Phoenix MGT 526 Organizational Chart

Running head: ALIGNING OPERATIONAL NEEDS WITH BUSINESS STRATEGIES 2

ALIGNING OPERATIONAL NEEDS WITH BUSINESS STRATEGIES 2

Aligning Operational needs with Business Strategies

Shawn Cyr

MGT 526

Mr. Romao

5 October 2020

The Analysis of Northrop Grumman based on Porter’s Five Forces

Threats of New Entry

The capital requirements in the defense and aerospace industry where Northrop Grumman Company operates are huge, thus making it hard for new applicants to start up business as high costs need to be involved. Product differentiation is also high in the industry. Firms within the industry produce differentiated products and consumers are also looking for unique products instead of standardized products. These aspects make the threat of entry a weak force in the industry.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

The number of suppliers within the defense and aerospace industry is higher in comparison to buyers. This indicates that the suppliers have little control on price, thus, making the suppliers’ bargaining power a weak force. The essentials that the suppliers offer is less differentiated, quite standardized, and have little switching costs, thus making it simple for buyers such as Northrop Grumman Company to change suppliers easily.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

The number of suppliers within the industry where the company operates is greater than the total number of organizations manufacturing the products. This indicates that buyers have fewer companies to choose from, hence, have much control on price.

Threats of Substitute Products/Services

There are few products substitutes produced within the industry where Northrop Grumman Entity operates. The few substitutes are of high quality but are very expensive. This indicates that consumers are less likely to go for substitute products.

Rivalry among Companies

Northrop Grumman Entity operates in a competitive industry. The companies within the industry are big and have a huge market share. This makes the rivalry among companies a strong force.

The Leadership Model

The leadership model that currently exists in Northrop Grumman Company is a team-oriented leadership model. Team-oriented model is characterized by the ability to create a collaborative team atmosphere where the emphasis is on nurturing the employees’ strengths, encouraging them to attain their potential as a team and as individuals through motivation and collaboration. These characteristics can be seen in the Northrop Grumman Entity. The goal of the company is to nurture its workers whose characteristics, perspectives, and backgrounds are diverse (northropgrumman.com). The model is very effective as it has enabled the company to be the best in the industry and globally. Currently, Northrop Grumman Corporation is among the biggest military technology provider and weapon manufacturer in the world. It was ranked number 108 on this year’s Fortune 500 list as America’s biggest company.

The Leadership Style

The leadership style that exists in Northrop Grumman Company is a visionary leadership style. Visionary leadership is characterized by a powerful ability to initiate progress and commence charge in an organization by inspiring and motivating workers. These characteristics can be seen in the Northrop Grumman Company. Elizabeth Iversen, the general manager and vice president of the company, can be seen to portray visionary leadership. To Elizabeth, being a visionary leader means creating a mutual purpose in the company, ensuring that one can draw a picture around the purpose, and making it easy and comfortable for people because change is usually uncomfortable. Kathy Warden, the company’s CEO also portrays the visionary leadership style.

The visionary leadership style is so effective in the company. Through it, Northrop Grumman Company has become the leading international company in the defense and aerospace industry whose 90,000 workers provide innovative products, systems, and solution within the industry, information systems, electronics, technical and shipbuilding services to commercial customers and government around the world. The company can generate more results through a servant leadership style.

How to Determine Effective Leadership

In business, the ability to make efficient decisions, create a customer-friendly environment, and motivate employees is vital to success. One way to determine effective leadership is by using business results. A growing or better-than-anticipated profit is an indication of effective leadership. Most of the time, ineffective leadership contributes to lower employees’ morale in the workplace and declining or poor results (Kokemuller, n.d). Customer assessment can also help to ascertain effective leadership. Leaders not only deal with workers but also have a direct connection with the customers. Customers will have positive feedback on an effective leader and have negative feedbacks on ineffective leaders.

Effective leaders are clear and precise on the things that matter to the organization and mould the desirable behaviors and values. Ineffective leaders, on the other hand, are not clear and precise on what matter and are also poor in communication (Iqbal, 2013). Effective leaders, unlike ineffective leaders, also have passion, have values that are vital to society, and are good organizers and planner.

Sources of Managerial Power when Leaders are Effective

One source of managerial power when a leader is effective is referent power. Referent power is based on an individual likability, charm, and personality (Ahmed, 2018). When a leader is effective, he/she is likeable, desirable, and most often he/she has a good personality. These characteristics can result in referent power. Another source of power is reward power. Effective leaders usually reward good performance to motivate more results. These acts usually result in reward power.

Recommendations

Leadership Model Changes

The key to successful leadership depends on adaptability and flexibility. Leaders must be very flexible and easily move from one leadership model to another to achieve the changing needs of employees and organizations. Life is constantly changing. And a vital role of a leader is to change accordingly.

I recommend Northrop Grumman Entity to consider country club leadership model. This model relies on the assumption that when workers are satisfied in their task, their work will be better. The model entails the use of reinforcement to motivate and encourage employees to attain their goals. The model also seeks to create an atmosphere of high morale and rapport hoping that making workers feel valued will increase their engagement to their tasks.

Actions Required to Align Operational Needs with Business Strategies

The alignment of operational needs with business strategies is vital. Strategies are the anchor of business directions and goals They are developed to provide a clear indication to every member on how the company will attain its goals. They also drive decisions within an organization. Operational needs must, thus, be aligned with the business strategies to ensure its efficiency.

One action that needs to be done to ensure the alignment of operational needs with strategies is to ensure there is a strong and sound connection between the operational needs with the entity’s mission/vision. The vision/mission of a company is so important. They help in directing the overall organizational strategy and they also provide a specific goal to achieve. The other thing to do is to align the operational plan with the company’s strategies. The operational needs are likely to be unsuccessful if the operational plan does not align with the business strategies.

References

Ahmed, A. (2018). Sources of Power in Management. Bizfluent. Retrieved from: https://bizfluent.com/about-5378998-sources-power-management.html

https://www.northropgrumman.com/corporate-responsibility/

Iqbal, M. (2013). Are these the 7 Key Difference Between Effective and Ineffective Leaders? Business 2 Community. Retrieved from: https://www.business2community.com/leadership/are-these-the-7-key-difference-between-effective-and-ineffective-leaders-0520891#:~:text=Effective%20leaders%20are%20clear%20on,suck%20at%20communicating%20what%20matters.

Kokemuller, N. (n.d). Methods used to Measure Successful Leadership. Chron. Retrieved from: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/methods-used-measure-successful-leadership-81746.html