Leadership In Action
... like McDonald’s for example. In this case, formalization would not apply to the innovation and growth spurts that S & F is still currently experiencing. 3. Organizations want and need employees who will do things that aren’t in any job description (Min-Huei, 2004, p.428). This type of thinking is informal in nature and can influence the more formal structure within an organization. The formal structure has a specific hierarchal design where each employee including upper management have specific roles to fill. By taking on the attitude that employees are encouraged to do things outside of their job description, it lends itself to a creative and innovative environment seen in a more informal structure. The distinction drawn here between the formal and informal is an important one…the kinds of jobs that are attainable, the mobility prospects of those different jobs, and personal satisfaction with the work (Shulman, 2003, p. 56). How employees perceive their roles within an organization can influence the effect that an informal organizational structure has on the formal structure. 4. In assessing S & F’s informal culture and its impact on the formal structure, we need to look at the establishing connections and relationships within the organization. By observing the relationships between the logistics manager, marketing manager, project manager, logistics team, and the web development team, one can determine the influence these informal relationships with S & F Online have on the prescribed organizational hierarchy. The formal structure of centralization has at its core the main decision-makers comprised by those at the top. However, these informal relationships can make a marked difference due to the fact that these relationships include the COO which informs the CEO on process and progress of the company. 5. McShane describes power as the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others (p. 356). The text goes on to explain organizational politics as the attempts to influence others using discretionary behaviors to promote personal objectives (p. 368). The operative word here is influence. But the changing workplace of the past generation has accentuated the nature of office politics, labor psychologists and others say. With more turnover and less job security, workers are more likely to say negative things about colleagues in private to get ahead (Hirsh, 2004). 6. Taking the above definitions, the major source of influence within S & F Online is Irene Seagraves, the CEO. That is where the power lies. Another influential person within the organization is the Project Manager, who handles operations. He oversees a six-member web development team. This team also reports to the Marketing Manager, who coordinates product lines, budgets, and promotional activities. The teams work in close coordination, and have been successful in doing so. My role, as the COO, in supervising the entire project, is to work closely with the CEO, management, and the various teams, in leadership consultation. My challenge will be to meet the inevitable resistance with enough persuasion and influence to make my recommendations successful. 7. As I recommend the leadership style that will be most effective for S & F, I wanted to post the Sociogram outlined by the S & F company for all to view as I explain the analysis in my findings: The leadership style that I would recommend for the S & F Company is transformational leadership. The basic elements of this style are: a. Creating a vision b. Communicating the vision c. Modeling the vision, and d. Building commitment to the vision (McShane, 2002, p. 431). This style of leadership is inspirational and involves employees to strive toward that vision. In my plan of action, in accordance with transformational leadership for S & F, I will create a vision for the teams and state expectations from individuals. I would do this by empowering teams and expanding their job roles and responsibilities. In order to keep the teams motivated, I would set clear goals for individuals as well as teams. A system would be implemented to reward performers. Progress reports will be used to track and reflect progress. Regularly scheduled team meetings will be called in order to assess goals set by our CEO. This would serve a...