Leadership, Culture, and Management - Valley View Company - Case Study Example

BUILD AND SUSTAIN AN INNOVATION WORK ENVIRONMENT STUDENT’S NAME: INSTITUTION: INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: DATE: Assessment 1 Leadership, Culture, and Management As the rate of innovation continues to escalate globally, the more advanced way of doing things become. Organizations and companies are scaling high as a result of innovations that set their business in a higher position and thus attaining competitive strategy. In order to influence innovations, employees should be provided with the best condition that will result in interactions, sharing ideas and access to infrastructure that breeds innovations. Employees require a conducive environment that will nurture their talents and henceforth ideas. In many organizations, their way of nurturing talents and ideas has been of great impact towards the achievement of their goals. There are some ways in which staff communicates ideas, for example through the use of technology whereby staff can research and get access to ideas that will breed innovation. Discussions and brainstorming sessions have been the best platform for the staff to also communicate their ideas. The case of valley view, there has been plans to improve the way in which staff communicate ideas and therefore the need to renovate infrastructure. Infrastructure to enable communication effectively A faster internet service More computers Communication should be effective, and therefore, a website that will be a platform for discussing ideas should be developed An incubation room where innovative ideas will be nurtured and implemented Well equipped offices to provide the best condition for innovation Management techniques to support staff Planning is the most important management technique that has been used in various managerial work, a well-planned activity will enable the manager to ensure that every detail of an idea has been planned so as to ease the process of implementation. Organizing is the technique whereby the manager has to place the plan in order, for example if it is the infrastructure that will breed innovation; the manager has to organize the place where the infrastructure will benefit all the staff. The third technique is communication; this is where the manager communicates his planned and organized ideas to the rest of the staff .communication is essential because the staff will be involved the discussions on how to implement the planned ideas. The above techniques, when applied in the office, will help in influencing innovative culture and will foster teamwork among staff and henceforth achievement of goals. Consulting on setting up new premises With the growth of valley view and the need to improve innovation communication, A consultant should be involved in the process of restructuring the management of valley view. A consultant should be able to identify the areas that will be affected and come up with strategies that will help in ensuring that the staff will not be affected. A formal consultation process should be done through involving staff and preparing them psychologically for how these processes of restricting are expected to occur. Some of the strategies that valley view can carry out to avoid surprises include, proper communication of the ideas to staff and welcoming their suggestions, engaging the staff in the implementation of the restructuring plan, this will help them to adopt. Training staff and passing the information on why there should be restructuring is also another strategy. Emerging innovative practices There are more innovative practice emerging in the world and therefore competition increase as well. Big companies known for innovation are scaling high with their technological innovations that are proving a threat to other companies who are still trying to breed innovative ideas. Valley view being one of the companies that are trying to consider restructuring is facing completion especially with companies that used advanced technology. In Australian, innovation is becoming the most targeted and most appreciated activity, and it is becoming the most important part of the economy. Therefore, the research and development are a vital input when it comes to innovation. Innovation has proved to me far more than just only research and development because there is a need to understand the idea, plan on how to ensure that the idea is beneficial, and therefore it should involve a wide range of activities up to the time it is implemented. Take for example companies like Apple and Wal-mart that have gone beyond research and innovation to amaze the world with their products. These companies do not just research and develop, but they ensure that the products innovated meet the global demand and the technological advancement. Using technology to facilitate innovative ideas Having looked at the valley view intranet, there is one of the elements that can help facilitate change and that are the staff development resources. This is because the most important tool for an organization are staff. Without staff, there will be no progress; they are the ones who come up with innovative ideas and hence they are the most crucial part of an organization when it comes to changes. Using an email in the change process can be effective since it is a way of preparing staff to embrace advanced technology. Valley view should use email to facilitate effective means of communication and to also enable the company strives in order to ensure that the internet service is sufficient. Email is faster and saves time and resources when it comes to communication. LinkedIn is one of the rapid means of communication that has linked professionals from different parts of the world. This technology has influenced sharing of ideas and it is essential for a company like Valley view. This is because it can be essential in communicating with people and also for the purpose of monitoring the progress of competitors. Effective team leadership From the minutes held in Valley View Company, the strategies that should be put in place to ensure smooth flow of communication and influence innovation are appropriate. I agree with these strategies in the sense that there should be regular meetings for the purpose of updating staff on what is going on in the organization. From these meetings, staff will be able to contribute to the topic of discussion and the changes intended to be implemented. A regular visit to the general manager is one of an essential parts of influencing staff innovative ideas. This is because it is only the general manager who can listen and understand his staff. When a staff is free with the general manager, they tend to communicate without the fear of the unknown. Suggestion boxes are also essential for some staff who feels the need to communicate without being recognized, this way staff is able to address issues that undermine their work environment without pinpointing fingers at anyone. Also, email bulletin note will influence faster means of communication; it will also contribute to rapid responses and hence the implementation will be effective. Internal drivers of change The proposed internal change is the infrastructure and the organization of offices so as to facilitate effective communication technology. In this case, staff will be affected because there is a need to restructure the whole company. The consequences of changes will include new offices created, staff being moved from different departments and the new system of communication. The reason for the change revolves around communication technology whereby the company intends to upgrades its way of communication so as to encourage innovations and therefore to result to attaining a competitive strategy. The stakeholders of the company will contribute towards the change, and the change agents will be the consultants who will evaluate and propose the appropriate system for change. External drivers of change Due to competitive nature of the economy in Australia, there are some forces that will result in changes in the work environment. Valley view is experiencing some external drivers of change, especially in the communication sector. Therefore, these forces have influenced the way in which the company needs to communicate to its customers. Customers are therefore the external drivers of change because they require information and delivery of services. Many companies prefer the use of electronic commerce so as to meet a wide coverage of their demand for products and services. Other external forces of change include the need to keep pace with the competition. Also, the need to become technologically advanced company contributes to the forces. Communication strategies Change has been defined as the act of becoming different either in the way of thinking and action. Change can either be positive or negative depending on the situation that has forced the change. In my place of work; I have experienced a change in the management such that new managers were transferred to our department. The purpose of such changes was to introduce new ways of achieving goals. The new managers were required to come up with better methods of improving understanding among staff, and this was successful through implementing new ways f communication and delegation of duties. Factors that are likely to impact on the Valley View Company revolve around delegation of duties and restructuring of infrastructure. Also, the change of managers will have an impact because staff will have to adjust so as to accommodate the new ways of management. Since they are used to the terms of the previous managers, it can be difficult to change. It is important to convey communication strategies promptly because they have an impact on the staff. Communication the vital aspect in the organization and therefore any changes should be communicated promptly for the purpose of emphasis and the purpose of psychological preparation for change. Identify effective ideas It is obvious that extreme exposure to computers has side effects that could lead to staff not being comfortable. A work environment that determines the related health risks due to changes in the structure considers the employee needs .according to the recommendations made by the occupation and health committees; Valley View should ensure they implement these recommendations. This is because staff will be expected to produce the best results after the restructure and therefore their health matters. There is no point of restructuring a company without evaluating the risks that could impact the health of staff. The mitigation measures are important because they will encourage and motivate staff in their place of work. The company also needs to focus on infrastructure that will minimize side effects; there are recommended chairs for example which can be comfortable especially when operating on a computer, there are also screen glasses that staff can wear so as to avoid effects caused by looking at the computer screen for long hours. The 5 Why Process worksheet: What 5 Whys (or more) would you ask in this situation? What do you think is the main cause of the problem? Can you recommend solutions that could have prevented this injury? Why? Answer Why sue used the urn even with warnings not to use it She used the urn because she had seen other staff use it before, she was also hungry and decided to take a cup of coffee Why was the urn placed there The urn was placed there for the purpose of boiling water. is obvious that staff does need hot water to make themselves coffee or tea Why did the maintenance take long The maintenance took long because of poor maintenance service. If the company noticed that the urn needed to be repaired, they would have done it immediately to prevent such accidents. Why was there no other means of boiling water The company was ignorant of the fact that staff needs hot water and therefore could not bother with the urn being there Why is the staff room not equipped with a kitchen room It is essential that every company should have a kitchen fully equipped and well maintained, this will create conducive work environment that will minimize such accidents Main cause: The main cause of the accident was ignorance from the human resource department; they should have ensured that the urn is replaced or repaired immediately. Suggested solutions: There should be a well-equipped kitchen for staff so as to create a conducive environment other that having the urn in staffroom Staff should be warned of any damage that can cause accidents Maintenance should frequently be done to avoid any accidents Planning office layout SWOT analysis of the current office place Strengths Enough space for staff Appropriate infrastructure Communication technology effective Weaknesses Slow internet connection No adequate ventilation Opportunities Competition has resulted in expansion of the offices Restructuring is ongoing New products are innovated Threats Competition New technology requires staff with knowledge The current office layout is a landscape, and it occupies all the junior staff. It has enhanced communication and honesty because every staff can do their duties openly. It has also boosted respect so that staff will not disturb each other and instead work as a team to achieve the desired goals. With competition, the layout has to be restructured to increase space and to allocate staff according to duties delegated to the. Assessment 2 A plan for supporting innovation and change at Valley View Valley View is a company that produced print based tour guide. Due to the increase in demand for more information on tourist guide, the company is planning to expand its strategies so as to meet the increasing demand through technology advancement. The company intends to be the best in Australia in providing quality resources for tourism and the environment. The company plans to change its work structure by changing the management, communication technology, and the office structure; staff will also be affected by the change. The external forces that have contributed to the change are; competition, technological change, and the customer demand. The internal forces that drive these changes are the infrastructure and organization of the offices. These changes will automatically affect the work area because it will require the project manager to involve staff in training so as to adapt to the new changes. There will also be a change of management and office layout which will affect the work area. These changes are beneficial in the sense that there will be a more conducive environment that will breed innovation of ideas that will drive the company goals and henceforth success. The process of implementing these changes will be communicated, and the staff will be grouped into teams for training purposes. Since change is not an easy activity, it is expected that there will be issues that will need to be resolved. Therefore, transparency will be an essential aspect for resolving these issues. Also, the team leaders will be expected to communicate effectively to team members and clarify any issue. In order for the implementation to be accomplished, there are resources that will be needed, especially unlimited internet for the purpose of communication, well-made chairs and tables that will not cause side effects to the staff and enough supply of power and computers. There are related changes that will occur in future especially changing of software use for the purposes of developing new programs, also change in the office layout as a result of innovations that will generate more profits and hence the need to add more staff. Reference Berge, Zane L. Sustaining Distance Training: Integrating Learning Technologies into the Fabric of the Enterprise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001. Print. Read More