You are a lead manager at Forman Mills. You have just received a shipment of new Phillies World Se?
Management
You are a lead manager at Forman Mills. You have just received a shipment of new Phillies World Series memorabilia this morning. You were told the entire product line needs to go on sale tomorrow before the big parade in the city. During the rush following the Phillies victory in the National League Conference Series (NLCS), there were significant quality issues and pilferage. Numerous displays fell over; significant losses resulted from inaccurate inputs at the cash register and losses of inventory mounted. In addition, the staff (consisting of 10 personnel – 7 experienced and 3 new hires) is quite disgruntled from the long hours spent in the store following the NL Conference victories. How will you lead and motivate the staff to work beyond their assigned shifts before the story opens in the morning? How will you manage the situation and minimize the quality problems? Analyze the potential management actions/considerations in managing this situation? Outline the management functions and provide 2 examples of actions/considerations for each function that would need to be performed? Explain why the action is critical to success and explain the associated managerial roles and skills that would be significant in completing the action.
Leadership
Philly Widgets is a 50-year old family-owned business with 250 employees that produces small widgets for the automotive industry. The president is Mr. Romano, who came to the company from a smaller business with strong credentials in advanced widget technology. Before Mr. Romano, the only president of PW was the founder and owner of the company. The organizational structure of PW was very traditional and supported by a rich organizational culture.
As the new president, Mr. Romano sincerely wanted to transform PW. He wanted to prove that new technologies and advanced management techniques could make PW one of the best manufacturing companies in the country. To that end, Mr. Romano created a vision statement that was displayed throughout the company. The two-page statement which had a strong democratic tone, described the overall purposes, directions and values of the company.
During the first 3 years of Mr. Romano’s tenure as president, several reorganizations took place. These were designed by Mr. Romano and a select few of his senior managers. The intention of each reorganization was to implement advanced organizational structures to bolster the declared PW vision.
Yet the major outcome of each of the changes was to dilute the leadership and create a feeling of instability among employees. Most of the changes were made from the top down. Some changes limited employee input . Some situations required individual workers to report to three different bosses. Employees began to feel uncertain about their responsibilities. As a result, there was a drop in worker morale and production.
People at PW complained that although mission statements were displayed , no one understood in which direction they were going.
To the employees at PW, Mr. Romano was an enigma. Although PW was an American company, he drove a foreign car. He was arbitrary in how he treated people. He acted in a nondirective style toward some people and showed arbitrary control towards others.
He also appeared insensitive to employees concerns. He wanted an environment in which everyone could feel empowered but often failed to listen closely to what employees were saying.
He seldom engaged in open, two-way communication. Employees felt that Mr. Romano either misunderstood or did not care about the rich history of PW.
Four years after arriving, Mr. Romano stepped down as president after his operations officer ran the company into large debt and a cash-flow crisis. His dream was never realized.
Analyze this situation. Identify and explain how at least 3 key factors contributed to this leadership failure, and recommend a leadership approach that should be taken to improve performance. Provide rationale for your recommended approach.
1) Do your own homework.
2) Go Phillies!!!!!!!!
1) Do your own homework.
2) Go Phillies!!!!!!!!
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