Individual Case Study Assignment

Problem Statement: You need to consider how you will identify the range of issues and problems in the following problem statement.

Boutique Hotel Company (BHCo)

Please Note: This problem statement is fictional. Any resemblance to actual names and places is purely coincidental. The case problem is for the advanced study of MBA and Masters Student's studying Strategic Leadership. 

Problem statement: Carrie Worth is a CEO for a Boutique Hotel, called BHCo. The hotel is located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and provides customers with a unique luxury beach hotel accommodation experience.  BHCo prides itself on excellent customer service, luxury dining experience (5star restaurant), exquisite room service, free internet connection, and an expensive range of toiletries in all suites.  The foyer displays original works of art on the walls.  The hotel annual turnover is $100millionAUD with a profit of approximately $10million AUD and rising with a share price of approximately $5.00. With a consistent and steady profit increase over a period of 5 years including relatively stable management, Worth has joined the company to replace the existing CEO Ben Jones. The Board consists of 12 members (there are 11 male and one female) and they all enjoyed a good working relationship with Ben Jones. However, since Worth has joined, she has consistently complained about ineffective senior management at the hotel indicating that staff was not working to capacity, plant and equipment were not being repaired in a timely manner and there was no maintenance routines in place. Worth's leadership behaviours could be described as aggressive, getting the job done regardless and controlling every operational aspect of the hotel management.

Worth wants to move from a 'relaxed' pace to a more vigorous pace including revising the departmental structure of the 600 hotel staff to increase accountability and improve communication among the various departments.  She also want to put strict systems and procedures in place to ensure that the hotel is running smoothly and efficiently.  Worth wants to reward employees for the tasks they perform and she wants to pay attention to the finest details of running the hotel herself.  Worth prides herself on ensuring both employee and customer safety are a priority with a particular focus on providing safe equipment and delivering fresh and safe food services. 

Worth's leadership style is different to that of the previous CEO - Ben Jones.  Jones was liked by all employees.  He was a people person, willing to go the extra mile for people when they needed help and yet he was able to set clear goals and milestones. Because of Jones' relaxed personality, employees were understanding when he had to get tough about their individual work performance.

Worth feels the opportunity is right for the company to invest in improving outdated equipment and technology which will add value to the assets of the hotel.  She believes that the previous CEO was 'too relaxed' and that 'things were let go' with regard to maintenance and repairs and a failure to attend to the operational 'details'!  Worth also hopes to streamline processes to ensure efficiencies and cut red tape.  However, the Board disagree with her ideas and they regard them as being an unnecessary cost and too expensive.  They do not see why these changes need to be made.  Worth wants to improve facilities at BHCo to provide the customer with the luxurious experience that they advertise and she suggests that this will increase the share price based on higher growth and higher profits leading to stronger profit and growth forecasts by market analysts.

Problems became elevated when during the end of month Board meeting, Worth disagreed vocally with the Chairperson on future company strategy. The Chair convinces other members that Worth's strategies are too expensive at this time and that her ideas are unnecessary.  Worth has fears that the Board is trying to overprotect the shareholders who want increasing returns on their investments.  To Worth's credit, she emphasizes the importance of a safe environment for customers and employees and she unveils a detailed future Strategic Plan of company activities going forward.  Surprisingly, she manages to receive some support from the Board but not overwhelming support. To make matters worse, Worth is confronted with complaints from senior staff who complain directly to the Board about her leadership style. She decides that there is significant conflict as a result of the manner in which she operates.  In an effort to manage this situation, Worth decides to consult you as the company's Director for Leadership and Change. She seeks your advice about what strategies are open to her in dealing with these issues. Jane Boeske USQ School of Management and Enterprise

You should write the case study in such a way that you start your answers from line 1. That is, there is no need for large introductions that we see in essays. You should use the readings/chapters that have been specifically prescribed for each task.  The readings are on the study desk for all students to access.  You should apply the principles you have learned from lecture material/tutorials/readings that are specific to the case study. Case study 1 answers should be written in narrative form (i.e. sentences not bullet points), and should be 2000 in length and single spaced.  You should use at least 10 references as set out in the Guidelines to Case Study 1 on the Study Desk.

Task Required:

Based on less than perfect information supplied about BHCo problem statement, where you may need to fill in the 'facts' by adding more assumptions that you think may assist you in solving case issues, you are required to act as the Company's Director of Leadership and Change to address the issues and challenges: 

Required:

1. Based on Reading 1.6 Boal & Hooijberg (2001) and Reading 2.6 Flood, Hannan, Smith and Turner (2000) explain the leadership style of the CEO Carrie Worth from the BHCo case.  How does her leadership style relate to other styles outlined in these two readings and other literature? (700 words)

2. Explain and discuss how leaders can change leadership styles.  In reference to the BHCo case, should the CEO (Carrie Worth) change her leadership style? Ensure you reference George (2015) Chapter 5 in your answer. (700 words)

3. What should the CEO - Carrie Worth do next?  How should she do this and what other factors may be involved (culture, the Board members, key stakeholders and so on) (600 words).

Based on your analysis of BHCo in Case Study, you are also required to continue your advice to the CEO Carrie Worth.  Assuming less than perfect information where you may need to fill in the 'facts' by adding more assumptions that you think may assist you in solving case issues, you are required to:

4. Advise Carrie Worth about any issues she should be aware of with regard to Positive Agency Theory and Stakeholder Theory. You need to use Solomon (2013) Chapters 1 and 2 in your answer in addition to other literature here.  (700 words)

5. Based on reading 4.1 Chapman (2002) and reading 4.2 Tosey & Robinson (2002) what are the key strengths of transformational leadership and change and how can Carrie Worth use these ideas to convince a skeptical Board?  (700 words)

6. Based on your analysis of BHCo, adapt and redraw Figure 6.2 Solomon's framework for corporate risk disclosure (Solomon 2013 p 174).  Explain your analysis in relation to Solomon (2013) Chapter 6 and Behan (2011) Chapters 1 and 2 using the case scenario.   You should use additional references as well.  (600 words)

Assignment - https://www.dropbox.com/s/tn4eb92rgzm7syo/Assignment%20Detail.zip?dl=0