Case study

Joseph Dunn created Dunn's Ski Emporium. In business for twenty-five years, Dunn's Ski Emporium is known for its state of the art ski equipment and repairs. It offers moderate prices to skiers in the bustling town of Vail, Colorado. The sports store has a cozy ambiance, with a Western décor and a two story fireplace with large windows that overlook the Rocky Mountains. Catering to skiers, the sporting goods store helps many skiers with their broken or challenged ski equipment. They specialize in hourly turnaround times on repairs and one day pick up adjustments on new equipment. This fast service has set Dunn's sporting goods store way above their competitors in the area for return business both from locals and visitors. Skiers can ski right to their door and leave from their back door to get back on the slopes. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and local. Most of them work year round.

Dunn has decided to expand his business. For some time, Dunn noticed that the Deli next door picks up a lot of his business from the waiting repair customers and he has seen the Deli customers step in to purchase gloves, goggles, and other merchandise after eating at the deli. The Deli would make an interesting addition to his future business plans. The Deli, like Dunn, has always done a brisk business especially in season. Designed in a similar western motif Dunn thought he would be able to expand easily to include the Deli into his Emporium. The cross traffic might even increase business. However, Dunn knows nothing about the Deli business. The deli's owner, George Atkins, knows and loves his business a great deal.

Dunn has known George for years and he is aware that he is thinking of retiring in the next few years. If he buys the Deli now and can get George to stay on at the Deli, George could train and mentor a new managerial staff comprised of some of his local staff and return employees who work the seasonal rush. The trick to the mergers success would be to get everyone on board including George. Dunn wondered how he could ensure George's best efforts to make the transition stable while Dunn's Ski Emporium grows. He cannot help but wonder how he would feel if he were no longer in charge of his own company. The future is bright for both businesses and Dunn wants to keep it that way.

Dunn has decided that his best-selling point to George is to design an organizational structure based on George's vision and mission. The design will have to feature and utilize George and his employees to the best of the company's advantage while empowering and allowing the staff at the Deli and Dunn's to grow the business.

Instructions:

Paper: Leader versus Manager

In the past weeks, students have learned about leaders and managers, leaders as social architects (leader who designs an organizational environment that encourages a desired range of social behaviors in an attempt to meet organizational goals), change agents, and individuals with distinct personalities. Using the information learned so far, students will analyze a case study. Students are expected to differentiate between the roles and skillsets of a leader and a manager by creating a leadership plan. In completing the leadership plan, students will address the required elements listed below.

Required Elements to include in Paper:

You are Joseph Dunn and as leader of Dunn's Ski Emporium wanting to purchase The Deli, you have work to do before entering into the possible addition of a business you know nothing about.

Your job is to design an organizational structure which fulfills the vision that you have and what you believe George has for The Deli, and will also fulfill its mission. Your organization must be open to change and possess a culture that will empower its employees to follow the vision that you have created. Remember like all good social architects your building must start with a design that suits the purpose of the business and seeks to make it the best building for the job. You should use your class materials and reading to help create the plan and reference them. All additional research should also be referenced. THIS PAPER IS THE ACTUAL PLAN FOR Joseph Dunn! IT IS NOT A "HE SHOULD DO THIS AND THAN THAT" PAPER. Make the plan specific and be creative, add facts or people, to the scenario if that will help you make the plan come alive. Be sure to explain the steps you are taking and your reasons for do so. Use the terms in your reading and explain them. This exercise is designed to show that you understand the class material so far in the course.

Students will develop a plan, writing from a leader perspective. Discuss the following:

1. Joseph Dunn as a social architect - discuss Dunn's vision for the organization.

2. Joseph Dunn as an individual - what can he do to enhance his role as leader?

3. Joseph Dunn as a change agent for the corporate environment? What steps should Dunn take for short-term change? For long-term change?

4. Create a vision statement and a mission statement for the organization?

5. Explain how Joseph Dunn will create an organizational culture that supports his vision?

6. Based on your leadership plan, discuss how Dunn might integrate the role the managers have to strengthen his vision.

7. Discuss the critical elements that must be in place for Dunn to be successful in this new venture;

8. Students are expected to be creative but realistic in developing the leadership plan using the resources provided. Students may also research beyond the material provided in the course.

9. No dictionary or encyclopedia definition or use of wiki files;

10. Remember, you are writing from the leader's perspective and are not solving problems but working toward developing an environment in which problems will be resolved.

Your plan should consist of the following steps:

1) Evaluate the organization's purpose and goals (is the business non-profit or does it sell widgets) (It is recommended that you create a list of what the company does)

2) Develop vision and mission statements

3) Design an organizational structure (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, bureaucratic)

4) Design an organizational culture that complements the organizational structure and organizational goals (market, hierarchical, clan, adhocracy)

5) Assess the environment for change in your plan. Is there a mechanism built in to the organizational structure and culture to facilitate change?