Now that Joan has to rise to the helm of the family company, she has to prepare for the task that lay ahead of her. Although the company has been running for quite some time, it still requires to be revamped in order to be on a profit-making trend. For a period of time, the sales of the company have stagnated while the cost of production has risen. This implies that there are mishaps in the company which needs addressing. Addressing the problems in the company will not only require a fresh blood and management, but also administration skills and knowledge which will see the company perform again. The paper will explore some of the possible steps and interventions that Joan might pump to the company in order to bring it to life again. Now that Joan has to take over the company within a period of two months, there are number of issues that she will need to tackle. This paper will review and provide a solid structure that she may use.
Joan has a number of roles to play when she takes the helm of the company. As the Chief Executive Officer of Invitation Incorporation, Joan is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company’s goals and visions with a view of expanding the business and providing an environment for making profit. She is also tasked with managing the day-to-day management operations of the company while implementing the company’s short and long term plans (Tonello, 2011). Moreover, Joan is supposed to act as the liaison between the Board and the management of company. Although the company is a middle-sized organization, she has to make it an international company that operates in many continents. This means that the company will have a Board and a management. When the company rises to that level, she will be mandated, as the CEO, to communicate to the Board of Directors on behalf of the management (Tonello, 2011).
Joan is supposed to have a working plan on the future of the company. Any potential leader should have a plan for the company prior to taking over. Joan should ensure that the company has a feasible ability to meet her plan. She ought to roll out a plan which put the company’s sales at a higher value than the current values. Within the past two years, the company has had sales of 1.5 million. Joan must ensure that sales will grow to about a million each year within a period of one year after her takeover. She must also work to reduce the cost of production. In order for the company to experience profit, she should cut on the cost of production and increase the sales (Hormozi et al., 2002). Her plan should also involve an employee workforce that delivers result. The success of the company depends on the willingness of the workers to deliver quality results. The first step that she should take after taking the company is scrutinizing the workforce and determines who is delivering and who not (Hormozi et al., 2002). She should also work to empower her marketing department. Generally, her future company is supposed to be a profit-making company which has grown beyond America.
There are a number of leadership skills that Joan will require in order to effectively run the company. The first attribute is honesty. Whatever the ethical plane Joan holds herself, when dealing with a workforce, she will require raising her bar even higher. The business and the workforce are a reflection of the leader; and if Joan makes herself honest and ethical, the team will follow suit. Joan will also require being delegate. When creating an organized and efficient business, a leader requires finessing the brand. This implies that if she will have to trust the team with the vision, otherwise, the business will not progress. Communication is another key component of creating a good impression of the company. Joan will be required to focus on honing her communication skills. Finally, Joan will be required to be confident and committed to her work. It is her role as the leader to put out fires and maintain the morale of her team. If she expects her team to work effectively, she has to lead by example (Ganz, 2010).
Joan faces a number of challenges in building relationship in her leadership. Taking over a family venture is challenging task in terms of building relationships with the managers of the company. First, having not served in the management capacity of the company, some of the workers will despise her. Since the employees have served in the company for a long period of time without scrutiny, they have established a strong bond between themselves. This means they will always cover for each other, which will pose a challenge to Joan. Having not served in such a position before, it will also be a challenge for her to create the relationships. In her plan, it is also important to come up with a change in the environment for her business. Changing the environment, first, begins with the expansion of the business (Ganz, 2010). She will be required to expand the business beyond Washington to other states in America to explore the market. Also, she is required to expand her business beyond America to other countries in the globe, such as Singapore. Joan is also required to reshuffle the workers. She may decide to change people between the departments or transfer them to other branches.
Joan, the incoming Chief Executive Officer, will have to understand all the dynamics of running a company. Her first assignment is to clearly understand her roles and responsibilities in the company. The knowledge of her roles will make her have an uppers hand in running the organization. Secondly, she will be required to roll out a plan for the company and what she expects to achieve within a particular duration of time. Having a plan implies that she will work harder to beat her target. Joan will also be required to have a clear knowledge of leadership skills. As a manger, she will have to comply with the required skills required of her; otherwise, the company will not grow (Tonello, 2011). Finally, she should know the challenges that lay ahead of her prior to her taking over.
Having held a position in the company before will play to her advantage. First, she clearly understands the operation of the company in terms of the departments, the existing managers, among others. Her role in the company now will play a crucial role in her leadership. All the employees have interacted with her in one way or another. Therefore, she will not be a new face in the company. Workers will not have any fear in sharing their ideas and concerns, which is a positive thing to her. Her current and future plans must be well stipulated and thought about (Ganz, 2010). She should come up with a new mission and vision statements which she should share with her workforce. The mission and vision statements should be straightforward and have goals which the company can meet. Joan should also encourage the employees to have individual goals which they should aspire to achieve after the end of each year. In terms of the green plan, Joan must consult professional help in incorporating the green method of production in the company. However, that can be a long-term plan. She should first concentrate on reviving the image and operation of the organization.
Joan should establish a good relationship with the employees. She ought to be considerate and a listening managers. She should always welcome all ideas and complains. Unlike her father, she should be ready for any ideas and consider implementing some. Whenever making rules, she is supposed to ask for the opinion of every employee because they will feel as part of the team (Ganz, 2010). Joan ought to welcome any partnership from any company as long as the partnership will be of benefit to the company. In the case of the Singapore Company, she must first conduct a research on the Asia market before entering into the deal. Joan should not get rid of her father from the company. The father may become an adviser and a Board member of Invitation Incorporation.
References
Tonello, M. (2011). Separation of Chair and CEO Roles. In Retrieved from The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation website: http://www. blogs. law. harvard. edu.
Hormozi, A. M., Sutton, G. S., McMinn, R. D., & Lucio, W. (2002). Business plans for new or small businesses: paving the path to success. Management Decision, 40(8), 755-763.
Ganz, M. (2010). Leading change: Leadership, organization, and social movements. Handbook of leadership theory and practice, 19.
