Case Study: Leadership, Conflict Management at Barker Sports Apparel

This case study provides an in-depth analysis of Barker Sports Apparel, focusing on the conflict between the CFO and the head of sales, and its impact on group structure, development, and leadership. It identifies key problems such as individualistic objectives, unclear job roles, and lack of social leadership. The study explores the negative impact of these problems on organizational functioning, productivity, and employee engagement. Theories like Tuckman's model and the disseminated leadership model are applied to analyze the issues, with justifications provided for their relevance. Recommendations are made to improve group structure, development, and leadership through policy adjustments, communication enhancements, and performance-based management. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of strategic management and conflict resolution for organizational success and offers practical solutions for addressing the identified challenges.

Case study project
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Organizational overview........................................................................................................3
Organizational operations.......................................................................................................3
Organizational culture............................................................................................................3
Analysis of key problems and the reason of choosing them..................................................3
Impact of problems on organization.......................................................................................4
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................4
Principle causes of key problems...........................................................................................4
Impact of problems in the context of managing people.........................................................5
Theories explored to link with discussions............................................................................5
Justification of chosen management theory...........................................................................6
Justification of high performing team technique....................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
Summary.................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................7
References:.......................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Organizational overview
Organization chosen as per the given case scenario is Barker Sports Apparel. It is one of
the company that provides products and services related to the sports equipments. Such as
clothing of sports and accessories which involves the different sports tools and necessary things
for the sportsperson. It manufactures and produces such sports apparels in a good quantity.
Where they either sells them to the direct consumers or also sells to the customers which resells
them to direct consumers such as wholesalers and retailers.
Organizational operations
Barker Sports Apparel has operations and functioning along with the management of
different domains in the organization. Which forms the strategic nature of the company in
performing their workings. Organizational operations includes the just in time management. It is
responsible for quick functioning of the company. It is considered on high priority and total
quality management in order to deliver best quality products and services to the customers.
Workforce are divided into different domains of organization's departments. Such as finance,
human resource, production, marketing and many more.
Organizational culture
Barker Sports Apparel has the organizational culture of connectivity and beliefs along
with the behaviour among internal and external stakeholders of the company. Which are
customers, employees, suppliers, competitors and many more. This is because company train
their employees in such a way that they create emotional connectivity with the customer in terms
of their products and services. So therefore, organizational culture is made accordingly so that
the employees can link with the products and services with the customer's social life for better
sale and revenues (Madi, El Talla, Abu-Naser and Al Shobaki, 2018).
Analysis of key problems and the reason of choosing them
As per the case scenario given, Barker Sports Apparel is facing the problem of conflicts
between the company’s CFO and the head of the sales team. Therefore, key problems has been
figured out that group structure and group development along with the leadership styles and
methodologies are creating the major issues in the company. Group structure issues identified
due to the interdependence and job design along with the group composition. Reason of choosing
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this issue is that there is an increment of individualism among various domains of the
organization which means personal objectives of employee are more focused rather than
organizational objectives which can create hindrances on the entire performance of the company
in a long term. Group development issues identified due to the no clarification of job roles and
no engagement in group building activities within organization. Reason of choosing this issue is
that the staff are just performing the job without knowing the reason and positive impact on
themselves and on the organization also. If employees concentrates on these elements then
willingness in doing the work will be more. Leadership issues identified due to the lack in social
leadership in the owner of the organization. Reason behind choosing this issue is that there is a
conflict issue found in the case study between CFO and sales head because of the lack in social
leadership strategies (Moreland, Levine and Wingert, 2018).
Impact of problems on organization
There is a negative impact of problems on Barker Sports Apparel as per the issues given
in the case scenario. Such that the organisation is facing the disturbance in normal functioning of
the company due to the conflicts raised between chief financial officer and sales head of the firm.
It is negatively affecting the group structure and development as well (Folger, Poole and
Stutman, 2021).
DISCUSSION
Principle causes of key problems
Principle causes of key problem of group structure are such that there are conflicts
between the sales head and CFO due to the lack of trust and conflict and tension along with the
not sharing of information and low engagement which is followed by the lack of transparency.
Moreover, the working in silos and not going in the same direction. Principle causes of key
problem of group development are absence of team identity and difficulty in decision making
along with the poor communication and inability to resolve the conflicts which is followed by
the lack of participation and lack of creativity and also the group thinking and ineffective
leadership. Principle causes of key problem of leadership are such that communication issues and
conflicts along with the difficult employees and resistance to change which is followed by the
low employee morale and lack of responsibilities and no initiatives. Moreover, low motivation
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and problems managing peers along with the rotten attitudes and poor relationships (Armstrong,
French and Obholzer, 2018).
Impact of problems in the context of managing people
Impact of problems on the organization in the context of managing the people are such
that if company is having the issues related to the group structure and development along with
the leadership then it can have the negative impact on the company. Such as the firm can face the
decrement in productivity because if company is unable to mange the people will definitely not
work properly which will ultimately decrease the level of productivity in an organization.
Decrement in productivity results in the reduced profits and revenues and thereby reduced image
and reputation in the market place which can fluctuate the stability in the industry. Moreover,
other impact can be the large number of employee turnover means loosing the skills and talents.
Furthermore, some employees quit working but don't leave is a serious impact which leads to the
increased mistakes and waste along with the poor safety and increased accidents. Poor employee
engagement and wasted time and opportunities along with the departmental conflicts are also the
impacts of problems (Lord, 2018).
Theories explored to link with discussions
Theories used in the case study in order to to explore the discussion in a more relevant
manner are such that Tuck-man's model and the disseminated leadership model. Tuck-man's
model contains five stages of team development implemented in the company such as first is
forming which includes proper guidance by manager and unclear individual roles along with the
less appropriateness in process establishments. Second is storming which includes the
understanding that how the decision making is done and purpose are clear but less harmony in
relationships. Third is norming which includes the well working of the relationships and
commitment to team goals with proper norms set to begin with the work for better optimizing the
team process. Fourth is performing which includes the committed team performing together well
by focusing on being strategic with little oversight. Fifth is adjourning which includes task
completion and achievements along with the recognition (Agazarian, 2018). Disseminated
leadership model contains four elements to take care such as imagining, organising, spanning
and social. Imagining considers the proper planning with feasibility study. Organising considers
the systematic implementation of planning. Spanning considers the evaluation after execution of
the process. Social considers the relationship management within organization.
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Justification of chosen management theory
Tuck-man's model is a chosen management theory as per the case scenario situation
which reflects the issues regarding group structure and development within organisation.
Justification of this theory states that this model helps the company in recognising the facts no
groups can start without forming and knowing each other for better functioning of the tasks. It
also suggest that each and every team requires the proper stages of successful development with
proper definition of the goals and objectives of the group. Group needs the guidance and support
from the creation as groups of individuals to the cohesive and task focused team. That is why the
this model has a proper justification in group management (Anand, Vidyarthi and Rolnicki,
2018).
Justification of high performing team technique
Disseminated leadership model is a chosen high performing team technique as per the
case scenario situation which reflects the issues regarding leadership within organisation.
Justification of this theory states that this model helps the company in conducting the research on
social leadership. So that the company could pay attention on the stakeholders who are involved
in the functioning of enhancing the visibility and comprehension such as the CFO and sales team
head of the company. Moreover, it supports in inspiring the subordinates and balances the
conflicts interest of all internal and external subordinates and stakeholders. This is how this
theory is justified as per the needs and requirements of the case scenario given (Mackenzie,
2018).
CONCLUSION
Summary
It is concluded that management and operations are an important concept to learn and
study so that its application can be applied in the real world organizations. This is because
without having any strategic plan for management and operations, it will be impossible for the
company to survive in the marketplace. As it directly affects the main pillars of the firm such as
group structure and group development along with the leadership styles and methodologies
which are the major issues also of the company as per the case scenario given. All these issues
are required to be resolved out on an immediate basis because if the company delays the same
then it can highly impact the organization in a drastic manner. Therefore, it is important to
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analyse the organisational overview and organisational operations along with the organisational
culture and key problems discussed in the case study and also the impact of such problems on the
organization. It is essential to examine the key problems and the reason of choosing them. It is
necessary to determine the reason behind existence of problems. It is significant to gain the
knowledge about the principle causes of key problems. It is vital to assess the impact of
problems in the context of managing people. It is crucial to study about the theories explored to
link with discussions. It is imperative to provide justification of chosen management theory and
justification of high performing team technique. Hence this report covers all such areas in order
to better understand the conception of leadership and conflict management issues within an
organization. A proper recommendations is provided in order to sort out such issues within
organization so that an appropriate strategies are suggested for functioning in the firm along with
the conflict management as well.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that to resolve the issues of group structure in the company then firm
must analyse their policies and procedures so that they can structure the new policies and
procedures accordingly for better evaluation and outcomes for the same. It is important for the
company to document their group structure in a hierarchical manner so that the firm can publish
the same on their website or an employee portal for better reach and understanding of it in order
follow the structure in a strict way. Moreover, using the human resources with full efficiency and
effectiveness and by conducting the online survey annually in the form of questionnaires for
better decision making in the company. Identification of areas of improvements and work on it
along with the good communication flow and encouragement to employees to best use their
skills in performing their job (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2019). Providing opportunities to an
individual by implementing the performance based management with the help of training and
development sessions. To resolve the issues of group development in the company then firm
must first know their team and their behaviour towards work. Firm must tackle the problems
quickly with better feedback system. Clarification should be made on the roles and
responsibilities of employees. Company must take the measures to break down the barriers as per
the situation arises. Focusing on communication and paying attention to small details as well. To
resolve the issues of leadership and conflicts in the company then firm must define the
acceptable behaviour, no avoidance of conflicts, initialise with the compliment, thinking in an
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opportunistic manner rather than punitively, offering guidance rather than solutions, acting
decisively, defining and communicating vision and mission, encourage recognition, interact with
connectivity, perform delegation and empowering and committing to the continued education
(Kezar and Lester, 2020).
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References:
Books and Journals
Agazarian, Y.M., 2018. Systems-centered therapy for groups. Routledge.
Anand, S., Vidyarthi, P. and Rolnicki, S., 2018. Leader-member exchange and organizational
citizenship behaviors: Contextual effects of leader power distance and group task
interdependence. The Leadership Quarterly. 29(4). pp.489-500.
Armstrong, D., French, R. and Obholzer, A., 2018. Organization in the mind: Psychoanalysis,
group relations, and organizational consultancy. Routledge.
Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A., 2019. Organizational behaviour. Pearson UK.
Folger, J.P., Poole, M.S. and Stutman, R.K., 2021. Working through conflict: Strategies for
relationships, groups, and organizations. Routledge.
Kezar, A. and Lester, J., 2020. Enhancing campus capacity for leadership. Stanford University
Press.
Lord, R.G., 2018. Leadership and the medium of time. In What’s Wrong with Leadership? (pp.
150-172). Routledge.
Mackenzie, K.D., 2018. A theory of group structures: Basic theory. Routledge.
Madi, S.A., El Talla, S.A., Abu-Naser, S.S. and Al Shobaki, M.J., 2018. The Organizational
Structure and its Impact on the Pattern of Leadership in Palestinian Universities.
Moreland, R.L., Levine, J.M. and Wingert, M.L., 2018. Creating the ideal group: Composition
effects at work. In Understanding group behavior (pp. 11-35). Psychology Press.
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