Leadership & Organizational Design: Case Studies of Conflicting Values

This assignment presents a case study analysis of Parivar Company and Lakeland Wonders, focusing on conflicting values related to organizational design and leadership. For Parivar, the conflict revolves around implementing a "People Support Function" to address high employee turnover, with differing opinions on its effectiveness. The recommended solution involves adopting the "People Support Function" to identify and address the root causes of turnover. For Lakeland Wonders, the conflicting values stem from the CEO's offshoring strategy, opposed by some who fear it will damage the company's brand and trigger labor unrest. The recommended approach involves engaging employees, overcoming opposition, and effectively communicating the change process. The study also emphasizes the importance of management competencies in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, highlighting the need for people-oriented leadership styles that prioritize belonging, connection, and teamwork.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT 1
Contemporary Management
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Contemporary Management
Conflicting Values Regarding Organizational Design
The primary purpose of organizational design is to identify dysfunctional aspects of
systems, structures, procedures, and workflow in an organization. It also realigns them with the
goals and realities of the current business. Ideally, organizational design aims to enhance the
people and technical side of the company. An excellent organization design results in committed
and empowered employees in addition to improved outcomes. However, for Parivar Company,
things are quite different because of the conflicting values regarding its organizational design
despite high employee turnover. For instance, some staffs believe that implementing the “People
Support Function” will help address the low retention rate in the organization while others think
that it might do harm than good.
Supporters of the design(People Support Function) contend that employees are in pursuit
of work environments that cares for them, and the implementation of People Support Function
will help address high employee turnover. However, those with differing perspective believe that
“People Support Function” is not effective in designing proper management structures and
processes. They think that it might worsen the high turnover rates while at the same time
alienating some staffs (Garvin, 2014). Additionally, it might not be applicable in other markets
such as the United States and Europe.
Advice for Sudhir Gupta about a Way Forward in Regards to the Value Conflict
As per the case study, the company is losing more employees compared to the number it
is recruiting. The company’s turnover is 35% signifying that the company does not meet the
needs of its staff (Garvin, 2014). Employee retention is an issue of great concern for companies
as they compete for top-notch candidates in a highly competitive economy. Low retention of

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staffs result in increased costs for the company, including reduced productivity, increased
training costs, and decreased engagement. Therefore, it is important for Sudhir Gupta to address
employee retention as it is crucial for motivating staffs and retaining talented employees. He can
achieve all these by adoption the “People Support Function”. Through this strategy, the
organization will have an opportunity to find out the reason behind the high turnover rate, and
consequently identify a lasting solution. It will also enable the company to treat each staff fairly
without showing favoritism.
Recommendations
Parivar Company has the habit of using exit interview in determining why a competent
staff is leaving the organization. The human resource department fails to understand that they are
missing a golden opportunity to fix issues and retain productive staffs before it is too late.
Therefore, the organization should focus on engaging with employees regularly to identify
factors that motivate them so that necessary adjustments are made. Also, the human resource
manager should review various kinds of literature and talk with expert in the human resource
field so that an appropriate solution is implemented in the company. They should also analyze
data such as hiring statistics, cultural surveys, and performance reviews. These pieces of
information will highlight the trend in the industry and what employees find attractive in a
culture. Conversely, the company should offer its staff’s right benefits to keep them healthy,
engaged, and happy, because some are shifting to other companies because of better pay.

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Case 2: Lakeland Wonders Case Study
Conflicting Values in the Case
As per the case, there are conflicting values regarding the offshoring of the company’s
activities. Cheryl thinks that it is the most effective strategy in meeting the company’s aggressive
growth strategies. For Mark, the move might jeopardize the competitiveness of the firm in the
United States Market. Mark argues that expanding overseas will dilute the company’s brand
image as its strength lies in it being a U.S. manufacturing base (McNulty, 2002). He also thinks
that offshoring the company’s operations might trigger strikes because Cheryl has not consulted
with the union representative regarding her move. Therefore, workers might consider her
decision as a strategy to lay them off.
Cheryl’s vision also interferes with the culture of the company. She is not consulting
with other senior managers and board members. On the contrary, she expects them to follow her
vision which they do not understand. As a result, she is generating anger and fear among the top
executives instead of creating a sense of urgency (McNulty, 2002). Therefore, Cheryl should
modify her leadership style so that she can gain the confidence of those she is leading in addition
to making sure that they are on the same page regarding the company’s expansion strategies.
The Way Forward For Cheryl Regarding the Conflicting Values
It is apparent that Cheryl did not involve other staffs in creating the new vision for the
company because she labels it” my vision.” Additionally, she makes crucial changes without
taking into consideration the views of other staffs. Therefore, Cheryl should engage employees,
overcome opposition, and effectively communicate the change process to address the conflicting
values. Cheryl should organize a meeting with Mark to find out why he is against her change

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initiatives. The strategy will help mend their broken relationship and find a lasting solution to the
issues surrounding the new vision for the company. Joining efforts might result in the design of a
new plan that meets the company’s growth strategies and aligns with the culture of the company
Employees’ engagement and effective communication are necessary because the case
study confirms that Cheryl did not engage other staffs in designing the new vision for the
company. Therefore, she should provide staffs with an opportunity to go through the vision and
offer their suggestions. She needs to understand that she cannot meet the aggressive goals
without the help of other staffs. Engaging them will be vital in igniting their active support and
adopting the change plan. It will also play a vital real in building a new culture for the company.
Management Competencies that are Essential for the 21st Century Leader-Manager
in VUCA World
The world business environment is increasingly becoming volatile, uncertain, complex
and ambiguous (VUCA). The leadership approach embraced by organizations determines their
competitiveness in their respective industries. From the case study, it is obvious that leaders who
are process-driven are doomed to fail compared to those who are people-oriented. Cheryl’s
inability to engage other staffs in her vision is creating problems for her. Her vision for the
company is excellent, but her implementation strategy is ineffective. The staffs in the company
are in pursuit of belonging, connection, and teamwork, attributes that lack in Cheryl’s leadership
style.

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References
Garvin, D.A. (2014). Can a strong culture be too strong? Harvard: Harvard Business Review
McNulty, E. (2002). Welcome aboard: But don’t change a thing. Harvard: Harvard Business
Review.