Introduction
Gerdani, a processing firm in southern Germany, was acquired by a group comprising several similar companies four years ago. The venture is a subcontractor to the digital music business and has experienced a decline in sales over the last three years. Over the last three years, its turnover has been steadily decreasing. As a result, several employees have been made redundant, and the forecast indicates that further staff retrenchment could be affected.
The board believed that poor management, ineffective leadership, and a lack of new products might be the reasons the company is performing poorly. This led them to recruit a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Eric, a young engineer with 10 years of experience in running a firm that manufactures digital equipment for the automotive industry. During a previous recession, Eric successfully adjusted his production to avoid redundancies. In his mission to revive the company within 12 months, he decided to introduce new items to complement the existing product line.
Furthermore, he introduced a new high-tech imitation game for educational use in the media field, believing it could be produced at the existing plant, thereby avoiding significant disruption. Despite the changes, the CEO still faced people-management challenges, such as mistrust and old habits, while others accused him of not listening. Further, there is a division within its leadership, and the management teams are not with Eric, prompting others to resign. Generally, this underpins the difficulties he is facing, including poor sales that could impede his plan to revive the company within a year.
People Management Issues
Gerdani management, under the new CEO, Mr. Eric, is facing an array of challenges that are impeding its productivity. These problems include poor worker engagement, strained management-employee relationships, unhealthy habits, and a lack of collaborative working across teams (Peterson, 2018). Furthermore, communication of new vision daily duties, including coordinating work, making decisions, and solving problems, seems to be missing (Gallup, 2023). Together, these issues have made it challenging to implement an effective strategy, and as a result, the company is unable to perform well.
Workers Engagement
Employee engagement is weak between the CEO and other middle-level managers, which then extends to the rest of the junior staff. Workers feel a poor mental and emotional connection to their jobs, teams, and the company. This has created a disconnect with the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives (Ryba, 2021). They lack a commitment to their duties and responsibilities, and their negative perceptions negatively affect their performance at Gerdani. Therefore, this state of affairs has left most of the staff unhappy and dissatisfied, leading some to consider quitting, as seen in the cases of marketing and production managers (Ryba, 2021). It seems that the workers believe the CEO does not value their contributions and is not listening to them.
Poor Management-Employee Relationship
The relationship among employees plays a crucial role in moving the company forward. In the case of Gerdani, it appears that the CEO and the rest of the staff have a weak link, resulting in them not pulling in the same direction (Management Study Guide, 2022). They accuse him of not listening to them, which might have created a sense of disrespect, as they do not trust his authority. As a result, they are unwilling to help whenever needed with the aim of achieving the organization’s targets. Consequently, subordinates have lost interest and focus in following Eric’s instructions. This may have led to negativity spreading throughout the firm’s entire working environment, where employees may feel compelled to put their best skills and energy into their work.
Creativity and innovation are not realized because the staff does not come together to share and discuss ideas. Thus, employees at Gerdani are not open to brainstorming and finding the best solutions to move the company forward (Management Study Guide, 2022). Probably, the CEO does not value their unique skills and experiences, which can help the company produce something that has never been thought of or implemented before. Through his style, Eric may have created a perception among his team members that he does not need their input and that he cannot be guided or corrected when he makes a mistake. The strained relationship has led to poor coordination and marketing implementation of the newly launched product.
Bad Habits
Part of working with other people involves being tolerant, open to diverse perspectives and thought processes, and accommodating divergent views. This could be a weakness at Gerdani, as employees reportedly accuse the CEO of not listening to them (Editorial Staff, 2022).
There is a possibility that Mr. Eric often shuts down his team members and is dismissive because their approaches don’t align with his opinions or plans. As a result, they may have decided it is not worth wasting their time to speak up their minds in his presence. Equally, they could have even pulled back and stopped collaborating with him.
On the other hand, Gerdani staff may not have appreciated the fact that Eric came in and refused to engage with them (Editorial Staff, 2022). They thus constantly voice their discontent with his instructions, creating a toxic environment that reflects poorly on their work ethic and attitude.
Lack of Collaborative Working across Teams
Collaboration challenges could be a bigger problem that reduces a company’s work efficiency. Some issues may include misunderstandings, lack of transparency, ineffective communication, mistrust, disrespect, conflict management, and diversity. Given the difference between Mr. Eric and his team, there is clear proof that they lack teamwork (Malak, 2023). This has led to demotivated employees, increased conflicts, reduced innovation and new ideas, and low performance. Personnel appear unaware of their responsibilities and of what they need to do to contribute effectively to the new strategy.
Steps to Get the Launch of a New Product on Track
Mr. Eric must involve his team in early planning before launching the new item. He should define the company’s target, its preferences, and how to reach them, as well as identify the factors that influence their purchasing behavior. Additionally, he should make the new product distinctive and stand out from competitors’ offerings. Implement brand voice procedures to determine how the company will engage with market dynamics (Beltran, 2022). They should research to ensure that their intended promotion strategy resonates with prospective consumers (Tow, 2022).
The next step for the team is to nurture early excitement among potential customers about the new product, so their interest is piqued before launch day. This could be achieved by creating a link with them, whereby the company offers giveaways and free samples of the same items (Tow, 2022). It will enable the company to get feedback and reviews on the commodity. Thereafter, Eric and his team must create timelines, select channels, recruit the best promoters, and develop a checklist outlining all activities to support the promotion.
The Leadership Styles to Adopt in This Process
Theories of leadership have been evolving, and all are relevant depending on the context in which they are applied. Therefore, a style used in a context with high precision, sensitivity, care, and technical skills might differ from one that requires simple, management-oriented decisions (Kramer, 2019). Situations, cultures, working environments, organizational regulations and complexities, and psychosocial developments affect the leadership concepts adopted by different managers. In the case of Gerdani, the CEO needs to adopt a leadership style that incorporates situational, directive, and participative approaches, as well as supportive, achievement-oriented, and political perspectives. Furthermore, while executing his duties, Eric should employ both the servant and democratic models.
Situational
This style emphasizes the belief that there are two types of leaders: task-oriented and people-oriented. The idea is grounded in adaptive management, which enables leaders to adjust their approach according to the work environment (Kovach, 2018). Given the division between Mr. Eric and his team, the CEO must learn when to be an activity-oriented leader and when to be a people-centered manager (Shala et al., 2021). This will cause other staff members to view or perceive their boss differently and recognize that their authority, due to position, is exercised in a positive direction. Additionally, situational leadership will ensure that the technology deployed and the strategy used to effect change have optimal support for everyone at Gerdani.
Behavioral
Behavioral theories suggest that leadership can be acquired through training, and no one appears to possess any standout traits. It is based on the leader’s actual behavior rather than their characteristics (Benmira & Agboola, 2020). Today, it is exemplified in the many leadership-training courses that develop skills and behaviors, thereby supporting the belief that leadership is largely learned.
Having been accused by employees who do not listen, Eric is perceived as having changed from a generous person with an amiable attitude and approachable demeanor into someone who adopts this style. He will have established pleasant, cordial terms and relationships with his subordinates. Similarly, when junior staff realize he treats them like family, they will be more motivated to implement tasks and activities.
Path-Goal
This leadership concept incorporates four styles: directive, participative, supportive, and achievement-oriented. It is envisaged that a leader should clarify the path for followers toward the goal by reducing roadblocks (Dare and Saleem, 2022). In the context of the Gerdani firm, the CEO appears to have failed to clearly explain his subordinates’ roles and responsibilities.
Furthermore, there appeared to be no task guidelines specifying procedures for executing the tasks or the time required to accomplish them. Despite placing a high value on performance, this will enable Eric to lead them in training and in spreading an educational culture that fosters participatory, achievement-oriented behavior, as well as in responding quickly to juniors’ expectations, needs, and wants.
Transformational
This leadership perspective encompasses management from a political standpoint, recognizing both transactional and transformational leaders. It is expected that bosses will use the carrot-and-stick technique to influence their subordinates by offering them incentives and rewards to achieve their goals (Campos, 2020). Equally, they must encourage their juniors to work as a team for the good of the business (Neto et al., 2019).
Therefore, Eric should use both influence and inspirational motivation, as well as intellectual stimulation and individual consideration, when handling his employees. He should thus delegate responsibilities and distribute roles among team members. Importantly, Mr. Eric must build consensus within his group by identifying a shared vision for the company and promoting their interests. As a result, there will be progress for all and the success of the entire organization.
Servant
In this model of leadership, the manager prioritizes their team’s or employees’ needs before their own. The role of the head is to acknowledge others’ diverse views and support them in achieving their goals effectively (Tarallo, 2018). To address the accusation that he does not listen, the CEO should strive to involve juniors in decision-making, ensuring their ideas are genuinely valued and appreciated. This level of engagement with his subordinates will foster togetherness among junior staff, which will lead to Gerdani Company’s innovation and high performance.
Democratic
In the democratic leadership model, power and authority are vested in the entire group. Therefore, the CEO should be much more flexible and must be ready to withstand sudden changes in the organizational structure (Carlin, 2019). It creates a balance in decision-making between subordinates and Mr. Eric through participation, listening, and discussions. Additionally, it fosters collaboration and coordination within the group, thereby motivating staff to deliver their best work. Eric will not need to exhaust all of his expertise, as there are excellent decision-makers for every step of the process, ensuring better quality control.
Decisions or Support Needed at Board Level
The board needs to be focused and must regularly perform its supervisory role, offering support to management. This hands-on approach will enable them to communicate changes in the firm’s strategic objectives quickly (Cossin & Caballero, 2023). They must encourage management and the entire staff to embrace innovative ideas geared towards the future, rather than the past, to achieve Gerdani’s long-term goals. Likewise, they must secure the financial capital and technical capacities needed to implement the project, as well as offer incentives and rewards to employees for hard work.
Conclusion
Leaders sometimes face numerous challenges when trying to improve the performance of the organizations they lead. Some could be due to misunderstandings between them and their subordinates because of the styles they use to execute their duties, or to poor communication. Managers need to implement systems and frameworks that account for the unique circumstances, organizational culture, work environment, internal policies, and inherent complexities of their organization. Additionally, they should incorporate participatory, supportive, and consensus-building approaches in decision-making. Lastly, learning from others, listening, accommodating divergent views, consulting colleagues, and being both task and people-oriented should drive their management work daily.
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