Introduction
The issue in analyzing particular case studies or stories of business success is that they can be suited to any purpose or aspect, such as marketing strategies, leadership, creativity, HR management, etc. Faults and achievements can be interpreted to point to specific aspects as the basis of success or failure. Nevertheless, such cases are the borderline that should be studied and examined to cross the theoretical framework into the real world. In that regard, this paper analyzes one of such case studies, which is “Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide” providing an outline of the possible actions for Charlotte Beers being on a crossroads to come with a course of action that provides the best stewardship for the Ogilvy brand.
Family business model
To assess the accomplishments that Beers had at the Ogilvy & Mather, the business models of the company should analyze. It can be seen that at the foundation Ogilvy & Mather had the family business model, which was distinguished by a low decentralization and a low formalization. The authority figure of David Ogilvy had all the power centralized in his hands, and at the same time, he was emphasizing talent and creativity rather than a formalized documentation on how the work should be done. Accordingly, there was some rejection when Beers took the position of the CEO as she tried to change the business of the company into high formalization and high centralization which is characteristic of the machine model of business. (Burton, DeSanctis and Obel 162)
Marketing
In a creative field like marketing the concept of brand stewardship which Beers proposed implementing can be seen as a change in the culture of the company. In that regard, before making such an implementation, Beers should have reached an internal consensus regarding it. Additionally, this problem of internal consensus resulted in that the message of the company did not turn into an established vision and strategy, where the senior management team did not formulate the message and vision down through the employees.
Recommendations
In the light of the aforementioned, the recommendations that can affect the present situation can be seen in the leadership of the CEO and the business model of the company. If the CEO decides that the machine business model is suitable she should work on clearly formulating the vision of the company into this centralized model. Brand stewardship as a concept should have well-defined procedures and processes which should be documented, formalized, and trained through all the company’s branches. In that regard, branches could be able to work locally while maintaining the global work procedures of the company. Additionally, in terms of leadership, Beers should use her authority to provide the vision of the company. Accordingly, the contradiction can be seen in centralizing the activities of the organization, while lacking a powerful authority figure.
Conclusion
Thus, according to the McKinsey 7-S model, it can be assumed that the ineffectiveness of the companies comes from the shared values and the style of the organization. (“The Mckinsey 7s Framework”) In that regard, Beers should work with the senior management team to implement the Brand stewardship concept by establishing clear objectives and goals as well as clear assessments criteria for the concept to be integrated into the company’s core mission. Accordingly, a fair system of rewards should encourage the staff and the management teams to collaborate rather than oppose the new goals and objectives of the company.
Works Cited
Burton, Richard M., Gerardine DeSanctis, and Børge Obel. Organizational Design : A Step-by-Step Approach. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
“The Mckinsey 7s Framework”. 2009. Mind Tools.