Case Study 1, H. James Harrington, author of the book “Business Process Improvement“ and noted quality guru, reports this story on Quality Digest.

 Introduction

BUS4406 – Case Study 1, H. James Harrington, author of the book “Business Process Improvement“ and noted quality guru, reports this story on Quality Digest.

I called to make a flight reservation just an hour ago. The telephone rang five times before a recorded voice answered. "Thank you for calling ABC Travel Services," it said. "To ensure the highest level of customer service, this call may be recorded for future analysis." Next, I was asked to select from one of the following three choices: "If the trip is related to company business, press 1. Personal business, press 2. Group travel, press 3." I pressed 1. I was then asked to select from the following four choices: "If this is a trip within the United States, press 1. International, press 2. Scheduled training, press 3. Related to a conference, press 4." Because I was going to Canada, I pressed 2.

Now two minutes into my telephone call, I was instructed to be sure that I had my customer identification card available. A few seconds passed and a very sweet voice came on, saying, "All international operators are busy, but please hold because you are a very important customer." The voice was then replaced by music. About two minutes later, another recorded message said, "Our operators are still busy, but please hold and the first available operator will take care of you." More music. Then yet another message: "Our operators are still busy, but please hold. Your business is important to us." More bad music. Finally, the sweet voice returned, stating, "To speed up your service, enter your 19-digit customer service number." I frantically searched for their card, hoping that I could find it before I was cut off. I was lucky; I found it and entered the number in time. The same sweet voice came back to me, saying, "To confirm your customer service number, enter the last four digits of your social security number." I pushed the four numbers on the keypad. The voice said: "Thank you. An operator will be with you shortly. If your call is an emergency, you can call 1-800-CAL-HELP, or push all of the buttons on the telephone at the same time. Otherwise, please hold, as you are a very important customer." This time, in place of music, I heard a commercial about the service that the company provides.

At last, a real person answered the telephone and asked, "Can I help you?" I replied, "Yes, oh yes." He answered, "Please give me your 19-digit customer service number, followed by the last four digits of your social security number so I can verify who you are." (I thought I gave these numbers in the first place to speed up service. Why do I have to rattle them off again?)

I was now convinced that he would call me Mr. 5523-3675-0714-1313-040. But, to my surprise, he said: "Yes, Mr. Harrington. Where do you want to go and when?" I explained that I wanted to go to Montreal the following Monday morning. He replied: "I only handle domestic reservations. Our international desk has a new telephone number: 1-800-1WE-GOTU. I'll transfer you." A few clicks later a message came on, saying: "All of our international operators are busy. Please hold and your call will be answered in the order it was received. Do not hang up or redial, as it will only delay our response to your call. Please continue to hold, as your business is important to us."

From: http://www.qualitydigest.com/may00/html/harrington.html

From a consumer standpoint, there are so many service failures associated with this experience. The recorded voice makes sense due to the technical issue of the background and the costs of a human supporter or customer service advisor. However, in this case, saving such costs appears a sign it is losing customers. Then, the long list is also inappropriate. Business and group clients should be sorted into another line rather than centered in the same line costing each client additional time. Although asking questions like a doctor somewhat makes sense, not everyone likes to be asked so many questions before their issues have been resolved. Simplifying the processes would be better for both the businesses and their clients. In addition, I reckon that customer identification can be done by store and remember those registered incoming phone numbers and clients only have to provide their private passwords or personal security numbers. 

Moreover, operators are busy means three things, the operator shortage, their efficiency, and the overall procedure. In this case, ABC Travel Services did not have sufficient operators to deal with their daily operations probably due to cost-cutting. However, that would be a worse choice since it only makes their operators busier while so many clients are waiting for a real person to answer on the phone. 

The Stakeholders

A stakeholder is an individual or group that has an interest in a company or organization and can either affect or be affected by the business(Fernando, 2022). Yes, affect or be affected. Typically, they are investors, employees, customers, and suppliers. With the increasing attention on corporate social responsibility, the concept has been extended to include communities, governments, and trade associations(Fernando, 2022). Stakeholders can be internal or external. Internal stakeholders have a direct relationship with the company such as employment, ownership, or investment(Fernando, 2022). External stakeholders are those who do not directly work with a company but are affected somehow by the actions and outcomes of the business such as suppliers, creditors, and public groups are all considered external stakeholders(Fernando, 2022).

In this case, the dissatisfied customer, H. James Harrington, is an example of the key external stakeholders. Customers are the stakeholders who decide whether the business will be a successful one or not. If a firm does not satisfy customers’ needs continuously, the customers will simply take their business elsewhere. In addition, the owners of the ABC Travel Services and the board of directors are an example of internal stakeholders since they control and decide how the company will operate. Their decisions determine how the managers and employees do their work, manage the tasks, and provide their services. The operators who are employed by the company to handle those phone calls is also an internal stakeholder. The telecom company that supplies the telecommunication services is one of the external stakeholders, called suppliers. Suppliers are also often concerned with safety and stability since their products can directly impact your business operations. In this case, the telecommunication services providers can determine the quality of the connection. "I am afraid I cannot hear you" or "Can you repeat that?" are the results that can make a company begin to lose its customers.

The EFQM Excellence Model

The EFQM Model is a globally recognized management framework that supports organizations in managing change and improving performance. EFQM is an acronym that stands for European Foundation for Quality Management. It was founded in 1988 to create a platform where organizations can learn from each other to continuously improve their performance for the long term. The Leadership, People, Strategy, Resources, and Processes indicate how these objectives can be achieved. Then, monitor the People, Customers, Society, and the Key Performance results that indicate the intended objectives. The core concept of it is that it is a "continuous process" and "self-assessment" model.

Application of The EFQM Model

Leadership

The key targets here are Communication of a clear vision and mission, Timely Appreciation of the efforts and success, Resources and Assistance, and Proper Empowerment. In the case of ABC Travel service, obviously, it did not communicate a clear vision and mission of providing excellent travel experience planning experiences. Timely Appreciation of the efforts and success probably do not have sufficient data to evaluate the progress. However, it did not provide adequate resources and assistance, and proper empowerment to handle the situation. As a result, they do not have the resources and assistance to provide excellent services. 

Strategy

The company does not formulate the concept of excellence. It only formulates the incoming call process to reduce the costs of hiring more people. In addition, it does not be regularly improved, since the system is not functioning well. 

People

Human resources are the most important assets of a company since they are all part of daily operations and make a company thrive. However, in this case, the company tends to make their operators as busy as possible to reduce the cost rather than improve their efficiency. Insufficient operators have made their customers unsatisfied. Either the procedure has to be redesigned or the company has to focus on the most valuable customers like American Express which renewed its focus on affluent customers. 

Partnership & Resources

This criterion considers how a company effectively utilizes its resources such as finances, technology, information, and materials. In this case, although we cannot judge its finances and materials yet due to insufficient information, its technological innovation is like a dying industry. 

People Results

Do people who work in this company feel their expectations are satisfied? In this case, we don't have direct evidence. But, "all the operators are busy" may tell us something about its internal management.

Customer Results

Of course, the perception of its customer, H. James Harrington, is pretty bad. After being asked so many questions, and waiting in line for so much time, his simple need remains unsatisfied. 

Impact on Society

Does the company satisfy the needs and expectations of the community at large? Generally, travel service providers' vision should be like, "Through travel, we connect people to positive experiences enabling them to see the world differently." or " Our mission is to make affordable travel accessible to more people". As we can see that those visions satisfy the needs and expectations such as affordable travel accessible to more people and making the world a better place. However, in this case, study, I did not see any vision of it and how it satisfied the needs and expectations of the community at large. 

Key Results

They are the planned performance of all key internal processes such as sales, profit margin, assets, cash flows, net income, return on investment, market share, and waste. In my opinion, if a company keeps wasting its customers' time, it is destroying its market share. If Mcdonald's keeps you waiting in line for over 30 minutes each time you go to its Drive Thru, you will consider other restaurants that can complete your order faster.

Recommendation on Leadership

Since the key targets here are communication of a clear vision and mission, top leaders of the ABC Travel must create a clear vision and mission for all the members to follow and timely appreciate the efforts when there are small successes.

Recommendation on Strategy

The company has to formulate the concept of excellence and regularly improve it. Reviews and surveys can be a good way to do it. 

Recommendation on People

Since human resources are the most important assets of a company, the procedure has to be redesigned. Instead of letting customers wait in line, the company can develop a system that sorts those who only need a few simple favors and preserves the effort of human operators for more complex questions or valuable clients.

 

Recommendation on Partnership & Resources

The company can partner with some telecom service providers to create a VIP line for some clients to avoid they are waiting in line with other customers. A VIP or Prime program is also a good way to consider separating those clients from others and charging extra fees for their membership privileges such as private assistants.

Recommendation on People Results

Although we don't have direct evidence of whether the people who work in this company feel their expectations are satisfied, we still have to fix the issue that always keeps its operators busy. Busy only brings press. A blocked list for those who are always annoying operators can be a good start. 

Recommendation on Customer Results

In this case, the perception of its customer, H. James Harrington, is pretty bad since he has been asked so many questions and waiting in line. A free trial of a VIP or Prime program can be a good way to express an apology.

Recommendation on The Impact on Society

To satisfy the needs and expectations of the community at large, CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) can be a good way to do it. CSR is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing CSR, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

Recommendation on Key Results

As mentioned above, a VIP or Prime program and CSR Program are both effective tools to ensure the planned performance of all key internal processes such as sales, profit margin, assets, cash flows, return on investment, market share, and waste. 

Summary

Oftentimes, we see the world through our views. But, the world can be either better or worse than we think it should be. Blaming an airplane crash on a sleepy pilot will not help to stop future crashes. We have to ask why he was sleepy and how to regulate and build a procedure to avoid it. To understand the significant issues, we have to look beyond a guilty individual and to the overall system. That's why we should adopt The EFQM Excellence Model or other models that may help to ensure the whole system has been considered.

Reference

EFQM. (2022, August 16). The EFQM model. EFQM. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://efqm.org/the-efqm-model/ 

Fernando, J. (2022, August 23). What are stakeholders: Definition, types, and examples. Investopedia. Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp 

What does quality mean to you? How does good (or bad) quality affect you personally as a consumer? Have you had experiences where your expectations were exceeded, or on the contrary, not met? How did that change your opinion of the organization and its product or service?

 Most definitions of quality are expectations, requirements, fine, preferences, or standards focus. However, all of these definitions can be hugely different among individuals. Food is a good example. The basic rule is safety but not everyone has the same taste and likes the same kind of food. For me, espresso coffee is great but Americano is also popular for many people. You can't judge a cup of coffee by how "espresso" it should be. 

According to Albert Einstein, "Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by the ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." It makes me think that maybe every product can be a genius product if it just fits what its buyer wants it to be. Another reflection on this was if we look back over how iPhone was created and improved year by year, we will find that the expectations are also higher as time passes. Therefore, time is also one of the crucial elements of how we definite quality. 

To summarize, I think quality means two things, time and preferences. When a product or service meets the two elements at the same for an individual, it is probably a good product or service for the consumer.

A good or bad product affects consumers emotionally and physically. For example, some healthy food may be good for my body but it is not always as tasty as some unhealthy food. A better battery life phone helps me keep playing games longer but I will have less time for exercise. If a product is designed to entertain consumers by doing exercise, it would affect consumers both emotionally and physically. Right now, many plant-based food companies such as Beyond Meat tend to make their products both tasty and healthy.

Another example is that online retailers such as Amazon or Alibaba, are doing their business to help their consumers buy goods quickly and conveniently. Amazon Prime even delivers its products within two days. Such services affect customers both emotionally (consumers tend to have anxiety after they pay for something but they have to wait a period) and physically(people no longer have to wait in lines at a physical store or actually take a long ride).

Most of the time, I had experiences where my expectations fell behind when some food smiles good but not so much after I take a bite. Usually, it is very personal since it is feelings or preferences. People also feel differently when they are starving or full. Among daily purchases, some boots I purchased did exceed my expectation. For example, PAMPA LITE+ RECYCLE WP+ Boots were better than I expected since they cost me less money when I purchased them from a retailer. 

I think the prices of a product is also affect the buyer's expectation. Mentally, people feel much more pain from a loss than a gain. It's Loss aversion. It is a phenomenon where a loss is perceived by individuals as emotionally more severe than an equivalent gain. I think even if your product is 50% more valuable, consumers still feel serve pain if it is also 50% more expensive. Regardless of consumer preferences, I reckon that if the price of an iPhone is 50% higher than its competitors' products, fewer iPhones would be bought when it's only 50% more valuable.

Reference

Liberto, D. (2022, July 8). Loss aversion definition. Investopedia. Retrieved September 4, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/loss-psychology.asp 

Issue of Business Week entitled "What Drives Consumers Not To Buy GM Cars."

 Read the Article from the July 8, 2007 issue of Business Week entitled "What Drives Consumers Not To Buy GM Cars."

Source : https://logistics.asia/toyota-to-slash-september-production-due-to-global-chip-shortage/

Source: https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/general-motors-to-boost-electric-vehicle-profile-with-40000-charging-stations-in-us-canada/87286587

One contributor writes: "Americans have switched from Detroit Big Three vehicles to Honda and Toyota vehicles not for visual design features but for durability, reliability, good fuel consumption, and the lower full cost of operation. Detroit needs to offer five-passenger, 35-mile-per-gallon vehicles with 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranties over 10 years of ownership to cause satisfied Honda and Toyota buyers to switch.”

What drives quality in these comments I think is that the customers of GM Cars are expecting much more durable, reliable, and higher fuel efficiency products. It appears that GM Cars did not meet the expectations of its customers and it can be even worse if GM Cars does not understand what consumers want it to provide. Moreover, according to such comments, these issues have been ignored for a very long time because durability has to be evaluated over a very long period.

The General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit. It is the largest automaker in the United States and was the largest in the world for over 70 years. However, General Motors (GM) officially loses the title in 2009, when it announces worldwide sales of 8.36 million vehicles in 2008, compared with Toyota's 8.97 million vehicle sales that same year. 

This automotive giant was originally thriving along with the standardization and mass production era which work become progressively deskilled and more repetitive. The inspection might be the primary focus for GM to ensure that its products are performed well. However, there is a defect in this practice. This kind of inspection probably ignores what consumers actually need and do they feel satisfied after purchasing a product that is cost them large amounts. Purchasing durable goods such as cars or houses typically costs consumers a lot of money. Therefore, their expectations would generally be higher or do a lot of research before making such decisions. From the consumer's perspective, durable, reliable, and higher fuel efficiency are the elements that GM did not do well. In addition, GM believed that designers and engineers create the car, and the assembly line just follows the instructions to produce. However, manufacturing staff have more expertise than designers when it comes to creating the end product. Toyota, on the other hand, empowers its assembly line workers to identify problems, devise solutions, and get management to quickly make changes.

So, what does this demand for quality drive innovation? Generally, when we trying to solve a problem, we must understand and identify the issue first and then be willing to solve it. Secondly, when the issue is actually solved, the solution will become a long-term strategy and finally back into the beginning of the circle and keep discovering new issues. During this circle, organizations innovate when they trying to solve an issue or find a way to remain competitive.

Reference

Four valuable lessons from GM's failed experiment. Salesforce.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.salesforce.com/workdifferently/articles/four-lessons-for-working-differently-gms-failed-experiment-with-toyota/ 

Knowles, G. (2011). Quality Management. London, UK: Ventus Publishing ApS; Bookboon.

Are We In A Recession 2022?

 Usually, there are two things always happen during a recession. The GDP goes DOWN and unemployment rate goes UP. That make sense since we feel recession while we start worrying about our jobs. These two factors feed on each other. When companies do not make money, they start to layoff workers. When workers are losing their jobs, they spend less. And, when people spend less, companies generate less revenue from its sales. A recession can start from each of these points. Right now, the GDP is going down. However, the unemployment rate is also FALLING. Right now, people are not worry about their jobs. The Labor Participation Rate is as low as it’s been in four decades. This unsustainable! How can companies are not making enough money but still keep hiring more people? What issues will we face in the recent months or years? 

Different from management, leadership is focusing on leading and influencing people for achieving a common goal

 Different from management, leadership is focusing on leading and influencing people for achieving a common goal. However, there are multiple ways to achieve a common goal but not everyone prefers the same route. Most definitions of leadership reflect the assumption that leadership involves an influencing process whereby intentional influence is exerted by the leader over followers. However, different kinds of influencing processes and intentional influence tend to result in different outcomes. Many business owners think that they only have to lead their employees by paying them wages. If leaders do not communicate and explain the vision, it would be hard for them to motivate people to attain the essential vision. Followers follow their leaders for multiple reasons. Whether for the same benefits or merely don't know where to go, leaders must bring hope, credibility, and safety to their followers. 

Businesses face ups and downs. Without someone to push forward in optimism, the company will likely be unsuccessful. I ought to hold my emotions in check, especially in tough situations. To increase my positive energy, I start exercising regularly and eating healthier diets. In addition, positive thinking is a mental and emotional state of mind that focuses on the good and expects positive outcomes and also involves more than merely thinking happy thoughts. 

A story that could potentially help someone reach their potential AND resolve a problem or conflict

 Conflicts are almost inevitable in human life. It is also inevitable in organizations or even between nations such as Ukraine and Russia or the US and China. The conflicts in the organization or between two countries may arise due to competition, leadership styles, or even scarcity of resources such as oil. Conflicts within a company need to be well and timely managed, else it can lead to low productivity or service delivery, or worse, losing its market share. Believe it or not, conflicts can also give positive results, if managed well and be viewed as a positive opportunity. However, most people think conflicts are evil and should be avoided even though it means they have to sacrifice something. Resolving conflicts requires the causes to be understood and having high emotional intelligence. High emotional intelligence means you can understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. 

An Example | The Prisoner's Dilemma 

According to the Game theory, a theoretical framework for conceiving social situations among competing players and the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting(Hayes, 2022), the Prisoner's Dilemma is the most well-known example of how people make their decisions. Typically, it is described as two criminals arrested for a crime. Prosecutors question each one in separate chambers and neither prisoner has the means to communicate with the other. Even though we already know that for the prisoners, the most favorable strategy is to not confess. Neither one is aware of the other's strategy and without certainty that one will not confess, both will likely confess since they both want to win the case privately.

A Story | A Price War

A long time ago, one of my friends was facing a tough situation. He runs a small hotel in an old mining area. The mine was no longer operated anymore and became a landscape. More and more hotels have been built and started operating in this area. However, the good times didn't last forever. In recent years, due to the pandemic of COVID-19 and some economic events, it was not crowded anymore and the profits of those hotels started shrinking. Now, they have to decide how to make a change in response to the shrinking tourists. 

While each hotel owner wants to survive, they began to engage in a new price war. They all think the cheapest price is the only solution to attract customers. However, it was a big mistake. When they began a price war and competed viciously, they also found themselves in a vicious circle. Their revenues stopped growing and even shrinking combined with lower profit margin and lower quality of their services. The lower quality of their services will lead to bad reviews and eventually lower their revenues in the future. All these signs are showing that they are heading to an end if they don't make a radical change. 

My friend decided to hire a new seasoned CEO, Eddie to handle the hot potato. Eddie started to make a radical change and avoid such a price war. He called a meeting and discussed with every hotel owner in this area. Of course, many conflicts arose. Alta, CEO of The Alexia Hotel, the biggest hotel in the area, thought they still have a tiny space to offer even more discounts. So, she was having conflicts with the other hotel owners. Eddie told him that her strategy is a suicide and also killing the whole hotel business in this area, why not do something that can save everyone including The Alexia Hotel itself? A win-win strategy that everyone can be happy? Alta asked him how to do it. Eddie encouraged those hotel owners to improve the language skills of their employees and do not lower their prices without the permission of the committee. Secondly, those hotels must focus on the quality and report their efforts regularly. The committee developed an award program to award good efforts in providing great services such as customer reviews and other supervisors' reports hired by the committee to investigate the efforts. Eddie successfully inspired them to peruse a vision that all hotels are profitable and to keep upgrading their services. Now, this area is thriving as it was. You would have to book a room for your stay at least one month earlier, or you will see “Sold Out” on every website. This story teaches me a lesson that both two sides of a conflict can be winners if we uncover the great opportunity behind the vicious argument.

References

Conflict is inevitable in the Human life essay. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.ipl.org/essay/Conflict-Is-Inevitable-In-Human-Life-Essay-PJQVAMHNAG 

Hayes, A. (2022, June 16). What is game theory? Investopedia. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gametheory.asp 

the Mind Tools Content Team By the Mind Tools Content Team, Team, the M. T. C., wrote, M., wrote, regonzales80, & wrote, M. (n.d.). Emotional intelligence in leadership: Learning how to be more aware. from MindTools.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_45.htm 

Leadership styles for the five stages of radical change” and reflection

 According to The Leadership Style Inventory (LSI), which is designed to measure the unique leadership style of current managers, executives, and other types of organizational leaders, there are four basic styles, commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive(Reardon, Reardon, Rowe, 1998). The commanding style focuses on performance, short-term goals, productivity, and results-oriented. The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives, using analysis, and for long-term goals. The inspirational leader is those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas. They learn by experimentation(Reardon, Reardon, Rowe, 1998).

According to the scores I got on The Big Five Project - Personality Test, I am relatively open to new experiences(percentile:72%), very well-organized and can be relied on(percentile:92%), and tend to be good-natured, sympathetic, forgiving, and courteous(percentile:66%). However, I am a generally anxious person that tends to worry about things and is neither particularly social nor reserved(percentile:50%).

Overall, I am open to new experiences means I am able to accept and come out with new ideas quickly. When a physical store I am operating, is affected by negative events such as COVID-19, I will make new solutions to solve such an issue quickly and switch sales onto platforms such as DoorDash. My well-organized character also helps me to implement new strategies with higher efficiency. However, I am a generally anxious person that tends to worry about things. Therefore, I must transfer the power of fear and anxiety to the fuel of execution. 

I reckon it is hard to pick up just one leadership style that applies to me the most since I usually prefer a hybrid way. Although I am relatively open to new experiences and do not like to command people for no reason, my anxiety will rise if there is no logic behind a decision or if there is actually a very lazy member in my team. Therefore, I prefer a hybrid of logical, inspirational, and supportive. In all stages of radical change, I tend to inspire them with a vision, convince them of the change by providing them a sense of logic, and keep their effort by supporting them. 

I did try to just command people to work or make changes. However, I think it was ineffective. People listen to commanders only for some bad reasons such as fear or needs(money or other things). In this situation, they are not self-motivated. They always waiting for your orders. A few years ago, I was hired to be a manager for a coffee shop. As a manager, I tried my best to "manage" things and people, and keep everything under control. I set up many SOPs(Standard Operating Procedure), from how to handle issues and complaints to promotions and how they should clean the environment. However, I think it was not a good way. As a result, they tend to see those SOPs as fuel and they remain stagnant and waiting for my next order. It is a big issue if there is always have to be me and an SOP. I was hired to be a good manager and also a good leader. I reckon that leadership is about creating a shared vision of the future and then inspiring others to help achieve that vision or influencing others to work toward a goal. Now, I am looking forward to working out a plan to get rid of the defects.

References

Hickey, K. F., Sri, V., Rosenstein, J., Tormey, T., Thai, J., Desroches, Z., Gittens-Ottley, S., & Schwartz, J. R. & C. (2016, November 29). Dustin Moskovitz shares his lessons on leadership. Wavelength by Asana. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://wavelength.asana.com/workstyle-dustin-moskovitz-leadership/

Identifying your personal learning style. Department of Health | Identifying your personal learning style. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2022, from https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/drugtreat-pubs-front1-wk-toc~drugtreat-pubs-front1-wk-secb~drugtreat-pubs-front1-wk-secb-2~drugtreat-pubs-front1-wk-secb-2-5~drugtreat-pubs-front1-wk-secb-2-5-ide

Reardon, K. K., Reardon K. J., & Rowe, A. J. (1998). Leadership styles for the five stages of radical change. Acquisition Review Quarterly, 2.

https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1585144/mod_book/chapter/344618/reardon.pdf

The Big Five Project - Personality Test. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010, Execute radical change

 Introduction

On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the platform and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Nearly four million barrels of oil flowed. It was an avoidable human-caused environmental disaster. On December 15, 2010, the United States filed a complaint in District Court against BP Exploration & Production and several other defendants alleged to be responsible for the spill. However, putting aside the actual disaster itself or its engineering problems, The crises also exposed dysfunctional organizational cultures built by those leaders. The behaviors and attitudes of leaders have been disappointing and irresponsible at worst. In this crisis, even some basic elements of leadership have been flouted by those leaders. The leaders of BP, who are ultimately responsible for this environmental disaster, ignored expert advice, overlooked warnings about safety issues, hid facts, and sanctioned the extreme risk-taking organizational culture. The disaster was a direct consequence of this flawed culture. 

However, before we consider the appropriate leadership styles of the BP and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster of 2010 event and evaluate which one would be the most beneficial to execute radical change, we must understand The Five Stages of Radical Change and the Different Leadership Styles. 

The Five Stages of Radical Change

i. Planning

This stage emphasizes creativity, garnering important information, identifying obstacles, considering alternatives, and selecting among those alternatives. 

ii. Enabling

The focus in this phase is on explaining the plan to those who will be involved in the change effort. In this stage, empowering employees provides needed assistance in preparing to launch the change process.

iii. Launching

This step is where the change effort commences, required to meet specified launch goals, achieve early results to demonstrate the value of the plan, and assess progress.

iv. Catalyzing

Here people become the focus. Making the change effort and rewarding small successes along the way to keep energy up in the change process.

v. Maintaining

This phase also emphasizes people. Persuasion becomes crucial and guiding people to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance.

Different Leadership Styles

According to The Leadership Style Inventory (LSI), which is designed to measure the unique leadership style of current managers, executives, and other types of organizational leaders, there are four basic styles, commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive. 

The commanding style focuses on performance, short-term goals, productivity, and results-oriented. The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives, using analysis, and for long-term goals. The inspirational leader is those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas. They learn by experimentation. 

Now, let's get on a time machine and recommend this company some radical change, trying to change the result of this event, and save those workers. According to the investigation, BP made the mistake of trying to spin its way out of this crisis rather than tackling it head-on. This is the first thing we have to change, a dysfunctional organizational culture. Secondly, the duty of leaders, politicians, and investors to adhere to regulations was pushed aside in the drive to build successful businesses, create jobs, and deliver shareholder profits(Corkindale, 2010). However, they refused to remember that true leaders are stewards of their organizations and must lead for the longer term(Corkindale, 2010). Therefore, the second thing that needs to be changed is the leaders need to work together rather than scoring points or deflecting blame. Remember, leaders are there to serve their companies, people, and communities, rather than just taking the benefits and blaming each other.

With so many engineers on the platform, I suggest that adapting logical leadership is an effective way to ensure that everyone understands the risks and possible tragedy behind these small steps. Starting with the planning stage, the leader must emphasize garnering important information about safety and identifying obstacles. When the leader values the safety issues, all workers will know what is the top priority. Instead of blaming each other, workers now understand they are on the same platform and they have to be safe together as a team because everyone is part of the safety rules. Then, after explaining the plan to those engineers who will be involved in the change effort, everyone should understand that they have the ability to avoid a possible disaster and consensually launch the change process. Now, we have to keep it up as long as the platform is still working. Logically persuading them to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance is a crucial part of the plan. 

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill 

Five leadership lessons from the BP Oil Spill. Harvard Business Review. (2014, July 23). Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2010/06/five-lessons-in-leadership-fro 

(Corkindale, 2010)

The Five Stages of Radical Change and Different Leadership Styles

 History teaches us that many species survived not because of their intelligence or strength, it is their adaptability to change that helps them survive. Today’s business leaders are confronted with rapid and explosive changes that require them to sufficiently recognize what is necessary for change, in order to inspire their subordinates to adopt appropriate strategies. The key challenge facing leaders now and in the future is responsiveness to radical change. Moreover, today’s leaders also work with employees who are more diverse than ever before, and their customers are also spread worldwide. Multiple styles of leadership may be needed to effectively implement most forms of organizational change. 

For some leaders and employees, if we break down the process into three questions, why we need it, how to change it, and what should the company look like after the change, they understand why they need it but do not certainly know how to do it. Even though they do know all the answers to the three questions, they still have to work together as a team to achieve the goal and vision. Under such conditions, no single leader can have all the answers or all of the styles required to accomplish the myriad tasks confronting each day. Therefore, how do leaders communicate with, persuade, and energize employees in the process of change? It is preferable for leaders to develop the capacity to adapt their styles to the demands of situations, especially when their organizations are undergoing radical change. Now, let's get to know The Five Stages of Radical Change and the Different Leadership Styles first.

The Five Stages of Radical Change

i. Planning

This stage emphasizes creativity, garnering important information, identifying obstacles, considering alternatives, and selecting among those alternatives. 

ii. Enabling

The focus in this phase is on explaining the plan to those who will be involved in the change effort. In this stage, empowering employees provides needed assistance in preparing to launch the change process.

iii. Launching

This step is where the change effort commences, required to meet specified launch goals, achieve early results to demonstrate the value of the plan, and assess progress.

iv. Catalyzing

Here people become the focus. Making the change effort and rewarding small successes along the way to keep energy up in the change process.

v. Maintaining

This phase also emphasizes people. Persuasion becomes crucial and guiding people to continue their efforts and providing them with motivation and assistance.

Different Leadership Styles

According to The Leadership Style Inventory (LSI), which is designed to measure the unique leadership style of current managers, executives, and other types of organizational leaders, there are four basic styles, commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive. 

The commanding style focuses on performance, short-term goals, productivity, and results-oriented. The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives, using analysis, and for long-term goals. The inspirational leader is those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas. They learn by experimentation. 

A Real Story | A Unexpected Pandemic

One of my friends was running a coffee shop in Taiwan. During the pandemic of COVID-19, the revenue plummeted to a record low due to the massive lockdown. Many small restaurants in Taiwan were facing collapse during this period. Even more, her suppliers are also affected by the global supply chain. Multiple national lockdowns continue to slow or even temporarily stop the flow of raw materials and finished goods, disrupting manufacturing as a result. Right now, her major issues are the revenue was tumbling, the fixed costs and variable costs are still on the table, the supply of raw materials, and most importantly, her employees were worried about their jobs. She was struggling to keep her shop open while the operating cash flow was at a dangerous level. She discussed her concerns with me and I tried to work out a plan for her. 

A few weeks later, I came out with an idea, food delivery. I suggested that she can consider transferring her business to food delivery temporarily. In partnership with UberEat and FoodPanda in Taiwan, her revenue began to improve gradually. However, it was not as easy as it sounds to be. It required another expenditure to work with those delivery platforms and to set up the system. After that, she has to get her employees to learn it quickly while they were doubting whether this plan would actually work or not. 

During the planning stage, she has multiple challenges such as the packages and the new menu designed for the delivery. Since this stage emphasizes creativity to develop a new menu and identifying obstacles such as how to maintain the quality of the coffee and cake and considering alternatives such as closing the shop for a year. I recommended that she should explain the plan to her employees, don't lay off anyone, and tell them what her vision is. She agreed and prepare to launch the plan after successfully communicating with her employees. I think that since the logical style of leadership is particularly effective when the goal is strategy development, her employees actually became her solid support during the recession of her business. During this period, she also serves as an inspirational leader who motivated her employees to move toward the desired vision. I reckon that it is also a win-win strategy for them.

After that, the revenue of her coffee shop was back on track and even a little bit higher since the regular customers were back and her delivery services have become an extra income source. In this case, she only adapted a combination of inspirational and logical styles of leadership to lead through the change. I found it is pretty effective. However, it takes some time to communicate with her employees and to convince them of the plan.

References

LSI - Leadership Style Test | Psychological Assessments. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.psychological-assessments.com/leadership-style-test/ 

Reardon, K. K., Reardon K. J., & Rowe, A. J. (1998). Leadership styles for the five stages of radical change. Acquisition Review Quarterly, 2. https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1585144/mod_book/chapter/344618/reardon.pdf

What it takes to change a rotten organizational culture. Big Think. (2021, September 30). Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://bigthink.com/influence-power-politics/what-it-takes-to-change-a-rotten-organizational-culture/ 

How effective have you been in learning from your wrong decisions so far?

 Most of the mistakes I made in the past I think were "Not to do something early and I should do it more wisely". For example, when I was 23, the Financial crisis of 2007–2008 unexpectedly happened. During that time, I was trying to redeem my investment, even though it was just a $3,000 portfolio. And, yes, it was a big mistake. Five to six years later, I found it was a huge opportunity to invest even more. I did not do my research, conquer my fear, and calm myself down to make the right decision. I think if I had already done my research and learned from more business and investment courses, I would make a better decision. Now, I cannot undo the past. All I can do is face what's ahead. 

Every devil was once an angel. I reckon that failures usually bring us two things, depression and opportunity. Depending on how we process them, we always can move toward an opportunity. However, it is easy to say but hard to do. Because depression is always the first that comes to our mind, you have to defeat it before you get the opportunity to grow. Therefore, after going through many failures, I learned that processing those depression moments are crucial to finding a light path later on. Generally, these events do not change how they affect us. It depends on how we think about them. For example, if I hold one bottled water for 10 minutes, it is not a big deal. However, if I hold it all day long, it begins to hurt. My arm will be numb. In my previous investment case, if I always think and feel disappointed about my failure, it begins to hurt me and feeling hard to do anything. Therefore, to fight those depression moments, I must attempt to make changes to my thought and behavior to help improve my mood. 

Thinks to the failure, I have become a wiser and more sophisticated investor. I told myself that it is great to make mistakes early. Now, my decision is at least will be not purely based on fear or chaos. I developed a systematic research method and planned ahead before making any investments. Before investing, I assess personal factors such as financial goals, time horizon, risk profile, and market volatility. In addition, I also consider external factors like economic cycles and geo-political risk. Once I have made an investment plan, I stick to it and ensure that it is for the right reasons and not based on impulse or emotions. 

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References

DSP Mutual Funds. (2021, February 12). How can you make good investment decisions? Invest in Mutual Funds with DSPMF - Premier Investment Company. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from https://www.dspim.com/learn/articles/mutual-fund-beginner/how-can-you-make-good-investment-decisions