Case Study 7 (Managing change at Faslane)

1.Faslane change was very successful and the evidence for this s is that they would become the home base ,not just for nuclear submarines but for the entire UK submarines fleet. They did many  things and made many changes that helped them to succeed. The most important ones are:  -they changed the mindset of employees to see their job as to deliver with the minimum possible spend , - they focussed on delivering services to the customer,- reduced bureaucracy , -cut the management layers from 7 to 4, - implemented all the low changes upfront because they are easy, -changed the structure, -understood who they need to have as allies, - they did a lot of work upfront with two local councils because the base represents 9.5%of employment in the area, - encouraged team work, -implemented no personal profit strategy, aligned workforce around common objectives, encourage open discussions with workforce to find out their views (e.g. the event in the tent)...

source:www.militarypictures.info

2.From this case study we can learn how to implement changes effectively , how to run the company successfully and what the primary objectives of every company and every employees should be.

3.their strategic leadership approach compared with Lynch’s model : they developed and communicated the organisation’s purpose by encouraging open discussions, for example they held ‘the event in the tent’ session, they changed the mindset of employees , they clearly explained them what are the company’s objectives . they sustained competitive advantage over time and the best evidence of this is that they would become the home base not just for nuclear submarine but for the entire UK submarines fleet.  They defined and delivered to stakeholders , they understood who they need to have as allies, such as the Naval Base Commander. They looked at the wider stakeholders, like for example commanding officers, security people or local community because they new their importance for their success. They set ethical standards, they built thrust with employees , they changed their mindset  to operate with minimum spend.

4.Comparing this case study with the previous ones we can say that Faslane has the best of all case studies. Gerry Robinson was looking only on one problem- waiting list, but Faslane look on the entire organisation and every issue.  The IDEO and Faslane both base their success on the team work.  Unlike David Jones, from Energix case study,  John Howie new that one approach can’t be useful for two different organisation, he set the proper objectives for the company and the approach that would be applied taking into consideration all features of the organisation and its employees.

Case Study 6 (The Onboarding Challenge)

1.Effective strategic leadership depend on the situation, there is no ‘one right way’ because each organisation differs, and leader can’t use one, single approach to the different organisations and situations if he wants to do  job effectively. Good example for this is David who was applying the same approach to two different organisations and of course he failed. One approach could be very useful and effective for one organisation but for another one it could be disaster.

Today’s leaders must be flexible, collaborative, and willing to continue their learning so they could recognize which style he/she should apply in specific company, only one way of doing things is not enough.

source: www.physicsdaily.com

2. The organisation where David was working first is totally different from the second one. He didn’t know that same approach doesn’t have to be effective for two different organisations. He was confident in his approach because he has already had success with it, and didn’t want to adapt to  the new culture and develop new ,appropriate approach and of course he failed.  His style didn’t sit well with existing culture of the second company.  He didn’t  try to understand a small team and culture of the company , didn’t communicate effectively, didn’t explain what he was doing, didn’t bridge, he wasn’t flexible enough  so he remained outsider-entrusted which  was unacceptable for the company like Energix.

3.In this organization Gerry Robinson would try to establish effective communication with the employees and managers and try to find out from them what are the weak sides of the company and with their help and trust try to remove all weaknesses and solve the problems.

Madonna would make alliances, and adopt herself in the environment so he could get closer to the employees and  gain their thrust.

Also it could be very useful for the Energix company to apply work style that IDEO company had applied.  They should encourage creativity and team work but all employees have to be aware that there are some deadlines which should be respected so there must be some kind of discipline but not too much to destroy that creative and effective working environment.

Case Study 5 (IDEO)

1.One of the most important aspects of effective strategic leadership is managing creativity and innovation. They are the golden keys for the organizational success. The highly competitive nature of today’s business needs creative and innovative ideas for dominant success. If you want to be strategic leader you have to think differently, so you could explore new ideas, or doing things in different, better way. Only if you think differently you will be able to uncover barriers and explore new ways how to become an effective strategic leader.

source: www.giraffeinnovation.com

2.There are many things we can learn from IDEO about effective strategic leadership:

Build culture, make working space fun, open to encourage creativity. Employ people from different areas so you could have different opinions and so you could learn from each other. Every employee should know why is he/she there for. Be flexible, and go out and see what people have to say, listen them and use it to find solution, don’t give titles- everyone should be the same, no judging just say your wild ideas, ask forgiveness not permission, don’t be afraid to disagree with people, etc...

3.Very important difference between this and challenger case study is that here we can see flat hierarchy opposite of NASA which has high hierarchy. In Challenger shuttle case employees were distant, didn’t communicate face to face, and when they were communicating it was very formal, unlike the IDEO where the communication is one of the main reasons of their success. NASA’s second space shuttle orbiter ‘Challenger’ experienced catastrophe because no one in NASA and Morton Thiokol(US corporation contracted by NASA) wanted to confront, unlike the IDEO where disagreeing with people is accepted, even more it is desirable.

There are very big similarities between IDEO and Madonna since both of them encourage creativity and innovation in order to remain competitive. Madonna knows that creativity and innovation are the lifeblood of her ‘existence’ as a pop star. Creativity helped her to explore  new ideas  which made her unique, different and superior from other musicians.

Case Study 4 ('Challenger, Go for Launch')

 1.Challenger case study is an example of ineffective strategic leadership.  Most of the people see what they expect to see but that is the reason for many failures of the organisations.  If you want to be strategic leader you have to think differently , so you could explore new ideas or doing things in different, better way. It is not easy, especially because people don’t like those who stand out the group, and not agree with their opinions, it is even more difficult and risky when you have to confront  your boss.  Lessons that we learned about effective strategic leadership from this case study are : to be more flexible, to be ethical(not too profit focussed) , we should lead with heart, we should be good listeners, to collaborate as much as possible and the most important to stay independent  and think differently.

2. The underlying reasons why the mission went ahead are that NASA was focussed more on publicity than on launching mission, pressure ( 6 failures before this one , TV alive, government, time, deadlines),  ,,Management Hat`` - for NASA managers it was very important for this launching to happen because of profit and customers, not enough testing guidelines, NASA didn’t want to risk to lose its image in the time of Russia-USA ‘space war’ ... For the catastrophe happened by launching the rocket everyone in NASA and Morton Thiokol  was to blame.

3. Engineers could say:,,I put my manager hat, but I still say no!’’ They should insist on stopping the mission, they shouldn’t give permission. They could use media to spread their findings regarding the mission and inform as many people as possible so they could stand up and protest against launching. With many people involved and protesting it would be much easier to stop mission.

4.And Carrefour and NHS and Challenger ,they all face similar problems caused by intention to earn as much profit as possible ,to keep their customers and to gain new ones.  Actually we cannot say it is a problem because that is the aim of every organisation. But the problems occur when the organisation doesn’t do it in a proper way.  When you set those goals you should take care not just to meet them at all costs, but to do that in a proper way (being ethical ,flexible, collaborative) ‘cause otherwise you will lose your customers and profit anyway.   Madonna is an example of effective strategic leadership , she thinks differently and that is the secret of her success unlike the Challenger case study which is the example of ineffective strategic leadership.

Case Study 3 (Madonna:the reigning queen of pop?)

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1.Madonna has managed to sustain success for so long because she never fails to be relevant, she has ability to change persona and music genre (adaptability) and still be on the top of the show business, and earn a lot of money.  The other resources of her competitive advantage are : collaborations with professionals, forecasting, feminism(stand for more than music) , authenticity , bargaining power, experience, herself, money, focus on drive, wide audience, risk management, versatility ...

2.In order to remain competitive and earn a profit in show business as in any other business it is very important to be  aware  of and to understand  the organisation  that you work in the same as external environment and yourself. That could be achieved by using range of models or frameworks that help you to analyse the organisation. Madonna is one of the examples how well used  strategy models  and analysis of her environment can really help you to remain competitive for a long period.   She is not a queen of pop without reason, you must have a strategy and to know very well what the audience wants, the market is changing all the time and you must catch up with it. Only good voice is not enough, there are many other singers that sing maybe even better than Madonna but they just didn’t succeed to remain competitive, they didn’t have strategy.

3.We could compare this case study with the previous ones in the way that in all of them the most important thing is a strategy.  Good strategy means good business.  The Carrefour and NHS didn’t not have good strategy and that is why they were in a trouble, unlike Madonna who applies really good strategy by using different strategic models  to be aware of the changes in the environment and remain relevant and definitely  queen of pop.

4.It is important to remember that competitive advantage requires resources and competences that are unique or difficult to imitate!  And that having strategic model is not the only thing you should think of ,it is also important to evaluate your strategic choices (its suitability, feasibility and acceptability).