Affecting_Change_Paper

Running head: AFFECTING CHANGE Affecting Change Phoenix University Abstract This paper discusses research which was undertaken to find the best leadership style to restructure S & F online. A theoretical framework is developed from literature search and this is used by the author as the basis of the perfect leadership style to restructure the S & F Online department.. The researcher collected data within this framework and analyzed it according to the precepts laid down by earlier researchers in the field. The data is used to demonstrate that the chosen leadership style is perfect for the author acting as the Chief Operating Officer. Conclusions are drawn regarding the usefulness of the chosen style within the organization. Affecting Change Smith and Falmouth (S&F) is a small Mail Order Network and Tele-shopping company that operates in Canada and the United States. Smith & Falmouth's online has an organizational structure that is decentralized. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Irene Seagraves, at the top of the hierarchy, followed in line by the Chief Operating Officer, and the Project Manager, James William Argyle. Mr. Argyle works closely and directly with the Logistics and Marketing managers, Brian Kervor and Adam Searle. Together, theses three make up the driving force of authority at S & F Online and have two teams of people to carry out their ideas. The logistics team is made up of three employees and the web development team which includes six different employees. The company started an e-tailing division named S&F Online, in the hopes of staying competitive in the industry and to add overall financial stability to the parent company. To get online business to a good start, the founder and CEO, Irene Seagraves assembled various teams to help develop a program that would essentially manage the inventory and successfully market the new branch of the company. Ms. Seagraves is confident that the new teams will be able to accomplish her goals of creating a profitable online division that will complement the parent company. Most decisions of any significance are made by each of the three managers. Consistent with low formalization is empowering employees with the discretion to make day-to-day decisions about job-related activities. It’s a necessary component of a customer-responsive culture because it allows service employees to make on-the-spot decisions to satisfy customers completely. According to Robbins and Judge (2007), employees form an overall subjective perception of the organization based on factors such as degree of risk tolerance, team emphasis, and support of people. This overall perception becomes, in effect, the organization’s culture or personality. These favorable or unfavorable perceptions then affect employee performance and satisfaction, with the impact being greater for stronger cultures. Just as people’s personalities tend to be stable over time, so too do strong cultures. This makes strong cultures difficult for managers to change. When a culture becomes mismatched to its environment, management will want to change it (Robbins & Judge, 2007, chap. 16). The organizational culture of all companies is ultimately created through the current customs, traditions, and general way of doing things that are largely due to what has been done before and the degree of success it has had with those past endeavors’s (Robbins & Judge, 2007). The culture of a company is influenced by the personality and style practice by the leader. Organizational culture will be influenced by the character traits of the founder, owner or CEO of the organization and could shape the vision of the organization. Keeping the organizational culture closely in line with the set vision of the company could be achieved using several methods such as employees’ selection and set criteria for performance. The action of the leadership also helps mold desirable behavior through rewards, promotions and advancement (Bateman & Snell, 2002). The socialization process individuals go through upon entering a new company is similar to a test for adapting to the culture of the organization and is revealing as to the fit of the employee. The head of the company has a personal philosophy that will ultimately establish the type of behavior that is acceptable in terms of keeping the organizational culture (CheatHouse, 2009). Smith & Falmouth's dominant culture is personified as a reflection of the values and goals of the CEO and founder, Irene Seagraves. Irene has decided to capitalize on industry forecasts by adding an e-tailing division to capture market share on the Internet through web-based business sales. She has appointed a web development team, a logistics team, and a marketing manager to coordinate operations with her original parent company. This is applying a great deal of performance pressure on the current team members and slightly changing the focus of organizational culture in her company and that is apparent, as the old and new team members have developed their own subcultures as a result (University of Phoenix Simulation, 2009). Creating a culture with low formalization has allowed the current team managers the freedom to make decisions and implement them. This essentially empowers them through the type of structure in place and allows different subcultures to be formed. Understanding Smith & Falmouth's internal subcultures and the current employee control structures is necessary to understand the underlying motivation of the team members. Through a better understanding of the current control methods and mapping out the dominant members, a management practice method can be implemented with a more desirable result. James William Argyle is the Project Manager. Mr. Argyle is team oriented and is proud of the carefully developed teams which are in place. Fiercely competitive, Mr. Argyle dislikes any one intervening in his power and control and does not wish to change or restrict his authority as it stands. He has built a personal relationship with each of his colleagues and has gained tremendous popularity with his inspirational style. He has become accustomed to his latitude and authority for making decision and has a history of success through outsourcing web contracts and freelance marketing partnerships (University of Phoenix Simulation, 2009). Brian Kervor is the Logistics manager and is hardworking and driven for success. He is not as charismatic as Mr. Argyle, but gets along well with al team members. He has a mathematical eye for detail and successfully implemented the online order and tracking system solution with the help and support of the whole logistics team. He has a head for numbers and is keenly interested in the technology of the web development team (University of Phoenix Simulation, 2009). Adam Searle is the highly skilled Marketing Manager. He oversees S & F Online interests and represents the mature and responsible type of leader with tremendous dedication and enthusiasm. He is not easily intimidated and is well liked among the team members. He treats everyone with respect and is very aware of all the key players, developing tight relationships. Mr. Searle is a hard worker and often puts in long hours with out any complaints; he can be a little overbearing to the softer spoken close-knit groups like the web developers, as they tend to be a timid team in Mr. Searle opinion (University of Phoenix Simulation, 2009). As the new Chief Operational Officer, the student writing this paper will need to be accepted into the personal circle of relationships to gain trust among the managers who are the base of structural control. The decisions made by management that are most respected and carried out with no questions, are done by trusted or sometimes the most feared managers. At S & F Online, the student writing this paper thinks that the Project Manager, James William Argyle is a force to work on and a person that the groups of developers are fearful of. The COO must become an accepted colleague of Mr. Argyle and offer Mr. Argyle trust and friendship, in order to redirect the current culture to a more positive and less individual style. The student writing this paper, also believes that Adam Searle is the most powerful and respected member of the leadership team and does not intimidate any of the teams in logistics or development, but may be an underlying authority threat to Mr. Argyle, which remains a well kept secret by him. Mr. Searle appears to be the most self reliant, having the most confidence in his own abilities. He does not rely on strategic placement or favoritism and authority to accomplish his goals (University of Phoenix Simulation, 2009). Mr. Searle will be a powerful ally. A committed effort to become a part of Mr. Searle accepted circle will be easily done using a management style reflecting truth, honesty, and recognition for his meaningful and outstanding efforts toward the overall company goals. The Student writing this paper, acting as the new COO will attempt to spend time with Mr. Searle outside of work, and include him directly and openly in the new plans to redirect the strategy of organizational culture back to the benefit of the company. The culture has drifted too far from the mission of the parent company and has become a format for individual accomplishments and authority that reward self-centered behavior (CheatHouse, 2009). Use of personal alliances and strategic positioning has allowed the focus of organizational success to wander. Mr. Searle will become a valuable asset and exemplary leadership role model for S & F Online. As the COO the student writing this paper intends to rely on his honesty, integrity, and leadership style to help redirect the culture at S & F online to a culture that will support the growth of the online business yet be aligned with the mission and vision of the parent company. Leadership roles are successfully accomplished when it can softly exert influence in a positive way to direct the group efforts toward the achievement of a common goal. The leaders’ skills at managing the groups work efforts toward the predetermined company missions, values, and goals exhibits successful teamwork and company benefit. (Simulation, 2007). Up until now, before being placed into the COO position, S & F Online operations have revolved around the Project Manager, who handled operations in the past. He has a six-member web development team maintaining the Online Sales Channel that makes up the website and the online payment gateway system. The Project Manager works closely with the Logistics Manager and his three- member logistics team who manages all the order handling, customer support, and delivery operations. Order fulfillment status is directly reported to the Marketing Manager, who coordinates all the product lines, marketing budgets, and promotional activities provided by Smith & Falmouth. This close coordination of teams has yielded good success and results so far, but the CEO wants to see improved statistics over the next nine months. The student writing this paper, acting as the COO, has chosen to implement a democratic leadership style with formal structure, yet informal relationships between the staff members. In this fashion, the COO hopes to create a flexible working environment that will encourage creative solutions to overcome the online challenges for S & F Online. The timeline will be difficult to meet with any formal and authoritative leadership style, so a more informal style that develops personal relationships through open communication, trust, and honesty is necessary. The current team structure in place will only resist when faced with forced authority changes. As the COO a transformational leadership style would work best since transformational leaders get people to transcend their personal interests for the sake of the larger community (Bateman & Snell, 2002, p. 380). Transformational leadership style will allow the COO to offer individualized attention to all members and delegates challenging work to deserving people, keeps line of communication open. A transformational leadership style would work best because it takes into account individual differences (Yorges, Weiss, & Strickland, 1999). S & F Online needs a vision; transformational leaders have a vision and are able to communicate the vision to the different team members. Transformational leaders are able to built trust, which is what the COO needs most from the other managers in order to implement the vision of Ms. Seagraves for S & F online. References Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. S. (2002). Motivating for Performance. In Management: Competing in the New Era (pp.380-387). New York: McGraw-Hill. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. P. (2007). Understanding Work Teams. In Organizational Behavior (chapter 16 &17).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. University of Phoenix Simulation (2009). Leadership in Action Simulation. Retrieved from Week 6 rEsource page link: www.ecampus.phoenix.edu Yorges, S., Weiss, H., & Strickland, O. (1999). The Effects of Leaders Outcomes on Influence, attributions, and Perception of Charisma. Journal of Applied Psychology, (84), 428-436.