Ceteris II

Fortuga Artisans, Inc

The term leadership refers to managing a group of people or an organization. Leadership is an important factor in a company and what influence the productivity of the company at large are the leadership style, approach, and strategy. A leader should put all these factors to ensure the growth and sustainability of the company at large so that it may compete effectively in the market (Obiwuru et al., 2011).

Fortuga Artisans is a company which has been dealing home décor for 30 years and with time has experienced dissatisfaction with its leaders. The problems and issues discussed include the manager's, Doug Jeffers inability to appreciate employees, a decrease in the number of new hires, lack of good relationships between the manager and the employees. Another problem is a high number of resignations by members of staff, poor handling of staff by the manager and a lack of trust in the manager's abilities by the employees (Obiwuru et al., 2011). There are also other issues and problems highlighted in the case study, and they include the problem of the manager not respecting his employees, the manager being chauvinistic and lack of motivation among employees. These are issues and challenges highlighted in the case study, which must be solved to ensure the growth of the corporation.

A leadership style is a method used by a leader to provide direction, executing plans, and motivating people within a group or an organization (Sengupata, 2015). The leadership style being portrayed in the case study is the autocratic leadership style, also known as the authoritarian leadership style. Here the leader gives commands to employees to what they should carry out and the manner as to which they should handle it, without seeking their advice or opinions on the matter (Wang et al., 2011). The leadership approach in the case study is the trait approach. This method focuses on personality traits, mental and physical traits that are possessed by leaders that make them stand out (Nanjundeswaraswamy et al., 2014).

The problem highlighted in the case study is where the manager does not appreciate employees. In the case study, Maryann says that she tried to talk to Doug Jeffers about her dissatisfaction about with him. She says that she tried talking to him but he simply brushed her off, and she goes to further to say that, he took her for granted. An example of the problem of a decline in the number of new employees in the case study is the concern raised by the vice president of Artist Relations over the decline in the number of newly signed in artists into the company. The other problem is a high number of resignations in the enterprise where members of staff for example Maryann resigned to join rival businesses in the market. Another issue is that the manager does not respect the members of staff where he talked them down and did not even respect their opinions regarding the handling of the company.

The other problem is the lack of trust in the manager's ability to lead the company by employees; it is also evident that the employees did not also believe him as a person. The other problem is where the manager mishandled employees where Maryann says that Doug Jeffers handled both contracted artisans and the members of staff were degrading.

All these problems were brought about by the manager's autocratic leadership where he did not give his employees a chance to raise their concerns and give opinions on matters affecting both them and the company at large. To solve these problems, the manager would have to develop new leadership styles.

Leadership Strategies

Appropriate leadership qualities are needed so that the firm can overturn and be more efficient, promote business sustainability, foster effective change management, and further organizational goals. For the above processes to be achieved a certain procedure has to be followed so as to produce the expected results. The following criteria should be developed to achieve the set goals and objectives (Sadler, 2003). First, Fortuga Artisans management should ensure that they carefully analyze the existing leadership strategies.

One of the direction strategies which Fortuga Artisans have been using is making the organization’s culture a priority. This criterion is crucial as it enables the institutions employees and the whole management team synchronizes their personal goals with that of the Fortuga Artisans Company (Sadler, 2003). These measures need to be improved by relevance where many employees have with time failed to realize the importance of the strategy and how it affects the performance o the company. Some of the issues that lead to the wrong effect of the criteria are negativity which the leads have to come in and regroup the employees, create unity and ensure there is a winning culture within the organization.

Another criterion which the Fortuga Artisans leaders used is motivation which over time had been low. Most of the employees were unmotivated which led to the low performance and the even resignation of some of the leaders and staff. Motivation is necessary, and leaders need to motivate their employees so that they can be more efficient in their work. Some of the methods that the leaders can use to motivate their workers are providing fringe benefits, promotion, and retreats and awarding the most hardworking employees. The above is a criterion which if used correctly can foster positive change to the company.

The following is a recommendation for some of the additional leadership strategies that Fortuga Artisans can employ to ensure that they create a good working condition for all the involved parties. One of the strategies that the leaders need to engage is sharing a positive vision. The company’s vision should be bright, bold and straight forward so that all the employees may understand it. The vision should also be in line with the challenges that the company is facing so as to know which direction the organization should take to achieve their set goals and objectives.

Another criterion is to instill positive energy among the employees so as to ensure that minor setbacks do not affect them (Covey, 2001). The leaders have a significant responsibility to ensure that all the staff remains confident. Generating new ideas to possible problems is important as employees gain confidence on the leaders when they provide realistic remedies to problems. While in the recession many companies have been able to work and turn around their misfortunes and bring forth fruitful paths which reinstate the whole business. The recommendation is to ensure that the employees face challenges with a positive mind.

Another leadership criterion to be used is to educate the employees on the importance of networking. Networking involves meeting new people who have different information and ideas which may be helpful to the growth of the organization. Learning to connect with others and asking relevant questions is important as it helps the employees create a network in their line of duty. The leaders should, therefore, ensure that some of the employees tag along every time they are going to high profile meetings and seminars so that they can be a platform which they can be able to network (Covey, 2001).

Another key strategy to be used is ensuring that the employees of Fortuga Artisans have the right kind of experience (Covey, 2001). The above will be achieved by delegating the some of the duties of the top management to the subordinates. Delegating some of the duties which are not complex to the employees will give them the kind of experience which will help them handle daily activities appropriately incase some of the leaders are not present. Also, the leaders should ensure that the new employees should have a good explanation of the activities that are done in the organization so as to be with a clue of what is expected from them.

The pattern of organization that is used by Fortuga Artisans is not clear as it does not clearly show a pattern of communication flow. A good organizational should have well-designed communication platforms which make it easy for workers and the leaders to work properly. Information flow is important as it will ensure that the activities are being conducted well as per the specifications. The organization objectives will be easily achieved when the organization has a good flow of information, resources, and funds. New ideas and strategies should be employed to ensure that the company remains relevant and also gain a competitive edge against other competitors.

Fortuga Artisans need to evaluate the leadership strategies that they were previously using and revise them. Leadership is one of the critical parts of an organization and determines whether an organization will be able to perform or not. Fortuga Artisans leaders new to acquire desired leadership qualities and ensure that they have the right knowledge and skills to use the above criteria so as to ensure the company can be more effective, promote sustainability, foster effective change management, and further organizational goals.

Assessment Plan

Fortuga Artisans Inc. has been facing various problems with its leadership, and several leadership strategies have been made to improve. The purpose of developing this business assessment plan is to provide the picture of what the company has accomplished and what needs to be done within the enterprise. Another goal of developing this assessment plan is to improve the effectiveness of programs prepared by the company. An evaluation plan also helps in guiding decision making within the company and helps the corporation to identify areas within the enterprise where support is needed to improve the operations of the organization (Kerby & Weber, 2000).

When Will Assessment Be Carried Out?

Assessment within the corporation will be performed annually. This will help the organization determine its performance within the particular year and help it determine the effectiveness of the programs it developed and implemented in the given year which would help in decision making on whether to keep those programs or do away with them all together, therefore, helping the business improve its operations (Kerby & Weber, 2000).

What will Be Assessed?

One factor to be evaluated will be the firm's core activities (Kerby & Weber, 2000). Here, it will be determined whether the corporation's core operations successful for instance the company's products and services and how these activities could be improved or how new products and services could be developed to boost the firm's profits. Another factor to be assessed is the efficiency of the business. Here, various aspects of the company will be evaluated for instance the people and skills. In this aspect of the firm, the corporation will assess whether it has the right people to achieve its goals and objectives, what they are supposed to handle the company, their motivation, and the rate of staff turnover, which is high within Fortuga Artisans Inc. (Kerby & Weber, 2000).

Another thing to be assessed will be the company's financial position and position. Here Fortuga Artisans Inc. will rely on its financial performance metrics. The firm will analyze its gross profit margin, which assesses the amount of money that is made after direct costs of sales have been put into account, its operating margin, its net profit margin, and the return on capital employed. To assess the firm's financial position, the organization will analyze cash flow within the company, the working capital, the cost base, the company's borrowing, and the company's growth (Stassen, Doherty & Poe, 2001).

Another factor to be analyzed will be the company's competitors. Here the firm will determine who they are, what they offer to consumers, the price range of their products, number of their customers compared to Fortuga Artisans Inc., and their competitive advantage (Stassen, Doherty & Poe, 2001).

How Will The Assessment Be Carried Out?

Assessment will be performed using customer feedback, and this will be a useful tool, as the firm will be able to see the business through the eyes of the customers (Stassen, Doherty & Poe, 2001). This will be primarily through the use of sales data. Customers always choose what to buy and what no to, and this would help the firm determine the preference of their clients. Another tool would be using questionnaires and comment cards. This would be a useful tool, as customers will help the firm determine its strengths and weaknesses thus enabling the corporation to identify areas that need improvement (Stassen, Doherty & Poe, 2001). Another way of evaluating the firm with the use of customers would be the utilization of a mystery shopper. Here, the firm would have someone pose as a client for assessment purposes, and the individual would evaluate various aspects of the organization for instance customer service thus enabling the business to determine how it is performing.

Another method in which the assessment will be carried out would be through the use of employee feedback (Kerby & Weber, 2000). This would be carried out using surveys within the firm, and these surveys could be out by phone, by mail, and face to face by involving employees in conversations about the various programs within the company and how effective they are in achieving the goals of the firm. Another method would be engaging the workforce in interviews. They could be asked what leads to the high staff turnover being witnessed within the company and what could be done to prevent this in the future (Kerby & Weber, 2000).

Ensuring Validity and Reliability

To ensure validity and reliability of the outcomes of the assessment plan, various methods will be used for instance the use of interviews, questionnaires, comment cards, analyzing sales data, and observation. All these methods are comparable, and they also show consistency thus leading to the approval of reliability of the data collected (Kerby & Weber, 2000).

Interpreting and Acting on Data.

The data collected during assessment should be interpreted using data mining (Kennerly & Neely, 2003). The data mining technique concentrates on displaying knowledge for predictive purposes rather than descriptive purposes. This method will be used interpret the data collected in terms that are understood by both the management and employees. The data gathered would highlight how programmes within the firm are effective, the financial position of the company, and the image of the company in the eyes of the business' customers and this would help the firm determine its strengths and weaknesses and the firm may also use the data to gain a competitive advantage (Kennerly & Neely, 2003).

References

Covey, S. R. (2001). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Summit Books.

Kennerly, M. & Neely, A. (2003) Measuring Performance in a Changing Business Environment. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 23(2), 213-229.

Kerby, D. & Weber, S. (2000) Linking Mission Objectives To An Assessment Plan. Journal of Education for Business.

Nanjundeswaraswamy, T S; Swamy, D R (2014, Feb). Leadership styles. Advances in Management7.2: 57-62.

Obiwuru, T. C., Okwu, A. T., Akpa, V. O., & Nwankwere, I. A. (2011). Effects of leadership style on organizational performance: A survey of selected small scale enterprises in Ikosi-Ketu council development area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, 1(7), 100.

Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Ltd.

Sengupta, Mousumi (2015, July). Leadership and Organizational Performance: A Conceptual Review Sengupta, Nilanjan; Sengupta, Mousumi (2015, July). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities 5.7: 155-166.

Stassen, M. L., Doherty, K. & Poe, M. (2001) Program-Based Review and Assessment. Tools and techniques for program improvement. University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Wang, Fu-Jin; Chich-Jen, Shieh; Mei-Ling, Tang(2011, December 18th). Effect of Leadership Style on Organizational Performance As Viewed From Human Resource Management Strategy. African Journal of Business Management 4.18: 3924-3936