MGMT 201: Lakeland Wonders Case Study - Leadership & Change

This assignment analyzes the Lakeland Wonders case study, focusing on the leadership and change management strategies implemented by the new CEO, Cheryl Hailstorm. It examines the reasons behind the organizational change project, particularly the shift towards offshore production and the pursuit of a contract with Bull's Eye, considering the company's high profitability and growth targets. The analysis assesses the appropriateness of Cheryl's leadership-by-example approach within the existing organizational context, highlighting potential gaps and suggesting alternative leadership styles, such as democratic or situational leadership. Furthermore, the assignment evaluates the evident organizational culture, identifying its autocratic nature and its impact on employee relations and the overall success of the change initiatives. The case study emphasizes the importance of considering employee opinions, fostering team building, and establishing strong foundations for change within an organization.

Running Head: MANAGEMENT 0
LAKELAND WONDERS CASE STUDY

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Contents
1.Analyze the nature of the Lakeland Wonders organizational change project, taking into
account the reasons for this change............................................................................................2
2. Assess and explain the extent to which the change approach that has been adopted by
Cheryl Hailstorm is appropriate to the organizational contexts in Lakeland Wonders.............2
3.Are there gaps? Is there a different approach or combination of approaches that might have
been better – based on the contexts for change that you have analyzed....................................2
4.What type of organizational culture would you say is evident in the Lakeland Wonders
case? Justify your argument.......................................................................................................3
4.Critically apply either the PEST-based framework or the McKinsey 7S framework to
analyses the need for change in Lakeland Wonders case..........................................................3
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................5

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1.Analyze the nature of the Lakeland Wonders organizational change project, taking into
account the reasons for this change.
The Lakeland wonders is the company which is into manufacturing wooden toys. It is
one of the most profitable companies of the USA. Recently, Cheryl has become the CEO of
the company. It is being six months for her to be in the position to be the CEO. Before
becoming the CEO of the company, the Cheryl has served as the COO of the company where
she gave the greatest contribution to the company. The new CEO of the company who is
Cheryl is planning to bring the changes in the operations of the company by establishing
offshore production to gain the contract of the Bull’s eye store. The high level of profitability
and the growth target has been set up by the Lakeland wonder company to achieve the great
profits. The high level of growth rate of the company is making the renowned investors
interested to invest in the company. One of the renowned investors who is Red Bull has
offered a contract to the company and Cheryl is eager to accept it by establishing the offshore
productions of the toys. Many members of the company are not ready for the new move of
the organization as they think it will bring chaos among the people. The nature of the
organizational change is very fast and inconvenient to many employees in the organization.
The CEO is trying to bring the change within few months leading to high level of
chaos in the operations. Some of the reasons leading to the change in the organization was to
improve upon the productivity and profitability of the organization. Moreover, in the past
meetings various aggressive targets were set in the organization so that the high level of
growth and profitability of the company (Arditi, 2017). The other reasons for initiating
change are the low cost involved in the production of the products of offshore, that will
improve the profitability position of the company in the long run. The other important reason
is the lucrative offer of the bulls’ eye for the Lakeland wonders. The CEO of the Lakeland
wonders believe that the acceptance of the offer will bring into various exciting and profitable
prospects for the company in future (Mojibi, 2015). Bull eye is one of the most reputed
companies of toys, association with the company will improve its overall image in the long
run and will invite good number of buyers. Economies of scale is another essential objective
where exporting the wooden toys in other areas will build the new consumer base and save
the cost of production of the company leading to high profit turnover.

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2. Assess and explain the extent to which the change approach that has been adopted by
Cheryl Hailstorm is appropriate to the organizational contexts in Lakeland Wonders.
The Lakeland CEO had adopted the leadership by example approach to bring about
the changes that include taking those actions so that the employees find it easier to follow it.
As the Lakeland company consist of old employees who do not want to change their working
styles and are quite adamant in achieving the stated objectives. The leadership by example
might put the CEO in trouble as employees might start taking her as autocratic leader who is
interested in impressing her opinions on the employees which is not a good thing. The
company consist of various senior, old and experienced employees who have strong
perceptions about the things at workplace (Mcnuthy, 2017).
According to Elsbach K. D autocratic approach could keep the employees in the
company in pressure thus hampering their productivity (Elsbach K. D., 2015). The CEO had
become adamant to bring about the change, she thinks that her opinions to bring about change
is accurate and is in the requirement with the people of the company. Moreover, the
environment at the organizational setting of the Lakeland wonder is congenial so
incorporating the adamant leadership approach in the congenial environment leadership will
going to disrupt the management of the company. She should try to be easier in her approach
as it will result in better environment of the organization.
There were various instances at workplace where the former CEO of the company
have tried advising the current CEO regarding the objectives or strategies of the company but
the Cheryl did not pay attention to it. She was very much stick to her ideas and thought that
she is heading the company on the path to success. The employees of the company were
habituated to the warm style of leadership where they have a free will and their opinions are
valued in the high esteem. After becoming the CEO of the company, she shifted the location
of her office on the executive floor so that she can take part in the executive role and
implement the roles. Cheryl did not care about establishing the good level of engagement
with the team. She did not even try coming up with various innovative programs to improve
the motivational level of the employees in the team. According to Vasyakin, motivational
programs are very important during the process of change as it gives them major boost to
achieve the goals (Vasyakin, 2016). It could be concluded that the approach used by the CEO
Cheryl was not an appropriate one, keeping in the mind the organizational culture of
Lakeland wonders.

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3.Are there gaps? Is there a different approach or combination of approaches that might have
been better – based on the contexts for change that you have analyzed.
The approach that was used by the CEO that was the leadership by example where the
CEO tried showing the better actions as an example for the employees to be followed. As
CEO who served as the COO of the company before where she was responsible for taking
various successful decisions in the company. Her successful actions were made her very
confident to achieve the goals of the organization. After becoming the CEO, she became
quite strong headed in her leadership style of “leading by example” where she had achieved
the goals in the effective manner (Mcnuthy, 2017). According to Iljins, the best CEO is the
one who takes care of the opinions of other employees in the organization (Iljins, 2015). Her
leadership style made her look like autocratic leaders where she did not ask the decision
related o to the process of manufacturing whereas in the past, he was consulted in the past for
various decisions. The other approaches that the Cheryl used were the full disclosure
approach where he clearly specified the expectations to the employees and he asked them to
report any kind of problems that they face during the problems. This means that the CEO of
the company became adamant in his approach of doing things. The other approaches that can
be better in the context should be democratic approach where opinions of the employees in
the organization will be mattered.
According to Paro, there is no perfect leadership style, there is only combinations of it
(Paro, 2017). In the democratic style, the opinions of the employees in the company are
welcomed thus giving the employees the feeling of acceptance. The other style of leadership
is situational leadership style where it helps the CEO of the company to adjust the behaviour
according to the situation. It is considered to be the best leadership style where the employer
can help the employee to overcome the challenges in the best possible manner. in the
Lakeland wonders organization, Cheryl should try to be receptive in her approach by trying
to understand the ideas of her employees. She should carry a humble personality of
leadership where she can understand her flaws and make it work in an effective and efficient
manner. According to Elsbach K. D, it is essential to be a humble leader as it helps in better
tackling of the management issues and in understanding the opinions of other employees
(Elsbach K. D., 2015).

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4.What type of organizational culture would you say is evident in the Lakeland Wonders
case? Justify your argument.
Since the appointment of Cheryl as the CEO of the company, the organizational
culture of the company has become quite tough. The tough business environment where the
opinions of the employees are not welcomed had paved ways to serious consequences in the
organization where the employees are not favoured. Cheryl as the CEO company was Earlier,
the head of the manufacturing domain of the company. In the manufacturing domain of the
company, she had taken various bold decisions that led to high degree of success in their
venture. She had previously worked with the employees of the company where the good
relations with them were maintained. Those good relations of Cheryl had developed the
wrong notions in her that now she does not have to maintain good relations with them
(Mcnuthy, 2017). Her leadership style changed from being soft to bold where she started
dictating her opinions to her subordinates with the motive to make them follow it diligently.
Moreover, she had relocated her office in the executive area where she can easily make the
people follow the rules and regulations. These acts of CEO are suggestive of highly
autocratic nature where she wants to impose her ideas and opinions on the people thus letting
them achieve the goals within the organizational visions (Vasyakin, 2016).
The organizational culture of Lake wonders is highly equivalent to the behaviour of
the CEO where she tried imposing her behaviour in the company. Moreover, when the
company decided to establish overseas production, there were many managers who were
against the decision of the CEO. Instead of trying to convince them to the decisions, she tried
ignoring their opinions without being concerned about their opinions. She did not build any
good relations and resorted to negative means of gaining the attention. She found it the
wastage of time to make her employees understand the reasoning behind her actions or the
decisions. It is the most important duty of the CEO to prepare the team for the stated goals or
objectives, it is aiming to achieve. According to the Setiawan, organizational culture is the
most important part of any organization as it fuels the organization towards higher goals
(Setiawan, 2016).
She forgot the very concept of achieving the goals with the help of team building. She
forgot that it is the team responsible for making the organization win the strategies in the
positive manner. Mark Dawson, who was the former CEO of the Company tried advising the
Cheryl about her wrong decisions that the employees of the company will not be accepting
the new changes. The new changes might break the organisational relations among the

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employees as they would find it quite tough to acknowledge them. Executives like Cheryl are
quite determined to bring the organizational changes but they forgot to lay the strong roots
for the changes to take place deep inside (Mcnuthy, 2017). They are less concerned about the
groundwork required to initiate the changes in the long run in an organization. In the case of
Cheryl, she became quite adamant in her approach of organizing the affairs of the company
so it could be concluded that the organizational culture of the company became quite
autocratic type where the rules and regulations of the company are concerned with the getting
the missions and goals of organization accomplished. It could be concluded that the type of
the organizational structure evident in the company is autocratic organizational structure
where the opinions or ideas are simply imposed on the employees in the company (Vasyakin,
2016).
4.Critically apply either the PEST-based framework or the McKinsey 7S framework to
analyses the need for change in Lakeland Wonders case
The external environment analysis using the PEST based framework of the Lakeland wonder
case:
Political factor-
USA is one of the greatest superpower countries in the world with highly flexible
democratic framework. In the past, the country has supported many countries in helping them
to survive the toughest battles in the history. The country has been known as ally for many
countries in the world. The political system of the country is quite fair and transparent thus
leading to good level of functioning (Elsbach K. D., 2018). In the recent times, the country
has called on to the war on the countries promoting terror activities. Its act of muddling in the
affairs of the other countries is causing a high degree of fluctuation in the laws of the country.
The Lakeland wonder company which is wooden toy manufacturer and is headquartered in
USA has to adjust itself according to the dynamic political conditions. It should look into
expanding its business of manufacturing to other stable political countries to secure stable
positioning in the world.
Economic-
The USA is considered the most powerful economy in the world with its GDP lying
around $16.760 trillion. USA enjoys the robust economy in the world. Some of the major
events in the past had affected the economy of the USA that included the recession period of

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2009 (Kulczyk, 2016). In 2014, the country bounced back to its position where the highest
spending of consumers or business was recorded. The increase in the budget deficit puts the
company at risk so the wooden toy company should focus reducing its debt and equity ratio.
The decrease in the debt and equity ratio will put less pressure on the company to achieve the
goals.
Social-
USA is the developed economy in the world where the consumers are highly
upgraded in all areas of life. Like other countries in Asia, USA also faces the problem of
ageing population as new couples are operating on the principle of DINK concept which
means double income no kid (Schmiedel, 2019). There is rising pressure of the aging
population on the government to meet their needs and requirements. The company boasts off
its healthcare and education system where there are high number opportunities to exploit
from. The other problem that the country is plagued is high level of racial discrimination that
is causing a high degree of discrimination problem. Lakeland wonder is the company which
is into manufacturing of wooden toys. Its target segment is of kids. The company should be
concerned with the declining target market as it will result in the great amount of loss for the
company (Mcnuthy, 2017). Due to the declining target market, the company should focus on
expanding its operations in other products and services. It should start trying its expertise in
the area of education and healthcare system as it will increase the revenue of the company.
The other ways it could save itself from running into loss is by start looking for the kid
market in other countries so that it can put its resources to some effective use.
Technology-
USA one of the technologically developed countries where it operates on high level
technology to do its operations. In comparison to other countries, USA has always dominated
in terms of technology. The headquarters of most of the technologically giant companies lie
in the USA that adds to the technological aspect of the country (Teravainen, 2018). The
country has also contributed in the area of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and
environmental technology (Tang, 2016). The other area where USA has achieved its
supremacy is in the information technology sector. Lakeland wonder is a wooden toy
manufacturer company where it simply into manufacturing toys made from wooden material.
The company should focus on manufacturing the technologically updated toys that will make
the target market to purchase it. The kids in America are attracted towards toys that are

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technologically upgraded and have the high level of action in it. They are mostly attracted to
the superman and batman characters or the character that display some form of power so the
company must try to rethink its products and make it more creative and attractive to
American kids.

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References
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Journal of Project Management, 136-147.
Elsbach, K. D. (2015). Design thinking and organizational culture: A review and framework
for future research. Journal of Management,, 274-2306.
Elsbach, K. D. (2018). Design thinking and organizational culture: A review and framework
for future research. Journal of Management,, 2274-2306.
Iljins, J. (2015). Impact of organizational culture on organizational climate during the process
of change. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 944-950.
Kulczyk, S. (2016). How much is the “wonder of nature” worth? The valuation of tourism in
the great Masurian lakes using travel cost method. Ekonomia i Środowisko, 235-249.
Mcnuthy, E. (2017, January 2). Welcome Aboard. Retrieved from
WelcomeAboardLakelandWondersca%20(2).pdf:
https://www.chinaabout.net/lakeland-wonders-code-of-change/
Mojibi, T. (2015). Organizational culture and its relationship with knowledge management
strategy: a case study. Knowledge Management Research & Practice,, 281-288.
Paro, P. E. (2017). Organizational culture for lean programs. Journal of Organizational
Change Management, , 584-598.
Schmiedel, T. (2019). Topic modeling as a strategy of inquiry in organizational research: A
tutorial with an application example on organizational culture. Organizational
Research Methods, 941-968.
Setiawan, R. (2016). The Effect of Organizational Culture on Technology Transfers and
Company Performance. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic, 32-37.
Tang, M. (2016). The impacts of organizational culture on information security culture: a
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Teravainen, V. (2018). Organizational culture: Case of the Finnish construction industry.
Construction Economics and Building,, 48.

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Vasyakin, B. S. (2016). . A Study of the Organizational Culture at a Higher Education
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11528.