BUSS 5069 Workplace Learning: Dow Chemical Leadership Case Study

This case study examines Dow Chemical's Leadership in Action program, a unique approach to developing leaders by immersing them in unfamiliar environments. The program aims to cultivate adaptability, cultural awareness, and a sense of social responsibility, enabling employees to effectively navigate diverse global contexts. The study identifies the strengths of the program, such as fostering community engagement and strategic thinking, while also noting weaknesses related to preparing employees for the corporate world. It compares Dow's approach to traditional MBA programs, highlighting the differences in focus and outcomes. The case study concludes by evaluating the program's effectiveness in achieving operational excellence, building customer relationships, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainability, emphasizing the importance of specificity, balance, ROI, and control in measuring its success. Find similar documents and study resources on Desklib.

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Running Head: WORKPLACE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Workplace Learning and Development

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Introduction
The case revolves around the company Dow Chemical and the way it develops its
leaders by educating them to work even at strange places. It helps them to develop such a
personality that could reconcile at new places. This aims more on to allowing the employees to
accommodate the different culture, traditions, and people. On this note, the company is going
to successfully start up its business even at different regions that are totally different from its
home place (Shani, Docherty & Ebrary 2003).
Strengths and Weaknesses
The company’s Leadership in Action Program is said to be the most unique way to make
employees aware of the ups and downs that come in professional lives. In order to have a
geographical presence, it is important to develop expertise regarding different cultures,
traditions, and customs. With the help of this program, the company allows the employees to
contribute towards social work and to become an integral part of the society. From this, the
training gets started and it ends with making an individual a perfect person prepared to deal
with all kind of situations (Everson 2015, p. 121).
The program got initiated with the purpose to make members work hard meeting the
basic needs at the global level and also matching employees with the organizations that look
forward to sustainable development. It supports a lot in forming a better image and name amid
different companies in different regions all around the globe. The strong points related to the
Leadership in Action program are that it allows the members to form a close-knitted
relationship with the local communities, encourages team members to think broadly for the
betterment of the society, and develop the potential to plan and devise such strategic moves
that are going to benefit the company at its best. Not only this, the diversity concept can be
well understood by means of this particular program only.
Weaknesses associated with the program are that it does not support team members to
become accustomed to corporate world requirements. Leadership in action program is a great
initiative to form a connection with the society but does not fully educate to survive well in the
corporate world. Both of these differ from each other and have dissimilar requirements to
move with the same. In a corporate world setting, team members are to work on plans and

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devise such strategies that could render fruitful outcomes to the company. Formal
communication and time management is the must to make the company grow and excel by
means of this particular program. Leadership in action program is a good way to create a
human being that has the competence to work for the society and to show belongingness, but
in a real sense, things vary a lot.
In this respective program, the company is found utilizing the concept of
Transformational Leadership. The key concept of Transformational leadership aims more on
engendering change in individuals as well as social systems. Conceptually, it has to focus more
on producing a precious and constructive change in the followers with the end object of
building up followers into effective leaders. This theory applies in a way that it exposes its
workers to such conditions and cultures that are totally new to them. It brings a sense of
understanding and development to them by following their own thoughts and processes to deal
with the situations (Pless & Maak 2009).
Comparison
In the next point, the program’s approach is to be compared with more traditional ways
of training leaders such as University MBA programs. There is no doubt that the program is
meant for training and educating individuals to become effective and efficient leaders. They
possess a totally different approach and want their members to work with different people by
participating in society’s good and that is going to make them a better person as well as a great
leader.
The University MBA programs designed with the intention to make one a brilliant and
successful professional. Along with this, developing the objective to turn out to be an even
more gifted and helpful professional. This seems to be very much beneficial as such a person is
going to support the business grow more and more avenues. Dow’s Program approach is
formulated to make its members become better leaders and to form a connection with the real
setting. By contributing to society’s betterment, they could evolve as a person that can tackle
much more complicated things (Pless & Borecká 2014).
Traditional MBA programs develop the person with the mindset to quantify success on
the basis of numbers. It makes use of strategy formulation and ends with its implementation.

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MBA teaches one to see success in discrete ways and then only to make the business create
more of triumph and achievements. There stay huge difference between these two programs
and the way it is going to make one influenced as well. Dow’s Program is going to give a unique
approach to its members by thinking broadly and also to adjust even in the most difficult times.
MBA programs make one professionally competent by understanding the number game and
developing the talent to stand still even at competitive conditions.
The two of these programs are totally different from each other. Both embrace different
perspectives and the grounds for making it carried out at its best. Dow Chemicals believed that
the person is able to cope up with different settings can come up as the best gift and ensures
that the company has a strong foundation. The traditional programs such as MBA have the
different mindset and educate the people with the aim to make them capable enough to have a
long-lasting endurance even after facing cut-throat competition and significant pressures at the
business level. Leadership in action program has the positive side as it makes the members
struggle hard at realistic situations by having a self-reflect in order to best deal with the change
and improbability (Noe 2017).
Evaluation
At last, it is important to delineate the way Leadership in Action Program delivered
effective outcomes for participants and Dow Chemicals. With the advent of the program, the
company experiences progress and evolution within its team members. It develops inner talent
and potential in them and that builds them into a unique and different person. With the
positive change in their personality and having self-control over difficult situations they could
excel at professional lives also. In addition, by forming a connection with the local communities,
they can also form closeness with the society and work for its betterment and effectiveness
(Marquez 2005).
Four measures to be used for the sake of determining effectiveness for Dow Leadership
in Action Program needs to be brought forth. Most prominently, the company believes that the
use of the leadership program is going to permit the company to attains operational excellence,
building focused customer relationships, carrying out innovation, and maintaining
sustainability. These four are the essence of an organization’s incessant growth and progress.

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At first, there should be specificity, it implies that the leadership program being executed
should be clear in its terms and conditions in order to derive the most fruitful resultants (CCH
2009).
Secondly, forming a balance between the measurement process with regards to cost,
constraints, culture, and handiness. It seems to be very much necessary from the perspective of
supporting the business forming standards as per it. Thirdly, there should be a clear-cut
approach that all roads lead to Return on Investment. Preciseness in the investment returns
would pay a great result and help in estimating the success of the leadership action program
(Phillips 2015). At last, there should be proper control, if things go up and down, it should be
there and then monitored and fixed. This effectively states the way four of these metrics going
to support the company review the success of the program. Dow’s Leadership in Action
Program hold vital importance in ensuring that the company would possess such a good
number of people that are versatile enough to surpass at professional and societal fronts
(Velazquez, Esquer, Munguía & Moure-Eraso 2011).
The Leadership in Action Program is such a program that set trends for other companies
and help them develop better personalities. With the help of the above-stated metrics, the
program’s effectiveness can be successfully assessed and monitored. It serves to be an
exceptional way to make workers perform well even at unfamiliar surroundings. In this manner,
the team members would make the company have an impressive presence on the global
sphere. Innovative moves can be well executed in order to reach the so-called goals and
objectives (Caligiuri & Thoroughgood 2015).
Conclusion
Hence, it can be summed up that the Dow’s Leadership in Action program is suitable for
its future needs and requirements. It is definitely going to lend a hand by supporting and
strengthening its programs and practices. With this unique program, it brings forth people with
talent, competence, and adjustment ability. Team members would become expert enough in
handling the challenges and also to accommodate with full potential. This program assist team
members develop a new view toward their surroundings and make them feel good about their
contribution.

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References
Caligiuri, P & Thoroughgood, C 2015, ‘Developing responsible global leaders through corporate-
sponsored international volunteerism programs’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 44, pp. 138—
145.
CCH, 2009, Managing Training and Development, CCH Australia: NSW.
Everson, K 2015, ‘Leadership in Action: Ethiopia’, viewed on 14 April 2015 <www.dow.com/en-
us/careers/working-at-dow>.
Marquez, J 2005, 'Companies send employees on volunteer projects abroad to cultivate
leadership skills', Workforce Management, vol. 84, no. 13, pp. 50-51.
Noe, RA 2017, Employee training & development, 7th edn, Irwin McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Phillips, P 2015, ‘Measuring the Success of Leadership Development’, viewed 22 July 2015 <
https://www.td.org/insights/measuring-the-success-of-leadership-development>.
Pless, NM & Borecká, M 2014, ‘Comparative analysis of International Service Learning
Programs’, Journal of Management Development, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 526-550.
Pless, N & Maak, T 2009, 'Responsible Leaders as Agents of World Benefit: Learnings from
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Shani, AB, Docherty, P & Ebrary, I 2003, Learning by design: building sustainable organizations,
Blackwell Pub, Malden, MA.
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