Read the case study below, then recommend 3 leadership approaches that could be used to help the CEO of Devise Products Unlimited (DPU) in better managing his company an d staff which mainly consist of CFO’s and directors that manage different departments in the company.

Answer the following:

1). Suggest 3 different team leadership approaches that would be beneficial in this organization and describe what the approaches are?

2). Relate each leadership approach back to how it would help in the case study?

3). Offer your opinion on the approach being recomended.

Case Study -Background of the Organization

Devise Products Unlimited (DPU) is a large manufacturing firm employing about 150 people. Martin Thomas, CEO, started the organization 30 years ago out of the basement of his home. Over the years he built his organization by acquiring several competitors’ businesses. His firm manufactures electronic parts for a variety of electronic devices. Thomas operates DPU in one location, which includes manufacturing, parts, service, sales, engineering, quality control, and administrative operations. He contracts with dealers to sell products throughout the world. The facility is divided into several departments, providing the most efficient assembly process possible, including a parts manufacturing department.

Key Players
Martin Thomas, CEO
Daniel Wilson, CFO
Gary Thomas, Director of Sales
Maria DeLuca, Director of Quality
Bill Wilson, Director of Manufacturing and Production
Carlyle Smith, Director of Parts and Service
Kathleen McTrite, Human Resources Manager (recently hired)

Each director has several supervisors that report directly to him or her.

Case Specifics and Issues: Thomas is described as an aggressive Type-A personality. He is involved in every aspect of his organization. He is known to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Even when he is not in the office, he is known to use surveillance cameras that are set up throughout the organization to view what is going on.

See the issues below that are ALL occurring in this company

Issue One: Thomas has recently decided that he needed to change the culture of his organization, so he decided to do so by implementing a program called the “Fish Philosophy. He obtained copies of the book FISH! and shared it with his key leaders, giving them a goal to implement the program in their departments within one month. He did not offer any training or direction to his leadership; he simply told them to implement the program. One month later, he asked for a progress report. One of his leaders stated he read the book and shared it with his managers, but that the managers did not think it would work in their department. He reported little progress. Another leader stated she came up with a plan to implement the program and presented it to her managers but they appeared to be having a hard time getting the program going. None of the leaders reported successfully implementing the program.

Issue Two :DPU outsources some of the manufacturing of parts to a Third World country. Thomas recently discovered that the organization to which he outsources has been forcing laborers to work seven days a week and 10 hours a day. These laborers receive minimal wages, yet without the work their families could starve and they would be homeless. The organization is the only large employer in the area, and if Thomas terminated his contract with the organization, it would likely close, leaving hundreds of people without jobs.

Issue Three :Sales in Thomas’s parts division have been dwindling. He has worked with the quality control department to determine the cause. They identified a trend in customer complaints related to the attitude of the staff in the sales, engineering, and production departments. The staff was viewed as “unhelpful,” “mean,” and “angry.” Often customers commented that they felt like they were “bothering” the staff.

Issue Four:Thomas has never had a human resources manager for his manufacturing firm. Individual managers have handled the hiring, firing, orientation, and training of employees. While each division has a policy manual related to the managing of division employees, there is no manual that addresses the personnel policies and procedures for the entire organization and there are often different “rules” among the departments, which sometimes creates conflict across departments.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Stepbystep explanation 1 The three leadership approaches that Devise Products Unlimited DPU should c... View the full answer