Strategic management of Lakeland Wonders Company Essay

Introduction

Public administration entails formulation and implementation of sound policies suitable for management of various public institutions. However, the definition is not limited to public institutions since the both leadership and management of public institutions are almost similar to those of private institutions.

Every organization need to have a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who oversees all the activities of the organization and makes sure every thing is done accordingly to meet organizational goals¹. The CEO supervises controls and gives directions as what should be done in an organization. In the current changing world, the CEOs are faced with challenging roles to perform their duties as managers.

The CEOs ought to acquit themselves with current strategic management skills to ensure the survival of their firms both presently and in future as well as improving their firms’ competitive position in the market². Therefore, CEOs need to be flexible and able to perform other duties beyond their fields of expertise. This will enable them accommodate any challenging roles that may prevail upon the organization.

The following brief report will try to analyze some challenges facing Lakeland Wonders Company and some of the possible strategies that can be adopted to take the company into the next level.

Current happenings in the Lakeland Wonders

Lakeland Company, a manufacturing organization has had remarkable and good profile over the years. It has made considerable progress in achieving its goals and making sure that the production sourcing and customer satisfaction are adequately addressed. However, the current CEO seems to be having some troubles that may lead to decline of the company’s performance.

Though very skilled with wealth of skills and experience, what is facing the company at the time need critical thinking in order to come up with strategies that will help the company from collapsing. Considering the time at which the CEO leaves the office, bearing in mind that all the other employees of the company have left their offices shows how focused the CEO is in improving the performance of the company.

One important characteristic feature of a manager is that he/she should lead by example and then the others will follow³. This turns out to be not working out in this company since despite the CEO being fully committed towards achieving the company’s goals and objectives to an extend of working odd hours, she’s surprised the way other management team is lagging behind in bringing innovative solutions to the company.

For any company to achieve its goals and objectives there must always exist maximum cooperation on the part of its management team.

It is surprising to note that even the senior most staff of the company for instance the man by the name Mark who heads the manufacturing department does not understand the clear vision of the company yet he participated in one crucial job of preparing a manufacturing strategy.

Nevertheless, the CEO of the company declares the time has now come to make Mr. Mark face the reality and make him understand that the company needs him to progress. This is not advisable in the management, as it seems like some senior staff are being reminded of their duties that is not acceptable.

Managing the resources of an organization is one of the responsibilities of the managers. The most difficult part of the management of these resources is when it comes to the management of human resources, which are in this case human beings. This is due to the fact that unlike other resources that can be manipulated, human beings cannot⁴.

The CEO’s credentials are questionable. The case study clearly gives her achievements when she was in charge of general merchandise in the Kids & Company department. She is described as one of the section’s driving force that saw expansion of Kids &m Company from a small area chain to more than 100 stores. She is an achiever and proactive.

The CEO tried to do what is required of a manager in Lakeland Wonders including carrying out extensive marketing research, setting recommended deadlines for the projects and initiation of bonus scheme for the purpose of motivating the employees.

However, these efforts seemed to be fruitless due to lack of cooperation from the other management staff. The managers and union officials seem to disagree with every move she makes. For instance, when she proposed the bonus scheme, the union officials did not appreciate it but instead gave her some conditions.

Look at an instance when the CEO approaches Mark who prepared a report on offshore manufacturing. She disagrees with Mr. Mark since the report is likely to delay the company’s set goals and objectives.

However, when the person who prepared it is confronted, he looks furious claiming that the one year he had proposed was enough while the CEO suggests that there would be a delay in offshore manufacturing. This is like saying that the company leaders have varying opinions in terms of when the company goals should be achieved which is a very dangerous phenomenon for the survival of the company⁵.

The trouble is not with Mr. Mark, the manufacturing head but also with other departmental heads including procurement and design that have let the CEO down.

The presence of continued arguments over how the goals should be achieved makes the CEO to look at other different approaches to handle the problem at hand. Though not an easy task, after weighing the options, the manager sees this as the best alternative that can make maintain the company’s image.

This is because even after convening a meeting of all the managers to map the company’s way forward, no consensus is reached. Every person has a different opinion and the CEO is confused on how to solve the problem.

Long-term goals and objectives of an organization are achieved through formulating and implementing strategies for huge earnings that have to be communicated to the managers taking into account the organization’s vision⁶.

These goals are further.broken down and clarified in such a way that each individual manager is assigned work schedules that has to be strictly met. This is not the case for Lakeland Company.

How an effective scenario can be created in the Company to solve the crisis

A successful manager always has alternative courses of action whenever a crisis emerges in an organization. To a manager, failure should not be an option and he/she should try as much as he/she can to be flexible and deal with any issue that may lead to the collapse of the company.

In the case of Landlake Wonders Company, a lasting solution need to be sought based on the principles of management and this calls for necessary adjustments from several perspectives in the company. While seeking for possible solution for the Landlake Company, focus will be directed to Bolman & Deal leadership framework⁷.

These frames help managers to have different approaches concerning a particular problem and can be applied to different issues. An appropriate approach that seems to be more suitable than others is adopted depending on the nature of the situation. Though the combination of several approaches is advisable, Bolman &Deal dwells on four commonly known frames namely, structural, human resource, political and symbolic.

Structural

This involves making structural changes of certain elements within an organization that might be an obstacle. This strategy works well when there are clear-cut goals and objectives that have been set⁸. In the case of Landlake Company since the goals have been established, it is easier for the CEO to initiate crucial institutional frameworks that can solve the crisis within the company.

The possible changes that can fit in this company is clearly redefining the functions of each department and ensure the person in charge meets the required deadlines in time in the event that this is the preferred approach.

Human resource

This approach mainly focuses on the employees in an organization⁹. The employees including the management staff need motivation to deliver. They need respect and appreciation and sometimes it is necessary to reward them for their hard work. There should also be staff development and training should be encouraged to improve the efficiency in an organization.

The existing employees ought to be exposed to training facilities to meet the changing needs. The Landlake Company instead of opting to recruit new departmental heads can opt to increase the training of the existing staff and ensure their needs are adequately met since the disagreements emerging in the company may be due to dissatisfaction factors.

Political

This is the most appropriate approach when there is scarcity of resources. Managers who rely on this strategy do emphasize on political realities that exist both inside and outside the organization¹⁰. Some times conflict in an organization may be due to particular political motives.

Political motives may bring conflicts in organizational goals. A leader in this case can initiate negotiation programs that can bring the contradicting groups together and reach a common perspective.

Symbolic

This strategy focuses on the organization’s vision and mission. The people need to be convinced that their individual works and that of the organization are equally important to achieve the desired vision. Therefore, the employees commitment will depend on the inspiration instilled in them and extend to which they realize their importance towards meeting the company goals and objectives¹¹.

This is what looks like is eating Landlake Company and the CEO need to strongly remind and convince the managers who are lagging behind of their importance in the company.

Conclusion

The success of any organization is dependent upon the cooperation within the management staff. No organization can excel in the achievement of its goals and objectives unless there is maximum cooperation and commitment within the top-level staff.

However, the failure of some part of the staff does not necessarily call for retrenchment or replacement but instead an appropriate measure should be taken for the sake of organization’s survival¹². The overall manager on the other hand ought not to be so demanding or in possession of high expectations since this can pressurize their staff hence killing their morale for work.

Reference

Bennis, Warren., and Nanus, Burt. Leaders: Strategies for taking charge. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1985.

Block, Peter. The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. San Francisco, SF: Jossey-Bass, 1987.

Ciulla, Joan. Ethics, the heart of leadership. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.

Denhardt, Robert, and Denharddt, Janet. Public administration: An action orientation: Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009.

McKinney, Jerome, and Howard, Lawrence C. Public Administration: Balancing Power and Accountability. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing, 1998.

McLeod, Scott. Bolman &Deal frameworks, accessed from https://bigthink.com/

Shelach, Gideon. Leadership strategies, economic activity, and interregional interactions: social complexity in northeast China. New York, NY: Springer, 1999.

Footnotes

¹ Denhardt, Robert., and Denharddt, Janet. Public Administration: An Action Orientation:, Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009.

² Block, Peter. The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1987.

³ Block, Peter. The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1987.

⁴ McKinney, Jerome., and Howard, Lawrence C. Public Administration: Balancing Power and Accountability. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing, 1998.

⁵ Shelach, Gideon. Leadership strategies, economic activity, and interregional interactions: social complexity in northeast China. New York: Springer, 1999.

⁶ Denhardt, Robert., and Denharddt, Janet. Public Administration: An Action Orientation:, Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009.

⁷ McLeod, Scott. Bolman &Deal frameworks.

⁸ Bennis, Warren., and Nanus, Burt. Leaders: Strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.

⁹ Ciulla, Joan. Ethics, the heart of leadership. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.

¹⁰ McLeod, Scott. Bolman &Deal frameworks.

¹¹ Shelach, Gideon. Leadership strategies, economic activity, and interregional interactions: social complexity in northeast China. New York: Springer, 1999.

¹² Denhardt, Robert., and Denharddt, Janet. Public Administration: An Action Orientation:, Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009.