Davis_Case Study Week 6

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Week 6 Case Study: Leadership and Management Styles at InnovateCorp MGMT 9040 – Organization Behavior & Development February 21, 2024 Christopher Davis

For this case study, we look at the company named InnovateCorp. In the industry that the company functions, it is a highly competitive industry market and things are constantly changing. One way that InnovateCorp tries to handle these constant changes is by welcoming various types of leadership styles throughout their organization. This case study analyzes the different leadership styles and how they have had a positive impact on the company, and what leadership styles InnovateCorp has had the most success with, with different leaders. The first leader that we learned about from the case study was Sarah Bennett. Sarah embodies a transformational leadership style. This type of leadership style is all about painting a picture or vision of what the future goals of the company look like. The main goal behind this type of leadership style is to cause changes in individuals and social systems. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing the followers into leaders (www.langston.edu). One of the greatest takeaways from this type of leadership style is inspirational motivation, which is one thing that Sarah Bennett contributes to InnovateCorp through her inspirational speeches, fostering of innovation and creativity within the company. From my personal experience with having various types of leaders throughout my different career endeavors, having a leader who shows you an end goal and is optimistic about it is highly motivational for its associates. Individuals like having goals to work towards and know that their work is having a meaningful impact and knowing exactly what that impact is. With this transformational leadership, that is exactly how associates are left feeling. This type of leadership is also good for helping grow its associates and helping them to advance. When you have a leader behind you trying to transform you into the individual that you strive to be in your career goals, it can create a very positive environment.

At InnovateCorp, this case study explained that their department heads follow a democratic leadership style. A democratic leadership style is explained as a style of participant leadership. Democratic leadership is “Leadership style in which group members take a more participative role in the decision-making process. Employees meet to discuss and resolve issues by giving everyone some opportunity to contribute to decisions” (www.acqnotes.com). The pro to this type of leadership style, as explained by InnovateCorp is that it empowers employees to take ownership of their work because it makes them feel like they have responsibility in the end goals. When associates feel as if their opinions matter and are heard, they feel more motivated to do good work and put in a greater amount of effort. That is exactly what employees are given the opportunity to do with the democratic leadership style seen at this organization in the case study. Their feedback is considered by department heads and as a result they feel more valued. The democratic leadership style also is a good way for the department heads to build trust among their team, and to encourage employee engagement which usually results in organizations seeing quality results being produced by their employees. One downfall to this type of leadership style however is that it can consume a lot of time. If decisions must be made quickly, this may not be the best route to go for InnovateCorp. However, when decisions are less time sensitive, it is beneficial for InnovateCorp to continue with this style to keep their associates motivated and feeling as if their opinions and feedback truly have a place within the organization to make a difference. Although department heads favor the democratic leadership style, middle level management at InnovateCorp operate more on a servant typed leadership style. The servant leadership style is based on the idea that leaders prioritize serving the greater good. Leaders with this style serve their team and organization first. They do not prioritize their own objectives.

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Employees in a servant leadership environment are more likely to feel that their voices are heard (www.betterup.com). When talking about this type of leadership style, leaders act more so as mentors for their associates. They are seen to be more compassionate, empathetic, flexible, and great active listeners. InnovateCorp’ s leaders who are practicing the servant leadership style have influenced team dynamics and relationships by offering positive, nurturing work environments for its associates. Not only has the organization seen these benefits, but they also see their leaders and associates building strong bonds based on trust. In my past work experiences, I have had a few leaders that embodied this type of style of leadership throughout their work. The main basis behind a servant leadership style is putting others needs ahead of one’s own. I feel as if this leadership style is also very important when talking about associates and their work life balance, especially when it comes to associates with families and small children. Having a leader who is compassionate of things going on in life, as well as being flexible as things come up is a great benefit to people. If leaders are willing to help to cover for their associates when things arise, putting their employees needs first, it shows that their leaders care about them and are truly there to help them and be on their side, have their backs. I know when I feel as if my leader is on my side, and has my best interests at heart, it makes me work hard to do the same for them. This could mean that I stayed late to work on something to meet a deadline or get a project done. I felt comfortable doing so because I know my leader would do the same for me or had in the past. Another style of leadership present at InnovateCorp is the laissez-faire leadership. This type of leadership is very different from any of the other types of leadership styles found in other areas of the organization. Laissez-faire leadership takes a hands-off approach to leadership and gives others the freedom to make decisions. While leaders still provide their teams with the

resources and tools they need to succeed, they remain largely uninvolved in the day-to-day work (www.torch.io/blog). This type of leader has very high trust in their team members, focus more on the big picture rather than the day to day work. This type of leadership often has very high criticism for having many negative aspects to it such as lower productivity, more conflict amongst team members and can sometimes cause issues of whom is responsible for what within their roles. If you have a team of individuals who are not easily motivated, this will not be a successful style of leadership for them to work under. At InnovateCorp, this style of leadership is said to be utilized in their technical departments. The case study explained that this approach is based on the belief that highly skilled technical staff can excel when given the freedom to make decisions. The benefit to InnovateCorp using this leadership style is that they are putting a great deal of trust into their employees to get their work done without much direction, meaning employees know that they are trusted to do good work. The downfall to this is that if they have anyone on their team who cannot work without much direction and guidelines, they are not going to be as productive and will not excel as much as others who can work this way. However, being InnovateCorp is using this leadership type in their technical departments, they do know that their employees working in this area are very high skilled, or that is the assumption anyways, so they should not have any issues functioning under this type of leadership, as where someone else in a different department, with a different skillset would not be the same case. InnovateCorp did however report that they continue to see high employee engagement and improved project delivery time, so this style of leadership must not be an issue within this chosen department. In my past career path, I have encountered leaders who have led under this leadership style. I personally do well with this leadership style as I hate feeling as if I am being micromanaged and my every move is being watched and analyzed. I have always been an

employee who understands their role, the end goal and if I do not, know when to ask for help. I need very minimal intervention from leadership to be successful in my role. As a leader myself in the past, I know that not all people can work this way. I personally do not need a ton of handholding, as I always called it, but some people truly do to feel as If they are doing a good job. Often, I had gotten told by my past leaders that I need to involve them more, because I would not get credit for the work I had done. I flew so under the radar, that my accomplishments sometimes were not getting credited as well. The authoritarian management style is another leadership style seen at InnovateCorp by their project management teams. When working in project management, employees are working in fast-paced, high demand areas that require them to meet strict deadlines. Authoritarian leadership, also known as autocratic leadership, is a management style where an individual possesses total decision-making power and retains as much authority as possible, often requiring followers to strictly adhere to their directives without much freedom or participation (www.techtarget.com). This often leaves group members feeling as if they are not trusted with m any decisions because their leaders are the ones making them all. This style of leadership sometimes has a bad name for it because of dictators seen throughout history, but that does not necessarily have to be the case if done correctly and if used in the correct work setting. At InnovateCorp, on their project management team there is a clear chain of command that is followed, and decisions need to be made quickly so that their strict project deadlines can be met. This type of leadership style in this area of the company appears to be successful as the case study stated that the organization is seeing improved project timeline deadlines. This type of leadership style I am most equipped to speak on being a Marine Veteran. The autocratic or authoritarian style leadership is the most common leadership style found in

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military environments, and this works well. All your orders when deployed, out in the field, in training etc. come from higher up leaders, or a top-down style theory. The reason that this is the most common leadership style in the military is because quick decisions need to be made because there can be life or death outcomes based on the decision made. When people’s lives are on the line, there is no time to think about who should be doing what, or what should be done. The decision needs to be made quickly, on the spot, to have the best outcome possible. Obviously, my experience with this type of leadership in my years enlisted is much different than that of in an office setting, but the characteristics are very much still the same. In the line of business of military, this type of leadership not only works well, but it is necessary. However, in an office setting, if used incorrectly, may not have the best outcomes. Can you share examples of employees who excelled in this structured environment? The last style of leadership style that is present at InnovateCorp is the transactional management style. Transactional leadership is a more structured approach to management that relies on rigorous checks and balances throughout a company’s production lifecycle. Typically, employees are given their short- and long-term goals and expected to work toward them under supervision, and everyone is expected to adhere to strict guidelines set by the company. Employees who meet their goals are rewarded, while those who fail to meet their deadlines are reprimanded (www.online.hbs.edu). At InnovateCorp, this leadership style is seen in their sales and customer service departments. This type of leadership is known to have employees excel in measurable results where their leaders’ set targets and goals for their associates to work towards. Although the case study did not provide any specific examples of this style of leadership being effective in these departments, it is safe to assume that it is effective with the overall results that the organization is seeing.

When researching more about this type of leadership, I had found a source explain that transactional leadership rewards self-motivation: Employees who can follow instructions and meet their targets are celebrated accordingly, which can improve output and morale. Similarly, those who fall behind or do not follow rules can be reprimanded. This black-and-white approach can make it easier for employees to carve out their roles and work more effectively. I do feel that it is true that some people work better under these circumstances more so than others. I personally worked under this type of leadership when I was a freight broker. My role was to sell freight to transportation company’s and negotiate the rates in which they would do so. I had concise, clear targets that were met on a “load per day” metric. I was required to book or sell X number of loads per day. Not only was this a target that was set for ever broker, or seller, but my pay depending upon it being paid on commission. If I booked the freight, I was rewarded. If I did not, I was not rewarded, and was reprimanded for not meeting my metrics. If someone were poor at this role, it could result in it not being the career path for them. The company needed people who were strong sellers, could negotiate, and had that strong personality to do so. This is not for everyone, and a lot of people would think of someone in this role as being “pushy” which to some degree is correct. Being in this role is the best example of where I experienced this type of leadership style. The case study on InnovateCorp did not specifically mention how they plan to balance and adapt to sustain growth and employee satisfaction, but with any industry, things are always changing, and organizations need to find ways to adapt to these changes. One thing that is common amongst any kind of change an organization, is that communication will always be key. If there are leadership changes and expectations that are changing amongst employees, the organization and its leaders must convey this so that everyone remains on the same page.

Another thing that leaders need to take into consideration is as time goes on if the dynamic of their team has changed. Maybe the team that they had a year ago, does not have the same dynamic as their team has in present time. Maybe this means the team cannot be managed in the same way. The key to adapting in a constantly evolving industry is just always to be aware of what is going on in your team, how your associates are feeling with current processes. One thing many of my past employers did was have one-on-one meetings with their associates. If this was monthly, bi-weekly, etc. it was a chance for leaders to touch base with each of their employees and talk about anything that either the manager or associate felt the need to discuss. It is a very good way for leaders to build relationships with their subordinates, reiterate expectations, if need be, and understand if any changes need to be made to have better productivity. One of the greatest takeaways I think that other organizations can get from InnovateCorp, and their leadership and management styles is to understand that not all leaders and associates work well under one specific leadership type. Depending on what area associates work in, and what type of work they do, they may perform better under different styles of leadership. We saw numerous examples of how InnovateCorp displays all different leadership styles throughout different areas of their organization. It is important to remember that leadership is not one size fits all. Leaders need to be able to adapt depending upon situations and use whatever approach will result in them having the most positive outcome. However, every organization’s business is going to be different – different lines of business, different end goals, different characteristics of people working for them. So, it is not necessarily safe to say that a different organization could do the same as InnovateCorp and be as successful as they have been so far. I feel it is important for organizations to understand their employees, their skills, and get to know how they work best. This way, leaders can know how

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their employees will be led best to have the greatest results. I am sure InnovateCorp had to adapt their different leadership styles based on the type of people who they had working in different departments within the company. Leaders need to be flexible and be able to adapt their style of leading people to be successful. Organizations need to do what is best for them to see the results that InnovateCorp has seen thus far. If something is not work, they need to be flexible and change what is not working to find what will get them similar results.

Works Cited An HBCU like none other! . view our privacy policy. (n.d.). http://www.langston.edu/ Check out the thoughts, news, and inspirations of a company dedicated to growing, nurturing, and enhancing organizations. Torch. (n.d.). http://www.torch.io/blog Harvard Business School Online Courses & Learning Platforms . HBS Online. (n.d.). https://online.hbs.edu/ The most comprehensive coaching platform . BetterUp. (n.d.). http://www.betterup.com/ Online college . Western Governors University. (2024b, February 6). http://www.wgu.edu/ Purchase intent data for Enterprise Tech Sales and marketing . TechTarget. (2024, February 20). http://www.techtarget.com/ Welcome . AcqNotes. (2024, January 8). http://www.acqnotes.com/

Davis_Case Study Week 6

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