Analysis of the Behavioral Strategies in Steele Enterprises - Case Study Example

Analysis of the Behavioral Strategies in Steele Enterprises Name: Date: Affiliation: Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………….pg 3 Scope………………………………………………………………….pg 3 Limitation of the study………………………………………………pg 3 Content to be discussed………………………………………………pg4 Discussion…………………………………………………………….pg 4 Conclusion …………………………………………………………….pg 10 References………………………………………………………………pg11 Analysis of the Behavioral Strategies in Steele Enterprises Introduction The case study involves the crisis that exist in Steele enterprises whereby there are employees who are engaging in fights and conflicts that are attributed to the management of the company. Gene Roberson is the director of the public relations, and he is frequently facing challenges of fights and argument between two departmental chiefs who go by the name, Richard Leeman and Donna Olson who are heading chemical and mechanical departments respectively. The purpose of the research is to identify the weak point of the situation, and come up with a long-lasting solution to the impeding conflict challenge. Scope The scope of the research study involved Steele enterprises, which is a growing manufacturing company in the western area. The area under investigation is the PR department since most of the conflicts emanate from it. It is reported that Gene has intervened seven notable cases of conflict for the three months between the two chiefs affirming the essence of change. Limitations However, there are several limitations in delivery of the report. First, the availability of data was not sufficient since the company would not have revealed all the loopholes since that would give competitors a chance to take advantage of their weaknesses. Secondly, the time that was taken to carry out the research was not adequate and therefore the information might not be sufficient to provide long-lasting solutions. Finally, the teams that were carrying out the research were not remunerated effectively; this may count for misinformation, and under information. Content to be discussed The report will cover the analysis of the integrated approach to change its applicability in Steele enterprises. Secondly, it will discuss and show how people can be managed at the individual and organizational levels taking into account the behavioral change, structural change and technological change. Finally, it will critically analyze the integrated approach to change in attempt to bring a clear picture of what Steele enterprises requires solving the impeding challenges. Discussion Integrated approach to organizational change is a crucial approach to ensure that positive changes have taken place in the organization. Three strategies are applicable in the organizational change and they include the behavioral strategy, structural strategy and finally the technical strategy. These strategies will be paramount in ensuring that Steele enterprise has achieved the best ever management and the impeding challenges are solved. Many models have been used and recommend enhancing organizational change but integrated approach has proved to be efficient. The approach that has to be adopted by the organization must ensure that the productivity of people is not altered in line with increasing productivity of the organization (Azdok, 2012). For instance, in the case of Steele enterprises, the director of public relations Gene Robertson must take an initiative that will not affect the productivity of the two workers Donna Olson and Richard Leeman who mechanical and chemical chiefs. Richard affirms that they are good and productive employees and for a long time, the company had lacked specialized individuals like them. Despite the upheavals between them, their productivity is unquestionable and that gives Gene a reason to ponder and come up with an effective integrated approach to change. The change should focus on, behavior, structural change and finally technological change. In terms of behavior, the two employees are known to have a history of rivalry since Gene Robertson reports that he has resolved conflicts between them for at least seven times which is shameful for such respected employees. A good leader should solve challenges permanently, where there is recurrent and similar challenges, the leader must be making erroneous decisions (Azdok, 2012). Following the statement, it is obvious that the director of public relations Mr. Gene has not been making relevant and applicable decisions hence the repetition of the challenge. Therefore, for the conflict challenge to be solved ultimately, Gene should adopt the integrated approach to change five dimensions of change. Through the approach, it will be possible for the enterprise to solve and prevent any future challenges that would emanate from behavior. The model is cyclic in nature and it is governed by outstanding principles that help in ensuring that the effected change takes place effectively. The principles that govern the integrated approach include the following; Organizational is not managed easily, it needs proactive management, and the approach needs to be responsive to the changing circumstances of contingency. The organizational change is normally optimally managed and through a flexible and structured approach. The consistency of leadership behaviors is crucial through the process of change Congruence is crucial in every level of a particular business and in every stage of the changing process. The interventions that are used for delivering the changes are also used in defining and securing the commitment that required for changes to take place. If the Steele enterprises adopt the above principle, it will be ultimately easy to effect any change that is required, be it in the behavioral, technical or structure of the organization. The first approach that is essential in the five dimensions of the integrated approach includes directing. Directing ensures that overall direction and purpose of the enterprise are well thought through and it is articulated in a very appropriate manner (Amuthakkannan, 2008). It is arguably the most important dimension among the five since it provides appropriate foundation of the other four dimensions. It is normally concerned with mission, vision and the values that are governing the business. The aspirations and statements of the future also provide the templates or operational blueprints that are used presently (Dyer, 2013). For instance, the business determines its wishes to excel in customer service and this is evidenced throughout the internal value chain and the interfaces with some external customers and therefore, the behavioral exemplars should be incorporated into the performance management system that are evaluated and developed in the ongoing process. Achieving the desired behavior does not happen immediate after the strategy has been affected, instead they need to be developed and inculcated into the ongoing basis in attempt to ensure that they are quite simple and they will not alter the business at all. For the case of Steele enterprise public relation crisis, directing should be effected in such a way that nothing much will be noted as a change. However, the change cannot be realized if the behaviors are not defined in clear terms in the process steps in the model of the first stage. In addition, the visionary elements of the business strategies, the dimension also incorporates the strategic objectives of the company such as products, operational strategies and finally the market (Levin, 2005).). The operational strategies are the functional plans and the approaches that are adopted by each part in the business through which they manage to deploy their expertise in attempt to deploy part of their business strategy. The achievement of the required level of consistency is normally determined by the ability to adhere to the overall direction and vision that is facilitated through enabling strategies(Amuthakkannan, 2008). The enabling strategies are the organizational strategies that define and describe the fundamental operations of the enterprises in terms of the people who manage them hence transcending to the operational strategies. Significant research has indicated that variety of organizations such as the Daimler-Chrysler UK, Komatsu UK among others that there are four strategies that will promote and ultimately ensure the alignment that is necessary in achieving the constancy of purpose and the approach of consistency. The resourcing strategy is normally concerned with the structure of the business and the manner through which employees are recruited and ultimately deployed. Moreover, it involves the retention strategies, development and training and finally the philosophy of practice. Management of succession is also part of the resourcing strategy. For Steele enterprise, to solve the conflicts between Dick and Donna they should apply the above principles and they will eventually manage the situation. Gene says that the two heads, mechanical and chemical are the best workers that the firm has ever employed for quite a long time (Mahmoodzadeh et al,2009). Therefore, their duties should be clearly stated and this will stamp out any cases of conflict. Training is also paramount for the two heads; it is shameful for them to be screaming in the presence of the juniors since that will contribute to disrespect and negligence in the work place. Performance strategy is a tool of directing since it involves people ensuring that every team understands the roles and requirements that they are supposed to undertake. This means the business communicates, formulates and finally deploys the operational target that is a crucial element of the strategy. Gene and his team to ensure that each individual has his or her responsibility and eventually becoming a fruitful person in the industry should apply the strategy. Lack of direction and specific responsibilities will eventually ruin the harmony and peace of the company. Reward strategy is a crucial aspect and it should go hand in hand with the other strategies. The reward structure involves the payment structure, deployment benefits and finally the composition of the benefit packages. This is to ensure that the company maintains the title of the employer of choice. Getting skilled and experienced people like Richard and Donna is a hard task for many companies and they will tend to avoid firing them even if their habits are not acceptable (Mahmoodzadeh et al,2009). This is because, they will be an asset to their competitors and the company has to get ways and means to ensure that they overcome that. Gene should use the rewarding strategy to ensure that, the conflict has faded away. For instance, he should come up with a good strategy that will ensure both Richard and Donna are motivated and rewarded appropriately if they avoid the conflict between them. Salary increment and added advantages should be given to them if they promise and prove that they can work effectively. The third dimension is defining and in most cases, it is overlooked and ignored in many organizations. Steele enterprises have also ignored the dimension and that is why it has ended up in its current predicament (Mahmoodzadeh et al, 2009). Without these dimension, the work of the strategists will never achieve the full potential since it will not be converted into the real operational practice. An operational dimension is normally concerned with the practical implementation of the strategies that are implemented and the goals that are meant to be achieved in a consistent manner. Defining must indicate clearly, what is expected in a given team. For the case of Dona and Richard, the roles should be clearly defined, even if it means through writing. When the roles are clearly defined, it will be easy to question the erred parties. Delivering is the fourth dimension and it involved with the actual and accurate delivery of the business strategies. It ensures that the implementation is congruent with the overall vision and the specific values of the company. Defining the business process is not enough to ensure that efficient commitment is enhanced but following such strategies is the most important thing. Communicating the desired approaches and demonstrating the desired behaviors is paramount in ensuring that efficiency is enhanced in the organization(Merkert, 2012).). For instance, in the case of Donna and Richard the conflict should be followed up to the last minute and eventually create a good working environment. Where people are at peace, they will ultimately achieve. Finally, developing is the last dimension of the integrated approach. Developing involves expanding the strategies that are at hand evaluating the feedback. The communication system should be open hence providing an opportunity for continuous learning. Here the feedback should not only come from the internal environment but it should also come from the SWOT analysis. Embracing the above dimension, Gene Robertson will ultimately manage to solve the impeding conflict challenges (Reddy et al, 2010). As posited above, behavioral strategy is a key determinant of the behavior of people in a given organization. The employee’s should be trained to relate to each other in a professional way. For instance, the people in the organization should improve their PR and therefore, reinforce their PR skills. The training will change the attitude, skills and eventually knowledge. The act of Donna and Richard yelling at each other shows that they are void in terms of knowledge and respective public skills. Therefore, educating and training them will serve as a good way of deterring such challenges (Thomas&Thomas, 2008). The structural design should also be taken into account. The organizational structure and the design should be aligned in consistent with the vision, mission and direction of the stated organization. The structural strategy incorporates the changes that take place in the organization chart. The employees units, departments and divisions are realigned in such a way that they optimize the resources. Cases of the hierarchies should be flattened, and decision-making should be placed close to the point of action (Scalera, 2011). The significant work should be done in chartered and self-directed teams. The realigned relationships will ultimately improve the performance and quality. Therefore, adopting the strategy will alleviate the Steele predicament. Finally, the technical strategy is a continuous improvement approach. It affirms that the areas of the customer focus, service delivery, support, product and the partnering should be alleviated. It maintains that technology should be continuously updated and aligned according to the process of production and the service delivery. Continuous improvement with the aligned technology will ultimately improve the services(Sen, 2008).). For instance, in the case of preparing the party, specialists should be given the responsibility since that works towards enhancing efficiency in the company. If the duty were delegated, it would be possible to avoid such challenges. In conclusion, it is evident that management is a critical task. For one to be a good manager, one has to understand, the individual and organizational changes that one is required to effect to enhance efficiency and productivity in the end. For Gene Robeson to solve the ever changing and increasing conflicts between Richard and Dona, he have to employ the integrated approach to change since it will direct him on the steps that need to be taken. 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