Refer to aspects of teaming covered in the Units 1 and 2 readings/videos.
Be sure to read and attend to Wartzman’s (2012) article How to consult like Peter Drucker.
Write a paper that is approximately 8-10 pages in length (excluding the title and reference page) and addresses the consulting scenario below.
Consider the grading rubric when planning your assignment.
Draw from all of the reading and video assignments in Units 1 and 2 to support your ideas.
Use APA-formatted in-text citations and references to support your ideas.
See the APA-Formatted References tab of the Introduction module for a list of course references in APA format.
Download the APA-formatted template for this assignment. Download Download the APA-formatted template for this assignment. Follow the outline below:
Paper Outline
Background
Purpose of the paper
Summary of the case
The client’s goals as you understand them
What You’ll Do for the Client
Your consulting philosophy
The consultant’s assumptions, values, and working style
The client’s understanding of the issues/problems
Your Response to the Scenario and Your Recommendations – Based upon the client’s goals and what you learned from the case study, create the actions that you will recommend – relate these actions to the assigned readings and videos in Units 1 and 2.
Summary of Your Ideas – Provide a summary of your paper’s major points
Scenario:
Logos Logistics (LL) is a large multi-national supply-chain company. Their primary business is helping organizations “ship anything anywhere.” Whether it’s a fleet of cars, a single piano, or an airplane, LL will provide door-to-door shipping services. While the business is capital intensive, its profit margins are very low. Thus, their success rests on their ability to create a large volume of business and generate significant revenues, while experiencing a very low cost of operations.
We Deliver Great Teddy
Last week, Virginia Weber from LL contacted you. Ms. Weber is the head of Human Resources for the United States Division of LL. Her boss, William Schultz, the Division’s President, asked her to contact you. During a face-to-face meeting with Ms. Weber, you learned that several factors challenge Mr. Schultz’s Executive Team. First, Mr. Schultz has only been in his position for six months and feels he still “doesn’t have a feel for his team.” Upon his arrival, he instituted monthly meetings, which bring all of his operational managers together from across the United States. While he experienced success with these types of meetings when he ran the South American Division, these U.S. meetings seem to be yielding very few meaningful results.
While Mr. Schultz provides an agenda, the agenda appears to have little correlation with the actual meeting. Topics change, times extend, and little action occurs. A few members of the team engage in very aggressive behavior challenging Mr. Schultz’s authority and shooting down others’ ideas. These executives respond emotionally and in a volatile-manner whenever someone challenges their ideas. At the same time, a number of the executive team members remain silent throughout the meetings. What few actions the executive team does agree upon seem to be left undone and these items just get moved to the next meeting for another report out. Finally, while each department appears to be meeting its goals, the U.S. Division as a whole is under-performing. Nevertheless, the executives seem proud of their “competitive spirit” and as one executive said to Schultz as he discussed the Division’s underperformance, “I don’t know what I can do about it, I’m delivering the numbers for my area.”
Ms. Weber would like for you to put together an approach to a) improve communications, b) the Divisional meeting’s effectiveness and c) overall teamwork for the Division’s executive group. Basically, she’s asking, “What can you do to help us?”
What will you need to know? How will you learn these things?
What’s needed to get this group to behave more like a team?
What will help LL need to change and what will get in the way?
What does Mr. Schultz need to do to facilitate these changes?
How will LL’s leaders be motivated to change?
What specific actions will you take?
What other suggestions do you have to make this division function better?
