Business
MGMT 464
From Snowboarders to Lawnmowers Case Study
Case Analysis Worksheet #1
Case Analysis Session 1 : Focus on Inspiring a Shared Vision (Principle #2)
Inspiring a shared vision has two main components [1] creating a vision through common purpose, and [2] enlisting or getting people ‘on board’ with the vision.
1. In what specific ways did Michael fail and/or succeed in ‘listening deeply’ to his employees?
2. In what specific ways did Michael show that he was not “open to influence?” How would Michael being open to influence have made him more effective, ( i.e., who were the “local experts” and how could he have benefited from them)?
3. When you consider the employees of Bedford Mower as they were before Michael arrived, how would you characterize them in terms of what was personally meaningful to them?
4. When creating his vision for the company, in what specific ways did Michael fail and/or succeed in ‘determining what was meaningful’ to his employees, and what was the impact?
5. What specific mechanisms, or opportunities did Michael have available to him for enlisting others?
6. To what extent did Michael take advantage of these? To what extent were they effective in terms of getting everyone on board with the new vision?
7. In thinking about his attempts to enlist others, in what ways did or didn’t Michael incorporate common ideals into his communication with his employees as it related to the new vision?
8. How successful was Michael in “animating the vision”? How would you characterize him in terms of his use of symbolic language, providing imagery of the future, practicing positive communication, expressing emotion, and speaking from the heart, in his communications to his employees?
9. Reflecting back on what Kouze and Posner cover in chapters 4 & 5, what would you have done differently with this group of employees to inspire a shared vision? Please be specific and provide examples.