Mr. Buzz Hargrove

Introduction 3

1.1 The Leader's Story 3

1.2 The Leader's Mission 4

1.3 The Leader's Vision 5

2 Performing the Governance Function 5

2.1 Applying the "Complexity" Framework 6

2.1.1 Reframing Using "Complexity" Framework 6

2.1.2 Celebrating Diversity Using "Complexity" Framework 7

2.1.3 Historical Reflection Using "Complexity" Framework 8

2.2 Applying the "Globalization" Framework 9

2.2.1 Reframing Using Globalization Framework 9

2.3 Applying the "Power and Diversity" Framework 11

2.3.1 Reframing Using "Power and Diversity" Framework 11

2.3.2 Celebrating Diversity Using "Power and Diversity" Framework 12

3 Personal Synthesis 13

4 Recommendations 15

5 Conclusion 17

6 Bibliography 18

Introduction

The leader in discussion, Mr. Buzz Hargrove, the National President of the Canadian Auto Workers Union , in his (given) speech has presented a detailed analysis and his understanding of the present crisis surrounding the North American automotive industry. Following section of the paper briefly describes the leader's story and identifies his vision and mission for his organization, as inferred from the speech. Later sections are focused on performing a governance function using three frameworks, namely "Complexity", "Globalization" and "Power and Diversity" in order to act as a "loyal opposition" critically examining the leader's vision and his approach towards achieving it. Recommendations have been provided based on the insights revealed by performing the governance function.

1.1 The Leader's Story

The gist of Mr. Hargrove's story is that the North American auto worker is suffering from declining living standards and poor employment prospects due to an imbalance between trade policies in Asia and North America. He believes, this imbalance (and no other factor like quality or costs of production) is the root cause of the current crisis in the domestic auto industry. In his speech, Mr. Hargrove has exemplified his leadership qualities (specifically those of "championing leadership"2) as he presents a compelling story that makes the readers thoughtful and intrigued about the issue that he wants to address. The "story" is backed with multiple perspectives on the issue and an analysis of dominant stakeholders (workers, domestic manufacturers) of the North American auto industry and the government trade policies. It also has been substantiated with industry facts and figures and is made further compelling with the use of paradoxes and vivid metaphors (such as "a baseball playing field" and "elephant in the room") that the readers can easily relate to, irrespective of whether they have prior background knowledge of the North American auto industry and the predicament of its workers. The story therefore creates and organizational identity for CAW (that it stands for equitable trade policies) based on a shared belief3 of its members (the belief being fair trade practices will lead to improvement in workers' living standard). Thus, from a leadership function perspective, the leader's story is a compelling one.

1.2 The Leader's Mission

Based on the "story" presented by Mr. Buzz Hargrove in the given speech, his mission can be broadly inferred as - To prevent further erosion of living standards and destruction of jobs of the North American auto workers.

This mission is also reflected in the CAW's Constitution's which mentions the reason for inception of the union as:

"We formed our union because we could not depend on employers to provide us with dignity, a measure of security and a rising standard of living."

Mr. Hargrove believes that the current trade policies in North America and Asia are giving an unfair advantage to the Asian manufacturers and are a serious impediment to CAW achieving its mission of improved employment in the North American auto industry.

1.3 The Leader's Vision

Mr. Hargrove's speech does reflect that he has a "transformational vision of the direction" of the organization (CAW) he is heading. From Mr. Hargroves' speech, it can be inferred that CAW is committed to "construct a dynamic sustainable North American auto industry". Long term focus on overall improvement in the health of the North American auto industry can eventually lead to the achievement of CAW's mission of not only improving living standards of auto workers but also sustaining the improved standards.

To achieve its vision, Mr. Hargrove believes that it is essential to eliminate trade policy imbalances and organize the workers in the automotive industry in the North America - both geographically (e.g. United States, Canada and Mexico) and sector-wise (e.g. workers working directly on assembly lines and those working in the auto parts sector).

2 Performing the Governance Function

As discussed above, the leader has presented a compelling, almost over-arching, story to convey his vision. I have performed the Governance function on Mr. Hargrove's vision for CAW, and his approach towards achieving it by choosing three frameworks that seemed to most suitable for analyzing the crisis in North American auto industry. (Specific reasons for why the framework was considered suitable have been outlined in individual sections discussing application of the frameworks to perform the governance function). When super-imposing each framework on the business issue (current crisis in North American auto industry), the suggested "strategies to perform the governance function" (e.g. De-framing and Reframing, Celebrating Diversity Historical Reflection etc.) have been used to - challenge and critique the leader's vision; identify additional stakeholders and represent their views; and question existing power structures. Governance function will