Management

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ANSWER

Question and Answer

Teams and Decisions

I have been involved in several team activities outside of this class. I have participated in many volunteer activities, and I have also worked. In all those situations, I have found myself having to work with a team. One team that stood out for me most was one involving international students in an exchange program. The team I got was diverse and thus had different people from all sorts of the world. What I found interesting in this team was the undermining that happened to the African exchange students. This mostly happened from the American and the European members. They did not think they had much to offer, resulting in the team being dysfunctional. The activities in the team involved winning a trophy at the end. If the team did not underestimate the Africans in the team, we could have probably won because, as it turned out, they were good in most of the activities that we were supposed to take part in, but they were not given a chance to showcase their talents (Nason, 2022 Week 2). In the next activity, they avoided working with the embers of the same team as they felt left out and underestimated.

Leader Analysis

Mary Barra is one of the most inspirational women in leadership. She is the CEO at general motors and started her career at GM as an 18-year-old co-op student. Her rise through the ranks was inspirational, especially due to the way she handled the crisis at general motors. I would say that she is both a supportive and inspirational leader. This is because, in her leadership, she understands the ability of her followers, and she has established a strong relationship with her followers (Nason, 2022, Week 3). She also inspires her followers to greater levels of performance by encouraging them to open up any time one discovers an issue in the company. Her followers trust her as they can open up in case of an issue in the warehouses. Mary Barra has the characteristics of both an inspirational and a supportive leader. This is because she supports her employees while at the same time she inspires them to be the best. Her leadership style is transformational, where she leads by example and expects the employees to follow her example. She also inspires the other people in leadership positions to follow her example and inspires young girls to be as great as she is.

Mary Barra proved her ability to lead during challenging times in 2009 when GM filed for bankruptcy. This was a series of car models manufactured by the company that led to ignition problems, which led to many accidents that killed people (Stanisic, 2018). instead of denying the problem, she took charge and acknowledged the problem publicly. This move was meant to inspire her followers also to do the same. They can be honest and speak up on safety issues in the company without being punished. She also took responsibility for the issues facing the company and, as a way of taking accountability, committed to the company, making it up for the harm caused. This was a risky move on her side because it meant that the company would lose money. However, this move worked for the company as it enabled the company to foster customer relationships. She also started the “speak for safety movement” in the company, where whistleblowers are rewarded instead of being punished. Her acts of courage by taking accountability inspire the followers in the company to do the same. She also supports her employees hence fostering a transparent environment (Arnold, 2017).

Marry Barra is a transformational leader. When she became CEO, she realized that something needed to change in GM if the company was going to get out of the mud. She, therefore, decided to be the beginning of the change by being transparent about the issues facing the company and filing for bankruptcy. She communicated her vision to the employees of GM. Her vision was to foster transparency and positive customer relationships. She did this by ensuring that her employees had an environment where they could talk about the issues facing the company openly without the fear of castigation or punishment.

A leadership style outside the ones discussed in class is democratic or participative leadership. I would say that Mary Barra is a democratic leader. Participative leadership involves giving guidance to the members of the organization, but they also allow the members to participate and make decisions pertaining to some issues (Akpoviroro et al.,2018). For example, they guide them on how to tackle a certain issue, but they do not make all the decisions. They ask them what they think is best for the organization, and the best idea contributed by the team members is used. Mary Barra uses participative leadership because she worked at the lowest ranks of GM and thus understands the need to feel heard and to participate in decision-making within the company. She uses this style to ensure all the team members’ ideas in GM are heard, and those good ideas are not left out of the company. Participative leadership ensures that all ideas are heard.

As stated in class, leadership takes place in different situations, and thus, there are situations where participative leadership will not work. Participative leadership requires time as everybody has to contribute. In a situation where decisions have to be made fast, this leadership style can inhibit that. Participative leadership could hinder change management as people might spend too much time discussing the change and thus leading to slow changes being made within an organization. It also increases the likelihood of conflict. This is where everybody has an opinion, and they want their idea to be implemented. Failure to implement their ideas could lead to conflict in an organization. This method cannot be applied to an organization that is looking to make quick changes. This is because it is slow and would bring unnecessary conflict to the organization. It is best used in established organizations and in making decisions that have time.

Leading and Managing Organizational Change

Netflix is one of the companies that has been undergoing constant changes since it was created. This is because Netflix is a technology-based organization, and thus it has had to adapt to the technological changes that have been happening over the years. Netflix started its business in 1997 in California, USA. Netflix started by selling DVDs and rentals through the mail. They had a rent-by-mail DVD and pay-per rental model. In 1999 they changed this model to pay a monthly rate (Akingbola et al., 2019). In 2007 they introduced video streaming features for films and television series. Netflix has survived over the years to date by adapting to the changes and the needs of its customers. The transitions made by Netflix over the years were steps to sustain success and grow. They recognized that technology was changing, and they also had to adapt to the changes to stay in business.

Netflix has constantly had success in making the changes in the company by looking at the market trends and adapting to the customer’s needs. In the late 1990s, people used DVDs. They sold DVDs to customers by delivering them through the mail. As time progressed, the internet changed, technology changed, and people could stream videos online. To ensure that their company did not remain behind, they adapted to this model. They realigned themselves with the current trend, which was streaming videos. The employees in Netflix have not had trouble adjusting to the changes because when Netflix makes changes, it is meant to sustain the success of the company. Employees in companies that are trying to sustain success are usually complacent to the changes. This explains why the company has had so many smooth transitions.

Different Change Lever

Apart from the change levers identified in class, there are change levers used in real life. Some include providing the needed infrastructure, shifting resistance, leading by example, and rewarding the success. These are important levers that can affect all members of the organization in making the change process easier (Nason, 2022, week 4). Change can be difficult, and the last thing wants when planning change is resistance. There is the temptation to do everything according to one’s ideal thinking, but it is important to involve the team members. This will involve shifting the resistance. After introducing change, there are people who disagree with the change, instead of ignoring them, it is important to have a meeting with them to understand why they believe the change hold not happen. Communication with team members fosters a positive attitude towards change.

It is also essential to be the leader of change. This means being receptive to the change. For example, the nurses are introduced to electronic health records in a healthcare facility. If they are not receptive to the new system of doing things, the best way to showcase the advantage of this new system is by using it (Anand & Barsoux, 2017). If one uses the new gadgets, the other nurses will see that they are not that hard to use, and they will also spend time trying to learn. Leaders should focus on inspiring the members of the organization to adapt to the changes. Puling the lead by example lever affects all members of the organization. Even those who are open to the change will be more motivated to continue working harder. Motivation is key in change management. People will do better if motivated, and thus, any success achieved as a result of the change should be rewarded. This will motivate all members of the organization to work towards making the change successful. Rewards can also be ineffectively used by trying to bribe the members who do not agree with the change to adapt to the change.

Adaptive Leadership

Adaptive leadership is the type of leadership that involves changing with the changing times (Nason, 2022, week 4). According to adaptive leadership, one does not need to change themselves completely, but they also need to move and not remain stagnant (Ancona et al., 2007). In the case of Netflix, this model has been effective. This is because the company has kept changing, but it has not changed itself completely. Netflix is still a company that sells movies. However, it has evolved with the changing times. It has adapted to the new technologies to ensure that it is not left out. The company still deals with movies and TV series, and one can still choose a monthly subscription. The company has only adapted to the changes and thus remains the same company. Adaptive leadership has therefore been successful in Netflix. In the change levers, adaptive leadership can also be effective. This is where one teaches the employees the importance of changing with the current trends.

In the example given in 3b, adaptive leadership could be efficiently used by teaching the nurses to adapt to the changes. Moving to electronic health records does not mean that they are changing completely. It is the same paper records but in an easier to access and safer method of storage which is electronic. Electronic health records are also easier to handle as the nurses will find all the patient’s information in one place. Adaptive leadership is an effective leadership model as it encourages adapting to new changes (Nason, 2022, Week 4). This means that the organization and its leaders are open to the changes without feeling like they are completely changing themselves. Netflix has effectively used adaptive leadership so far, thus maintaining its competitive advantage. The company is always making changes, and the employees in the company are not resistant to the change as they are aware that the change is meant to improve the company.

References

Akingbola, K., Rogers, S. E., & Baluch, A. (2019). Organizational Change. In Change Management in Nonprofit Organizations (pp. 1-35). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Akpoviroro, K. S., Kadiri, B., & Owotutu, S. O. (2018). Effect of participative leadership style on employee’s productivity. International Journal of Economic Behavior (IJEB), 8(1), 47-60.

Anand, N., & Barsoux, J. L. (2017). What everyone gets wrong about change management. Harvard business review, 95(6), 79-85.

Ancona, D., Ancona, D. G., & Bresman, H. (2007). X-teams: How to build teams that lead, innovate, and succeed. Harvard Business Press.

Arnold, K. A. (2017). Transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being: A review and directions for future research. Journal of occupational health psychology, 22(3), 381.

Nason, W.S. (2022). HIGH (and LOW) PERFORMING PATTERNS of TEAM COMMUNICATION: PB Technologies. Week 2.

Nason, W.S. (2022). Leadership. Week 3

Nason, W.S. (2022). Leading Organizational Change. Week 4

Nason, W.S. (2022). Patient Zero. Week 4

Stanisic, B. (2018). General Motors CEO Mary Barra–Leadership style analysis.