Options_for_Implementing_a_Leadership_Change

Options for implementing a leadership change Leading change is one of the most critical and complex leadership responsibilities of top management. “Effective leadership is needed to revitalize an organization and facilitate adaptation to a changing environment” (Yukl, 2006, p.284). Team B will propose a leadership changes at a bio-tech company within the plant research and bio-agriculture industry, Gene One. The company’s executive team is considering the opportunity of staging an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the near future. Team B has considered two options, remain a private entity or proclaim the end vision to succeed as a publicly traded company. Through extensive research, and to devise a clear strategy allowing Gene One to demonstrate growth, create IPO capital, and entice investors, collectively, Team B has determined change is required, and will pursue an IPO within 36 months (Gene One, 2010). To support our initiatives, Team B will analyze atleast four members of the Gene One leadership team and will consider prospective candidates to align with the identified Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOA) requirements of the company’s new business model. Finally, Team B will identify the change strategy used to implement change that effectively pairs leadership structure and styles with the chosen end vision. Approach for leadership change When an organization is planning a change two actions will occur. The change will improve the ability of the organization and employee behavior will alter. If Gene One wants to survive and become a competitor the industry it must respond to constant changes in the environment. The management of Gene One hired an outside consulting firm to assist with change in the organization. Some ways to deal with change are education and communication; by helping the employees understand the change and explaining why the change is needed, and by including the participation from the members of the organization. Building support and commitment, and motivating and encouraging employees will help teams adjust to the new changes taking place (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Don Cruz the CEO of Gene One, will need to create an approach to help the organization become an IPO. Some methods he may use are the Lewins Three Step model and Kotter eight step plans. Kurt Lewins believed that for an organization to have a successful change, the company should follow three steps: unfreezing, movement, and refreezing (Robbins & Judge, 2007). John Kotter, a professor of Harvard Business School, creates a more detailed approach to Lewins three step model. Kotter states that for a successful change, a leader must create a sense of urgency and explain the reason for change. Don has to communicate the importance of urgency by setting goals and creating deadlines this will drive people to perform. Don can do this by addressing the goals and timeframes centered on financial controls and meeting SEC requirements involved with IPO. A number of areas to address to ensure success include: 1. Meet New Management and Board Requirements 2. Address Post-IPO requirements 3. Identify Investors to Focus On 4. Financial Controls (Gene One, 2010) Don will need to build a team with enough power to implement change. Don can do this by identifying senior leadership and board positions to align with SEC requirements (Gene One, 2010). The team Don chooses will create a vision and strategy for the change; make sure the company has a clear idea of company goals, and how the company is going to arrive at this point. Once the vision is establish Don and his teams have to comminute the vision throughout the organizations and get members on board to what the company is trying to do. The leadership team has to empower and challenge others, and encourage members to take risks. Lastly, Don will need to create short-term wins for the organization by setting goals and rewards. The leadership team will encourage continue improvements and changes not stopping until the organization has a clear vision. Once Don and his team implement the changes, the organization structure will have a new way of operating. The CEO, Don Cruz seems to be passionate about becoming an IPO organization. As a leader he has to prepare his organization for change that will take place in preparation for becoming a publicly traded company. Gene one team analysis and IPO candidate considerations An old proverb once said, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Team B through careful analysis of the various existing team members, compiled the four members most likely to bring Gene Once, into the public traded arena bringing strength and tremendous success. Strength comes from knowledge and a positive attitude. Although, Gene One is full of expertise, experience, and previous successes; of true importance are leadership and a positive attitude. Team B has the analysis, results, and recommendations denoted below. With any organization, one of the most important positions is of course, the leader. Gene One has Mr. Don Ruiz at the top of the chain currently. Mr. Ruiz is currently our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the originator of the company (Gene One, 2010). Mr. Ruiz has numerous attributes and attitudes that are crucial to a team. One of the traits of importance found within Mr. Ruiz is excitement about the opportunity before him and the company. Also of significant importance is the fact that Mr. Ruiz was the largest initial monetary investor. Being both the inventor and top executive Mr. Ruiz is an obvious choice for the team. Second consideration was Teri Robertson. Up to date Ms. Robertson has held the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Throughout our investigations, we found that although Ms. Robertson has a positive reputation regarding her previous work; her attitude towards going public is far from positive. Mr. Robertson has frequently expressed her displeasure with the change and her overall desire for merely research not “keeping Wall Street happy”. (Gene One, 2010.) Throughout our investigation it also became apparent that her negative mindset and overall attitude was one unproductive. Any current invention potentials including data belong to the company; thus, will stay with Gene One. Most of the other employees seem not to have confidence in her ability to create another successful product; primarily, because she lacks the passion. Another serious consideration reviewed for Gene One was Lucas Antonio. Mr. Antonio has previous experience in an IPO transformation. Not only would Mr. Antonio bring this experience, he is also is a leader in the Pharmaceuticals and Clare Corporation within the marketing industry. (Gene One, 2010). Currently, Mr. Charles Jones holds the Marketing Office position with the company. Although, Mr. Jones has great self confidence and morals he is also a known risk taker. With Mr. Jones not having a financial interest in the company currently, not part of the original team, and seemingly unexcited about the opportunity; Team B believes Mr. Antonio would be the better choice of the two at this time. Michelle Houghton, currently is the Chief Financial Officer for Gene One (Gene One, 2010). Mrs. Houghton has a strong attachment to Gene One; emotional attachment due to the fact she was one of the initial beginning employees. Mrs. Houghton has a strong working relationship with the both the government and various private investors which is essential in this endeavor. Any company can have growth potential, great ideals, but lack of funding will kill them all. Mrs. Houghton has the confidence of her coworkers and a positive, passionate attitude toward Gene One. An attitude that is essential for this endeavor. One of the Executive Board Members is Mrs. Susan Wells (Gene One, 2010). With numerous experiences, important connections with both the political world and the local media, and influential people all around her Team B believes Mrs. Wells should for the time being, remain. Lastly, Mr. John Kirby is ranking Executive Director Board Member currently (Gene One, 2010). Mr. Kirby is an expert in both the industry of nuclear medicine and getting goals accomplished. Therefore, Team B has the following recommendation, to move forward with goals of succeeding as a publicly traded company and considering members most likely to bring Gene Once into the public sector: Mr. Don Ruiz, Mrs. Susan Wells, Lucas Antonio, and Mr. John Kirby. Team B believes this will provide a very strong chain; each of these members bring individual links of knowledge and strength. Strength, knowledge, and positive attitudes are all essential ingredients found in success. Change strategy, leadership structure, and styles effective to the end vision After much discussion Team B believes that Gene One should utilize the Kotter eight-step plan when implementing a change strategy. This will line up with our end vision of Gene One, which would be to ultimately take the company public. Going public does have its risks but the rewards of the potential earnings are worth this risk. If Don follows Kotter’s model he will be able to convince the other members that taking the company public will be in the best interest of not only themselves but also for the company as a whole (Yukl, 2006). Don is already implementing step one of Kotter’s strategy by creating a sense of urgency. Don readily points out that they have already set the goal to grow the business by 40% per year for the next three years while trying to find new funding so that Gene One may introduce new products. Don believes that if the company is going to be able to produce numbers like this then they must go public and that now is the time to do so (Yukl, 2006). By Don gathering up the leadership team and trying to go over his vision for the company he is fulfilling a few other steps of the Kotter strategy. This gathering of people is forming a coalition to lead the new end vision changes that Don would like to take the company towards. He is clearly communicating this new vision with the leadership team because they are going to be the backbone of leading this change throughout the organization. During the meeting Don has already empowered a few key leaders to do certain tasks that will aid in accomplishing this new end vision (Gene One, 2010). With the end vision of taking the company public and by Don following the Kotter’s change strategy the board and Don will have to think about how to set up a leadership structure to fid this new vision. As previously mentioned Don has already empowered a few key members of his leadership team to take charge of certain aspects of the new vision. Don will need to expand upon that and monitor his leaders to ensure they are fulfilling what he had in mind. This new vision of taking the company public in Don’s eyes will be the only way that the company will be able to grow. If the company is able to grow it will be able to expand on the different types of products it offers thus reaching a larger share of the market. (Gene One, 2010) Conclusion Through careful analysis of the senior leadership team, Team B supports Gene One’s decision of offering an IPO within the next 36 months considering the right leadership team is put in place. Teams B, has devised a clear strategy involving leadership change, the approach required, and considering the key players who can make Gene One’s growth a reality. Several factors were evaluated to determine the viability of becoming a public traded company. Team B evaluated the current executive team against the current IPO requirements. Moving from a privately held company to a publicly traded company involves change and meeting new management and board requirements specific to the SOA (Gene One, 2010). To ensure change within the organization is successful, and referring to the Lewin’s three step model, unfreezing, movement, and refreezing, CEO, Don Ruiz, advised his leadership team going public has many benefits: growing the business 40% per year, introducing new products, and earning capital and credibility within the industry. Kotters Eight-Step plan for implementing change was of significance by using the concepts to create urgency, coalition and vision associated with getting ready for the IPO. Top managements major responsibility is to lead change (Yukl, 2006). Identifying and analyzing members most likely to bring Gene Once into the public sector: Mr. Don Ruiz, Mrs. Susan Wells, Lucas Antonio, and Mr. John Kirby will prepare Gene One to meet SOA requirements. Ultimately, Ruiz addressed his senior leadership team diligently when initiating the required change for company growth. The approaches to managing organizational change applied and “provides management and change agents with a more detailed guide for successfully implementing change” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p.653). References Gene One. (2010). Scenario Index. Retrieved on March 16, 2010, from University of Phoenix, Week Five Resource Yukl, G. A. (2006). Leadership in organizations (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.