Looking at AGC
TO: John Dawson and the Board of Directors
FROM: Michael Ramsey and Shawn Williams
TOPIC: Results from the Change Process at Atlantis
Leadership Style and Organizational Culture
The global environment is creating a need for managers that are highly dynamic, especially when dealing with a cross-cultural workforce. As such, there are some expectations of leaders in a multinational organization such as AGC that is highly multicultural. The transformational leadership style is appropriate as it blends a mix of various characteristics that are necessary. The leaders in the organization encourage, inspire, and motivate the employees to engage in innovative problem-solving and creation of change that drives growth (White, 2018). This strategy can be beneficial for John Dawson as it will push employees to create ownership of organizational goals by following the example of the leader.
This leadership strategy has to be supported by an appropriate organizational culture. The organizational culture is one that should focus on the customer. However, to serve the needs of the customers, there is a need to have key consideration for the employees and the work environment. The work environment should consider the need for enhancing creativity and open communication. Open communication is important for building an employee environment that allows for feedback and engaging in creative discussion. This will also encourage interaction in a multicultural setting. The work culture should also consider employee training and development as an ongoing process that will lead to retaining of employees based on the career development path.
To implement the leadership and culture change in the organization, Kotter’s eight-step process is appropriate (Lynch, 2020). To begin with, there is a need to create urgency in the change process by engaging the employees in a convincing discussion to address the arising concerns. This is an important step for gaining support from the involved stakeholders. The second step is to develop a coalition of allies and stakeholders that will support the change process. The third step is to create a vision for the change process by developing the values, mission statement, and a logical strategy for execution. This is followed by the communication of the vision to the stakeholders and receives the necessary feedback. The obstacles that arise should be dealt with, especially resistance to change by employees through reassurance. Short-term wins should be created, which will act as great motivators for the people working on the new vision. The change process should be built on by growing into bigger ambitions and finally, the process should be anchored into the organization’s corporate culture.
The effectiveness of the change process is measured using key performance indicators in various areas. The main focus is on the operational goals of each department as aligned to the goals of the change process. The targets relating to the goals are monitored before and after the change process to determine the positive or negative change. The effects on the employees are determined using employee surveys and questionnaires. This is looking at the personal perception of the employees on the change process and this is later linked to the organizational performance in the markets based on monthly, quarterly, and annual results.
Potential Internal and External Threats
Various internal and external threats surround AGC. Internal threats work within the organization to cause sabotage; however, they may not always have malicious intent. External threats are invaders from outside sources. While operating on a global scale, the competition is high, which may cause increased pressure on employees leading to increased internal security threats. As such, the major internal threat that the organization should be prepared for is data breaches by employees. On the external environment, there is some key vulnerability that includes uncertainty from global events and also the risk of cybersecurity attacks.
Detecting the Internal and External Threats
The use of a SWOT analysis can offer adequate data on the threats. The strengths and weaknesses of the organization highlight the internal factors that influence the operations of the organization. The opportunities and threats look at the external factors affecting the organization (Sammut-Bonnici & Galea, 2015). This tool allows team members to brainstorm on various perceived threats from both internal and external and then prioritize to develop a strategic plan for dealing with the threats.
Protecting the Organization
The SWOT analysis determines the potential internal and external threats. To deal with the threats, there is a need to build on innovation and proactive planning. Under proactive planning, there is a need to have continuous scanning of the environment that looks at the identification, evaluation, and dissemination of information to key members within the organization (Sharma, 2018). This should also be coupled with the creation of a strategic roadmap that looks at the response mechanisms to various threats that may have been identified using the SWOT analysis. This plan should also be backed by a response team that has the necessary resources to deal with the arising situations effectively. Finally, there is a need to keep checking the response plans and strategies periodically to ensure they are up-to-date with the perceived threats.
References
Lynch, W. (2020). A Comprehensive Guide to Kotter’s 8 Step Model of Change. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@warren2lynch/a-comprehensive-guide-to-kotters-8-step-model-of-change-43d4eb86f1ea
Sammut-Bonnici, T., Galea, D. (2015). SWOT Analysis. n book: Wiley Encyclopedia of ManagementPublisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Sharma, A. (2018). 8 Important Needs and Importance of Environmental Scanning | Business. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-important-needs-importance-environmental-scanning-business-sharma
White, S. K. (2018). What is transformational leadership? A model for motivating innovation. Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3257184/what-is-transformational-leadership-a-model-for-motivating-innovation.html