[Author]
Garret Salmon the Manager
When Joan Salmon takes over as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in two months, and the first month of the new fiscal year, Garret Salmon will be working as the Vice-President for Operations, and will be handling all management functions in the Invitations, Inc., under the new Green “Invitations” Vision (Alvesteffer, 2014).
Planning (Kotter, 2001): The flat sales performance of $1.5 million in the last two years posed a challenge that will be dealt with in the new fiscal year. The increased costs by 3 percent in the latest fiscal year eroded significantly the year’s profits and return figure. VPO Salmon will review the current gross profit margin for each product and their specific performance to determine opportunities to widen the margin and retire those products that failed to meet expectations. Re-pricing, production cost cutting, and marketing enhancement will be considered with better profitability in mind. The ‘budget’ and ‘high-end’ invitations will be reviewed for characteristics contributing to their high sales performance for replication in new products. Operating expenses also will be reviewed to identify drivers that can be cut down in the following fiscal year (Kotter, 2001). Employee performance review will also be conducted if still not through for the current year aimed at identifying potential special assignments under the new Vision.
In line with the new Vision, VPO Salmon will direct the Research & Development Department to begin designing new products, using the findings of the ‘budget’ and ‘high-end’ invitations review, to be released under the Green “Invitations” label, products that use recycled materials and using ‘green’ production methods. Current marketing approaches will be reviewed to identify alternative channels of distributions, and task the marketing department to submit a study on the profit potentials available in the online market. An increase of 20 percent in the sales volume will be implemented, aimed at increasing the sales by 20 to 25 percent (Kotter, 1995).
Budgeting (Kotter, 2001): VPO Salmon will meet the finance and accounting executives to review the drivers of costs in the last two years, aimed at identifying approaches to cut these down by 15 to 25 percent in the following fiscal year. The budget officer must prepare a budget for the next fiscal year incorporating a cut of at least 20 percent in the total expenses of the company, including operations and administrative expenses. More resources will be allocated in the production of high-performing products and in more profitable markets. A review of the current benefits policy will also be conducted with an objective of changing it to increase proportionately the benefits of high performers and decrease or none at all those of non-performers (Kotter, 1995).
Organizing (Kotter, 2001): VPO Salmon will be deploying more human resources to the frontlines of this new profit-driven Vision. Sales and marketing will be proportionately enhanced according to their increased targets, and support departments such as the production and research and development will also be increased.
Staffing (Kotter, 2001): Based on the outcome of the performance review, high-performance employees will be tapped in leading the programs under the new Vision in all areas. Employees with verifiable potentials will be trained to gain more skills in order to contribute more in the achievement of the new performance targets. Potential employees will be paired with high-performers to learn directly from them. Hiring of new employees will only be for high-caliber applicants. Non-performers, especially those showing no promise of improvements, will be reassigned to less performance critical areas, and their benefits modified proportionately to their contributions. With the expanding of distribution channels in focus, more high-performers will be assigned to the sales and marketing departments. All these refocused staffing decisions will be communicated to the employees as part of their vertical career paths, and those who show exemplary performance will find themselves hastened in their career paths. In all of these changes, control mechanisms are included.
Joan Salmon the Leader
In the last two months of the current fiscal years, upcoming new CEO Joan Salmon prepares the frameworks into which the new Green “Invitations” Vision will be implemented in the following fiscal year. She planned to maximize the resource potentials available in the Company, and improve such potentials to the farthest it can go through development and strategic hiring. She also planned to maximize the potential of the Company products and services in reaching for as many markets as its resources can reach out, and utilize into full advantage the low-cost potentials of Kent, Washington, the largest lumber towns in the country, opening a new subsidiary to just do that if needed.
Visioning (Kotter, 2001): Upcoming CEO Salmon, acting as Special Assistant for the Corporate Future (SACF), meets with the high-ranking leaders of the company (managers without leadership track record excluded) to discuss with them (Kotter, 1995) her working Vision statement for the group to enhance and finalize (Daft, 2007: ch.15, ch.1; Madden, 2011). The working Vision statement is stated below:
Under the Green “Invitations” Vision, Invitations, Inc. will seek, in five years, to be the most popular and most profitable invitations provider in the country and in 10 years in the region, serving customers with limited budget as well as those with special quality needs. Using ‘green’ production methods, it will champion the love of the environment and the cause of its preservation in how the company does business with its customers and in how its associates behave and live.
Once the new vision statement is completed and approved for adoption, the leaders will proceed to discuss and revise the working Mission Statement as stated below:
For its customers, Invitations, Inc. will provide a vast array of invitation designs closely based on their popularity among the customers at prices that fits the budget while providing better options for more choosy customers. Using ‘green’ technologies that go beyond industry standards, the Company will support the care of the environment and the communities it serves, as a symbol of gratitude for the loyalty and support of its customers.
For its employees, Invitations, Inc. will create a culture of family-like openness and friendship at work with benefit packages consistent with their level of performance contributions, supportive to the stronger thrust of winning the national market in the next 5 years and the entire region in the next 10 years.
For its shareholders, Invitations, Inc. will create profitability structures that add greater value to their investments in the company more than they ever enjoyed in the past as an act of gratitude for their faith in the Company as well as the work force.
With the two Statements in place, each leader will be requested to compose their separate proposals for the values, objectives, and strategies of the Company under the new Vision and Mission Statements (Daft, 2007: ch.15; Madden, 2011). Their proposals will be reviewed, discussed, and integrated into a better whole during a special weekend meeting for this purpose. The final document will be finalized and approved before the meeting ends.
Change planning (Kotter, 2001): SACF Salmon planned to create a culture with market-oriented external focus and a clan-oriented internal focus. The external focus will support the initiatives under the new Vision aimed at increasing sales (Kotter, 1995), improving product-targeting quality, and larger and clearly-defined market.
Influencing, motivating, and inspiring (Kotter, 2001): The specific approaches needed to implement these leadership functions will largely depend on the outcome of the weekend meeting. Implementation will start on the first day of the new fiscal year, and the announcement will be done during the annual corporate Christmas party on the 18th of December, 12 days prior to the closing of the current fiscal year. In general, though, CEO Salmon will commence the implementation of the Green ‘Invitations’ Vision with the unleashing the culture change initiatives and the restructuring of the organization.
Implementing a Vision with Moral Compass
Success and sustainability of a company depends upon sound ethical decisions based on clearly defined principles (Bishop, 2014). This list of principles, called a ‘moral compass,’ must be consistent overtime with the Corporate Vision and its implementation in all corners of the corporation. Doing so strengthens the internal fibers of the organization, enabling it to survive and be successful for decades to come. Under the new stage of the corporate history, VPO Salmon will act as the primary adviser of CEO Salmon in running the business to its new level through the Green ‘Invitations’ Vision. The father and daughter tandem agreed to adhere to the principles of the Moral Compass as their personal philosophical guide in implementing the new Vision. Details embodying these principles are stated below.
1.0 Do no harm: In every decision that the Company makes, no intentional harm must result to the customers, to the employees, to the shareholders, and to the community. When conditions become desperate, the Company must opt to choose actions that will not benefit either over causing them harm.
2.0 Accept responsibilities: The Company must accept the responsibilities resulting from its decisions that harm the customers, the employees, the shareholders, and the community. It must rectify the damage as a sign of accepting those responsibilities. The same expectations apply to the customers, the employees, the shareholders, and the community in their respective actions affecting the Company.
3.0 Accept a duty of care: The Company considers it a duty to take care of the people working for it and those made possible its existence. It must find ways to meet the expectations of care and defense for their respective interest in an objective and compassionate manner.
4.0 Affirm the right of self-determination: The Company respects the right of self-determination of its employees and shareholders with expectations that they exercise that right with accountability in mind.
5.0 Put the truth first: The Company will always be truthful to its employees and shareholders even if the truth demands a painful look of its shortcomings as an organization. A policy of transparency will reign in the halls of the home office as well as in its satellite offices around the country and around the world.
6.0 Never use a person as a means: The Company expects each member of the corporate-family to work diligently its tasks and responsibilities as paid members of the organization. No one in the Company will be allowed to use the others to their disadvantage for any person’s personal ends.
7.0 Be honest: Consistent with its commitment to the truth, the Company expects each member of the corporate-family, each employee and shareholder are expected to be honest in dealing with each other and the customers.
8.0 Honor agreements: The Company stands by its contractual obligations and responsibilities, and also anyone working in the Company.
9.0 Conduct relationships with integrity: The Company honors its commitments to its customers, employees, and shareholders, and will do its utmost to fulfill it as promised.
10.0 Leave a positive legacy to future generations: The ultimate goal of Invitations, Inc. is to leave a positive legacy for its customers and employees that they can proudly hand on to the future generation.
References
Alvesteffer, R. (2014). The difference between a leader and a manager. Ronalvesteffer.com
(Accessed on 19 August 2014)
Bishop, A. (2014). Moral principles defined: A decision-making perspective. The Centre for
Defined Ethics. (Accessed on 11 October 2014) Retrieved from: http://www.themoralcompass.co.uk/moral_principles.htm
Daft, R.L. (2007). Chapter 1: What does it mean to be a leader.
Daft, R.L. (2007). Chapter 15: Leading change.
Kotter, J.P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business
Review, 59-67
Kotter, J.P. (2001, December). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 85-96
Madden, K. (2011, October 1). What makes a good leader at work? Career Builder.com
