Leader vs. Manager Assignment

Scenario:

Ted Baker is the president of Wine Lovers Enterprise, a family owned company located in Finger Lakes, New York. The company manufactures wine bottles, synthetic corks, and labels. Ted inherited the role of president from his father ten years ago. He is fifty-five years old and his younger brother Jacob is Vice President. Ted is a bright, mild mannered man who has lived in New York all his life and has seen little of the outside world. His life has been with the company. He started with the company at the age of five and has spent his adult years running Wine Lovers Enterprise. The company hasn't changed significantly since his father's death and Ted has managed to keep things profitable. For the most part Ted gets along with the staff in general but spends little of his time on the floor of the factory. While he does see his upper level management staff he really only sees the factory staff at the company's annual picnic. He loves computers and spends a great deal of his time behind his desk researching his competitors and looking for trends in the industry. He has concerns regarding the ever exhaustive imports of products from China. He has been competitive so far but he has begun to worry that if he doesn't get connected to some larger customers, like Chatauqua Winery in Finger Lakes or Gallo in Napa Valley his business will lose money quickly. He knows that he can capture the larger market with higher quality and cheaper products. He is considering bringing in a group of Chinese production experts to work on this issue.  The whole idea of losing the company is hard for Ted to imagine as it has and is his life.

Added to his concern for the financial health of the company is the news recently brought to him by his brother Jacob. Jacob reports that there is rising gender tension among the workforce. Ted knows that 80% of the fulltime work force is female. Three percent of the women hold management positions with none in upper management.  He says that the women in management are talking of leaving because they feel that there is a glass ceiling in the company.  There are no women in upper management despite the fact that they have two middle managers who have been with the company for 10 years or more and hold college degrees. This particular news worries Ted because he is close to his upper management staff especially his brother. Changing upper management employees who have been with the company for 15 years or more is disturbing.

In addition to the upset management staff, Jacob further reported the he has also heard that the non-management female workers are considering asking the union to come into the business, something that would really hurt the small company's finances, and something his family has avoided for years.

Ted has seen the face of the workforce change from the seventies when 85 percent of the staff was comprised of white males to 80 percent women. While the composition of the workforce had changed Ted didn't see that it mattered in running his company, now he is not so sure.  One thing is for sure Ted does not want the union, nor does he want his middle management people to leave.

Assignment:

You are Ted and as leader of the business, the same old thing isn't going to work and you know it.  You are now faced with many concerns which require you to draw up plans to create a new organizational structure. You are in the role of social architect. Your job is to design an organizational structure which fulfills the vision that you have for the company and will also fulfill its mission. Your organization must be open to change and posses a culture which will empower its employees to follow the vision that you have created. Remember like all good 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 TED! 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 me that you understand the class material.

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

• Ted as a social architect - discuss Ted's vision for the organization. 
• Ted as an individual - what can he do to enhance his role as leader?
• Ted as a change agent for the corporate environment?  What steps should Ted take for short-term change?  For long-term change?
• Create a vision statement and a mission statement for the organization?
• How can Ted create an organizational culture that supports his vision? 
• Based on your leadership plan, discuss how Ted might integrate the role the managers have to strengthen his vision.
• 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.  Please no wiki files.
• 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?