Blake Sports Apparel And Switch Activewear
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BlacksportsCasestudyandanalysis.edited21.docxRunning head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS.
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Case study analysis
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Introduction
Black Sports Apparel Switch and Activewear is a company that manufactures and disseminates apparel and accessories. The failure of the business to demonstrate cooperation will make it fail to achieve its desired objectives. However, the company has both problems, and successes jut as any other business does. The fact that it lacks cohesiveness means that the performance of the business will decline.
Risks posed by the business from dysfunction
The reports given by Cameron Barker indicate that the company is facing several problems. Among these problems include the miscommunication and lack of understanding as the departments are not communicating with each other. You find that employees from one department fail to reply to emails of their counterparts from other departments. On the other hand, the director in charge of sales alleges that he was insulted, making him fail to arrange for operational meetings (Boris Groysberg, 2016).
Besides, the duties and responsibilities were not clearly defined, making the executive team members keep blaming each other for underperformances. Also, the CEO was being blamed for bringing a lot of mayhem in the company by adding on to the roles of employees that were not conventionally agreed, hence causing a lack of performance and understanding. Also, there was mistrust in all the departments with each feeling that they should not share information with other departments (Boris Groysberg, 2016). The reliance of the departments on the CEO to offer solutions led to poor conflict resolution as the CEO too was not in good terms with some departments. Besides, teamwork did not exist, and all employees concentrated on working independently, which is not possible in any company because functions are dependent on each other. It is worth noting that the CEO was the sole provider of instructions and policies, as observed in the transition from Carlock to Howell. Therefore, all these problems could be seen as leading to one major risk. This risk is underperformance and business failure.
Key successes and strengths
It is true that in addressing the issues to do with dysfunction, most organizations tend to focus on the negative aspects. However, this company had some outstanding positive aspects that are worth commending. First, the CEO was very responsive to the challenges that the organization was facing and made a decision to take action. His main focus was on the cohesion of the team and education on the importance of unity in any company (Boris Groysberg, 2016).
The employees were also needed to know each other since there was no way work could be done without that. In addressing the problem, the CEO focused on a different direction, trying to take the members of staff through the vision and mission of the organization. Besides, they also laid emphasis on the formulation of policies that would govern each employee. The CEO was also instrumental in addressing the challenge of poor communication (Boris Groysberg, 2016). The workers were taught how they would endure the hostility of their leaders, just for the good of the company.
The other strength was the positivity of the members of staff towards reform. They adopted norming to form relationships with each other and create understanding among them. Besides, the advance given to them made a significant impact. The improvement in communication methods through the creation of a single communication platform made all the employees believe that each had an individual responsibility of communication transmitted through the use of right channels. Application of these measures led to the progress of the company (Boris Groysberg, 2016).
Analysis
The company was among the leading companies during its establishment days till when its competitors got to know their strategies and devised countermeasures, which included the sale of cheaper substitutes in the market. This brought dysfunction and early entrepreneurial success. There were widespread mistrust and lack of communication and understanding among various departments. This was evident as each department within the company emphasized on operating independently due to the high level of mistrust. Besides, all workers felt that the information in their departments should be strictly restricted within that department because the other departments were not to be trusted (Katzenbach, 2015).
It was not possible for the company to operate without communication within the departments. This is because, organizations can only succeed if they embrace teamwork and involvement of all the employees or their representatives in decision making (Katzenbach, 2015). The CEO changed his approach of decision making from a centralized form to a decentralized consultative structure.
How early entrepreneurial success lead to dysfunction
In the former days, there was a cordial relationship between the company and the sports Club as created by the CEO. The business gap that existed was that of distribution. The organization searched for different sports club playing the role of an agent. All was going well until the client stopped requesting the company's products. Hence, problems arose when the contracts started declining. In the former days, the corporation was the sole distributor. However, its success attracted other companies to join the industry to enjoy these profits. Once the new companies joined, they came up with measures to beat the company (Boris Groysberg, 2016). Among those measures included the supply of cheap and affordable products, which caused dysfunction.
Levels of trust and communication sharing
There was a high level of mistrust and poor sharing of information in the company. Each department felt insecure in the sharing of information with another department. Hence, they opted to operate independently of the other department. This is sufficient proof of mistrust among the departments (Boris Groysberg, 2016).
The impact of alignment of team goals on performance and cohesion
Alignment of goals and objectives of an organization has a significant impact on the performance of a team and its unity. This is because, once the mission is clearly stated, all the workers will direct their efforts towards the attainment of those goals. Alignment also helps in the division of duties and responsibilities among the workers (Stup, 2019). This will lead to a cohesive team because there will be no conflicts in case of any performance pitfall. Unity among the employees also has an effect of raising the performance in any company.
Impact of team structure and decision making on the business
The structure of any team and the decision-making process in a company has a significant effect on the performance of a business. This is because, once consultations are done when making decisions, it is likely that sound decisions will be made (Stup, 2019). Besides, the employees feel valued by the company, and they develop a sense of responsibility and belonging in the company. This is evident from this case study. Once the CEO changed the decision-making culture and the team structure, there was progress in the company, and the employees worked together.
Contribution of Cameron’s leadership style to dysfunction
The CEO had assumed the role of the sole decision-maker. He never consulted his executive in the making of decisions. He believed that he had the best ideas and that they were not questionable. He gave rules and directions to the workers concerning the duties they needed to perform. Assigning all employees their tasks caused lack of cohesion as each concentrated on working independently. He never allowed the employees to talk to each other as they did their work. This led to dysfunction and poor business performance (Switzer, 2016).
References
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
Stup, R. (2019). Building Your Team.
Switzer, J. S., & Switzer, R. V. (2016). Virtual teams: Profiles of successful leaders. In Analyzing Digital Discourse and Human Behavior in Modern Virtual Environments (pp. 1-24). IGI Global.
