Title: Strategic International Business Management
Level: Master (7)
Assignment type: Report (3000 words)
Task details and instructions:
Read the case study below:
Case Study – CelMax
CelMax is a manufacturing company in the south of Sweden. Previously owner-managed it was sold to a group that consists of seven similar companies four years ago. Today the company has 543 employees. The present CEO (also the previous owner) who has been with the company for 15 years is due to retire within the next few months.
The company operates as a sub-contractor to the digital music industry and has shown decreasing sales figures over the last three years. Turnover 3 years ago decreased by 13% vs previous year, 2 years ago by 16% and last year by 17%, with the forecast for the current year alarming. Twenty employees have been made redundant and the forecast indicates that further staff reductions may be needed.
The board of CelMax and the board of the parent company have had lengthy discussions about the future of the company. The parent company believes that the latest developments (the downturn) are due to poor management, but also that new products are needed to turn the company around. They have appointed a new CEO, Zack, an entrepreneur who started his own company 10 years ago, manufacturing digital equipment for the car industry. Zack is an engineer, in his 40s and recently sold his company with a fairly healthy profit, despite a declining market. During a previous recession he also managed to adjust production to avoid redundancies being made. Zack is very enthusiastic about taking up the role of CEO at CelMax.
Zack’s Mission
To turn the company around within 12 months, by finding new niches for the present product range, but primarily by introducing a new product – a high tech simulation game for use in training in the media industry.
The management team has assumed that the new product can be produced in the existing production plant, with only minor changes to production equipment needed. Zack is unsure that this will prove to be the case, but is keen to avoid too much disruption, due to the turbulence that has existed over the past few years.
During the first quarter of production of the new product Zack encounters a number of problems. It is harder than the management team expected to customise the new product in the production plant, and sales are not taking off as forecast. While the sales agents around the world are trained in the new product they seem to be having problems accessing important prospective clients. The management team has different opinions on how to progress development and quality assurance processes are also taking too long. Added to this, the marketing manager has quit and the production manager is threatening to resign and go with him, to a multinational in the same city. He accuses Zack of not working with his management team or listening.
Zack starts to realise that the people within the organisation are not “with him”, that they mistrust the whole project and are stuck in old habits, failing to fully appreciate the risks they face and the increase in competition within their industry. The risk of ending up with a loss by the end of the period Zack has been given by the board is obvious.
Write a report explaining why Zack may be encountering the difficulties he is facing and to make recommendations as to how he should proceed, in order to implement this change successfully.
Your report should address the following:
- The people management issues that potentially underpin the difficulties Zack is facing (30 marks) – 900 words.
- The steps that Zack should take in the short and medium term, to get the launch of the new product back on track (40 marks) – 1200 words.
- The leadership style(s) that Zack should adopt in this process, including the reasons why (20 marks) – 600 words.
- Any decisions or support that might be needed at board level to help improve this situation (10 marks) – 300 words.
Your answer should be written as a report, with headings and sub-headings.
You should draw on and reference theories of leadership and change management*
Useful Resources
Books:
- Bridges, W. (2009). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. 3rd edn. London: Nicholas Brealey.
- Carnall, C.A (2007). Managing Change in Organisations. 5th edn. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
- Hayes, J. (2014). The Theory and Practice of Change Management. 4th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Journal Articles:
- Brisson-Banks, C.V. (2009). Managing Change and Transitions: A Comparison of Different Models and Their Commonalities. Library Management, 31 (4/5), 241-252.
- Kotter, J.P. (1995). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, (73) 2, 59-67.
- Schein, E. (2002). The Anxiety of Learning. Harvard Business Review, 80 (3), 100-106.
On the Internet:
- Prosci’s ADKAR model (a goal-oriented change management model to guide individual and organizational change) – free guides are available to download from:
https://www.prosci.com/adkar/adkar-model
- ‘Managing Transitions’ by William Bridges: Brief Summary of Key points;
- Online interview with Ed Schein’s learning and survival anxieties:
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/edgar-schein-the-anxiety-of-learning-the-darker-side-of-organizational-learning
- TED Talk by Jenni Cross on 3 myths of behaviour change, which highlights ways in which behaviour may be altered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5d8GW6GdR0
* There are multiple models of change management to be found within the academic and practitioner literature. Lewin’s field-force analysis and 3-step model of change led the way.
The word count excludes the following:
– cover page
– contents page
– references
– tables
– diagrams
– appendices
