Pitch and Case Study for Managing Strategies and Shaping Organizational Culture

This article presents elevator pitches for managing strategies and shaping organizational culture, and case discussion activities for shaping organizational culture and organizational change. It provides insights on conflicting values, advice, and management competencies. The article is relevant for students studying management and organizational behavior.

Running head: PITCH AND CASE STUDY
PITCH AND CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PITCH AND CASE STUDY
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).................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................8

2PITCH AND CASE STUDY
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)
The 21st century has seen the rise of the e-commerce business domain with all the brick
and mortar business have been opening a similar counterpart in the online domain. This is a
strategy is adopted in order to achieve two objectives. These are to combat against the online
competitors who have been stealing the business of these retail stores and secondly it helps in
widening the extent of the market and consumer base. For this reason, it is suggested that the
business initiatives the concept of artificial intelligence whereby there are several kiosks in the
store, which provide an exceptional service to the consumers and link this with the online stores
with a competitive pricing range so as to win over the competition. Firstly, it will help the firm to
regain its market share and secondly, it will assist the firm to combat against competitors.
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)
As per the case, Sam is worried about the rigid organizational culture of his organization
and is worried about bringing about flexibility in his group. It needs to be conveyed to Sam that
although the culture of an organization tends to have huge impact on the performance of the firm
however, it is always not responsible for the poor performance of the firm. However, as Sam

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believes that it has done so, Sam at present needs to implement the concept of an innovative
culture in his team whereby the employee engagement will play a huge role in the team and
ensure success in the long run. When each of the employees will be respected and rewarded for
their contribution towards the teams planning and implementation, the culture of the organization
will blend with the innovative culture of the team led by Sam. The following materials have been
suggested for Sam:
 https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2017/02/07/why-culture-is-the-heart-of-
organizational-innovation/
 https://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/09/05/innovation-and-organizational-
culture/
 https://deloitte.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2016/04/21/developing-a-resilient-innovative-
organizational-culture/
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 of Parivar which is a Chennai based IT company is a good example of the
scenario these days which are largely based on the manner the different organizations tend to
follow a particular culture which is not liked by the different employees and leads to the higher
turnover rates of the employees (YouTube. ,2018). After the analysis of the case study, the
following problems being faced by the CEO of the organization could be analyzed:

4PITCH AND CASE STUDY
1. The culture of the firm: The culture of Parivar can be rather described to quite
Paternalistic in nature and the employees are treated like children. Although this kind of
culture is taken to be very supportive but in the modern age the different employees may
not like this.
2. Monetary matters: Parivar lacks hygiene factors as it pays it different employees very low
as compared to the other firms and this acts as a de-motivator (Alvesson, 2016).
3. The work environment: The work environment at Parivar is rather claustrophobic in
nature.
Case study Activity Questions
Answer to Question 1: The conflicting values
With the case of Parivar the different conflicting values are given:
 The financial costs: If a new program is executed at Parivar it will generate various costs
in order to bring about a better outcome. All the businesses are highly associated with
costs and hence, a good return on investments need to be ensured.
 The type of culture: Moreover, The Love culture which is insisted upon by the firm often
clashes with the business environment and deters competitive spirit.
 Turnover rate: Another conflicting value is the high turnover rate of the firm. In case the
love culture is being followed by the organization, the turnover rate of the firm should
have been comparatively lower (Craig, 2017).
Answer to Question 2: Advice
In the form of an advice, it can be stated to Indira and Sudhir that they conduct a
thorough research and undertake a deeper understanding of the exit interviews which shall then

5PITCH AND CASE STUDY
help them to understand why the high turnover rate exists in a firm or whether the main fault lies
with the paternalistic culture. Once a reason is identified, Indira can then ensure that the correct
measure is adopted (Garvin, Natarjan & Dowling, 2014). Moreover, it is for Sudhir to realize
that the love culture is not an appropriate culture for the IT firm and that if there exists biasness,
a love culture cannot prevail.
Answer to Question 3: Management competencies
The management competencies are as follows:
 Awareness of the self: In the VUCA world, the individuals need to be aware of their
shortcomings as well as their strengths so that it can be directed in the right direction.
 Cognitive ability: The cognitive ability of the manager needs to be very strong and they
are required to be full of intellectual curiosity so that they are able to develop the right
strategies.
 Cross generational awareness: Moreover, the leader must have the knowledge to be cross
culturally aware so that the organization can be managed 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)
As per the analysis of the case study it can be stated that there are quite some problems
being faced by Cheryl and the most critical one of them is that she lacks the support of the board.
Cheryl wants to take her organization to new heights and for this reason, she is being deemed as
quite advanced in nature (Youtube.com, 2018). Along with this, she has been facing some other
problems as well which is related to the lack of employee engagement. Although, Cheryl wants

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to ensure that everyone agrees with her plans, she does not want to take into consideration their
views and hence, there exists a clash between her and the board.
Answer to Question 1: The conflicting values
The conflicting values can be described as those factors in an organization which tend to
bring about clashes. The different values which are conflicting in the case study are as follows:
1. Advanced growth drive: Cheryl has certain plans which can be termed as quiet advanced
in nature and should actually be achieved in the long run instead of in such a short time
frame. Trying out these different strategies will bring about poor consequences for the
organization at large (McNult et al., 2018).
2. Thinking of the board: The thinking of the board cannot be described as quite advanced
in nature and hence due to this, there have been certain clashes between Cheryl and the
board.
Answer to Question 2: Advice
Any business case needs to be resolved considerably and hence, the following advice is
being provided to solve the case of Cheryl:
 Employee engagement: Cheryl needs to ensure that she engages in adequate employee
engagement which will then ensure that all the employees agree with her views which
will help her to grow the organization in a positive manner (Samson & Daft, 2015).
 Board consent: Secondly, she is required to ensure, that she takes board consent seriously
so that the aggressive growth plan she aims to intake can be successful in the long run.

7PITCH AND CASE STUDY
 Sustaining creativity and innovation: Moreover, Cheryl needs to ensure that creativity
and innovation is sustained in the long run so that the members of the organization move
in unity.
Answer to Question 3: Management competencies
The different leadership competencies which are required by a leader can be highlighted
as follows:
 Conflict Resolution skills: The leaders like Cheryl in the VUCA domain are required to
ensure that they can handle the different conflicts well so that they will be successful in
managing their organization.
 Team building skills: The managers need to have adequate team building skills to bring
about amalgamation of operations and sufficient team building skills (Waddell et al.,
2016).
 Change leader: The leader needs to essentially possess a set of skills which will then
assist him to bring about the change in an organization successfully.
 Problem solving: The leader is required to be a problem solver so that the organization
continues well without any crisis.

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References
Alvesson, M. (Ed.). (2016). Organizational culture. Sage.
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
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.

9PITCH AND CASE STUDY
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: 26 Sept. 2018).
Youtube.com. (2018). `Topic 11 Organizational Change' (YouTube) | Available at:
https://youtu.be/GyZhGtLXu78 (Accessed on 26 Sept.2018)