai, 2008). Although derailment is often a managerial final decision, it is important to focus on the implementation of measures that would help in dealing with leadership derailment considering the negative implications associated with the derailment of top leaders in an organization. The important measures that would help to prevent derailment include the provision of opportunities and coaching to help with the ability to handle different situations in a workplace environment.
Considering the situation of Hancock Company, the derailment of Bill who the Chief Finance Officer would be an option in other countries. The derailment may be attributed to the fact that he failed in his role as a leader to prevent the company from falling apart. In the situation where the company was based in China, Bill would be derailed and is position would be considered null based on some of his failures. In China, leadership performance is a vital aspect that helps towards ensuring that leaders capitalize on the implementation of strategies that improves on their performance. Leaders are required to have key qualities that help them to portray outstanding skills and performances that enhance individual productivity. In this case, the company would consider Bill's role as null as it adds no value to the company considering the lack of a proper ability to overcome challenges associated with the growth of the company.
The second reason for the derailment of the CFO position in Chinese is because Bill was not able to foresee the problems that would be experienced by the organization. The main role of a Chief Finance Officer is to engage in extensive research on key issues that may impact on organizational growth and development. In this case, the bill failed to identify the challenges thus resulting in a situation where the company faced stiff competition from offshore companies. The CFOs should understand their roles in a company to ensure that they work towards achieving individual goals and organizational objectives. In that case, meeting the company’s objective is a factor that would portray individual competencies. In the growing Chinese market, remaining competitive is vital considering the high rates of competition, which impact on the ability of a company to meet the desired objectives.
China cannot afford to have leaders that do not have the skills to improve the competitive advantage of accompanying. However, it is necessary to consider that there is an exception to the derailment of leaders considering situations that are beyond human control. Although the failure of an organization to growth is a factor that is attributed to a lack of leadership commitment and strategies for growth, it is necessary to note that there are factors that are beyond human control. In that case, derailment is not an option as it may not provide substantial benefits to the company. The implementation of effective strategies to deal with issues in organizations is important as it serves as a measure to prevent cases of derailment.
References
Capretta, C., Clark, L. P. & Dai, G. (March/April 2008). Executive derailment: Three cases in point and how to prevent it. Global Business and Organizational Excellence , 48-56.
Ford, J. D., & Ford, L. W. (2009). Decoding resistance to change. Harvard Business Review , 87 (4), 99-103.
Kotter, J. P. (March 1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review , 59-67 (Classic Article).
Sinek, S. (2011). First why and then trust [Video File]. YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdO7LuoBzM
Sutton, R. I. (June 2009). How to be a good boss in a bad economy. Harvard Business Review , 42-50.
