HBR Case Study: Strategic Management & Leadership at Lakeland Wonders

This case study solution analyzes the strategic management challenges at Lakeland Wonders, focusing on the conflicting values between the new CEO, Cheryl Hailstrom, and the existing employees. Cheryl's rapid approach to change, including offshore manufacturing, clashes with the company'...Read More

Contemporary Strategic Management
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Conflicting Values
According to the case study, a new CEO- Cheryl Hailstrom was appointed at Lakeland
Wonders. She was quite enthusiastic and energetic and took her previous company
Kids&Company from a small chain to a national level. Cheryl aimed to get into mid-market and
bring offshore manufacturing as the mainstream (McNulty, 2002). While speaking to Mark, her
tone regarding upscaling the market was quite bossy and coercive. She mentioned that everyone
in the organization was in the slow lane and wedded to the ways they were used to doing things.
The employees at Lakeland Wonders were used to move slowly and it was conflicting with
Cheryl as she wanted a radical change (Russell et al., 2018). The managers at Lakeland Wonders
were used to working based on their 94-year old organizational culture. This conflicted with
Cheryl’s ways as she was like a bull in a China shop. Cheryl just expects everyone to follow her
lead. The employees in the organization value each other’s opinions, expectations and
capabilities. Cheryl has created fear and anger among the employees rather than encouragement
and motivation (Gilley et al., 2015).
Advice for Resolving Conflict
According to the case study, Cheryl is working at a high pace. It may be advised to slow
her down as her employees are not ready for that amount of change. Change may be good or bad
depending upon the perspective of the individuals. Cheryl sees change as a creating an offshore
manufacturing site for getting products cheaper. However, the employees see the same change as
something that threats the union contract. Cheryl needs to talk about her plans with the union
members and solicit their support for making Lakeland Wonders more competitive (Goetsch &
Davis, 2014). Cheryl needs to speak to her employees and meet their concerns. Inclusion of

people and brotherhood in the organization must not be neglected. It is further advised that
Cheryl must set realistic targets. In the case study it is analysed that se doe not ask Mark- her
manufacturing manager for resolving issues in the organization. Cheryl believes that only her
plan is the way to grow business. It is advised that she must approach Mark and respect his
opinions as he has been working at Lakeland Wonders for quite some time (Hornstein, 2015).
Important Management Competencies
VUCA leadership refers to Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. There are
certain critical competencies that are highlighted in the case study necessary to thrive in a VUCA
world. The leader must have a clear vision as it drives engagement and retention of employees.
Another management competency is to weave an environment for human engagement. It is
observed in the case study that the employees of Lakeland Wonders are not motivated (Davies,
2018). For sustaining in the VUCA world, the leaders must tap into intrinsic motivation.
Anticipation and creation of change is a crucial management competency. According to the case
study, Cheryl does not involve people in the change process and has created an imbalance
between personal vision and organizational values. She must maintain balance between her own
needs and organizational values (Elkington et al., 2017).

References
Davies, J. (2018). The inner journey of leadership: Preparing leaders for a Vuca
world. Independence, 43(1), 14.
Elkington, R., Steege, M. V. D., Glick-Smith, J., & Breen, J. M. (Eds.). (2017). Visionary
Leadership in a Turbulent World: Thriving in the New VUCA Context. Emerald
Publishing Limited.
Gilley, A., Waddell, K., Hall, A., Jackson, S. A., & Gilley, J. W. (2015). Manager behavior,
generation, and influence on work-life balance: An empirical investigation. Journal of
Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 20(1), 3.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
291-298.
McNulty, E. (2002). Welcome Aboard (But Don’t Change a Thing). Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2002/10/welcome-aboard-but-dont-change-a-thing
Russell, Z. A., Steffensen, D. S., Ellen III, B. P., Zhang, L., Bishoff, J. D., & Ferris, G. R.
(2018). High performance work practice implementation and employee impressions of
line manager leadership. Human Resource Management Review, 28(3), 258-270.