Leadership Challenges Faced by Wirkkala in Achieving Developmental Goals

This case study focuses on the leadership challenges faced by Wirkkala in achieving its developmental goals. It discusses the advantages that Wirkkala possesses and the challenges the company may face in identifying a clear digital marketing strategy. The study also highlights the ethical and privacy issues that need to be followed by the company.

CASE STUDY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
QUESTION 1..................................................................................................................................3
A) Leadership challenges faced by Wirkkala in keeping company united in achieving its
developmental goals....................................................................................................................3
B)Critically evaluate both, the advantages that Wirkkala possess and the challenges the
company may face, in identifying a clear digital marketing strategy..........................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Leadership is about getting people to comprehend and believe in the vision leaders set for
the company and to work with on achieving one individual goals, while management is more
about administering and making sure the day-to-day activities are happening as they should. In
order to achieve one common and administrative goal, it has been analysed that leaders needs to
be transparent and possess various types of attributes like they must be honest and a keen
decision maker. Leaders needs to be engaged in providing respect to all individuals who work
with them. They must try to bring on innovative and creative ideas so that firm can increase their
reputation. Leaders needs to be transparent and honest so that they can have trust of their
employees. They can also make use of effective communication so that better relationship can be
form with employees. This aspect will improve organizations productivity. Present report will
lay emphasis on Wirkkala's case study. Company was been opened by four friends, they try to
bring out healthy drink in market. Assignment will lay emphasis on leadership challenges that
has been faced by Wirkkala in achieving developmental goals of company. It will also lay focus
on advnatges that firm possess and the challenges that organization may face in identifying
clearly digital marketing strategy. It will also discuss ethical and privacy issues that needs to be
followed by company.
QUESTION 1
A) Leadership challenges faced by Wirkkala in keeping company united in achieving its
developmental goals
Wirkkala was a small and medium sized organization who has recruited over 178
employees, company was been launched by four friends who were engaged in selling out fruit
smoothies and natural drink juice. Head office of company was in Coventry. It has been analysed
from case study that four friends have distributed their work and their main focus was on
warehouse and distribution services. Firm has also defined their core values on which all
members and employees have agreed to work upon. But now Wirkkala is thinking of expanding
their market, in order to explore new opportunities, so company is trying to focus on it. Because
of market expansion they are facing various types of leadership challenges
As per the view of Dugan, (2017) leadership involves group of individuals and every
member of team needs to be agreed to all rules and regulations that has been given by their
leaders. Wirkkala a small and medium sized organization is facing challenges in leadership

because there so many systems that has been followed by firm. This is the main reason because
of which chaos is developing in firm. It has been analysed that leaders in organization are do not
agree with the view point of each other. This is reducing the effectiveness of organization. They
are also facing legal challenges from competitors, because of which directors have to make
difficult decision. IN this perspective it has advised that leaders needs to be transparent in every
sought of decision they are making. They are also facing challenges because there are too many
systems running, so in order to expand their market and make use of digital marketing channels
they need to invest in doing collaborative working. As true leaders work together and mark a
presence in front of their followers.
On the other hand, stated that Alabdulhadi Schyns and Staudigl, (2017) leadership only
works when leaders are engaged in making organizational environment better. In case of
Wirkkala it has been analysed that there has been no single organizational structure. They are
facing problems because of this, as failed organization structure makes communication between
team members inefficient. Firm is failed to addressed needs and demands of their employees. So
for leaders in this scenario must be engaged in designing proper organization structure, they must
maintain a single hierarchy so that chaos does not exist. This will assist Wirkkala in growing and
expanding their market share. In order to overcome from this problem organization can also
make use of various concepts and framework. Like for example situational leadership, leaders of
Wirkkala can change their style of working according to the needs and situations which are
pertaining in firm. As company in order to grow has also done partnership agreements with other
firms in order to maintain their supply chain, so it is necessary for them to maintain a single
organization structure. Only this aspect can assist Wirkkala in their growth. It has been analysed
that employees also lose motivation, if they do not have a proper organizational structure to
follow. This can increase employee turnover in firm and individuals can reduce their job
performance and productivity. So leaders can make use of situational leadership theory to make
organizational environment better.
In the opinion of Martin and et.al., (2017) leaders needs to be engaged in creating an
environment where all employees are motivated to work. This has been clearly explained in
system leadership theory. Wirkkala is facing challenges in diversifying their market through
digital marketing channels. They are finding difficulty in developing their business through
digital marketing channels. So in order to overcome these barrier leaders needs to be engaged in

motivating employees to work in changing environment. They must assist them in knowing
about benefits of adopting advanced technology of digitalization. This will support leaders in
diversifying their business and exploring various types of opportunities. Diana and Alison can
also get involved in appointing someone who is expertise in digital marketing concept, so this
will help them in providing training to workers. This aspect will also assist them in developing
Wirkkala Brand. According to systems leadership theory leaders It uses sound principles about
human behaviour to create models of good leadership, organisational strategy, systems design
and social process. This will assist leaders of Wirkkala in making company's environment better.
It will help them in boosting morale of employees and will also increase their job productivity.
Diana and Alison also needs to make sure that when they are making use of digital marketing
channels, employees must be engaged in thinking about all social and ethical issues. It will help
them in making Wirkkala a successful online Brand. It will assist them in increasing goodwill of
company and they would be better able to achieve their goals and objectives. It will help them in
easily divers' their market.
In the opinion of Turnnidge and Côté, (2018) leaders needs to motivate employees to
work towards one common goal. It has been analysed in Wirkkala that there was no strategic
alignment with organizational goals. This aspect has made firm in effective in their working. It
has also been identified that leaders are not personally engaged in performing day to day
business activities because of lack of time. So because of this they are facing challenges as they
have no idea about present market scenario and conditions. In order to improve this situation
leader can make use of contingent leadership theory. They need to make sure that their
leadership style matches situation, so that employees stays motivated during the time of crisis.
Leaders can also have involved in adopting task oriented leadership style where delegation done
by them needs to proper. They must make sure that right people are placed on right job with
adequate resources. This can help leaders of Wirkkala in avoiding challenges and barriers.
Proper allocation of resources and better environment of firm will assist them in increasing trust
of employees and will also help them in diversifying their market. Strategic planning needs to be
done by leaders by combining organizational goals and objectives. Leaders also must make sure
that they have a proper interaction with their employees so that their needs and demands can be
properly analysed by them during the time of crisis.

In accordance with Van Wart and et.al., (2017) information system creates value for
organization. It may provide details about firm’s politics and conflicts. This system can be used
to analyse, interpret and solve problems that are arising in firm. It has been analysed that
Wirkkala is facing severe challenge of not reflecting values on information system. In order to
solve this senior manager must be engaged in taking firms strategic decision and improvising
financial performance. Leaders in this aspect needs to be transparent and honest, they must make
sure that current situation of organization is been displayed on information system, so that no
everyone knows about exact circumstances of company. This will help them in attracting more
potential investors who will deliberately take interest in investing. This can assist Wirkkala in
expanding their market share. It can help them in growing and achieving their goals ad
objectives. Company must also make sure that no personal data of employees and consumers
been displayed in informative system. Wirkkala must also be engaged in appointing experts who
can manage different departments of firm like marketing, sales and finance. They can implement
proper structure about what member will perform which task so that no conflict exists in
organization. This will help Wirkkala in enhancing their efficiency and achieving goals and
objectives. Firm must be engaged in following a unique and single organizational culture.
Information system can help them in tracking firms daily management activities. UPS's
organizational focus on customer service can be found in the package tracking system available
to customers. Information systems may also reflect the organizational politics or conflicts that
result from differing views and opinions in an organization. So Wirkkala must be involved in
showing their values on information system.
In the view point of Arena and Uhl-Bien, (2016) interoperability the ability of computer
systems or software to exchange and make use of information. Organization must make sure that
there is better an uninterrupted flow of communication in firm. This can assist Wirkkala in
enhancing their operational efficiency. It has been analysed that organization lacks
interoperability. It has been analysed that leaders of firm are not been engaged in taking care of
health care conditions of employees working with them. Because of this issue absenteeism in
firm is increasing day by day, making enterprise more ineffective to work. Physical, emotional
and financial stress which us being faced by employees while working can reduce their
productivity and make them ineffective in work. Leaders of Wirkkala needs to work on
interoperability aspect in order to enhance efficiency of organization. If leaders are not taking

care of employee’s health a lot of time will be wasted on doing medical treatment and diagnosis.
While the goal of interoperability is to improve health outcomes of employees, a major
byproduct for businesses is it minimizes the direct productivity and financial losses associated
with employee health. When employees of company are satisfied this will assist them in easily
achieving goals and objectives.
A perfect leader is one who is transparent and honest and does not make use of any false
ways, so in order to increase company's growth, leaders needs to lay good impression in front of
their team members. It has been analysed that Wirkkala has no knowledge related to digital
marketing aspects and also all leaders do not agree to making use of digitalization as a channel.
So in order to overcome this they need to make use of effective communication. This will really
help them in analysing problem effectively, it will assist them in growing and achieving their
objectives (Thompson and Glasø, 2018). It has also been evaluated that leaders in company were
not open and transparent so that they can build up trust of workers. Path goal theory and best fit
approach can be used by leaders of Wirkkala so that during situation of crisis they can make
workers stay motivated. This can help them in improvising their quality of service and also it
will be easy for them to diversify market. Main objective of this theory is to enhance employee’s
motivation, empowerment and make them more productive. Leaders needs to create a situation
where employees stay in firm easily like they can provide them an environment where no chaos
exist. Also in order to lay better impression in front of workers, leaders must be engaged in
working together and understanding each other situation. Like in Wirkkala's case four of them
does not agree to point of expanding market through digital marketing channels. So they need to
sit and communicate in order to solve and overcome this problem. Company is engaged in hiring
business graduates, so leaders and managers can provide them with training which can assist
them in legally fitting in. It can help firm in empowering their business aspects.
It has also been analysed that Wirkkala is also facing problem related to internal and
external facing. An internal-facing CIO is the more typical type of CIO, and so this type of CIO
plays to the expectations of the rest of the organization (Yang and Lim, 2016). So leaders and
managers of company needs to install that information system where it is easy for them to share
information. This will assist them in bringing changes in organization. Also they must make sure
that every employee is aware about what situation is going in firm. CIO helps them in making
aware about competitors, so Wirkkala can change their styles of leading according to them.

Company needs to be engaged in analysing about the importance of information and knowledge
so that they can gain competitive advantage. This will not only help in safeguarding the produce
range and brand but will also support them in expanding operations. Leaders and managers are
also facing issues in supply chain management so Wirkkala needs to focus on high quality of
ingredients, they should have high tech factory but they need to focus on improvising the
services which is being provided by their distribution network. It can help them in increasing
efficiency of firm.
B) Critically evaluate both, the advantages that Wirkkala possess and the challenges the
company may face, in identifying a clear digital marketing strategy.
It has been analysed from case study that Wirkkala is going to diversify their market by
making use of digital marketing platform. Thus, it can provide company with various advantages
and challenges, so leaders and managers of company needs to bring up more strategies so that
they can overcome problem and build a brand reputation for company. In order to clearly
identify digital marketing strategy, leaders of Wirkkala might face problem related to identifying
gaps in market. For this they need to engaged in doing keen market research, this will help them
in building up successful digital marketing strategy. Company can also face problem that no
employee can have idea related to promoting product through digital marketing, so training
needs to be provided to them. This can increase operational cost of firm and can be very hectic
for organization. Wirkkala also needs to follow code of conduct where they do not engage in
hampering values, beliefs of consumers and employees who are working with them. It has been
analysed that initially all the recipes for the produce range were published online free and
available for everyone to see in the spirit of transparency and share information. BY this they can
face various types of legal challenges like this information has been used by competitors and
they are trying to make space in market. This aspect can reduce business aspects of Wirkkala, so
firm have been involved in hiring a lawyer who is involved in settling down the disputes and
safeguard their processes (Mendes and et.al., 2016).
Wirkkala also have access to personal information or data of consumers when they were
going to introduce new product in market. So while developing digital marketing channels they
can make use of that data and analyse needs and demands of consumers. This will assist them in
developing products according to them and then they can have engaged in selling it out through
digital marketing channels. This data forms the main part of the database that marketing use

regularly to plan campaigns and identify new product opportunities in order to grow. Leaders
and managers of Wirkkala needs to make sure that no personal information of consumers is been
leaked as this will hamper trust of customers and also it can hamper working of organization.
This can act as challenge for company and can also reduce satisfaction of customers. This can
also reduce brand reputation of firm and competitors might get advantage of it. So Leaders and
managers needs to build up that strategies which is beneficial for there as well as organizational
goals. In order to improve productivity, they can also make use of expertise in field of digital
marketing channels. This can lay impact on their growth.
Wirkkala can also face challenge of managing big data. Effective big data management is
crucial for digital marketing transformation (Barnes, 2019). Like for example Facebook, Twitter,
Airbnb all are successful because they leverage data of consumers. So they have threat from all
big organizations, they need to engage in making use of effective digital marketing strategies so
that they can gain consumers trust. It will help firm in gaining advantage. Making use of digital
marketing channels will also help them in reaching out large range of consumers. Thus, it can
support managers and leaders of Wirkkala in improvising their revenue and sales aspect. They
also need to make appropriate strategies related to increasing sale of their products over
competitors. It has been analysed that digital transformation is necessary for firm. Efficient
operation does not take place if data are not being managed. So in order to perfectly manage
business of company, leaders need to provide training on digital aspects. This can help firm in
improvising their operational efficiency. It can help them in increasing productivity and
Wirkkala will be able to grow and expand their market share.
Digitalization will also help leaders and managers of Wirkkala in managing consumer’s
data properly (Clarke, 2018). Like for example Digital marketing strategies also includes making
use of various software like customer relationship management. This can assist them in
managing and maintain relationship with consumers. They will also be able to know about needs
and preferences of customers. They must make sure that while keeping consumers information,
no data is being leaked as this can turn customers aggressive. It can hamper their growth and also
because of this their profitability and revenue can be reduced. It has been analysed that company
is making use of various type if information that has become the mode of communication
between different directors (Meuser and et.al., 2016). Important information needs to be shared
by leaders of Wirkkala on information system of company. They must ensure that operational

information is shared to all departments of firm. This will help departments of company in
working towards achievement of common goals and objectives. When developing digital
marketing strategy leaders can face problem related to managing several type of data. For this
they can store data at one place so that all the members of team can explore it whenever it is
being needed. This can assist them in better management and processing of complicated data.
Digital marketing transformation also requires people who are expertise in this field.
These people can help Wirkkala in supporting them during the time of crisis. They can adopt
artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented realities so that manual task of firm also becomes
easier (Rosile, M Boje and Claw, 2018). For this training can be provided to employees, this
will also help them in increasing digital capabilities. By this transformation manual work of
workers can be reduced, so they will be able to less number of employee which is beneficial for
organizational growth and cost. This an advantage for Wirkkala as they can reduce their
expenses and cost related to appointing employees. In order to diversify their market, leaders and
managers can also face difficulty of understanding digital consumers. These type of customers
have really high expectations from company, they want that their organization must be engaged
in bringing out new and innovative products and services so that their demands can be fulfilled.
So it is a challenge for them to analyse and prioritise needs and preferences of digitalised
consumers. Also leaders and managers of Wirkkala must make sure that company is also
engaged in solving queries of these consumers so that they can enhance customer satisfaction.
This will help them in improvising their profitability as well as revenue aspects.
Customer journey is fully influenced by mobile technology, as software which were
previously used in desktop is now totally accessible on mobile phone so it can be really hard for
leaders and managers of Wirkkala to address needs and demands of digitalised mobile
consumers (Grandy and Sliwa, 2017). This will help firm in appointing more staff who have high
knowledge related to software. This can help them in reaching out their goals and objectives to
expand their market share and diversify it. When they will provide their services on mobile
phone app profitability and growth of firm will also increase. Various ethical issues are also
related to when firm is making use of digital transformation like for example consumers and
employees private information can be leaked by hackers. So in order to save from this leaders
and managers of Wirkkala needs to install anti-phishing software which can automatically detect
spam emails. This can also help them in increasing consumer as well as employee satisfaction,

they will be able to build brand reputation of Wirkkala. This installation of software is very
necessary for growth of organization. They will also be able to increase their profitability.
Wirkkala while going digital also needs to follow various ethical norms and values. Like
for example digital transformation also requires safety from display equipment’s like laptops and
PC's, so for this leaders and managers of company needs to be engaged in providing training to
employees on how to perfectly use this equipment’s (Xu, 2017). They need to follow digital
equipment’s act. Employers must motivate workers to take short break in between work so that
their efficiency got enhanced. This will also increase their job performance. Leaders and
managers of firm must make sure that no personal data of customers is been leaked. They can be
better able to grow because of this.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarised that there have been various leadership
challenges that has been faced by firm. They have ineffective organizational structure and culture
which has reduced productivity of employees. In order to overcome this leaders of firm has made
use of effective communication to solve problems that has been faced by enterprise.
Organization has also been trying to diversify their market, for this they are making use of digital
marketing platforms. For this they have been engaged in hiring expertise who can be
significantly involved in promoting their products and services through social media platform.
This has also helped them in reaching out large number of consumers so that profitability and
revenue of firm also increases. It has also been analysed from report that firm is making use of
various ethical practices in which they are engaged in not sharing personal information of
consumers with any one. This has increased trust of consumers.
Company has also been engaged in making use of interoperability so that they can lay
focus on health aspects of workers in order to enhance productivity of workers and this aspect
has also assisted them in achieving their goals and objectives. Leaders and managers of company
are also been engaged in acting according to situations, they are being flexible and adjustable.
This has helped firm in growing. This has also assisted them in increasing brand reputation of
company. Leaders and managers have made use of effective communication to understand each
others problem and bring out solution to various problems that has been faced by firm. They
have also made use of a structured hierarchical structure so that leaders can overcome barriers
which they are facing. It has also assisted them in growing.

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