Valley-Global Publishing and Glen Straus - Case Study Example

The paper "Valley-Global Publishing and Glen Straus" is a great example of a Management Case Study. The business world has today become increasingly competitive and organizations have been forced to change their management and production strategies to accommodate these changes. This has especially been necessitated by consumer needs and demands which have pushed businesses to become more innovative and creative. Businesses that have maintained old organizational culture and behavior have seen their profitability go down and productivity reduce. Changes that have become inevitable revolve around leadership, management, organizational behavior, consumer orientation, production, organizational behavior among others. The way businesses are run today is quite different from a few decades ago. Businesses have to deal with growing demands from all stakeholders that associate with it. Change in organizational behavior is one of the major aspects that managers have had to deal with. However, the transition which ought to be continuous and effective has not always been smooth for some business. They have had to deal with resistance to change that mainly comes from existing employees. When employees insist on doing things the old ways, the resultant issues are conflicts and disputes in the workplace, which eventually affect individual departments and organizational performance as a whole. Management and leaders have to be up to date with current affairs and portfolios in their roles to maintain sustainability and offer guidance to the existing employees. Leadership and management are the key drivers of change when it is necessary for an organization. They have the influential capacity and ability to affect motivation and work practices that are appropriate for a specific organization in a given industry (David, Meyer and Topolnytsky 431).

In this case study, a young graduate, Glen attempts to bring in a printing and publishing company, Global Valley Publishing which has been grappling with underperformance and reduced sales for a couple of financial years. From the case study, it is evident that the organization faces many challenges apart from resistance to change. For instance, there is a lapse in communication and giving of instructions within the organization. The leadership and management of the company also seem to be reluctant in giving instructions and affecting their authority effectively. All these problems equate to the resistance that is within the organization. The company leader and founder Graham realizes the need for change in the company but does not adequately implement this using his role. Hiring a new, energetic and enthusiastic Glen is in a bid to salvage the company and see what changes he might bring to the company. The problems in the company have accumulated over time and have necessitated the need to layoff some employees that have already manifested in the company.

• Statement of the problem

The employees in the sales department could not stand the use of a tablet pc by the new sales director Glen in his work. They were opposed to this and even became hostile towards his efforts. They could not appreciate or support him in what he deemed as a necessary technology to make his work easier and get sales up again in the company. When the issue was raised with management, they did not show much commitment to changing their systems to accommodate such new technology. The struggle to maintain a status quo at Global Valley Publishing was the main factor pulling the company down. However, given aggressive and consistent approaches to organization change in behavior, the company management has the potential to turn things around in the company and embrace change in relevant aspects of the company. The resistance to change at Valley Global Publishing comes from several sources. First, there is resistance to the adoption of new technology that could make work easier in the organization. Secondly, there is a reluctance by management to affect the necessary change in employees that they command. The leaders themselves recognize the need for change but they too, are resistant to change. There is also the most crucial aspect of change that the organization was not putting into consideration. The need to change their products from the traditional “premium-priced quality” to “value orientation”.