Wallace Group

Donated 01/28/06

This is a study guide not a cheat sheet.

The organizational culture is an important characteristic of an organization. In an organization, the culture is one in which everyone agrees on a shared vision and everyone recognizes the inherent interrelationships among the organization's processes, activities, functions, and external environments. No matter which organizational structure Mr. Wallace chooses for the Wallace Group, the design should help employees do their work in the best possible, most efficient and effective way they can. The structure should aid and facilitate organizational members as they carry out the organizations' work. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. After all, the structure is simply a means to an end. Those are the main strategies Mr. Wallace will need to consider as he plans to build inter-group relations and further develop the Wallace Group facility organizationally.

The problem starts with the top of the food chain. The President feels that there is a laundry list of issues which include the break in the command. People under his own team of trusted confidants feel that he should resign. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. If people are not buying into your strategy, if the company would be more productive and profitable with his resignation or if it is only a popularity contest, then changes need to be made.

When a company culture is ready to move in a new direction, while the president still feels that time is all they need and they should wait it out, time will not help build confidence in customers and business partners. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. Clients will see that if they can't handle the company culture, then can the workers deal with the task of working together to make a great product. Pride is a major factor especially if the President has 45% of the stock.

The next problem that Mr. Wallace has to contend with is mutiny within the company and who is going to try and take his position. Of all the people that voted to remove him from office, now he must determine why they felt they should make it a public issue, rather then handling it within the privacy of a boardroom. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. His issues will stem from departmental separation, but each department will also try to understand why the company functions they way it does. Production is steady, profits were slightly up yet his employees are seemingly ready for a change of leadership.

As time passes, Mr. Wallace has to decide to keep those key employees and learn to trust the ones that were opposed to him staying on as president or he could have a competitor with many people from the Wallace Group. The problem could be solved by looking at different way to implement a new management system, but that takes time. Time is not something that could benefit Wallace at this time since there may be an new offer hanging in the wings which could go to a competitor from the looks of the instability within the walls of the Wallace Group.

One of the first statements that Mr. Campbell makes about the major problem is that "morale is really poor," which indicates that he has lost hope in the company strategy. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. Mr. Frank Campbell is the VP of industrial Relations, feels that it is more then a one man operation and the company needs a new direction along with a new President. If he feels this negative towards his boss, there must be some kind of trickle down effect into the department managers, employees and eventually their work ethic. One of the biggest factors will be conformity, because if a group is mostly union members, as the Wallace Group has plenty, then some may reject entering a new management style. When conformity is low then productivity will also be low and making it difficult to control the members' behaviors. This may be most true with the older sector that is resistant to change and adaptability. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. If Mr. Campbell gets his wish for a new president, growth may be slow because of the huge push for a new president that clients may be few and far between.

The testimony of the Director of Advanced Systems will come in to play after the major problems are dealt with. It is of course stemming from the problem that seems to be a theme in this company. It is this person's fault, or it is this department that is getting what they need, but we are waiting for our turn and so on and so forth. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. Mr. Matthew Smith is very quick to name VP of Marketing Mr. Holt for the work that needs to be accomplished, but Mr. Smith is very unwilling to produce two different marketing strategies, one concerning his department as a single entity and one including his department as part of the whole company. Mr. Smith has also made it clear that he is retiring within 6 months. It is the miscommunication and the lack of knowledge of which direction this company is going. I personally feel that it is employees and manager with the same mentality like Mr. Smith that is bringing this company down. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. He is responsible for his job, and should not question when his boss wants something accomplished. The First solution is to get rid of employees like Mr. Smith for insubordination.

The insights are better made clear by Mr. Campbell's Director of Engineering, Ralph Kane. He lists the problems as low salary scheduling, shifting employees' back and forth through departments creating shortages and unbalanced deadlines, and a lack of team work. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. He needs help from the technical, chemical and the industrial departments, but is better served by a coordinating employee that can assist these problems through coordinating employees of the other departments freeing up valuable time for these directors and VP's to handle more important issues.

Given the increasing rate of change in the global marketplace, Wallace must be able to provide leadership and not just commanding expertise is crucial for the success of the organization. Once the employees can change in attitudes, behaviors, and habits reaches a critical mass, organizational leadership then can work to realign organizational systems and core capabilities with the business strategy and new organizational direction. This is a study guide not a cheat sheet. Mr. Wallace could use many of these methods to generalize through observation and investigation whether the different departmental crews involved in the Wallace Group work force