Turning a Failing Organization Around

Many steps can be taken to turn a company around.. The first thing you should do is increase your companies’ profit margin. Secondly, you should motivate and re-train your employees. Through these changes, you would expect to see an increase in company moral and a stronger financial leg to stand on. The ways I would go about increasing a companies’ profit margin are by focusing most of there resources into there companies outdated and unsuccessful product lines. I would do this by conducting a series of market analysis to determine what it is there customers are looking for. After the analysis, I would then focus my attentions on product development. By implementing what I have learned through market analysis, I will be able to create a series of products that are consumer friendly. Consumer friendly products are more likely to be purchased thusly increasing the profit margin. I would also commission in depth research into our competitors and the products that they are manufacturing so as not to create a product that is already on the market.

The best way to ensure financial success is to make products that are needed but are not already on the market. In order to reach these goals the new organization would have to be reorganized in the following ways:

First, I would have to organize all contributors into teams; these teams will be assigned according to specific ideas in your companies’ new business plan. Next, each team will be assigned one main role to focus on, however knowledge and expertise will be shared so as too make sure that each team consistently meets desired results as well as too properly assist each other and your customers. Each team member will have a set role, and although there will be roles like Team Leader and Senior Manager these members will interact with each other on a need basis as opposed to rank or protocol. What this means is that your new organization will be centered on your customers and suppliers, they will be the driving force for your product redevelopment, structural changes and so on. Meeting the needs of our customers is how we will develop our competitive edge.

There are many ways I would manage this transition. The first would be to change the way I handle leadership. According to James P. Eicher, there are four polar scales that differentiate traditional leaders and non-traditional leaders (www.pignc-ispi.com).

These four scales are:

Omnipotence/Empowerment
Rightness/Risk Taking,
Face saving/Participation
Co-dependency/Development

Considering these characteristics, I would make the following changes to manage the transition from the old structure to the new. The first thing I would do is enable others to act on the job and gain their own knowledge. This relates to the Omnipotence/Empowerment scale in that “Omnipotence refers to the need to manage based on knowing more than others, where control is the driving factor” (www.pignc-ispi.com). Moreover, Empowerment “refers to the need to manage based on enabling others to act on the job and gain there own knowledge” (www.pignc-ispi.com).

The second thing I would do is try to support originality, especially amongst confusing situations. This relates to Rightness/Risk Taking in that Rightness “refers to the need to mange based on avoiding errors, with fear of failure as the driving factor” (www.pignc-ispi.com). While Risk taking “refers to the need to manage based on encouraging innovation, especially in ambiguous situations” (www.pignc-ispi.com).

The third thing I would do is seek input and reach a consensus. This relates to Face saving/Participation in that Face saving “refers to the need to manage based on maintaining a self-protective positive image, and blaming others is the driving factor” (www.pignc-ispi.com). Participation refers to the need to manage based on seeking input and reaching a general consensus” (www.pignc-ispi.com).

Finally I would foster and environment of continuous learning. This relates to Co-dependency/Development in that Co-dependency “refers to the need to manage others because of their inferior abilities, rescuing others in need is the driving factor” (www.pignc-ispi.com). Development “refers to the need to mange based on fostering continuous learning” (www.pignc-ispi.com). Some of the policies I would implement in order to facilitate the change to new organizational structure are to develop a policy that will call for one group meeting every week so as to keep team members abreast of all changes. I would implement an immediate three-day workshop on team building that employees will be required to attend at least two out of the three days. I would also implement a series of series of training programs and seminars that will teach employees how to create better information systems, so that they will be able to find new ways to appeal to customers and to attract new ones.