The Wallace Group

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Please see response attached for best formatting of tables and charts (also below), as well as one relevant article. I hope this helps and take care.

RESPONSE:

1. What is the most important problem facing to Wallace Group?

Wallace is probably right on the money, as Wallace states that the problem facing the Wallace Group revolves around how the company manages people. "It's a personnel problem". (Wallace). This is reflected by a number of people interviewed. "Being head of human resources around here is a tough job. We don't act. We react." (Campbell). However, these problems are rooted in management style and how Wallace rules with an "iron fist."

So the most important problem facing Wallace Group is that of increasing employee morale by making the corporate structure more employee-centered by letting the employees have a say in the decision-making process (i.e., team approach) and this would help to increase the morale.

2. What recommendation (s) would you make to Mr. Wallace, and in what order of priorities?

- Create a strong employee-centered management team to meet with groups of employees to involve them in the decision making process (i.e. by asking for their ideas and input)
- Group and team approach
- Training for managers/leaders in team approach)
- In-house and/or outhouse training in effective communication skills, group skills, etc.
- Develop a management development program for the employees who need extra training in their new job positions
- Revisit position entrance requirements to attract high quality employees
- Increase pay scales for engineering positions and lower the job specs and find new ways recruiting channels.
- Develop Groups/Marketing/Sales function to lead the company in business expansion effort
- Integrate marketing planning efforts between our group and Corporate. This is especially true if the Wallace group is to successfully grow in nondefense oriented markets and products.

3. How do you educate a manager to manage an organization as it evolves over time from an entrepreneurial structure to a more sophisticated and complex organizational structure?

As a business emerges, the owner of the business needs to continually assess the training needs of his or her employees and managers. There are a number of steps to follow to ensure that the company is focusing attention and investment on the areas that will add most value. Effective Training and Development can make a tremendous difference to the business and employees, especially as the company becomes more complex. As with other key business decisions the principle should be

- do the right thing right, at the right time. Information technology has come to the fore, for example.
Effective Leadership and Management is based on making the best decisions and for this, you need to have the best information. That's why Analysing your Business and Assessing your Training Needs (meaning employees and managers) are essential parts of the planning process and provide you with the opportunity to prioritize - Who - What - How - When - Where. You also need to know what options you have to train and develop your people. (See http://www.mln.org.uk/trainingneedsassessment.asp).
See article below for other considerations for this question, and things Wallace could be thinking about for the organization:

Integrated Management and Leadership Development

What is Leadership?
What is Management?
Are all managers leaders?
Are all leaders managers?

Many people have struggled to come up with definitive answers to these questions without much success - perhaps it is better to ...