Leadership and Management Issues at Cunningham Holdings Limited

This report examines the leadership and management challenges faced by Cunningham Holdings Limited, a diversified company dealing with prawn and beef production, hospitality, and communications. The report begins with a critical analysis of the issues stemming from a 'wicked problem,' including employee motivation, negative attitudes, low morale, high absenteeism, and poor team dynamics, despite technological advancements. It then explores relevant management and leadership theories, such as Trait Theory, Situational Theory, Transactional Theory, and Contingency Theory, and their alignment with the identified problems. A literature review provides insights into organizational culture, employee communication, and strategies used by other companies to address similar issues. Finally, the report suggests creative leadership development strategies, including coaching, participative leadership, and democratic leadership styles, to improve employee engagement, performance, and retention within Cunningham Holdings Limited.

Creative Leadership

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
Critical analysis of the management and leadership issues associated with a wicked problem................3
Management and leadership theories and concepts that align with the ‘wicked problem’.......................4
Literature Review....................................................................................................................................5
Creative leadership development strategies used by other companies that can be used for Cunningham
Holdings Ltd............................................................................................................................................7
Suggestions.................................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Leadership can be defined as the ability of an individual to motivate and lead a group of
people in order to achieve a common goal. It is an important aspect within an organization and
helps in encouraging people to enhance their overall performance. Managers as well as team
leaders should possess efficient leadership skills so that they can guide their respective team
members to achieve organizational goals and objectives (Bin Saeed and et. al., 2019). This report
is based on the organization Cunningham Holdings Limited, which is a diversified company and
has operations in different sectors like prawn and beef production, hospitality and
communications. The report provides a critical analysis of the different management and
leadership issues which are associated with a wicked problem that the company is facing. It also
includes a description of management and leadership theories and concepts that align with this
problem. Lastly, an outline of how other organizations have previously approached such
problems and suggestions to the same are also provided in the report.
MAIN BODY
Critical analysis of the management and leadership issues associated with a wicked problem
A recent organizational culture survey that was conducted by the respective organization,
Cunningham Holdings Limited (CHL) showed that even though more than 1/3rd of its workforce
was automated, the company was still facing various management and leadership issues. These
issues included more motivation among employees, negative attitudes, low morale, high
absenteeism and levels of conflicts, poor team dynamics etc. The company has access to good
technology but the management is still facing issues (Choi, 2019). This can be because of lack of
effective leadership or the employees might not have been receiving effective training. Another
reason behind this can be that since most of the activities are automated, the employees of the
company have started feeling insecure about their jobs. This has led to an increase in the level of
conflict incidences among them.
There can be many challenges that are associated with this problem, like the overall
performance of the company can be affected negatively. Apart from this, due to low level of
motivation, the employees can look for other job options. Therefore, it is important for the
managers of the company to review their leadership styles and implement the one which is most

suited for the situation. This can help in leveraging the overall performance of not only the
employees, but the company on the whole. High rate of staff turnover, poor team dynamics, high
rate of absenteeism are some other management and leadership challenges that the company has
been facing. Due to this, the culture of the company will also get affected and it will start losing
its position in the market. Thus, these are some of the challenges that are associated with the
wicked problem that has been identified for the respective company.
Management and leadership theories and concepts that align with the ‘wicked problem’
Both management as well as leadership are interrelated ad ensure that the employees
within the company perform at a high rate so that organizational goals and objectives are
achieved. Effective leadership can help in maximizing the overall efficiency as well as
productivity of the employees (Fleenor, Taylor and Chappelow, 2020). Companies that have
effective leadership at their workplace, have employees with a high morale and healthy
workplace environment. There are various theories of leadership that align with the problem that
has been identified above. A description of these theories has been provided below –
Trait Theory – This theory of leadership is based on the assumption that people inherit
different qualities and traits due to which they become suited to leadership (The Major
Leadership Theories, 2020). This theory usually identifies specific characteristics of behavior
that are shared by leaders. These traits can include being an extrovert, showing courage, self-
confidence etc. In simple words, natural qualities of an individual tend to make them leaders.
Also, having these skills does not necessarily mean that the person has strong leadership skills.
This theory aligns with the problem identified above, in the way that having certain traits does
not mean that an employee has leadership skills.
Situational Theory – This particular theory of leadership does not state that the
leadership style of a specific leader is the best. Rather, the situational theory states that the best
leader is the one who is able to adapt their leadership style based on the situation (Gadzheva,
2019). There can be different ways in which a leader can respond to a particular situation. This
can include participating, delegating, coaching etc. According to this theory, situational leaders
are flexible and adopt the leadership style they think is best suited for a situation. The leaders at
Cunningham Holdings Limited should be flexible and be able to adapt themselves to any
changing situations.

Transactional Theory – This theory of leadership is also known as management theory
and is primarily focused on the role of organization, supervision as well as good performance.
The transactional theory of leadership is based on the system of rewards as well as punishments.
According to this theory, leadership focuses on results and leaders who adopt this style of
leadership, prioritize structure and order over the creativity of employees. Through a system of
punishments and rewards, these types of leaders are able to maintain the level of motivation of
their employees. As a result, the employees are committed towards achieving organizational
goals and objectives effectively.
Contingency Theory – This theory of leadership is basically based on the assumption
that the effectiveness of leadership is based on a particular situation (Kark, Van Dijk and Vashdi,
2018). According to this theory, there is no particular style of leadership that is suitable for all
situations. Instead, a leader should know when they should adopt a particular style of leadership.
Therefore, these are some of the management and leadership theories that align with the
problem identified within the respective company, Cunningham Holdings Limited.
Literature Review
According to the view point of Michael D. Watkins, 2013, it is stated that organizational
culture plays an important role that shapes the behavior and attitude of employees. It is important
for an entity to focus on providing positive working culture to the staff members as it helps in
developing morale and retention of employees for longer time period. In addition to this, it is
determined that organizational culture is something that a leader can change in a proper manner.
Culture is consistent and an observable pattern in a company which shapes behavior, structure,
processes and many more. It is stated that sometimes culture is shaped by incentives as all the
employees want that they get pay and appreciation as per their performance and hard work. In
order to know what employees will do is based in what incentives and benefits they gain from
their work. Here, incentives mean monetary rewards, recognition, appraisal, status and son on.
For example, Marks and Spencer, which is a UK based clothing and retailing company focuses
on providing salary, incentives to the employees according to their hard work as it helps them to
motivate its staff members and enhance the performance level in an effective manner. The
company applied Adam’s equity theory as a motivational theory in order to reduce poor
motivational level of staff members in an appropriate manner. It helps company to satisfy

customers and retain the for longer time at workplace that has positive impact on productivity
and profitability of an organization.
As per the view point of Sarah Clayton, 2017, it has been analyzed that it is important for
the higher authorities of company to respond for the complaints dine by staff members in an
appropriate and effective manner. This help company to satisfy employees with the working and
develop a sense of valued at the workplace. If it is talking about online solution, it contains a
high risk, which can be published in public. For example, one of the employees of Tesla
criticized at medium post, spurring a public exchange among the Elon Musk and Employee as
well. Another example is of IBM, the employee writes an open letter to the chief executive
officer in response to the letter that CEO had written to the president of USA. Such example
shows that the reputation of an organization may be at stake and consist of higher risk as well.
Nowadays, social media consider as an effective employee communication tool which leaders
adopt in order to decline the level of issues. The use of internet such as emails also help company
to decline the level of conflicts as email involve all the information and also undertaken as a
proof if any of the issue is arise at workplace. In addition to this, it helps company to well
informed about the activities and objectives of staff members that further assist in attainment of
organizational objective within stipulated time period.
According to the Matt Krumurire, 2018, it is analyzed that there are various challenges
and issues arise at workplace and is associated with the leadership and management style and
structure as well. The issues are poor motivation, increase in employee turnover and absenteeism
rate, negative attitude, increase in conflicts, low morale of employees and many more. One of the
best solutions to solve such issues is to focus on satisfying the requirements of employees and
provide them positive and healthy working culture. In addition to this, it is important for
company to give employees and equal pay as per their hard work and performance. It is
determined that an unhappy place will leads to poor results that impact on the productivity and
profitability of an organization. The higher authorities of TESCO, a multinational retailer and
grocery store headquartered in UK make use of various strategies in order to resolve low morale
problem of employees. These strategies are address the issues, recognize talent, prune
underperformers and invest in staff development. It is determined that managers of TESCO
mainly focus on finding the root cause of issue occurred to employees. After this, the company

motivate its staff members to give their suggestions ad ideas that brings out talent and make them
feel valued at workplace. Moreover, the company provide training and development session to
the staff members on continues basis as it helps them to improve the skills and competencies of
staff members. All such strategies help company to decline the level of absenteeism and turnover
rate in an effective manner. In addition to this, it assists company to gain positive results and
higher the morale of staff members in an appropriate manner.
From the above discussion, it is analyzed that Cunningham Holdings Limited make use of such
strategies as it help them to resolve management and leadership issues in a best and effective
manner.
Creative leadership development strategies used by other companies that can be used for
Cunningham Holdings Ltd.
There are various creative leadership development strategies that is used by companies in order
to deal with the management and leadership issues. One of the strategies is coaching as it helps
company to guide all the staff members or clarify and make them understand about activities
required to be implement. This help company to decline the level of conflicts and improve their
productivity level in an appropriate way. Another strategy that is used by companies to high
morale of staff members and to motivate them is participative leadership style, it allows
employees to give their ideas and suggestions at the time of decision making. This develop a
sense of motivation and value at workplace which in turn assist in retaining employees for longer
time period. Adoption of democratic leadership style is also consider as an approach adopt by
many organizations in order to motivate them and bringing out the talent at workplace.
From the above discussion, it is determined that adoption of all such leadership strategy
assist Cunningham Holdings Limited to deal with the leadership issues and maintaining positive
working culture in the organization as well.
Suggestions
All the theories of management and leadership that have been discussed above, can
significantly contribute to the leadership development within the respective company.
Leadership theories are useful and help in explaining how certain people become leaders
(Koseoglu, Liu and Shalley, 2017). They mainly focus on the different characteristics of leaders

and some of the theories explain how can leaders enhance their overall leadership by adopting
certain behaviors. Leadership is one of the most important components within an organization
and can help it in achieving its goals and objectives effectively. By analyzing the case study and
the problem the company has been facing, it is suggested that the company should provide
various training and development opportunities to the employees. This will help them in getting
to know each other as well as understanding how different activities can be carried out with the
help of automation.
The managers as well as team leaders of the company are suggested to adopt and
implement different theories of leadership based on the situation. Implementing these theories
will contribute to effective leadership development within the workplace. It is important for the
company to manage this problem because otherwise it can have an impact on its overall
performance as well as level of productivity (Mallia, 2019). It is suggested that the leaders
should adopt situation leadership because it can adapt to the needs of the team members and
thus, is beneficial for the organization on the whole. On the other hand, transactional leadership
promotes motivation and attaining the goals through effective organization and supervision. As a
result, the employees are committed and engaged in their respective jobs.
Since trait theory of leadership is concerned about the characteristics of many leaders and
is used to predict the effectiveness of leadership. Cunningham Holdings Limited is suggested to
ensure that the employees are comfortable in using technology in order to complete the tasks that
are assigned to them. Leadership development should be the main focus of the company and it is
suggested that it provides training to the employees. This will help them in acquiring skills and
performing effectively. It is also suggested to implement a leadership development plan that will
help it in determining the way it will enhance leadership skills among the employees. Not only
this, it will also help in attaining the goals and fulfilling the needs effectively.
In order to overcome its existing problem, the company should undertake a research in
order to analyze the effectiveness of leadership within the workplace (Mickahail and De Aquino,
2019). This will help it in training its leaders and managers in such a way so that they lead the
team members effectively. If the managers feel that the employees are facing issues with
automated work activities, they can guide them. Therefore, if the company implements these
suggestions, it will be able overcome the challenges and issues that it is facing. As a result, its

overall performance as well as the productivity of the employees will increase. The leadership
development plan will be a good tool to use at this point.
Recommendations
A leadership development program can be defined as a program that includes various
activities that are aimed towards improving the skills, knowledge confidence as well as abilities
of the managers and leaders within the company. Such programs can vary based on cost,
complexity as well as the style of development. By undertaking this report, there are few
recommendations that the respective company, Cunningham Holdings Limited should
implement. First of all, the company is recommended to implement a leadership development
program that will help the employees in developing effective leadership skills which are need to
become a leader. These skills can include effective communication skills, time management,
being able to make important decisions, teamwork etc. In order to establish a leadership
development program (LDP), Cunningham Holdings Limited should first define its leadership
needs. This can be done by identifying any particular gaps in the existing leadership within the
workplace.
Once this is done, the next step is to develop the leaders and this can be done by
analyzing how can certain situations be developed so that they get an opportunity to learn and
grow. Collaboration is one way in which this can be done as these (Puccio and et. al., 2020).
Next potential leaders are identified by carefully understanding the performance of each
employee. Employees who have been performing effectively and reached the targets assigned to
them can be considered for the role. Next, it is determined how will be the results of the program
be measured (How to Create a Successful Leadership Development Program, 2020). Some
options can include measuring the number of participants that participated and completed the
program successfully, increase in the overall leadership responsibilities of the employees as well
as if co-workers feel if the participants have acquired any leadership skills.
It is also recommended that in order to develop a sustainable as well as ethical global
leadership team, the respective company should encourage team work among the employees.
This will contribute to its overall performance as well as profitability. Also, a sustainable
organization culture should be encouraged. This can be done by ensuring effective
communication within the workplace and enable strategic alignment. Therefore, it is important to

make sure that appropriate measures are adopted so that the problem is eliminated (Rosenbach,
2018). It can be said that leadership is an important component within an organization and
should be taken care of within the workplace. This is because it can help in enhancing overall
performance as well as help the organization in achieving its goals and objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that leadership is an important component
within an organization. This is because it can help an organization in maintaining its
performance and also gain a competitive advantage against competitors. If the leadership style of
the managers and leaders within an organization is not effective, they will not be able to direct
the employees and motivate them. As a result, the performance of the employees can be affected
negatively. There are different leadership theories that can be implemented like situational
theory, contingency theory, transformational theory of leadership etc. Apart from this, effective
leadership strategies should also be implemented in order to encourage the employees and
achieve the organizational goals. This can lead to an increase in the profitability and overall
performance of the organization.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
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behavior? The roles of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative
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Choi, M., 2019. Differences of Creative Leadership and Self-efficacy According to Work
Preference of Nursing College Students. The Journal of the Convergence on Culture
Technology. 5(3). pp.1-8.
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feedback. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Incorporated.
Gadzheva, I., 2019. Creative Leadership: Embedding Global Ideas in a Local Context. Design
Management Review. 30(2). pp.30-35.
Glatthorn, A. A. and et. al., 2018. Curriculum leadership: Strategies for development and
implementation. SAGE publications.
Kark, R., Van Dijk, D. and Vashdi, D. R., 2018. Motivated or demotivated to be creative: the
role of self‐regulatory focus in transformational and transactional leadership processes.
Applied Psychology. 67(1). pp.186-224.
Koseoglu, G., Liu, Y. and Shalley, C. E., 2017. Working with creative leaders: Exploring the
relationship between supervisors' and subordinates' creativity. The Leadership Quarterly.
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Mallia, K. L., 2019. Leadership in the creative industries: Principles and practice. John Wiley &
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Mickahail, B. K. and De Aquino, C. T. E. eds., 2019. Effective and Creative Leadership in
Diverse Workforces: Improving Organizational Performance and Culture in the
Workplace. Springer.
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training on idea generation, solution creativity, and leadership effectiveness. The Journal
of Creative Behavio. 54(2). pp.453-471.
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Sheninger, E., 2019. Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Corwin Press.
Tran, H., 2020. Revolutionizing school HR strategies and practices to reflect talent centered
education leadership. Leadership and Policy in Schools, pp.1-15.
Online
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