Problem:
As a management consultant you make a living by providing management advice to senior level managers with regard to management problems that they are experiencing within their organization. You are to analyze the situation and then apply your experience, general business knowledge, and sound management principles and theories, to produce a report or other deliverable on the subject for the senior manager.
Your recommendations are important, but equally important is your justification for those recommendations. The justification must convince the manager that your advice is worth the price he or she paid for it. The manager should feel confident that you have arrived at the correct conclusions and that your conclusions are well supported by good judgment and competent authority in the subject. Your goal is to produce results that will strengthen your reputation as a management consultant and encourage the manager to hire you in the future for other projects.
The leader of your client organization has observed a lack of flexibility and a slow decision-making process in many of the departments. He believes that he is not serving his customers well, and has decided to move to a team environment and to push many of the decisions to the lowest possible levels. In other words, he wants to create a team-based, empowered organization. Several of his best managers are resisting the idea strongly. They not only feel that many employees are not ready for the change, but they also believe that they personally could never change from a "command and control" style to allowing more participation. (adapted from Nahavandi p. 50).
Your client has asked you to prepare a report in which you address the following questions:
Q1. How should the leader deal with the situation?
Q2. What arguments can he use to persuade his managers?
Q3. What can he do to help his managers change their style?
Q4. What are the implications of his actions and decisions?