Harvey Norman Security Breach: Leadership Style and Crisis Report

This report provides an analysis of the organizational crisis faced by Harvey Norman due to a security breach. The crisis, caused by a data breach through a third-party service provider, compromised consumer data. The report examines the autocratic leadership style employed by CEO Gerry Harvey, highlighting its advantages, such as fostering employee skill development and ethical conduct in data security. However, it also points out the disadvantages, including a lack of adaptability and potential negative impacts on employee morale. The report recommends a situational leadership style to better adapt to changing circumstances and facilitate the implementation of data protection regulations like GDPR. The conclusion reiterates the findings, emphasizing the need for a more flexible leadership approach to effectively manage organizational crises and maintain data security commitments.

Security Breach
Organisation Crisis of
Harvey Norman
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Authors Note:

Introduction
• Harvey Norman is Australia based retailer of
furniture, bedding, computers,
communications and consumer electrical
products.
• The company operates as franchise and is
ASX listed.
• The objective is to analyse organisational
crisis faced by Harvey Norman and
leadership style implemented in dealing with
the crisis.

Potential Causes of Security
Breach Crisis
• Data breach caused to the company
through third-party website service
provider.
• Such data breach in “Typeform” third
party website provider resulted in
unauthorized access to data of
Harvey Norman.
• As a result of breach personal data of
consumers were compromised.

Advantages of Leadership Style
in Solving Crisis
• Autocratic leadership style is
followed by the CEO Gerry Harvey in
solving issue of data breach crisis.
• This leadership style facilitated in
developing employees personal skills
including people, visionary,
adaptability and ethical skills in
developing strong data security
systems.

Advantages of Leadership Style
in Solving Crisis
• Following autocratic leadership style Gerry
Norman cultivated a culture within the
organization in performing ethical processes
for maintaining confidential data secured.
• The leader shares his idea among
employees and monitors players
involvement level in following “General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR)”

Disadvantages of Leadership
Style in Solving Crisis
• Autocratic leadership style followed
by the leader resulted in lack of
change adaptability affecting
decision making power of employees.
• The leaders extorts influence over
employees affecting their decision
making in solving crises.

Disadvantages of Leadership
Style in Solving Crisis
• Forcing employees creates fear that
hinders their power to solve
organisational crisis in effective
manner
• Autocratic leadership style resisted in
low employee morale hampering
their ethical conducts and data
society maintenance commitments.

Recommendations
• Situational leadership style must be followed
by the leader that can support in adapting to
changing situations due to organisational
crisis.
• Following such style Harry Norman can
successfully implement new requirements of
GDPR through motivating employees.
• This can increase adaptability to data
protection and security practices in Harvey
Norman

Conclusion
• The objective was analyse organisational crisis faced by
Harvey Norman and leadership style implemented in
dealing with the crisis.
• Autocratic leadership style facilitated in developing
employees personal skills including people, visionary,
adaptability and ethical skills in developing strong data
security systems.
• Autocratic leadership style resulted in low employee
morale hampering their ethical conducts and data society
maintenance commitments.
• Situational leadership style must be followed by the
leader that can support in adapting to changing
situations due to organizational crisis.

References
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sociology of privacy. Annual Review of Sociology, 43, pp.249-269.
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Data Security: Regulatory Challenges and Potential Future
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• Kushzhanov, N.V. and Aliyev, U.Z., 2018. CHANGES IN SOCIETY
AND SECURITY AWARENESS. ҚАЗАҚСТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫ, p.94.
• Sen, R. and Borle, S., 2015. Estimating the contextual risk of data
breach: An empirical approach. Journal of Management
Information Systems, 32(2), pp.314-341.
• Static1.squarespace.com., 2019. [online] Available at: https://
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bad8412f4e1fcd2edb86026/1538098250289/2018-Annual-Report
.pdf
[Accessed 17 May 2019].
• Wacks, R., 2015. Privacy: A very short introduction. OUP Oxford.