110093 | KENNETH EDWARD T. ROJAS
Case Analysis Report: Elektra Products, Inc.
June 16, 2011
Case Analysis Report:
ELEKTRA PRODUCTS, INC.
RECOGNITION OF DECISION REQUIREMENTS
Elektra Products, Inc., an 80 year old publicly held company, had once been a leading
manufacturer and retailer of electrical products and supplies. In recent years, it had experienced several
problems such as declining market share, increasing competition against foreign and domestic markets,
necessity for innovation of products, relationships between departments, and low morale among
employees. In an effort to revive the company, the new CEO, Martin Griffin, introduced a new
empowerment campaign to improve performance. Top management then selected managers to lead
problem-solving teams to work on new ideas. Nevertheless, there were still those who were against
change and considered the empowerment campaign as corporate crap such as Simon. However, Barbara
Russel, the manufacturing vice president, was enthusiastic about the empowerment campaign. Together,
she and her manufacturing team had provided new propositions and shared them with others. Although,
Martin Griffin showed enthusiasm, the other department heads were skeptical and questioned the ideas
brought about by Barbara right after the CEO left.
CHANGES
OBJECTIONS
Allow salespeople to refund up to $500 worth of
Finance department: This would create a gold mine for
merchandise on the spot.
unethical customers and salespeople.
Make information available to salespeople about future
Legal department: This would invite industrial spying.
projects.
Permit a manager to follow a product from design
Human Resources department: This would destroy the
through sales to customers.
carefully crafted job categories that had just been
Swap sales and manufacturing personnel for short
completed.
periods to let them get to know one another’s jobs.
Statement of the Problem:
Based on the facts presented, Barbara is faced with the existence of a system wherein company
culture and work conditions in the workplace limit different departments and employees to interact and to
share ideas with each other; in other words, a weak relationship among them exists resulting from lack of
trust and communication. Other issues are also evident which support the previous stated key problem:
(1) Company culture and traditional style of managing Elektra resist the need for change.
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110093 | KENNETH EDWARD T. ROJAS
Case Analysis Report: Elektra Products, Inc.
June 16, 2011
(2) There are senior employees, such as Simon, who are close-minded and do not support the
empowerment campaign, denying the necessity for innovation.
(3) The propositions presented by Barbara and her manufacturing team were largely in the
perspective of their own field and did not include insights from other departments.
(4) Barbara needs to face skeptic individuals who are too afraid to experiment and take risks.
Key Objectives:
(1) To establish a working system wherein conditions allow employees to work together
efficiently and effectively in innovating ways on improving organization performance.
(2) To formulate a well-established plan in support of the empowerment campaign and address
the need for change.
ANALYSIS
In order to promote increase in profits, Martin Griffin has come up with the idea to campaign
empowerment among the company’s employees so as to motivate and to innovate ways on how to
respond to the changing times. Indeed, any leading company which has existed for decades cannot stay on
top forever. The demands of growing societies require a lot if business organizations want to keep ahead.
Innovation is necessary to answer these calls. Traditional style of running the business may work
efficiently and effectively in the past; however, new generations, with its increasing population, demand
better ways to address the changes in the necessities of life. Senior employees, like Simon, are used to the
old style. They believe that this kind of style best suits Elektra since, in the past, it pushed the company to
the top. People like Simon fear change, in which, they believe that implementation of new ideas in the
system would further degrade the performance of the company.
In addition, top management has selected managers to lead problem-solving teams in support of
the empowerment campaign. Barbara and her colleagues have developed several new ideas which might
address some of the issues involved. However, it could be seen that these ideas are based solely on the
perspective of the manufacturing department and do not have sufficient insights from other departments.
This shows that these problem-solving teams are mostly made up of people belonging to the same
specialization/field. Communication and collaboration is then needed.
Furthermore, there is lack of trust between ranks. It was evident when Martin Griffin, the new
CEO of Elektra Products, Inc., left the meeting due to an important deal. The department heads took the
chance to question Barbara’s team’s ideas, even though Griffin was enthusiastic about them. This lack of
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110093 | KENNETH EDWARD T. ROJAS
Case Analysis Report: Elektra Products, Inc.
June 16, 2011
trust between top management and middle managers signify a lack of confidence in sharing different
opinions. Seeing Griffin’s interest on the matter, it would seem that these department heads do not want
to show directly to the CEO that they are against those ideas, hence, taking the chance to question
Barbara.
The workplace in Elektra Products, Inc. lacks a system wherein different employees would
effectively communicate with one another. Their weak relationship can hinder the organization in
accomplishing their goals. Management must incorporate skills in creating an environment where
conditions allow people to work well together effectively and efficiently.
The following table shows the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
STRENGTHS
-
WEAKNESSES
There are many loyal senior employees
-
working for Elektra.
-
Lack of communication and collaboration with
different departments.
Employees, such as Barbara and Griffin, do not
-
Some employees deny the need for change.
give up; rather, they desire to put Elektra back
-
Low morale among most employees.
on top.
OPPORTUNITIES
-
THREATS
Elektra Products, Inc. was once a leading
-
Increase in foreign and domestic competition.
manufacturer of electric products and supplies;
-
Decreasing share in the market.
hence, the company has many influences and
affiliations with other organizations. The
company can use this advantage to efficiently
implement their new ideas in the market once
approved.
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVES
Due to the existence of lack of trust and communication within the company, Barbara is faced
with several options:
1.
Keep her mouth shut and abandon the propositions 2.
Confront Martin about her sincerity in making
developed by her team.
empowerment work.
Advantages:
Advantages:
-
Avoid conflict with other departments.
-
-
No changes will be made; hence, organizational
success on Barbara’s part as a manager if
structure will not change.
accepted.
-
No risks.
Disadvantages:
-
Implementation of the propositions will show
Her team’s hard work will not be put to waste.
Disadvantages:
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110093 | KENNETH EDWARD T. ROJAS
Case Analysis Report: Elektra Products, Inc.
-
June 16, 2011
Failure on Barbara’s part as a manager to
-
innovate ways.
-
Conflict might arise with other department
heads.
The company will decline due to the demands
-
Ignoring the insights from other departments.
of changing times.
3.
Her team’s hard work will be put to waste.
Push slowly for reform and work for gradual
4.
Look for another job and leave the company she
support from other teams.
really cares about.
Advantages:
Advantages:
-
Closer relationships among employees.
-
Avoid conflicts.
-
Collaboration with other departments will entail
-
New opportunities.
utilization of different perspectives.
-
Barbara will not experience the fall of the
-
Might save the company from declining.
company.
-
Implementation of the propositions will show
Disadvantages:
success on Barbara’s part as a manager.
-
Disadvantages:
-
Failure on Barbara’s part as a manager to
innovate ways.
Success of Barbara as manager might pose a
-
Barbara will start from scratch again.
threat to self-seeking people.
-
Her team’s hard work will be put to waste.
SELECTION OF DESIRED ALTERNATIVE
The best alternative would be to push slowly for reform and work for gradual support from other
teams. By collaborating with other teams, this would entail better communication and sharing of ideas. In
essence, there will be team-based decisions based from different perspectives. Moreover, the relationship
between departments would improve significantly; thus, creating an environment where employees can
work well together to achieve organizational goals.
IMPLEMENTATION OF CHOSEN ALTERNATIVE
After hearing different views from other departments, Barbara Russel would need to collaborate
with them so that insights can be shared with one another. She can talk with the different heads, along
with Martin Griffin, to meet up and to build a heterogeneous team. Together, they would build problemsolving teams composed of not only people of the same field but of mixed capable representatives from
different departments.
Communication is key. This allows people to develop stronger relationships with each other.
Before starting out, Barbara can ask each member of the team their opinions regarding the matter. After
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110093 | KENNETH EDWARD T. ROJAS
Case Analysis Report: Elektra Products, Inc.
June 16, 2011
all, each idea contains valuable information. As a team, it is very important for a manager to be
consistent. Nothing frustrates team members more than leaders who cannot make up their minds. Another
fact is to be clear because team members cannot execute goals if they do not know what must be done. It
is important to be straightforward when it comes to achieving company goals. It is also equally important
to be courteous. Everyone deserves to be shown respect, no matter what the position one might have with
him or her. By being courteous, Barbara can eliminate barriers. As stated by John C. Maxwell in his book,
Maximize Your Day, “…communication sets the tone for the interaction among people. Good
communication is never one-way. It should not be top-down or dictatorial. The best leaders listen, invite,
and then encourage participation.” By gathering all information from various sectors (and even from top
management), new and better propositions can be made.
It is crucial to create an environment of growth around the workplace. When a person is
surrounded by people with different perspectives, one can learn new insights and grow in character.
Moreover, a growth environment allows change to be accepted. By consolidating with one another in
different departments, Barbara not only gains their opinions for improving company growth but also their
ideas on change. Once new and well-thought propositions have been made, it is now crucial to take
courage and implement new policies. Without taking risks and experimenting, nothing will change.
Good management entails creating a system or environment in which conditions allow people to
work together effectively and efficiently. By having a heterogeneous team, it is highly possible to come
up with agreeable innovative ideas for Elektra Products, Inc. without having conflicts with one another.
CONCLUSION
Being a good manager is not attained through leading and ordering other people but rather by
creating a system of conditions beneficial for the company due to people working well together in
achieving company goals. Developing relationships with one another is of key importance. No man can
win alone. Likewise, no organization can exist without the unity of its members. Managers must develop
personal relationships with the people they work with. Establishing good relationships motivate people to
work hard in achieving organization goals. Success can be found in people working together. Also, it is
very important for managers to gather information from different views and to know when to accept and
how to plan and to implement change. Using various skills, a manager must be able innovative enough to
improve work performance among its members. As Clayton G. Orcutt, “Change itself is not progress, but
change is the price you have to pay for progress.” Empowerment not only aims to motivate employees but
also allow them to further their conceptual way of thinking for innovation and be responsible and capable
members of Elektra Products, Inc.
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