Management Activities: Elevator Pitches and Case Discussions

This article discusses elevator pitches for managing strategies and shaping organizational culture, as well as case discussions on shaping organizational culture and organizational change. It also includes conflicting values, advice to resolve, and management competencies.

Running head: MANAGEMENT ACTIVITES
MANAGEMENT ACTIVITES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Part A: Elevator Pitches...................................................................................................................2
Elevator Pitch for Topic 7 (Managing Strategies).......................................................................2
Elevator Pitch for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture).....................................................2
Part B: Case discussion Activity......................................................................................................3
Case discussion activity for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture).....................................3
Case discussion activity for Topic 11 (Organizational Change).................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Part A: Elevator Pitches
Elevator Pitch for Topic 7 (Managing Strategies)
Question: What is your ‘killer idea’ to counter the drift from bricks-and-mortar retail to online?
My response. Posted on (Date)
In order to revive the business and to ensure that the retail organization is successfully
able to attain a larger market, it needs to be the aim of the business managers to plunge into the
e-commerce domain. Hence, in this scenario, the organization needs to take up the online domain
and try a competitive pricing strategy. In order to ensure that it is able to find success in this
domain, the company can sell these products online at a comparatively lower price to gain the
attention of the consumers. Moreover, these lower prices will not impact the operations of the
firm as well because its costs will considerably come down due to the low operating costs of an
online store. Just like Harvey Norman, the retail store needs to adjust with the changing trends of
the market.
Elevator Pitch for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture)
Question: What would you say to Sam? You’d also like to recommend a few pieces of reading
for Sam to consider
My response. Posted on (Date)
In my response, I would like to inform Sam that the culture of an organization has an
extensive impact on the performance of an organization or a unit at large. As observed in Sam`s
case, the organizational culture of Sam has contributed towards the poor performance of the
organization and thereby it has led to a need of the establishment of an innovative culture.
Hence, Sam can now implement a culture of employ engagement within the organizational

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culture in order to ensure that innovation can be fostered. The different employees can be
rewarded for their ideas and dedicate extensive time for innovation in the organization. For this
reason, it will be beneficial for Sam to engage the employees in the planning of the firm so that
the organizational culture of the organization can be maintained along with ensuring innovation
within the unit.
The different readings as suggested for Sam are as follows:
 Dixon, N. M. (2017). The organizational learning cycle: How we can learn collectively.
Routledge.
 Brettel, M., Chomik, C., & Flatten, T. C. (2015). How organizational culture influences
innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk‐taking: Fostering entrepreneurial orientation in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(4), 868-885.
 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-
insights/creating-an-innovation-culture
 https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2017/07/5-ways-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation-
in-your-organisation.html
Part B: Case discussion Activity
Case discussion activity for Topic 8 (Shaping Organizational Culture)
Case name: Can a strong culture be too strong?
My responses to the question (What management problems do you believe confront the
protagonists at Parivar?) Posted on (date)
The case study on the Chennai based IT organization named Parivar is a classic example
of how the different organizations exhibit a particular kind of culture which is often not suitable

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for the organization and often results in the downfall of the general employees. The main
problems which confront the CEO at Parivar are as follows:
The Paternalistic Culture: The organization is treating the different members of the organization
like children or in a manner which they are treated in school. However, this is not the case and
the different employees are required to ensure that an innovative work culture needs to be
established in order to be successful in the long run.
 Lack of Hygiene Factors: Moreover the compensation paid to the employees is
comparatively lower which makes it further demotivating to work (Youtube.com, 2018).
 A claustrophobic environment: In addition to this, the environment at the office is quite
claustrophobic in nature due to the constant tracking.
Case study Activity Questions
Answer to Question 1: Conflicting values
There are quite a few conflicting values as present in the case study with the Parivar
organization and they have been stated as follows:
The cost to be incurred: In implementing the new program, the organization has not been
concerned with the costs that will be associated with it and have been only concerned with the
outcomes. However, costs formulate an essential part of the organization and hence, the firm
needs to ensure that it is successfully able to get a return on their investments (Craig, 2017).
The love culture: Secondly, the conflicting nature of the business environment clashes
with the love culture. Competition and targets form the basis of the organization and thus for this

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reason, the organization needs to ensure that it is successfully able to decide upon love culture of
competition and performance.
The high turnover rate: If this love culture which is being practiced by the organization is
so successful the turnover rate of the organization should not have been this high (de Waal,
2016). However, as it is high, this reflects that the love culture is not working well.
Answer to Question 2: Advice
Indira and sudhir can be advised to ensure that they take a thorough research. Indira
needs to go deeper into the passive exit interviews which she undertakes in order to understand
the primary reason of the high turnover rate to realize whether it is the low compensation or the
paternalistic work culture. Once a particular factor has been successfully identified, Indira can
then adopt the correct measures. Secondly, Sudhir needs to relax the love culture because, the
organization is growing at a rapid rate and since not everyone is not being able to revive equal
love, they feel that there prevails biasness in the organization (Garvin, Natarjan & Dowling,
2014).
Answer to Question 3: Management competencies
The case highlights that the following competencies are crucial:
 Self-awareness: The individual needs to ensure that as leaders they are self-aware in
nature and understand their shortcomings well.
 Intellectual curiosity: They also need to be full of intellectual curiosity in order to
develop cognitively.

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 Cross generational management: As different generational employees have become a
common concept, the leader needs to be efficient in cross generational management as
well
Case discussion activity for Topic 11 (Organizational Change)
Case name: Welcome aboard (But don’t change a thing)
My responses to the question. Posted on (date)
The major problems which are being faced by Cheryl relates to the problem of lacking
board support. The extensive growth plans being taken by Cheryl lack board support and they
seem to be very advanced in nature when compared to the plans which were adopted by the
organization earlier (McNulty et. al., 2002). Moreover, the other problems being faced by the
CEO relates to the problem relating to the lack of employee engagement. Although Cheryl wants
to give rise to an engaging work environment, however, she is not being able to take the views of
the different employees which portrays her as an autocratic leader.
Answer to Question 1: Conflicting values
The values which are conflicting in nature for the organization are values like the
advanced growth drive which Cheryl envisions for the organization. She has had these plans for
the organization since a very long time and thereby wants to adopt an aggressive growth strategy
and try differentiation strategies as well which compromise on the quality of the products having
been provided by the organization (Samson & Daft, 2015). However, this is not the case with
the rest of the organization and as they have functioned under the previous CEO, they do not
want to compromise on the quality and maintain the integrity of the unions as well and
manufacture the products in USA only and also manufacture good quality products.

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Answer to Question 2: Advice to resolve
In order to solve the conflicting issues which have been taking place in the organization,
Cheryl needs to ensure that before planning for foreign expansions or aggressive growth rates,
she is required to first take into consideration that the employees consider her as one of them and
that she successfully engages with all the levels of the employees who are present in the
organization (YouTube., 2018). Having done this, in order to ensure creativity and innovation
with growth, Cheryl can then take the advice from the employees with respect to the growth
strategy which is required to be adopted by the organization.
Answer to Question 3: Management competencies
The management or leadership competencies which are highlighted in the case study are
as follows:
 Conflict Resolution: All leaders in the VUCA world should be successfully able to
resolve the conflicts effectively (Waddell et al., 2016).
 Team building: The managers should also comprise of team building skills to ensure
employee engagement
 Change agent: The manager or the leader should possess the skill of a change agent and
be able to successfully transform the organization
 Problem solving: The leader or the manager should be able to effectively solve the
different problem in hand.

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References
Craig, C. (2017). Uber ugliness unmasks silicon valley's bro culture. InfoWorld.Com. Retrieved
from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1871789499?
accountid=10344
de Waal, A. (2016). Searching for effective change interventions for the transformation into a
high performance organization. Management Research Review, 39(9), 1080-1104.
Garvin, D.A., Natarjan, G. & Dowling, D (2014). Can a Strong Culture Be Too Strong? Harvard
Business Review. Jan/Feb2014, Vol. 92 Issue 1/2, p113-117. 5p. Available at :
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=54de4b7b-
4a92-4e2b-b6af-09e877638494%40pdc-v-
sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=93302856&db=bth
McNulty, E., Calcidise, K., Benton, D., Cohen, D &
Aversano, N. (2002). Welcome Aboard (But Don't Change a Thing). Harvard Business
Review. Oct2002, Vol. 80 Issue 10, p32-40 Available at:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=864a96d9-
1489-40f5-92ce-
21af0ba27fe4%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=7433807&db=heh
Samson, D., & Daft, R. (2015). The internal environment: Corporate culture. Management (5th
Asia Pacific Ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook
Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-om.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/CSUAU/detail.action?
docID=1991004.

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Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, C., & Worley, C. (2016). Managing resistance and
organisational culture. Organisational change: Development and transformation (pp. 98-
116). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au
YouTube. (2018). 'Topic 8 Shaping organizational culture & Topic 10 Designing organizations’
(YouTube) | Available at: https://youtu.be/TcrwII6gbTU (Accessed on: 12 Sept. 2018).
Youtube.com. (2018). `Topic 11 Organizational Change' (YouTube) | Available at:
https://youtu.be/GyZhGtLXu78 (Accessed on 12 Sept.2018)