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ContentsSTUDENTS BECOMING LEADERS: A CASE STUDY
ABSTRACT
An industry desired cultural change and partnered with a local university to educate, train and develop the internal hourly and salaried change agents. Using an andragogy method the industry's top management team developed 'learning outcomes' as the targets for success by the selected change teams. University representatives met with the participant teams, discussed alternative methodologies, established individualized learning contracts and interim benchmark measures. The curricula in three successive courses (1) Applied Leadership, (2) Supervised Practicum and (3) Management of Change was altered to satisfy the organization's needs and to fulfill the participants' learning contracts. The success of this cultural change effort rested solely upon development of the students, their leadership and the advice and counsel of the university instructor.
INTRODUCTION
Nine students from the same technology-based manufacturing company were selected as a small nucleus responsible for designing and implementing cultural change throughout the organization. The nine student employees consisted of two managers, two supervisors, one other salaried employee and four hourly employees representing their union. The Organizational Leadership department at Purdue University was asked to be involved in this cultural change effort by providing educational courses to enable these nine employees to successfully initiate and implement the necessary changes. Further, the university department was asked to select an instructor who could function in many different capacities: instructor, facilitator, coach, guide, advisor and mentor.
Over a period of two months the company and university closely collaborated to form a partnership. The company's top management team, with full support from their corporate headquarters staff, developed 'learning outcomes' or success factors that, if accomplished, would signify true lasting change. The university instructor then selected three courses which were given in succession. He altered the curricula in the courses so the outcome would best satisfy the organization's needs and fulfill the university requirements. The most significant aspect of the courses was the immediate hands-on application of the course content in the 'living lab' (plant facility). Feedback from the students, management, union leaders and other employees was used as the basis for further learning opportunities and revision of change plans.
APPLIED LEADERSHIP - COURSE #1
In the "Applied Leadership" course the students learned first the primary theories associated with being a leader. Then they learned the critical, yet difficult, actions associated with leadership, especially the theories needed to be applied in a transformational change effort. Many case studies were included in this course so the students could learn from the successes and failures of other companies.1,2,3 Examples of some companies4,5,6,7,8,9 studied were Ciba Geigy, BankAmerica, General Motors, Rubbermaid and Walt Disney. Using this information as a basis, the students followed an organization development intervention mode and surveyed every level, department and functioning team in their company to identify the major elements which would impede any change effort.
Once these encumbrances were identified, the students categorized them according to those within their power and authority to directly impact and those which would require higher level intervention such as company or corporate management. The items which they, the student-change-agents, could directly impact were prioritized and possible actions to overcome them were identified. Top management and union leaders were included in action plan discussions for the second category items which were out of the students' domain.
The consensus barriers within the students' domain were (1) the lack of clarity about cultural change, (2) questionable commitment to cultural change by management, supervision and union leaders, (3) the lack of experience and credibility of the change agents, (4) the uncertainty of what change dimensions to measure and how to measure 'change' and (5) the reward structure was not linked to nor supportive of cultural change.
These main barriers and the applied leadership educational enlightenment became the foundation for the next course.
SUPERVISED PRACTICUM - COURSE #2
An andragogy approach10 was used in the "Supervised Practicum" course which primarily consisted of independent research and application of leadership theories and principles under the instructor's supervision and guidance. First, in-depth student-instructor discussions occurred concerning the course requirements or expectations. These were based upon the original 'learning outcomes' developed by the company-university partnership. A variety of possible methodologies for accomplishing these outcomes were considered and then each student developed a 'learning contract.' These documents specified exactly what would be accomplished relative to his or her current and future leadership role within the company, department and union. In four instances a salaried and a hourly employee were from the same department so they became leader teams and developed a composite learning contract specifying how they would be inter-dependent and support each other's personal learning contract.
The first expected outcome was to complete, individually or as a team and then collectively, an in-depth analysis of the company's present culture. The class considered many definitions of culture and settled on a broad-based five-part one by Deal and Kennedy.11 Their approach considers a company's values, heroes, rites and rituals, cultural network and the business environment. Specifically, these items are:
Using this understanding of culture, the students as change-agent leaders, involved all employees with whom they impacted in every department, on every shift and at every level in the determination and analysis of the company's present culture. An overall composite culture was then developed via consensus of the students. The culture turned out to be quite negative bereft with fears of change, failure, reprisals, being held accountable in an autocratic-supervisory-blaming environment which was quite non-communicative and adversarial. Agreement seemed easy to reach but the students varied greatly about the level or degree the 'negative' culture existed.
Their second task was to define the future desired culture. Using guidance from the instructor, input from the CEO and top management, and union leaders plus numerous company documents including the company mission, a future cultural "vision" was developed which included the desired core values and guiding principles. The present cultural state was compared to the future "vision" for a gap analysis. The students then identified the major causes contributing to the current 'negative' culture in those areas where large gaps existed. Using this information, plans were formulated identifying how they, the change-agent leaders, would function while trying to transform the organization. The instructor advised, coached, counseled and guided each student-leader through the process.
MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE - COURSE #3
The students' next course was "Management of Change" in which they used all their prior information to determine exactly how the change would transpire. They agreed, as leaders, how they could depend upon each other during this massive undertaking. All aspects of their role as leader's during a transformational change effort were considered in the development of the strategic and operational plans. Additionally, a management action plan was developed since production and some stability had to be maintained throughout the change process. All anticipated barriers and possible counteractions were identified (see Applied Leadership course) and incorporated into the plans.
Key communication partnerships between the change-agent leaders and management, supervisory and union leaders were established to guarantee their commitment and continued support during the transformation. These linkages would assure timely and relevant information flow both vertically and horizontally. Regular all-employee meetings were introduced to keep everyone up-to-date on past, present and future occurrences relative to the change effort. The whole approach was to eliminate any and all surprises while keeping all employees informed.
Cultural change training and development programs were initiated so (1) all aspects of the present and future culture could be explained and understood, and (2) any system, process or other concern could be identified and addressed.
SUMMARY
These plans and others are now being implemented. The students learned about leadership in a real life setting through their education and application. They were totally involved in every step of this transformational change and emerged as "leaders."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Schermerhorn, Jr. J. R. "Management for Productivity" Fourth Edition, Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1993.
2. Schneider, B., Gunnarson, S.K., Niles-Jolly, K. "Creating the Climate and Culture of Success," Organizational Dynamics, Summer 1994, pp. 17 - 29.
3. Robbins, S. "Organizational Behavior: Concepts, Controversies, Applications," Seventh Edition, Simon & Schuster Company, New Jersey, 1995.
4. Kennedy, C. "Changing the Company Culture at Ciba-Geigy," Long Range Planning, February 1993, pp. 18 - 27.
5. Miller, D. "What Happens After Success: The Perils of Excellence," Journal of Management Studies, May 1994, pp. 11 - 38.
6. Mitchell, R. "Managing by Values," Business Week, August 1, 1994, pp. 46 - 52.
7. Kerwin, K. "Can Jack Smith Fix GM?" Business Week, November 1, 1993, pp. 126 - 131.
8. Farnham, A. "America's Most Admired Company," Fortune, February 7, 1994, pp. 50- 54.
9. Knowlton, C. "How Disney Keeps the Magic Going," Fortune, December 4, 1989, pp. 111 - 132.
10. Caffarella, R.S. and O'Donnell, J.M. "Self-Directed Adult Learning: A Critical Paradigm Revisited" Adult Education Quarterly, Volume 37, Number 4, Summer 1987, pp. 199 - 211.
11. Deal, T.E. and Kennedy, A.A. "Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life" Macmillan Executive Summary Program, Volume 3, Number 9, September 1987.