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If he were to intervene he would firstly be drawing attention to his decision to appoint Lie, secondly he would be perceived as undermining the authority of He’s Supervisor and lastly if he does nothing he believes the dissent could spread throughout the company causing further discord amongst the employees. Prompt action is required by Algal to determine the root cause of the conflict, the best way to manage the situation and how to avoid this conflict from happening in the future. Analysis Voodooist Technologies was opened in 1996 as an internet company.
Its core business was developing enterprise software focusing on the procurement needs of customers. During the next 3 years Voodooist expanded and they went public in 1999. Rapid growth of its customer base, revenue and employees continued after Foldouts went public. This rapid growth can be attributed to the charismatic mild mannered chief executive officer of Voodooist, Keith Nash. He developed and fostered a work environment that encouraged employees to be vocal if they had a better solution to existing processes.
Furthermore Voodooist was centered on its customer with Nash strongly believing that following the success of its customers, Voodooist would be successful. Employees thrived In this environment and worked hard to ensure that the customer was satisfied and stayed that way. Teamwork was not only encouraged t Voodooist, it was also rewarded with bonuses based on how well they functioned together within their teams to ensure that customers were pleased with their services. Voodooist supported teamwork by providing adequate resources.
Provision of resources was not limited to work as Nash provided recreational facilities fitted with fastball and plan pong tables on each floor at the company headquarters. Additionally Friday afternoons were happy hour with alcohol and snacks available for the employees to unwind after the weeks work. This latitude was given to employees provided that they completed all assignments on time. By creating this work culture, the teams became self managed as they were responsible for solving issues, implementing solutions and being responsible for the outcome of their collective works efforts.
This learners style Is a prime example AT Douglas McGregor “l energy Y” wanly assumes that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self direction’ (Robbins & Judge, 2007:IPPP-189). Further resources were available to teams with sufficient high quality leadership that created structure within the teams. Nash strictly enforced the company policy of hiring new management from within the Company pool of employees. Only when all avenues of recruitment from within had failed, could interviews from outside of Voodooist employees be done.
Hiring from within served as a very useful motivational tool for employees to expand their careers within Voodooist. Internal hiring also served as a trust mechanism ensuring longevity for company employees. Working within the team environment would satisfy most employee needs as Miscellany’s “Theory of Needs” explains (Robbins & Judge, 2007:IPPP-194). Further policies stated that managers should only hire extroverted staff that were better qualified or more experienced than what they were.
This ensured a healthy sense of competitiveness within the teams and Voodooist benefited from having the top pick of employees increasing the diversity of knowledge. Direction within the teams was provided by managers and supervisors that facilitated the teams’ efforts ensuring that they worked together towards a common goal. Extension of the trust environment is evident in the fact that Nash welcomed feedback from employees. Following successful completion of projects, teams were rewarded on their collective efforts by either extrinsic rewards such as monetary bonuses or intrinsic rewards like recognition or promotion.
This behavior provides credibility to Victor Broom’s “Expectancy Theory’, which states that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual’ (Robbins & Judge, 2007:IPPP-211). Given that adequate resources, effective leadership, climate of trust, an evaluation and reward system were available at Voodooist, the teams flourished. After Voodooist went public in 1999, the employee base quadrupled which was one of the major driving forces that led to relaxed hiring policies.
As the internet boom continued, there was a severe lack of talented qualified individuals available for hire in the Information Technology field. Furthermore competing companies were offering attractive packages to lure prospective employees. For these reasons, Voodooist adopted a strategy of hiring employees with average qualifications and providing on the Job training to bring their skills in line with company expectations. As the employee base grew in the company so did the number of different nationalities. Cultural diversity, gender and race in the workplace present special consideration to the management.
Evidence suggests that in the short term, the nature of multicultural teams interferes with the team processes (Robbins & Judge, 2007:IPPP). At Voodooist, Battened is a Nigerian male and both Has and Lie are Chinese; however Has grew up and studied in California while Lie spent her younger years living and studying in Hong Kong before moving to the United States. Due to the multicultural nature of the teams at Voodooist, they may initially have difficulty working together however after a short period of three months the differences normally Allocates as team memoirs nave Tuna ways to resolve ten Issues amongst themselves.
To avoid conflicts within the teams, Nash insisted that new hires have above average interpersonal skills that will be advantageous in adapting to their new team environment. Additionally these skills would make the transition from individualism to team player easier for new hires. Sustainable careers were ensured by Voodooist with the training programs they provided for employees as well as the incentive programs for team performance. Battened grew up in Nigeria and immigrated to the United States to study computer and information science.
After obtaining his degree he worked at various technology companies before continuing is studies of an MBA. He was hired by James White, director of Voodooist, as a manager to run one of the three product lines of Voodooist. White realized that he had limited managerial experience; however he believed with the combined technological skills and MBA knowledge, he could be coached to cope with demands placed on him by Voodooist leadership. White acted as his mentor in the interim but gradually spent less time him as he became more confidant in his daily tasks.
This could be likened to the “Attainment & Schmidt Continuum” ‘a simple model which shows the relationship teen the levels of freedom that a manager chooses to give to a individual or team, and the level of authority used by the manager. As the individual or team’s freedom is increased, so the manager’s authority decreases’ (McKay, 2007:pop). Battened excelled in his position and as the company grew he was given an additional product line. Initially he had no direct reports, but this grew to eleven. He handpicked all of his team members and consequently they received frequent accolades for the highest customer satisfaction levels.
He micro-managed his team, however this proved to be ineffective later on due to the size of the team. He changed his style to management by objectives (MOB) whereby he would agree with his subordinates on goals to be reached within a pre-determined time frame (Peter F Trucker, 2006: IPPP). These goals need to be “SMART” I. E. ‘Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed’ (Adrian McKay, 2007:pop-51). In time Battened came to realize that he needed to expand his organizational chart to include two supervisors that the engineers would report to and they in turn would report to him.
After much deliberation and following polices at Voodooist to promote from within the organization whenever possible, he had identified one supervisor as Jejuna Lie. He did not feel any other team members had sufficient experience to be placed in the other supervisory position immediately and decided to wait before filling that position. Jejuna Lie grew up in China and immigrated to the United States after gaining her degree in environmental management from the University of Hong Kong. She worked at a number of technological companies before Joining Voodooist.
Impressive skills at customer service management secured the position for her at Voodooist in spite of her lack of engineering experience. Although it took her longer in the beginning to grasp the work and complete tasks, she worked exceptionally hard to keep up and gained the admiration of her colleagues. English was not her first language but none the less she practiced her communication skills industriously. Furthermore she was a team player that was always willing to assist co-workers. This effort was rewarded with best team player for 2 consecutive quarters.
All above information serves as confirmation that within the organization, Lie has high value not only due to her Intellectual Intelligence out more specifically near excellent social motion (CEQ) and change quotient (ICQ). Being of Chinese descent, Alex Has grew up in California and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from the University of California. He Joined Voodooist immediately after gaining his degree. Has did not fit the extroverted profile that Voodooist usually hired that would fit into the team culture; however he was hired for his engineering knowledge and cultural diversity.
Although being a hard worker he did not excel at his Job. In spite of this he maintained above average customer satisfaction ratings. Battened tried to engage IM in activities outside of work, but Has remained anti-social and did not mix with the team players. It is evident that Has is useful to the company mainly due to his higher than average intellectual (Q) and emotional intelligence (CEQ), but has low change (ICQ) and social intelligence (SQ). James White grew up in a middle class family from Ohio and has been with Voodooist since the beginning. He had a no nonsense attitude to work which meant that the work got done.
His mechanical engineering background proved very useful in solving customer concerns. His background suited his position as a Technical Support apartment manager and he was tasked with hiring the staff to run the department. All the employees he hired became managers. He was goal driven and expected all targets to be met. Although his primary concern was meeting these targets by any means he was sensitive to his teams needs. When a group was not performing he would be hands on and when they were doing well he let them continue without interference.
White took a particular interest in Battened and coached him to become an outstanding manager in the Company. White was instrumental in showing him how to lead a team and hire the right people. The above mentioned qualities of White show that he is valuable to the organization with his well rounded intellectual (Q), change (ICQ), social (SQ) and emotional quotient (CEQ). Following weeks of deliberation regarding the promotion of L’, Battened sought out his mentor James White and asked for his input into the matter.
The restructuring would create a buffer zone of two supervisors between the engineers and him with each Supervisor being responsible for one product line and five engineers. White agreed that she was a good choice for the position of Supervisor managing one of the product lines under Battened. She would be promoted and Alkali would give the necessary training to ensure she could cope with the added responsibilities of her new role. Additionally the team would be less opposed having a supervisor appointed from within the organization as opposed to bringing in an outsider.
Lie was offered the position but she was hesitant because she did not believe that she had sufficient management experience. Additionally her reservations extended to the fact that her colleagues would now be reporting to her and she was not convinced there would not be any ill feelings towards her. She eventually agreed and the announcement was made to the team and it appeared to be generally well received. Following the announcement, several weeks of training followed and both Alkali and White were impressed with the progress that Lie was making. She was comfortable in her new role.
Alkali was also coming to terms in delegating certain of his duties for Lie to take care of. Lie’s team of engineers were working with her and getting used to her style AT management. Several weeks after her promotion, one of the engineers working on the product line that Lie was responsible for approached Battened and wanted to speak frankly with him. He was unhappy working under Lie and requested a transfer to the group working on the other product line reporting to Battened. Has backed up his transfer request by stating that he did not, nor would he ever respect Lie as she had no technical degree and therefore she had no empathy for him.
Moreover one of the main reasons he Joined Voodooist was that he was very impressed with the management style of Battened and did not believe he should be made to work under a different manager than when he originally accepted his employment offer. Lastly he was not impressed with the lack of managerial experience of Lie and felt that here was nothing he could learn from her. The conversation left Battened baffled as he was convinced he had thought out the process of her promotion carefully prior to the announcement. He had even sought the approval of his Supervisor, White.
Realizing this situation had the potential to explode; he asked Has if he could inform Lie about the conversation. Has consented and Battened spoke with her about the matter. Lie did not take the information lightly and she was very upset doubting her managerial skills. Furthermore she was very surprised that Has had given her no suggestion that he was unhappy during their weekly meetings. Following the meeting with L’, Battened had one on one counseling meetings with both parties, however after considering several options it was decided by Battened and Lie to have a three way meeting to settle the matter.
During the next two weeks several meetings were held with no definitive outcome. Both Has and Lie were stubborn and not willing to compromise. Has remained fixated with the idea to transfer to the other product line. Lie felt that this was her first managerial position and she did not want to budge for fears that she would be seen as a weak manager which folds under pressure from pub-ordinates. Battened believed that they had reached a stalemate with nothing positive resulting from any further meetings between the three of them.
No matter what decision is taken to resolve this issue, there would be repercussions within the organization. How can this situation be best resolved? Prompt action is required by Battened to stop this situation from spiraling out of control. There is no right way of dealing with multicultural challenges. What is important is identifying the specific multicultural challenge and moreover then assessing the circumstances or enabling situational factors. How much leeway is there for negotiation, are any resources available to assist with resolving the state?
Resolving the interpersonal conflict could be done by using four strategies. Although a quick decision on how to best manage the situation is required, the resolution could take several months depending on which course of action is adopted. Firstly Battened needs to meet with both parties. If both team members could admit that the root cause of the challenge is cultural differences as opposed to personal Issues teen a workable solution AT battalion will De developed a. ‘Al Ana Has would understand that everybody grows up in a culture that provides patterns of acceptable behavior and belief. Locker, 1999: pop 5). Has could give himself time to adapt to the new work structure. It was not a rational argument for him to want to be transferred to other product line without a manager even it meant that a manager could be appointed that he did not know, respect or like. Historically it takes about three months (Robbins & Judge, 2007) for multi-cultural issues to be resolved. Battened could council Lie that these issues are normal in a managerial role and she would not take it as a personal attack on her character or expertise.
The adaptation solution is the best case scenario as it requires a small amount of intervention by management in the beginning; however both parties are responsible for participating in the solution. This is a learning experience not only for the Lie and Has but also for Battened. ‘Adapt to change quickly, the quicker you let go of old cheese; the quicker you can enjoy new cheese’ Monsoons, 1998). Secondly Battened could change the structure of the team by initiating an employee rotation program between the different teams.
This concept would have to e presented to the other managers for consideration and approval. This solution is helpful as Has has negative perceptions of Lie’s management skills. Additional benefits of the Job rotation plan are having a multi skilled workforce that is flexible with a high change quotient (ICQ) propensity. Furthermore these constant changes avoid Job boredom, complacency, encourage motivation by creating diversity in the daily activities of the employee and assists the employee better understand their overall role in the organization.
Thirdly if a stalemate has been reached, Battened could seek higher level management intervention to act as an arbitrator. In this case White would act in this role to deliver his decision. The final decision is reached without input from the team members. One problem with this solution is that neither the manager nor the team has full insight into why a stalemate has occurred. Unnecessary dependence on the manager is creating to solve problems as opposed to team members finding their own solution to the problem. The final course of action is to arrange for an exit when the three strategies have failed.
This course of action is only used when discussions between Has and Lie have generated into emotionally charged affairs and too much face has been lost. At this stage it is impractical to continue discussions and the only remaining option is an exit. Apart from losing talent there is also the irrecoverable cost of training lost. Could this situation have been avoided by Battened? If so, how? Yes, Battened could have avoided this situation in the first place had he considered the effects of the organizational structure change would have not only on the team but also on individuals.
He did not fully consider what influence the biographical characteristics such as gender, race and tenure would have on individual team mores. Although Do TN Has Ana Al are Trot essence descent, teen were Drought up in different cultures that installed very diverse values. Battened realized that change was necessary as it was no longer practical to interact with each engineer on a daily basis due to workload. ‘Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old’ Monsoons, 1998:pop). Battened should have discussed the proposed structural change with the team as a whole then with each team member individually.
These discussions with the teams ought to focus on the challenges faced by him in managing the support of both rotgut lines within the present structure as well as the benefits of the new proposed structure. Acknowledging the cultural diversity of the team and pointing out that they were hired primarily for their subject matter expertise and not for their cultural diversity is important. By doing so Battened highlights the fact that there will be cultural differences but also that the team members are responsible for dealing with these issues when they occur.
During the one on one discussion he would have realized that Has had reservations and he could have addressed them prior to announcing the promotion of Lie. The majority of change strategies fail because either the individual or group is not fully prepared to change. Managers should use a complete change strategy of preparation, implementation and reinforcement. ‘These phases of change are sometimes referred to as unfreezing, changing and refreezing (Chevalier, 2007:IPPP-147). Finally although Battened is in charge for training L’, she too has a responsibility for developing her knowledge.
This ‘continuing professional development (CAP) is a personal commitment by Lie to update her professional knowledge and capabilities’ (McKay,2007:IPPP). While receiving training from Battened, Lie should eek out additional formal courses to make up for her shortfalls in managerial skills. As opposed to immediately placing Lie in the Supervisory position, he could have gradually introduced her into her new role ensuring that not only she was comfortable but also confidant. What can the Company do to avoid this type of situation in the future?
Voodooist had a hiring policy of selecting extroverts with a higher than normal social quotient which ensured that new hires could swiftly adapt to the team culture of the Company. Additionally this trait would be useful in adapting to the outspoken nature of dealing with issues at Voodooist. When Has was hired it was evident that he was introverted however he had excellent engineering qualifications and a Chinese heritage which the management felt would positively contribute to the team dynamics.
Had Voodooist stuck to hiring employees with extroverted natures, this situation could have been avoided. Furthermore due to the multicultural environment of employees at Voodooist, an ongoing awareness program delivered by the Human Resources department on cultural diversity would create awareness amongst employees of culturally sensitive issues. Visions learners created a culture AT promoting Trot Walton never teen a ammunition the change management process clearly to new hires.
One to the reasons that Has gave for wanting to be transferred was that at the time he accepted his employment offer he would be content to work under Battened as he enjoyed his management style. He was unaware that he would be requested to work under an unknown manager. Another method of gauging employee attitudes is using feedback surveys (Robbins & Judge, 2007:IPPP). Based on the questionnaires, Voodooist management could identify member perceptions and provide solutions to any highlighted issues. James Tyson said “Sometimes you cannot make a big leap but only lots of little improvements.
In the end it adds up to big improvement”. What are the principal distinctions between transactional and transformational leadership? According to James McGregor Burns (1978) Transactional managers want to barter with their followers by providing motivators to reach pre-determined clarified goals whereas transformational leaders are inspirational visionaries that seek to appeal to their followers to forego their personal interests for the good of the organization and can be seen as change agents. Transactional leadership is fair, objective, process orientated and driven by systems.
It recognizes the need and implementation for personal performance appraisals, salaries related to performance, Job descriptions, organizational process analysis and management by objectives (MOB). Rewards and goals are decided by the leadership and filtered down to the employees. This is an unsophisticated management style where employees are commanded what to do with little or no input. The objective laid down by the leadership is process management in which subordinates are provided with goals that the leadership has decided on how they will be achieved.
Based on the above analysis the output of the employee is in relation to what the organization has offered which covers the basic physiological, safety and social needs of the employee. Transformational leadership is about empowering people not controlling them. The whole idea behind this style of leadership is giving power to everyone in the organization to improve their knowledge, look out for areas to be changed and improved and never be complacent by accepting the status quo.
It is centered on trusting devoted, capable, emotionally intelligent people to do what they know best and to take responsibility for their actions. A mutual culture is shared within the organization with employees placing the organization before their own personal needs. Within an organization using transformational leadership, people strive for self esteem, knowledge and understanding, aesthetic needs and self actualization. How does transformational leadership create a higher level of moral aspiration for followers and leaders alike?
In order to motivate followers to perform above and beyond normal standards, transformational leaders must practice four specific styles of leadership. Firstly there is individualized consideration whereby the leader revised for the needs of followers, is available as a mentor and listens to any concerns raised. Transformational leaders are sympathetic, supportive and available Tort Locutions Walt Tellers. Notable Uninominal contributions are praises wanly instills a sense of belonging and act as motivational tools.
These leaders have a high emotional intelligence (CEQ) level and as such they possess the ability to not only be the master of their own emotions, they have an ability to recognize and respond to the emotional state of others around them. Seeing as how transformational leaders re in synch with the needs of people around them, they are able to hone in on those needs and further motivate their followers to follow greatness. The amount of intellectual stimulation provided by the transformational leader is second. Leaders will challenge perceptions, make and take risks and seek out the ideas of followers.
This leadership style encourages and simulates creativity with supporters. Independent thinkers are nurtured and primed for future leadership positions within the organization. The onset of unexpected happenings is considered learning opportunities and not insurmountable challenges. Followers learn from Hess situations and figure out ways for improvement. Thirdly, ‘Transformational leaders develop a vision of the future and they generate critical mass by being inspirational, influencing people and turning knowledge into action’ (Defender, 2006:pop-1 5).
In doing so peoples energy is channeled where they are needed most and they work together in a collective coordinated manner as opposed to individualistic disorganized ways. Transformational leaders are very vocal about their visions, pursue them relentlessly and constantly sell their visions to the followers. They are not only vocal, but they also embody their vision, shape and evolve the mindset of supporters to chase the vision. Lastly by being a role model with high ethical behavior the transformational leader has an idealized influence on followers.