Simmons Case Study - Essay Example

Other than one of it's plants, they were all run military style, turnover was high and it appeared to no one was very happy to be coming to work and even more important the managers had no sense of responsibility for their staff other then to drive them in their jobs. The economy had turned sour after 911 and their competitors were beginning to do somewhat better. To top it all, they had lost good contact with customers and with suppliers and had just instituted a bad set of foam that made their mattresses smell bad.

In this atmosphere, their CEO wanted to institute a training program that was very expensive and very innovative. When money is tight, it is most difficult to think about pushing forward into something new, especially if you are at the helm, the CEO. On the average, during a recession the employees are at their lowest moral and the worth of an excellent leader becomes more important than ever. According to Leb (2009), there are many things that the leader must be able to do and certainly the ability to do and one of those is to inspire those who are employed by him.

In support of innovation during hard times is a survey done by Bloomberg Business Week (2009), in which they surveyed CEO's that had put in place new and innovative programs during hard times in the economy and in their companies. . It is easy for the leadership of an organization to throw up their hands, similar to the employees, and say "there is just nothing we can do right now" and ride it out. The biggest problem with that kind of attitude is the fact that someone will pull out of head while you are waiting.

In evaluating whether this should happen, a couple of things came to mind. Simmons believes in CHOICES which is the caring, history, opportunity, innovation, customers, empowerment, and support. The culture of the company does not provide for this belief. Only one plant in the several has managed to accomplish this kind of atmosphere, therefore, they need to change their values and cultural beliefs or the way they do things. The other is ethical beliefs of fairness, respect, integrity, and fostering growth and development in others.

Under the present organizations culture, none of these things are happening at the level of the employees as the present managerial group continues to run the company like a dictatorship and employees are generally very unhappy (Casciaro & Edmondson, 2007). The main objectives of GGOL were to help people understand what their full potential at work might be. Their philosophy was that "profitable organizational growth is a result of satisfied and loyal customers; a committed, cooperative, and creative organizational culture; and a leadership team that empowers and serves the workforce.

" After seeing the video, it became obvious that this is built from the individual up, not the other way. Employees must understand where they fit in and how to interact without fear and with trust, in order to improve the processes that would lead to