1
Case Study Assignment
Jason Long
BMAL 501: Strategic Leadership and Management
Anita Satterlee
Liberty University
January 31, 2023
2
RST Carports and Metal Roofing
Introduction
RST Carports began as a private, family-run company in the Midwest back in 1980.
There is a 600,000-square-foot office facility on site for the executives to use. The Albany,
Indiana-based firm started off producing only four distinct carport layouts but has now expanded
to provide 48 unique designs. In 2000, the firm expanded into the metal roofing sector by
producing and installing 18 distinct kinds of metal roofing from its original location in Albany.
The business made a profit each year it was open, beginning in 1981, and ending in 2017In the
first month after the acquisition, Art Anderson reorganized the RST leadership team by firing
around 30 percent of the design and implementation team and 50 percent of the senior
leadership. After being taken over, RST found that most of the administrative knowledge and
staff job levels were absent. Due to a lack of knowledge in important areas, as well as quality
challenges in the manufacturing of misfits and missing components in kits delivered to the
contractors in the sector, absenteeism has surged and the number of incidents has increased.
Experience Levels of Employees
It was clear from the statistics that the CFO, the quality manager, the engineering
manager, and the buying manager all lacked the necessary level of expertise to do their jobs
effectively. Workers show this inexperience for a number of reasons. RST had difficulties after
the purchase due, in part, to a lack of management expertise and a large pool of qualified people.
Due to the substantial drop in the number of hired individuals, the remaining workers hardly had
a weekend off, and others were dismissed for failing to show up on the weekends without the
organization they were asking for. And it resulted in a "revolving door" of new employees, which
led to a rise in workplace fatalities and heightened worries about the quality of everything
3
produced. For the most part, this was the main concern voiced by businesses to the Steel Workers
Union. Furthermore, training was provided subsequent to the acquisition. For instance, annual
training requirements for managers and ordinary employees have been reduced from 48 to 2
hours, with the additional time spent on diversification and sexual harassment instruction. New
recruits formerly had a two-day orientation, but now they get just a four-hour orientation with the
existing staff before being sent back to work. As a result of these variables and the company's
inexperience, the number of accidents is expected to rise by around 100% throughout 2018 and
2020. As a result of these variables, earnings will decline between 2018 and 2020.
How Leadership Styles Could Have Affected the Change at RST
The data provided a clear picture of how the company's management has changed from
its founding until 2020 and even beyond. One thing that stands out is the obvious contrast in
aesthetics. Some have compared the present president's commercial style of leadership to that of
the first president, who supposedly took the servant model. Since the foundation of servant
management is that managers act in the interests of their employees, this might have
consequences inside the firm. Executives and managers generally place the demands of their
staff above their own. As a result, workers have greater confidence in contacting management
with suggestions, advancement requests, and open communication (Stone, 2018) However,
transactional leaders place an emphasis on the exchange of value between themselves and their
followers. Those that follow a transactional leader know exactly what they're getting from them,
how they're going to get it, what they should be focusing on, and how they'll be rewarded for
achieving their objectives. The transition might have been impacted in a number of ways when a
new leader of the firm comes in and focuses on micromanaging the workforce and making sure
4
they fulfill whatever requirements are set, especially if the previous leader had shown his
devotion and dedication to the workers (Stone, 2018)
How Management Decision Styles Could Have Affected the Change at RST
Modern management judgment styles flooded in and took control in many departments,
and those types didn't always mesh well with the older ones. Information supplied shows that all
leaders had democratic management ideals. Everybody is up top. Only one manager was
committed to a democratic ethos after the merger and restructuring. This is a huge event for RST
because it marks the transition from a democratic decision-making process, in which all workers
weigh in, to an authoritarian approach, in which a single person makes all the calls (Driver,
2018). It's possible that morale has dropped as a result of this change since no one asks for
advice from their colleagues, management sets everyone's routines and duties, and there are no
incentives for excellent work (Driver, 2018). Lackluster productivity is associated with more
injuries and worse quality, as evidenced by the statistics (Driver, 2018).
How Types of Power Could Have Affected the Change at RST
Psychologist John French and his colleague Bertram Raven studied the impact of various
forms of authority on workers and their working conditions. Sometime in the last fifty years,
Managers have had varying effects on employees, and various styles of leadership inspire
various degrees of effort from workers. As a result of the takeover at RST, there was a shift in
the composition of power as well. There were no authoritative figures in the company before
2017, with most employees instead holding expert positions and the CEO serving as a referent.
Thus, the most powerful person in the firm prior to 2017 was based on respect and a desire to
improve the workplace so that ideas and popularity are valued. Several prominent players,
including the president and activities manager, exhibited characteristics of the coercive power
5
type after the acquisition, suggesting the use of threats and punishment and a high likelihood of
animosity inside the company (Kovach, 2020). There may have been a deterioration in morale as
a result of the resentment since elements including extra hours for workers climbed dramatically
from 2017 to 2020 (Kovach, 2020). More frequent incidents and disasters that may have been
avoided with more caution may have contributed to the deterioration in quality.
A Pareto Analysis of the Three Main Problems That Could Have Affected the Change at
RST
The 80/20 principle is the basis of Pareto Analysis, a method of commercial decision-
making. Quantitative analysis is used to determine which variables have a significant favorable
or unfavorable effect on production (Mapes, 2015). Based on the 80/20 rule, which states that
20% of effort yields 80% of a project's benefit, or that 80% of problems can be traced back to
20% of their sources, the Pareto analysis identifies the most important factors for success.
Managers in every sector utilize Pareto Analysis to identify the problems that pose the greatest
threat to their organization (Mapes, 2015). Rejections, accidents, and excessive overtime are the
three most important factors that might have influenced RST's transformation. Financial
damages from production and equipment waste due to disasters and cancellations have a
negative impact on worker morale and productivity (Mapes, 2015). The company's overall
downturn may be attributed to the managers' excessive usage of overtime hours and the
company's general loss of profit across all of its divisions.
6
Recommendations
Based on the results of the Pareto Analysis, RST must shift its focus to reducing
occupational accidents, raising product quality, and cutting management's use of overtime. The
RST firm should also reorganize its management structure by assigning managers back to their
original places and hiring more staff members. The organization recommends that the executives
go back to the things that have helped them succeed in the past, and also make some internal
modifications to things like their leadership behaviors, and degrees of power, and focus on the
relationship with their employees.
Conclusion
A great example of how leadership and managerial approaches may have an obvious
influence on operational details is the RST Company. Successful businesses know how to around
themselves with the right leaders and personnel, and they work hard to foster strong relationships
between themselves and their workers. If RST's current management is honest about the
business's shortcomings and makes the required changes, the company may be saved.
7
References
Driver, M. (2018, August 01). The seasoned Executive's Decision-Making Style. Retrieved
February 11, 2021, from https://hbr.org/2006/02/the-seasoned-executives-decision-
makingstyle
Kovach, M. (2020). Leader Influence: A research review of French & raven’s (1959) power
dynamics. Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 13(2). doi:10.22543/0733.132.1312
Mapes, J. (2015). Pareto analysis. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-2.
doi:10.1002/9781118785317.weom100108
Saito, H., & Ruhanen, L. (2017). Power in tourism stakeholder collaborations: Power types and
power holders. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 31, 189-196.
doi:10.1016/j.jhtm.2017.01.001
Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, Leadership Styles, and Servant Leadership. Journal of
Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
