Teamwork as the Key to Success - Essay Example

? BUSINESS STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT Table of Contents Introduction and Case Background 3 Problem Identification and Analysis 3 Lack of Motivation 5 Lack of Incentives 5 Inappropriate Incentives 5 Leadership Issues 6 Teamwork 6 Generation and Evolution of a Range of Alternative Solutions 6 Motivation 6 Introduction of Incentive Schemes 7 Training 7 Leadership 8 References 9 Introduction and Case Background Always Spotless (ASL) is an Edinburgh, UK based cleaning agency owned by Kenneth Renwick. The agency is engaged in the business of providing various types of services to the domestic households at Edinburgh, such as cleaning, ironing, tidying, etc. Kenneth had been successfully running the business and providing high quality services to customers until March 2010. Since then has undertaken a management course at Edinburgh Business School and tried to implement a number of organisational changes which could motivate his employees to perform better and add to the profitability of the agency. Kenneth tried to apply his learning from the MBA course to implement the transformational leadership style in ASL through different means and making radical changes through the introduction of many new policies. However, most of the new policies introduced by Kenneth did not prove to be fruitful for the agency and a number of issues were found to have crept up as a result of such initiatives taken up by Kenneth. This study entails analysing these issues and problems associated with ASL. Different recommendations have also been made in this study, which can help Kenneth in transforming the fortunes of ASL. This study would try to provide various alternative solutions to eradicate the existing problems faced by the organisation, and help it to increase its productivity and perform better in the forthcoming years. Problem Identification and Analysis The analysis of various issues concerning ASL has been discussed in this section. Most of the issues are related to each of the new policies that have been introduced by Kenneth. First of all, he introduced a mission statement for the organisation. It stated that, “Our aim at Always Spot-Less is to be the preferred supplier to both our existing and future clientele. We will strive to achieve this by providing an exemplary service, attention to detail, competitive pricing and undertake that we can achieve excellent value whilst maintaining the highest standard in this industry. We will value and listen to our customers.” This mission statement was introduced by Kenneth with the objective of driving all the employees of the organisation towards working for a unified goal or objective. The mission statement of a company mainly highlights the purpose and what it intends to accomplish in the forthcoming future (M3 Planning, 2008, p. 1). Developing a good mission statement and making it work for the company requires a good understanding of the organisational values and identifying concrete objectives for the company (Talbot, 2003). However, this mission statement is too complex and the organisational purpose is not clear. Moreover, the objectives of the company have also not been identified clearly. The Theory Y management style was introduced by Kenneth for his cleaners. The two factor theory was introduced by Douglas McGregor. This theory is on the basis of two views of X assumption and Y assumption. X assumption are conservative and Y assumption are modern in style (Hollyforde and Whiddett, 2002, p. 144). Implementing Theory Y in the organisation meant that the organisational staff in ASL were no longer being supervised by Kenneth. He thought that this might self-motivate the cleaners of ASL. However, it did not work and the workers of ASL were found to be poor decision makers and they were more concerned about earning money for themselves rather than thinking about achieving the organisational goals or objectives. Next, Kenneth also arranged for weekly meetings for all his staff to discuss the finances and latest developments at ASL. This was done with the motive of making the staff work towards the mission of the organisation by making them aware of all the happenings taking place at ASL. However, this was not liked by most of the staff at ASL mainly because of the fact that the workers were not that educated to understand all financial facts and figures of the organisation. They were more concerned about their earnings and not with the organisational goals. The hourly payroll system also proved to be disastrous for ASL because it resulted in an increase in wages costs for the company and the increased revenues did not surpass this cost. Hence, overall, it reduced the profitability of ASL. Kenneth responded to this situation by reducing the hourly wage rate of the employees which again de-motivated them to a large extent. Hence, ASL was facing lot of issues and the major problems identified for the organisation have been highlighted below: Lack of Motivation Motivation plays an important role towards the achievement of business goals. It acts as a driving force for the organization as well as for the employees. It is important to have motivation in order to accomplish a task effectively (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011, p. 90). In addition to this, motivation is more important for the companies which follow or operate as a team. In case of ASL, the staff liked working together and enjoyed the social interactions amongst them. Lack of Incentives The employees did not get any incentives for their performance. They only used to get their salary depending upon the working hours. Moreover, there was a sudden reduction in the wage rate as well, which de-motivated the staff to a great extent. Inappropriate Incentives Rewards act as a motivation to the employees and help them to work better (People, 2004). There was hardly any reward system for the employees at ASL, which could motivate them to work more effectively and efficiently. Leadership Issues It is impossible to deny the fact that leadership is important in every aspect of the business. During the process of implementing any change, organizations falter if they lack proper leadership qualities (Manning and Curtis, 2002, p. 59). Kenneth tried to introduce his autocratic leadership style to implement many radical changes in ASL, but it did not work for him. Teamwork Like the factors of motivation and leadership, teamwork is also the key towards the success of an organization (Arkansas-Aresraces, n.d.). The employees felt that they are not being properly valued at ASL. Generation and Evolution of a Range of Alternative Solutions In order to curb those issues discussed earlier, the report will now present the possible solutions of the problem. Some of the solutions along with their pros and cons are highlighted below: Motivation The first and foremost thing for the company to get rid of all the aforementioned issues is to launch various employee motivation programs and Theory X of McGregor’s motivational theory is more appropriate in case of ASL rather than Theory Y mainly because the staff’s goals and objectives were different from the goals and objectives of the organisation as a whole. If the employees get or remain motivated during the working hours, they will exhibit better output. The working efficiency will also rise, which will, in turn, help to increase the productivity of the company. Therefore, some of the motivational programs that can be initiated by the company are as follows: Introduction of Incentive Schemes The Company can start incentive schemes for the employees. In this context, the employees can be offered financial incentives on the basis of their performance. Performance can be measured on effectiveness of the employee during the working hours and also the total working time (Unstats, n.d.). This will help the company to improve its operation and also motivate the employees to perform better. Advantage of introducing incentive schemes: Employees will be motivated to earn more money, which will be helpful for both organizations and the employees. Disadvantage of introducing incentive schemes: There are hardly any disadvantages in introducing an incentive scheme for the employees. However, the only factor is that the company has to bear extra money for the employees (Armstrong, 2007, p. 450). Training The Company does not offer any formal training to its staff. However, if the company offers suitable training to its employee, they will be highly motivated to carry out their duties. Moreover, they would be able to know and understand many facts about the organisational activities which would help Kenneth to align the job performed by the staff with the overall goals and objectives of ASL. Advantage of introducing formal training system: Training will increase the efficiency of the workers and will fuel their interest towards the work. Disadvantage of introducing formal training system: Training will be an additional cost to the company. Leadership Apart from initiating a motivational program in the company, it has to rectify the leadership practices of the organization. Kenneth follows an autocratic as well as transformational leadership style, where he makes ultimate decisions, and hardly are there any inputs from the others. In this context, Kenneth as a manager should try to change the way of leading the employees and try to implement a democratic leadership style for his employees. Advantages of democratic leadership: It is intrinsic in nature and, thus, it will help to reform the culture of the outlet (Woods, 2005, p. 32). Moreover, it will facilitate better working environment. Disadvantages of democratic leadership: If Kenneth offers relaxation to the employees in terms of supervision, they may not work efficiently for the organisation (Mayer, 2008, p. 8). References Arkansas-Aresraces, n. d. Teamwork is the key to success. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 1 November 2012]. Armstrong, M., 2007. A handbook of employee reward management and practice. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Griffin, R. W. and Moorhead, G., 2011. Organizational behavior: managing people and organizations. 10th ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Hollyforde, S. and Whiddett, S., 2002. The motivation handbook. London: CIPD Publishing. M3 Planning, 2008. Developing your mission statement. Nevada: M3 Planning, Inc. Manning, G. and Curtis, K., 2002. The art of leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Mayer, T., 2008. What makes a good leader & how might the performance of leaders be measured. Noederstedt: GRIN Verlag. People, 2004. Leading and motivating as a manager. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 1 November 2012]. Talbot, M., 2003. Make your mission statement work: identify your organisation's values and live them every day. 2nd ed. Oxford: How to Books Ltd. Unstats, n. d. Resolution concerning the measurement of working time. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 1 November 2012]. Woods, P., 2005. Democratic leadership in education. California: SAGE. Read More