Andy Gill
Richard Leechik
Adam Habberley
Problem Statement and Symptoms
Problem Analysis
Communication
Communication Channels
Communication Barriers
Interpersonal Communication
Communicating in Organizational Hierarchies
Leadership
Behavioral Perspective of Leadership
Contingency Perspective of Leadership
Transformational & Transactional Leadership
Recommended Solution
and Symptoms
White did not anticipate the negative outcome from the
re-engineering
Culture change outcomes:
Closures
Disgruntled employees
Created psychological
Re-engineering outcomes:
Employees feel valued
Positive influence on the working environment (ie. volunteers)
Equality
Less suspicions of management’s motives
Communication
The process by which informational is transmitted
and understood between 2 or more people
Coordinates employees
Fulfills employee needs
Supports knowledge management
Improves decision making
Effective communication between Mr. White and
employees led to a successful culture change
Ineffective communication between top management
and employees led to a unsuccessful re-engineering
Communication Channels
Two main types of channels
Verbal: Any oral or written means of transmitting
meaning through words
Nonverbal: Any part of communication that does
not use word
Mr. White and top management’s verbal
communication with employees lead to a successful
culture change (+ media richness)
External consultants and auditors were responsible
for communicating with employees, resulting in an
unsuccessful re-engineering (- media richness)
Communication Barriers
Four communications barriers:
Perceptions: Perceptions determine what messages are screened
out, as well as how information is interpreted
Filtering: Messages are filtered/stopped on their way up or down
the organizational hierarchy
Language: Sender must clear up any ambiguous symbols or
jargon (technical language) for the receiver
Information Overload: Volume of information received exceeds
person’s capacity to process it
Culture Change
No communication barriers are evident
Re-engineering
Employees don’t understand the changes (Language Barrier)
Employees have trouble keeping up with work while changes are
being implemented (Information Overload)
Interpersonal Communication
Two features of effective interpersonal communication:
Getting the message across, Sender must:
Learn to empathize with receiver
Repeat the message
Choose an appropriate time for the conversation
Be descriptive rather than evaluative
Actively listening, Receiver constantly cycles through:
Sensing (postpone evaluation, avoid interruptions,
maintain interest)
Evaluating (empathize, organize information)
Responding (show interest, clarify the message)
Interpersonal Communication (cont’d)
Lightco communicated the initial culture change in
such a way that the employees felt very involved with
the change
The employees were surveyed for their opinions
The message was repeated (e.g., on posters, mugs, etc.)
Lightco communicated the re-engineering in a way that
employees felt alienated and less involved with the
organizational goals
Consultants cut jobs without warning (e.g., Phil had 20min
to clear out his desk)
Management relied on consultants for majority of
communications with employees
Communicating in Organizational Hierarchies
Employee Surveys: Questionnaires that enable
employees to share their attitudes and opinions about
an organization
Culture Change
David White sent an employee attitude survey to gauge
employee morale
Employee attitude survey helped implement successful
culture change
Re-engineering
There was no employee attitude survey before reengineering
Management didn’t know the existing employee morale nor
the employees willingness to participate in another culture
shift.
Leadership
Influencing, motivating, and enabling employees to
contribute towards the effectiveness and success of
the organization.
Culture Change
Employees were encouraged to lead in the culture change.
This boosted motivation throughout the company and
enabled a smooth culture change.
Re-engineering
In the re-engineering phase the leadership role was handed
to external consultants. The external consultants were
enable to influence the employees, resulting in a lack of
motivation to participate in the re-engineering.
Behavioural Perspective of Leadership
What behaviors make leaders effective?
Two clusters of leadership behaviors:
People-Oriented
Mutual trust, respect for subordinates, etc.
Task-Oriented
Clarify work duties, assign specific tasks, etc.
Effective leaders find a balance of both behaviors
Leadership at Lightco never found a balance:
Culture Change: Leadership became too people-oriented
Re-engineering: Leadership became too task-oriented
Contingency Perspective of Leadership
Based on the idea that the situation determines the
appropriate leadership style
Path-Goal Theory: Based on expectancy theory of
motivation which relates several leadership styles to
specific employee and situational contingencies.
People-Oriented
Mutual trust, respect for subordinates, etc.
Task-Oriented
Clarify work duties, assign specific tasks, etc.
Transformational & Transactional Leadership
Transformational: Explains how leaders change teams or
organizations by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision
for the organization or work unit and inspiring employees to
strive for that vision.
In the beginning, White’s leadership changed the motivation
of employees, showing them that culture change was
feasible
Transactional: Helps organizations achieve their current
objectives more efficiently, such as linking job performance to
valued rewards and ensuring that employees have the resources
needed to get the job done
During the re-engineering, White was trying to achieve
current goals for the company, but has forgotten about the
employees
White should have taken employee morale into
consideration when he decided to do re-engineering
Management should communicate with the employees
about the re-engineering to involve them into the
process
Lightco could have found an alternative to bringing
external consultants
White could have used leadership tactics similar to ones
in the culture change to minimize negative effects of reengineering (downsizing, layoffs, etc.)