Key Management Challenge - Acme Minerals Extraction Company - Case Study Example

Acme Minerals Extraction Company Case Study Name Institution Acme Minerals Extraction Company Case Study Executive Summary In an effort to improve the confidence and productivity of the teams, ACME successfully introduced teamwork in its first plant, Wichita. For the business, it was important to bridge the existing gap between the employees: the brains, which involved workers who are highly educated and use sophisticated technology and the brown, which majorly involved the skilled and semi-skilled employees. Such differences brought conflict leading to hiring of the external consultant, Suzanne Howard. She did not quite understand the organizational employee making it difficult for her to develop effective teams. In her luck, she met Donald Peterson, a long time employee who had experience in various lines and positions within ACME; as a result, he became key in solving the problems of the business. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Key Management Challenge 5 Case Analysis 6 Recommendations 8 References 9 Introduction The case on Acme Mineral Extraction Company assists in the identification of the management approaches and leadership styles considered important in ensuring the success of the projects based on the teamwork in any situation. The case demonstrated that a management style does not suit in every situation, which makes a successful leadership style to be driven with the situation. The differences in the workers’ responses at the two sites of the business after implementation of similar project indicate that the success of any leadership style depends on both the appropriate methods and processes used by the leaders and personal charisma showed by the leaders. In addition, it is important to note that the type of respect that the leaders command from their subordinates makes it easier for them to implement various programs and bring the required change. In such cases, trust plays a significant role in the implementation of ideas (Chin, 2015). Various concepts such as problem chat and SPITS played important role in bringing together the members of different functional groups for the accomplishment of the task that involved solving common problems. The team projects succeeded due to different reasons: Ms Suzanne was lucky to have found Donald Peterson an experienced employee who understood the discrepancies associated with both groups, which made it easier to solve the problems. The introduction of the cross-sectional team in Wichita through STIPS and problem chat proved to be effective methods allowing people across the departments to change information, come up with a new idea, and solve institution problems. Key Management Challenge For many years, ACME has experienced various problems associated with poor teamwork that contributed to low morale and productivity issues. Employees are the centre of organizational performance; therefore, their motivation is of essence to the organization. Initially, the business had poor employee engagement practice. To exploit fully the potential of the employees, it is important that the business engage them in most of the activities. Despite having to different teams, the management and leaders of these groups need to understand that they have similar object, which would propel them to achieve the required results. Another factor that contributed to poor employee morale and consequently poor organizational performance is employee-management relationship. Quality issue is another problem associated with management of the business due to longer response time, poor levels of socialization, and inadequate levels of sharing knowledge. The workers were not empowered to take decisions and select the leaders they considered appropriate for them. In addition, with improper authority, inadequate definition of the needed outcome, goals, and ethical guidelines, the employees were unable to comprehend on organizational needs which in turn affected the their performance. Employees need time to discuss some of the issues affecting their performance. There was needs to schedule meetings on timely basis to discuss their problems. For example, after establishing the timeline for the meetings, the teams became lively which led to numerous discussions and solution, which signify the significance of enabling employees to have team discussions. The organization did not provide a platform for the employees to communicate their feelings and share ideas on the best ways to improve their performance and institutional output. The management worked hard to ensure organizational success; however, without involvement of the employees, they were demotivated which in turn affected their contribution to the organization. To such, it was evident that the business needed a leader with proficiency in establishing better working relationship. This led to job satisfaction. Case Analysis The work team used in the business evolved through various stages of team development. Important stages include forming, storming, norming, and performing. To ensure effectiveness of the team, the first step was the formation of problem chat. The storming stage was characterized with numerous conflicts, anger, and frustrations. Donald Peterson played an important role in ensuring the proper performance of the team. Under the leadership of Peterson, the teams employed cross-functional leadership style, which demonstrated effective practices. Based on the Fielder contingency model, effective performance of the teams depend on proper match between styles of leadership and the extent to which the situation offers control to the leader. Suzanne was a transactional manager from the manner in which she tried to motivate the employee towards the establishment of the goals through classification of their roles and task requirements. On the other hand, Peterson was a transformational leader who had proven charisma. Moreover, several workers and engineers from various functional groups in both ACME and Wichita trusted the leadership of Peterson due to his level of competence, loyalty to the business, and openness on management issues. Trust is an important attribute of a leader (Chen & Lee, 2008); as a result, trusting Peterson gave him access to various decisions of the team members, which assisted in the formation of effective team. Based on the analysis, it appears that trust is the main attribute linked to effective leadership. Moreover, in Wichita, the employees were willing to share some of their knowledge and problems with other team members as they had realized the significance of identification-based trust that Peterson offered to them. Consequently, the team members were confident that through the leadership of Peterson, their rights and interests were safeguarded. The main objective of Peterson was to ensure effective conflict resolution through adoption of collaborating style of conflict management. Peterson, with high level of assertion and corporation, valued the concerns of both the employees and professionals, which made him high levels of commitment from both cases. According to Herzberg’s theory, the employees who feel good regarding their jobs tend to attribute their positive feelings to various intrinsic factors like responsibility, recognition, and the work. Peterson had a successful leadership due to initial experiences and expertise on various problems experienced by the organization. In addition, Peterson had worked in various position which made him understand the psychology of the employees at every level and was in a position of developing a network that guarantees high levels of corporation among them. To note the effective leadership presented with Peterson, Howard commented that such effective leadership lacked in Lubbock, which led to its failure. After implementing the teams successfully in the first plant, the business decided to implement similar approach in another plant without the support of Peterson. Suzanne tried her level best to ensure that the success was replicated in the second plant. The failure was attributed to the fact that instead of reaching the root cause of the problem, Howard and the team focused on direct implementation of the successful strategy used in Wichita believing that the employees would feel connected and responded to the needs of the organization. While replicating leadership strategies, it is important to note that groups are different in terms of physical composition and experiences of each member (Wellington & Foster, 2009). Research indicate that although the teams might be right for the businesses, it is important to note that teams are not meant for each person and works in similar manner everywhere. In such case, change management played important role in guaranteeing the failure in the teams formed with Howard in the sister plant. People are always resistant to change especially to leave their comfort zones as they think that in the process, they would lose things that they value. The sister employees felt similar manner which led to resistance to change. Recommendations For Suzanne and the team to achieve the required level of success in the sister plant, they need to understand the behavioural approach of management which must be in line with the contingency approach. Furthermore, it is key to take into account that the situation and problems in the sister plant might differ from those in the first one; as a result, the response needs to be appropriate. Without acquainted leadership skills, the formation of work-team needed to necessitate building of trust and involvement of other people. Suzanne made the attendance mandatory, which is linked to both the task-oriented and assertive leadership style. This is not a source of motivation for most team members. Therefore, the management should have considered intervention strategies like developing individuals, ensuring proper existence of sense of common purpose, and committing each employee to the success of the team. Moreover, there is need to tackle various barriers between different institutional units in an effort to bring together the employee and acquisition of their trust (Hawkins, 2014). The Howard team needs to give time to people to adjust to various changes. In order to ensure that the teams work with commitment and enthusiasm, it is important that Howard focuses on developing effective teams. After building an effective team, Howard’s team need to focus on working on conflict resolution, team building activities, and various methodologies of ensuring effective performance of the teams. References Chen, C., & Lee, Y. T. (2008). Leadership and management in China: Philosophies, theories, and practices. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Chin, R. J. (2015). Examining teamwork and leadership in the fields of public administration, leadership, and management. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 21(3/4), 199-216. Hawkins, P. (2014). Leadership team coaching: Developing collective transformational leadership. London: Kogan Page. Wellington, P., & Foster, N. (2009). Effective team leadership for engineers. Stevenage: Institution of Engineering and Technology. Read More