Analysis on Redgate SQL - Essay Example

ANALYSIS ON REDGATE SQL + Table of Contents 0 Introduction3 2.0 Analysis4 2.1 Leadership style4 2.2 Organisational arrangement7 3.0 Conclusion8 4.0 Bibliography 10 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background and Issues Redgate is a UK-based company headquartered in Cambridge and specialises in the development of database tools as well as maintaining community websites including SQL and Simple Talk. Having been founded in the late 1999 by Simon Galbraith and Neil Davidson, the company has grown from 80 employees to the recent number of 280 as of 2012. Because of its tremendous success in the recent years, the firm has remained among the 100 best companies in the UK according to the Sunday Times (OConnel, 2015). Having conducted an in-depth study on the company, some interesting facts were realised including the leadership style adopted by the management. While one cannot rule the application of authoritarian style of leadership, there is evidence suggesting democracy as main approach in the company. Thus, the issues to be discussed include the rapid increase of the workforce and the company’s lack of debt despite being such a big firm. 1.2 Objectives In this paper, the focus will be on this company where certain areas will be scrutinised. First, every company utilises certain leadership styles on its day-to-day operations, and in this case, the paper will analyse how Redgate applies this theory. In addition, the organisational structure and design for the company will be analysed as well. The objective of this report is to investigate if the company’s success is primarily a result of the leadership style and the use of the organisation structure and design. Often, there arise debates as to whether these two theories contribute significantly to the success of businesses. By conducting this research with Redgate being the case study, this paper will give a comprehensive and empirical report on the facts about the theories. Upon providing these facts, which will be both accurate and unbiased, the research will offer businesspersons the much-needed opportunity to apply or disregard the theories accordingly. Besides, this report will achieve another important objective: providing upcoming businesspersons with crucial information on the effectiveness or lack of the same of the said theories. 2.0 Analysis Redgate Company was little known especially after its inception in 1999, but that is no longer the case today. Then, the company started it like any other, and there were no indications that after twelve years the company’s success would be evident to everyone. The number of employees was as little as 20, but the figure later rose to 80. Today, Redgate offers employment close to 300 employees. The first issue that was noticed at the company was the rapid increase of the workforce despite the tribulations that many companies tend to undergo especially when starting. The first contributor of this workforce increasing each year is the approach by the management. In other words, the firm’s top management adopts different leadership styles. 2.1 Leadership style The first leadership style evident at Redgate, and which could be attributed to the success the firm has realised is the Pace-setting approach. Instead of applying a dictatorial style, it is clear that the top management at Redgate prefer a different style. These observations are confirmed by the founders’ assertions that, “Constant oversight and the threat of punishment are incompatible with great, fulfilling work “. Instead, the management prefers, “creating appropriate constraints and then giving people the freedom to excel” (Redgate, 2015). Because of this approach by the firm, the company has remained among the 100 companies many people in UK would like to work for (O’Connel, 2015). This can be seen further in the management’s comments that have been quoted as saying that employees are hardly coerced into carrying out any activity. For instance, the firm allowed its employees to choose the team to join without any persuasion. Consequently, the firm benefited greatly because the employees show tremendous tenacity in their work. The theory of leadership outlines each of the approaches with its appropriate time for application, the likely results as well as the weaknesses. In the case of a pacesetter approach, it should be applied when the team is highly motivated to work in such a way that the realisation of goals is faster. Innovation cannot be overlook in the company as another reason the number of employees has increased in a way that could only be described as exponential. This can be seen in a number of areas including the development of the database tools. For instance, in 2005 Redgate developed Simple Talk, which offers technical assistance to the community in the areas of .Net and Ms SQL server developers besides publishing books for SQL-related topics. Because of this innovation, the company has attracted a majority of online customers. In fact, one of the books, which were initially meant for the employees ended up taken up by other 70,000 people outside the company mainly because of the content it, had (Redgate, 2015). Besides, in having a large workforce and development of materials that favour the community, innovation at the Redgate is witnessed further in areas of management. Earlier, it was noted that despite offering the services globally and having almost a 300 work force, the company has no debt. That does not mean the firm has been flawless in its ventures all along; the management states that the first years many opportunities were lost. However, debt has been avoided by hiring highly experienced engineers, selling tools that solve technical problems for the customers coupled with a democratic atmosphere that allows employees to work without coercion or constant supervision. The above success could be attributed to the earlier stated theory of leadership style as well as the organisation structure and design. A good organisational structure ought to offer the direction or a guide on duty allocation, organisation as well as supervision, all of which have to be directed toward the fulfilment or achievement of the organisational objectives. When it comes to organisation, it should be guided by the specialisation of the employee where their posting ought to be catalysed by their qualification of that job. When this is not done, a firm risks having employees suffering from stress, fatigue and boredom, all of which result in poor quality of output, thus negatively affecting the organisation (Sethuraman and Suresh, 2014). Clearly, Redgate realised this risk and moved to avert it by adopting a different strategy where the employees’ specialisation determined their organisation. In short, the organisational structure allows for departmentalisation where individuals are tasked with duties as per their capacity and expertise. As reported earlier, the company allowed the employees to choose where they wanted to be posted as per their qualifications. According to Leban and Zulauf (2004) when this model of organisation is adopted, the staff feel motivated to with little supervision because their expertise matches their tasks. As a result, there tends to be an increased output resulting in profitability if other areas are well managed. Evidently, this explains the Redgate’s profitability, remaining among the best companies and most importantly, operating without debts despite its presence in many areas. This is evidently seen concerning the development of .NET in 2007 where after the successful indications in terms of sales, the company reworked on the model in 2009. As a result four divisions have been realised including DBA, New Business, SQL and the .NET (Berry, 2011; Meine, 2013). While a company could be committed to the Research and Development (R&D), Moore and Mamiseishvili (2012) stated that when cohesion between the management and the employees exist, there is a strong sense of motivation. Often, this cohesion is characterised by freedom to express opinion, even when negative, without fear of reprisal. Also, providing an environment that makes the employees feel part of the company will most likely end up in a highly spirited workforce. Many times, the employees tend deliver beyond the expectations of the firm. In the end, the profit margins tend to increase tremendously since the employees are motivated neither by the financial gain nor by the possibility of negative repercussions (Raja and Palanichamy, 2011). 2.2 Organisational arrangement and benefits It is clear that Redgate management has adopted the approach as opposed to using the traditional management tactics. In fact, the founders have been quoted severally stating that their approach as far as management is concerned is to do away with the traditional methods. At Redgate, gone are the days when the employees needed to shake while addressing their seniors. Instead, they are offered a chance to work freely with no intimidations, threats or unnecessary supervision (Redgate, 2015). These assertions have been confirmed by a number of sources including the magazines and other form of media, which have interviewed the managers and employees at Redgate in the past. The issue of zero debt at Redgate is tied to the two theories explained in this paper in a number of ways. First, when a firm like the Redgate is committed to R&D especially in regard to meeting the consumer needs, profitability is almost evitable. According to Lester (2013) when the Maslow’s theory of human needs is well applied by companies, it is not possible to witness low profit margins. Redgate strives to understand the consumer needs and meet in the most satisfying way possible. Consequently, increased sales characterise the company, and this greatly explains the reason there is no debt in the firm. Secondly, the hiring of qualified individuals in different departments and embracing the leadership explained above inevitably results in high profits. 3.0 Conclusion The issue of Redgate operating without a debt is one that is worth noting in this paper as it could offer precious lessons to other businesses. As indicated, for a company to remain profitable, there are issues to observe especially when it comes to applying the leadership style and the approach to the organisation structure. First, a firm that offers a conducive environment to its employees will most likely have a motivated workforce, which, most likely, results in tremendous increase of output. That is to say, the management ought to create an atmosphere that makes employees feel part of the organisation. In the case of Redgate, this is achieved by allowing the staff choose their teams or the department depending on the qualification they have. Thus, the issue of a debt-less Redgate is related to the leadership style in the sense that there is compulsion on employees. Furthermore, the debt-less company has been aided mainly by its innovation especially in understanding the technical problem faced by their clients. Again, this is connected to leadership style because the firm takes the sale team’s feedback serious. As a matter of fact, much of the innovation in the firm is a result of the feedback delivered by the sale steam. Therefore, if the firm continues with this approach of receiving and implementing the suggestions their customers give through their sales team, the future success could even be better. Nonetheless, there is a need for decentralisation of some of the departments in the company as centralisation could be a hindrance to a positive outlook. While the company allows employees a friendly environment, some decisions are made from the top, and this could be detrimental in the future. In order to effectively manage people, it is recommended that that immediate manager be given more administrative powers to make the decisions, which are not as critical. This step will greatly help the company’s success because too much bureaucracy might stifle the progress. This ought to be done in a way that the managers’ decisions will not compromise the productivity, reputation or any other fundamental issue of the company. As indicate at the beginning of the paper, the other issue noted at Redgate is that there is an increased workforce. While it is a positive thing to the business and one that has been a result of the services and environment the company offers, it could be a source of hurdle in the future. Bloated work force often leads to a reduction in profit margins, and this ends up giving a firm a bad reputation. Therefore, in order to have a better people management program, it is imperative for Redgate to hire on “as needed when needed” basis. That is to say, the company will not hire until there is a need for the same. While it is true, this number is related to the success of the company today, it is important to be watchful of the impact it could have in the future when not addressed adequately. Bibliography Redgate LTD (2015). About Redgate, by Simon Galbraith & Neil Davidson. [online] Red-gate.com. Available at: http://www.red-gate.com/our-company/ [Accessed 12 May 2015]. Leban, W. and Zulauf, C. (2004). Linking emotional intelligence abilities and transformational leadership styles. Leadership & Org Development J, 25(7), pp.554-556. Sethuraman, K. and Suresh, J. (2014). Effective Leadership Styles. International Business Research, 7(9). BERRY, G. (2011). SQL Server hardware. [S.l.], Red Gate Books. MEINE, S. (2013). Fundamentals of SQL Server 2012 replication. [S.l.], Simple Talk BALL, B. (2012). Pro SQL Server 2012 practices. [S.l.], New York: Apress. Lester, D. (2013). Measuring Maslows Hierarchy of Needs 1. Psychological Reports, p.130 Moore, A. and Mamiseishvili, K. (2012). Examining the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Group Cohesion. Journal of Education for Business, 87(5), pp.296-302. OConnel, D. (2015). 100 Best Companies | The Sunday Times. [online] Features.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Available at: http://features.thesundaytimes.co.uk/public/best100companies/live/template [Accessed 12 May 2015]. Raja, A. and Palanichamy, P. (2011). Leadership Styles and its Impact on Organizational Commitment. Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 7(3), pp.167-175. Read More