Cutco Corporation Case Study Essay Marketing

Even with his ranking in the company, Ron still insisted on a first name basis relationship with his employees and encouraged them to be involved in decision-making. Empowering his employees increased their value in the company and gave them a sense that their outcomes and input were important. I can only imagine that would have increased the respect and loyalty each employee had for him. Along with his expertise he still was humble enough to care for his employees, which Increased his referent power. Unfortunately, when things began to get shaky with the opening of the Dallas location shift in Iron's power went to more of the coercive source. He initially replaced nearly the entire staff once beginning in Dallas and again fired 12 more staff members, whom he had hired within one year, to minimize loss. Within the next few months this trend continued which left the staff feeling insecure and questioning his leadership abilities. The excessive use of coercive power decreased the performance of the employees and Jeopardized the culture of the company.

Iron's leadership style is democratic. He puts emphasis on the participative approach by allowing his subordinates to be involved in the decision-making processes. He has the ability to voice the goals and objectives that need to be accomplished, but implementing methods to help the employees achieve these goals Is not his strong suite. This can occur when a leader Is more focused In leader-member relations. As an Individual he Is task oriented, but overall as a leader he leans more towards having good leader-member relations.

The motivational theory in the New York office was predominately based on McClellan and Herbage's theories on needs. The employees were required to have considerable Judgment and self-control, which supports the Idea their need for achievement, affiliation, and power were met. The motivator need was met due to the employees having autonomy and the responsibility to make quality judgments for the company. The fact that Ron allowed them to assist in making pertinent decisions fulfilled their achievement need and allowed them to develop their skills.

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This gesture also assisted with giving them a sense of control within the company to fulfill their need for power. The New York office had good outcomes, a personable environment, and an Interactive model, which would satisfy the hygiene need. This Is behavior, in which they are motivated by reward or punishment. Iron's approach in this office followed the operant conditioning theory. He focused on negative reinforcement and punishment primarily evident by the repetitive firings and his aggressive nature.

Due to the lack in motivation and ability at the Dallas office, Iron's strategy would not be successful. Iron's approach was usually task oriented, but as a leader tried to balance the interpersonal relations with the subordinates as well. When employees lack the ability and the will the best initial approach would be a high task and low relational strategy. This would have required Ron to be direct with his instructions, Lear on what tasks needed to be performed, and thorough with how to achieve them.

Because Ron was good at setting goals, but had poor methods of structuring tasks and instruction on how to be successful, the employees were not clear as to what goals needed to be accomplished within the company. This resulted in a low task structure, which the employees desperately needed in order to be successful. With out realizing this, Ron then began to focus on coercive power and fired several employees. The loss of trust from the employees and lack of direction from their leader would not reverse the absence of motivation, but would only worsen it.

Iron's overall leadership style was a success in New York because of their desire to be intrinsically motivated, whereas the Dallas employees were not. This culture did not best suite his leader ship style because Ron lacked task structure, good leader- member relations, and position power. Ron could not make the necessary changes to make the Dallas office successful because the situation was not favorable to his leadership style and he could not make internal changes within himself to correct the situation.

This supports the Fielder Contingency Theory that effective leadership is nineteen upon the characteristics of the leader and of the situation. The next step with the Dallas office is to evaluate what level of ability and motivation the employees now have. Salvaging the employees who are willing to learn and move forward is still possible, although it may be too late for others. Once managers have met with all staff and have sorted through the employees unwilling to grow, a town hall meeting could be held to announce the plan the managers have for the company.

At that time announcements regarding additional education and training opportunities for the employees, a clear mission statement, and the new structure of he office would be crucial to ensure all employees understand the vision the company has. Specialty training for the employees to advance their knowledge and skillet will enhance their performance, increase positive outcomes, and allow them to find value in their input within the company. The task structure needs to be concise and high.

With additional training and processes in place the employees will not only have the proper tools to be successful, but will finally have a clear understanding on how to use them as well. This structure will also assist with building the security levels, belongingness, and safety needs of the employees based n Mascots Hierarchy of Needs. Motivation will increase by setting attainable goals with positive reinforcements such as a bonus program and recognition from upper employee encounters a fellow coworker being recognized for a Job well done it will increase the awareness of how well others are performing their own duties.

This will allow the employees to observe the proper behavior and then model it in order to get the same positive reinforcement given to their co-workers. Focusing on building the culture back in a positive direction, meeting the employees needs, and increasing motivation will be crucial to the overall success of the company. For Iron's performance appraisal, based on the last 2 years, I would give him a 5. The feedback I would give Ron would be objective and factual. I would explain to Ron that this performance appraisal is a time to problem solve, find solutions, and learn from previous experiences.

I would then go over the facts with Ron. He was sent to Dallas with the goal to increase the revenue, educate the staff, and motivate the employees. Within one year he lost 2 very important clients, which decreased revenue. He also overturned the staff twice, which also decreases revenue due to hiring and training new employees is an investment and costly. He failed to analyze the situation closely and even after the first year of several set backs he continued with his same strategy. This is poor planning and decision-making Judgment.

I would ask Ron to explain to me his thought process at the time to have a better understanding and identify ways to improve his techniques. I then would give feedback on better ways Ron can train, reward, and motivate his employees to become an effective leader for similar situations he may be placed in in the future. Areas of improvement would be expressed as well. Ron needs improvement on identifying the needs of his employees to increase better outcomes, input, and overall performance. He also needs to use his strength in being task oriented as a part of his leadership style.

Employees usually want a good working environment with their boss, but having stability, a clear direction, and tools to be successful are Just as important. Ron also needs to ensure he works on methods of motivation. Not all employees are motivated the same; therefore, determining what motivates them will better serve him when deciding on strategies. I would recommend Ron read a managerial book about motivation to help with his growth and development. I would also highlight Iron's strengths of being task oriented and his expertise in the business.

Showing Ron his willingness to go to Dallas has not gone unnoticed and I would thank him for his contributions to the company. Praising him for his strengths and areas in which he excels are extremely important during the performance appraisal as well to increase employee longevity within the company. I then would allow Ron to make any comments he would like as well. This also gives him the opportunity to express his opinions of the score and any evidence he may have in order for me to raise his score.

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