Analysis On Management case study

Question

TASK DESCRIPTION:
This is an individual assignment. Two case studies will be provided for critical analysis (please check in the Assessment Brief folder). The case studies will be uploaded on the Moodle. Students are required to download the case studies and critically analyse the case studies using the theories taught during the semester. Further Instructions will be provided to complete the case studies by your lecturer. The word limit for each case study is 1250 words. Each case study is worth 20 marks.

General Instructions

• This is an individual assignment where you are provided with two case studies. Answers to each study is approximately 1250 words.
• The word limit for each question is provided in brackets.
• Your answers must include relevant theories that was learnt during the semester.
• You are required to use three academic journals in support of your answers.
• Please read and understand the case study carefully prior to answering the questions.

Case Study o1: Star Dish Foods
Question 1. Word limit (300 words)

1. Using an example define the term delegation.
2. Is the use of delegation made by Zoran in Stardish workplace an appropriate use of skill? Justify your answer.
3. Apart from delegation, outline four management skills that are, or would be of assistance to Zoran in his role as the Manager of the research Centre.

Question 2. Word limit (400 words)

1. Using relevant examples compare the terms performance management and performance appraisal.
2. How can the performance appraisal system used in Starfish promote a team approach in relation to Norman’s work?
3. Explain another strategy to encourage Norman to become a member of the team/

Question 3. Word Limit (550 words)

1. Define leadership. Why is leadership an important function in an organisation? How does effective leadership contribute towards the success of an organisation?
2. Using leadership theories differentiate the styles between Zoran and Adam. Justify your answer
3. Which is more appropriate style given the organisation’s commitment to a team approach.

Justify your answer.
Case Study 02: Falcon Child Care Centre
Question 01. Word Limit (300 words)

a) Outline three strategies (or new practices) which would improve communication between Falcon City Council and its childcare centre. Justify your answer.

Kent Institute Australia Pty. Ltd.
Assessment Brief ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E RTO Code: 90458
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b) Identify three management skills that would be useful for Kate in her role as the Union branch representative. Justify your answer.

Question 02. Word limit (400 words)
a) What personal attributes would be of value in the role? Justify your answer.

Question 03. Word limit (550 words)
a) Identify the main characteristics of the management style demonstrated by Joanne-the HR manager. What impact would such a style likely to have at the childcare centre? Justify your answer.

b) Briefly outline two skills that would assist Joanne in developing and maintaining effective working relationship with childcare staff.

Answer

Introduction

The Assignment here is divided into 2 sections using two different case studies. The first Management case studyis based on Stardish Foods and will answer the questions pertaining to team work approach, management skills and leadership which are strictly with reference to the case. The second Management case studyis as interesting as the first one and is based on Falcon City Child Care, in this Management case studythe questions will be answered with reference to the topic on communication improvement, management style, personal attributes of union workers besides others. 

Management case study1: Stardish Foods

Answer 1

1. With reference to the Management case studyon Stardish Foods, Zoran who is a highly qualified engineer and has been managing the research centre has delegated a lot of organizational detail work to the department secretary Liu. Liu who has demonstrated good skills in coordination of tasks, communication and adhering to the timelines is an example of delegation. In definition delegation can thus be understood as assignment of an authority which is given to another person to conduct specific activities. Usually, it is delegation is seen from a manager to his /her subordinates(Ashowrth&Sasso, 2019)
2. The mission statement at Stardish foods discussed in the Management case studyclearly says to empower the staff in order to contribute towards the product innovation and production techniques. Furthermore, delegation is in a way seen as a tactic to empower the employees and in most cases is a factor of motivation. Zoran, who is great at technical skills, is not well equipped with meeting and has even missed adhering to the timelines. Hence, delegating the gap in his professional work in a way is good as he could focus on the product innovation, at the same time Liu is great when it comes to organizational details, thus it seems more likely to be a fair application of her skill.
3. Being a manager is not an easy tasks and one has to be well equipped with the managerial skills in order to excel at one’s work and also to ensure the fulfillment of organizational goals. Some of the skills required in the Management case study are:

• Communication Skills- Manager should be a good communicator as he is the one responsible for the team he is handling and also towards the organization(Atolagbe& Floyd, 2020).
• Interpersonal Skills-The ability to manage team work, motivate the team, effective listening, conflict resolution , motivating the team and others are very much important and are a part of interpersonal skills(Newstead& Isles-Buck, 2019).
• Decision Making Skills- Managers are paid to make faster and effective decisions to ensure no bottleneck in the operational process(Lussier& Kimball, 2019)
• Conceptual Skills-Being in research centre, Zoran has to be equipped with all the technical and conceptual skills related to his work, also so that he can pass on the learning to his subordinates(Sousa & Rocha, 2019)

Answer 2

1. Performance management is seen as a continuous process of communication which happens between a supervisor and the employees round the year, on the other hand performance appraisal can be seen review of performance of the employee either at regular intervals or at end of the year in according to the KPI ( Key Performance Indicator). In this Management case study, Norman’s performance management is not so good, as he likes to be on his own and does not believe in team work, which is causing a rift and tension between the teams. However, his performance on evaluation against his job description is found to be satisfactory, which is performance appraisal. Adam is the one who is supervisor here and on confronting Norman about the team approach, Norman’s reply can be seen as anti-team building approach, thus reflects poorly on him. However, he has been doing the work in accordance to his job description, which makes his performance satisfactory.
2. Looking clearly at the process of performance appraisal at Stardish Foods, which happens three times a year, one can clearly identify the reason for Norman’s not being a team player or complying with the team approach. For instance, the performance appraisal is done on the basis of job description which does not contain any brownie points for being a team member or contributing to the success of the team outcome. It is mostly based on what an individual does in an organization. Herein Management case study, the best thing to do is to add a couple of points and give them good weightage in performance appraisal systems. Points like ratings given by peer, or a peer feedback mechanism will ensure that Norman behaves appropriately with everyone and contributes towards the development of the team.
3. Communication with Norman has clearly not resulted in the desired result. Hence two approaches or strategy can be used here to ensure the desired outcome. 

• Team Ranking- There is many teams simultaneously working on a project and if the performance appraisal has points for the best team or the most effective and efficient team in terms of outcome, teamwork, motivation, empowerment, interpersonal communication and so on. Chances of Norman being a team member increase significantly.
• Another strategy that can be used isTuckman’s 5 stages of team development. As it is clear from the Management case studythat Norman has been moved from another department, which makes his resistance towards becoming a part of team fair on his part. Leveraging the stages of Forming, norming, staging and performing, the desired outcome can be achieved.

Answer 3)

1. Leadership is both a research area and application of practical skill to lead, empower, motivate and guide the individuals and teams towards the accomplishment of organizational goals. Leadership becomes extremely important as the individual rely on the vision of the leaders, and it is the vision which carries the organization forward. Leaders are visionary in nature, they empower individuals, they motivate them to achieve their own goals and that of the organization and lead teams through thick and thin. Leaders through their visionary approach, futuristic thinking, through their communication, actions, influence and empower the individuals to work towards unified goals.  Leaders through their experiences, passions and their unique style of storytelling and leading charge the environment of the workplace. Leaders like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg , Jeff Bezos were not only good in their domain, but they had this magnetic personality which made them truly global leaders and visionary. Thus, leadership is the backbone of any business organization and it is the leaders who inspire, empower, motivate and lead the individuals towards the end goals of sustainability.
2. The Management case studyof Stardish foods present two leaders, both of whom are completely opposite to each other. On one hand there is Zoranwho is task oriented and does not like interacting much when it comes to board room meetings and adhering to the deadlines. He is seen to have a Task-Oriented Leadership Approach. On the other hand, we can spot Adams who is a people person and loves communicating with his junior and guiding them, thus he practices what is called as People oriented leadership. In Task Driven leadership the leader is also seen as an autocratic leader who takes decision without consulting his team. On the other hand in people oriented leadership the leader always thinks of the vested interest of its people, this kind of leadership can also be known as Servant leader leadership style. As Task oriented leadership does not allows for the leaders to consult the employees before making any decision, the decision making process is faster, however the employees are neither satisfied nor they are engaged with the leader. On the contrary, the decision making process in People oriented leadership is slow, but the employees are satisfied, feel empowered and engaged with the leader. 
3. In all due consideration there is a certainty that Zoran is better equipped technically and has great conceptual skills, but when it comes to managing the employees or even thinking of the team approach, he fails miserably. Hence, in such a situation wherein the team approach is embedded in the culture of the organization, the focus should be on the development of the teams and ensuring the teamwork prevails above all. Thus, people oriented leadership skill or the servant leadership style is more suited in the context of Stardish foods. Team work is the true essence of People oriented leadership and it can only be achieved if the leader cares about its employees, understands and respects their feeling and sees team work as the stepping stone for the success and attainment of the business goals. 

Management case study2: Falcon Child Care Centre

Answer 1

1. As mentioned in the Management case studyalready, there is little or no upward communication which implies that the feedback of the staff both trained and untrained never reaches to the management of city council and it rests on the table of human resource manager Joanne. Hence, the first strategy comes out of the case and is to ensure that upward communication is being done through a systematic process of feedback collection and passing the same to the management, with no middleman.
   It is also mentioned in the Management case studythat city council is not even aware of what exactly is being done at Falcon Child Care centre. Thus, it is the need of the hour for the city council management to step in, visit the centre and the leader should speak openly with all the 11 staff members at Child care centre; this will also help in breaking the ice between the two organizations. Last but not the least, it is the responsibility of Vika(Co-coordinator) to speak with its staff on a daily basis and communicate with total transparency and ensure a culture of openness is communicated to all the staff members(Taylor, Santiago & Hynes, 2019).

2. As mentioned in the Management case studythat Kate is the local union representative at Child Care Workers Union, the position in itself is quite prestigious and holds a significant importance. The following skills are must and should in Kate.
   1. Decision Making Skills- At the position of Kate, she should be a rational decision maker and should also communicate the decisions she made on behalf of the workers. This skill will also boost her confidence and increase the faith of workers in her ability. 
   2. Conceptual Skills- Being a trained staff, all the other workers should respect her for her technical and conceptual skills. This can only be mastered by hard work and more number of hours at the centre treating children or educating them.
   3. Motivation Skills- It is mentioned that the morale of the entire team at Child Care centre is down, due to money and general lack of motivation amongst the workers. Kate should rise up to the occasion and motivate the workers to do the best with the given resources, while she stands up for the right and fights for until proper machinery is not ensured at the centre.

Answer 2)

Being a Union representative as well as being a trained staff at the Child care centre is most definitely not an easy thing. It requires lot of work, compassion and at times becomes very taxing for the individual. However within the purview of the assignment on Management case study these 4 personal traits are very important:

• Compassion-The role of Kate involves interacting with children who need intensive care and are also given education. It is the responsibility of the staff working at the centre to ensure the well-being of the children. Secondly, Kate also has responsibility towards the workers who she has been representing, and both of these job roles cannot be performed without being compassionate about her work and loving what she does. Hence, being compassionate must come naturally to Kate, as it will help her to perform her job effectively and naturally.
• Integrity-Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral & ethical principles and values. Kate is at a position where everyone looks up to for guidance and support. All the workers have rested their faith in her, thus, it becomes a moral obligation on her part to demonstrate strong values of integrity in her conduct. May it be in terms of fighting for the rights of workers or fighting for the worsening conditions of the centre. In all her tasks, she has to demonstrate high values of Integrity. 
• Self-Motivated-Leaders who are self-motivated are always seen to be over achieving their goals. The simple reason based on the Management case study is that they do not need any extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation works the best for them. Now, in the situation of Child care centre, there is no extrinsic motivation due to shortage of funds, hence being self –motivated will help Kate to keep going strong towards the achievement of the goals(Lopez, 2019)
• Confidence-It has been rightly said that confidence is the key to success, and with confidence individuals can achieve the impossible. The impossible or likely to be impossible in this case is improvement in the state of conditions of the child care centre, however, if Kate keeps on moving ahead in the direction of doing right to its workers and doing right for the centre with absolutely  undeterred confidence, she would most definitely be able to achieve the desired outcome. 

Answer 3

1. Joanne Camilleri with reference to the Management case studyis the Human resource manager of the City’s council and also acts as a liaison between the Falcon Child care centre and other organization (However there is no involvement of the management here). Analyzing the case here, Joanne is seen to be exercising Directive Management Style.Some of the visible characteristic and its impact on the centre are:
   1. Top Down Communication-As mentioned clearly in the Management case study that there is no upward communication and all the orders come directly from the top and are given without taking any feedback from the staff. The clear negative impact here is that neither Joanne nor the management is aware of the worsening condition of the centre and its staff.
   2. DO as I Approach- Herein the voice of the employees is not heard, due to the DO as I say approach. The negative impact here is low morale of the employees which is clearly mentioned in the Management case study. 
   3. Immediate compliance required from the team- As seen in the case of RDO’s where it was beneficial if Vika would have taken the decision of creating a rostered offs for the workers as she knows the centre in and out and is well aware of the process. However, Joanne did that without consulting anyone, and created a calendar for 12 months and asked for strict compliance effective immediately. The obvious negative impact here is that no voices are to be heard in this kind of management style, and one can do as he/she likes

   This kind of management style is not at all healthy and helpful for a place like Falcon Child care centre which is already under pressure due to shortage of funds, poor working conditions, no feedback policy and more so. Joanne is required to change her management style and be more participative in nature. 

2. As mentioned in the last question ofManagement case study Joanne follows directive style of management which is not at all proving out to be a good style for the Falcon Child Care centre. The morale of the employees is down plus workers do not see Joanne as the human resource manager who works for their benefit. Thus, in order to do better herein Management case study, she requires two skills:
   1. Empathetic Skills-This is the most significant skill required in Joanne. As seen in the case, there is no mention of see showing even little amount of empathy towards the worsening condition of its workers, their low morale and others. This lack of empathy makes her aloof from the problems of the workers, to which she has obviously turned a blind side. Thus, by being empathetic towards the need of the workers, their problems she can become a professional aide for them. Acknowledge their problems in the best of the manner, and likewise win their affection and support in return.
   2. Organizational Skills-It seems that Joanne has been just following the orders of the management or acting on her own accord, it is certainly not clear from the Management case study. But, one thing which is absolutely clear here is that she does not has organizational skills pertaining to management of human resources in terms of feedback, grievance and also the general outlook towards the child care centre. Development of organizational skills such as interpersonal communication, motivation, empowering workers etc bring a lot of positive change in the organization despite running short on funds (Zhang et.,al 2019).

Conclusion
The Management case studyhave helped to understand in depth various concepts related to leadership, servant leadership style, task oriented leadership, ways to improve communication besides others. The highlight however of the assignment has been the ability to apply the theoretical learning in the case studies. 

References
Ashworth, S. and Sasso, G., 2019.Delegation to an Overconfident Expert. Management case studyThe Journal of Politics, 81(2), pp.692-696.

Atolagbe, A. and Floyd, S., 2020, March.Diversifying the Next Generation of Project Managers: Skills Project Managers Must Have in the Digital Age.In International Conference on Information (pp. 665-676).Springer, Cham.

Lopez, A.C., 2019. Making ;my’problem ;our’problem: Warfare as collective action, and the role of leader manipulation. The Leadership Quarterly.

Lussier, R.N. and Kimball, D.C., 2019. Applied sport management skills. Human Kinetics.

Newstead, S. and Isles-Buck, E., 2019. Essential skills for managers of child-centred settings.Routledge.

Sousa, M.J. and Rocha, Á., 2019. Skills for disruptive digital business. Journal of Business Research, 94, pp.257-263.

Taylor, A., Santiago, F. and Hynes, R., 2019.Relationships among leadership, organizational culture, and support for innovation. In Effective and Creative Leadership in Diverse Workforces (pp. 11-42). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Zhang, Y., Zhang, L., Liu, G., Duan, J., Xu, S. and Cheung, M.W.L., 2019. How Does Ethical Leadership Impact Employee Organizational Citizenship Behavior?. Management case studyZeitschriftfürPsychologie.