Leadership Theory and Organizational Culture
This milestone is designed to continue the critical analysis in Milestone One with a shift in lens to leadership and organizational culture. This short paper assignment is the second milestone in the analysis of the company within your final project. It should begin with a brief description (one paragraph) to transition the reader to the new analysis lens. The largest component of this short paper should focus on the leadership approach and any shifts through the course of the case study example, including any aspects of the culture that influenced the organization. Lastly, the final aspect of the short paper is to connect the analysis into insights and conclusions. This assignment will be submitted in the form of a 750-word minimum paper.
Prompt: Use the following case study to do your organizational analysis: The GM Culture Crisis: What Leaders Must Learn From This Culture Case Study.
After reading the case study, answer these questions:
III. Evaluate Leadership Theory
A. Describe a leadership style used in the case study and why there was a shift in leadership style throughout the case study.
B. Explain the characteristics and decisions of management in the case study that help explain the shift in leadership style.
C. Identify the internal and external influences on the organization that may have caused the shift in leadership style. Be sure to explain your choices.
D. Describe the relationship between a leadership style used by the organization in the case study and the decision-making process.
IV. Assess Organizational Culture
A. Discuss the internal culture present within the organization. Be sure to utilize terms relative to organizational behavior.
B. Identify specific examples from the case study that demonstrate the internal culture present within the organization.
V. Insights and Conclusions
A. Explain why the leadership style(s) and internal culture of the organization complement each other or do not complement each other.
B. Explain whether or not the changes in leadership style or internal culture of the organization influenced each other.
C. Explain how the leadership styles and internal culture of the organization may have influenced the behavior of the employees within the organization. You could consider providing specific instances or examples from within the case study to support your response.
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LEADERSHIP THEORY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Introduction
Since 1902, GM has greatly contributed to the global auto industry by manufacturing technologically advanced vehicles. However, in 2014, the company found itself in a cultural crisis that was a result of poor leadership. The company’s management turned a blind eye to the ignition switch problem by implementing a leadership style and culture that encouraged unaccountability. This case is a perfect example of how culture and leadership influence each other in an organization. Therefore, using the GM culture crisis case study, this essay aims at evaluating the company’s leadership style and its influence on organizational culture.
III. Evaluation of Leadership Theory
From the case study, GM maintained an autocratic structure that implies employees were to work without questioning the management. However, some aspects of the laissez-faire style of leadership were also present as the managers seemed to have allowed employees to make all decisions regarding their tasks. In autocratic leadership, the managers have total control of all decisions. Therefore, once a decision has been made, it is imposed on employees and ultimate obedience is required (Iqbal, 2015). This style of leadership was witnessed in a poor working environment that was forcefully imposed on employees. They were not asked for their views, and it was only after 13 employees died, that GM realized a shift in leadership was necessary.
Before the change in the style of leadership, the managers portrayed carefree characteristics towards decisions. The case study states that “engineers even identified the problem when they reviewed a crashed vehicle in a junkyard. It was shocking just how often this problem was specifically highlighted without resolution but it was regarded as an issue of customer convenience rather than safety.” It is absurd that it took the managers 11 years to get rid of this carefree attitude. Nevertheless, both external and internal factors were central to GM’s change in the style of leadership. Internally, the majority of the workers knew of the life-threatening problem regarding the switches yet no one said a word. Those who tried to talk were dismissed on dishonesty grounds. Externally, GM controls a huge share of the auto industry worldwide. Therefore, its failure would have affected numerous parties ranging from employees, other private entities, to government agencies. Consequently, the company’s CEO was summoned by the House and Senate subcommittees to shed more light on the ignition switch issue.
IV. Assessment of organizational culture
Culture represents the norms a...
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