Assignment Sample on 7002 CRB Professional Development
Introduction
Consulting is one of the approaches to operate the management of the organization in an effective way while it has been observed that the main objective of a consultancy firm is to improve the performance of an organization. In the report, the internal and external environment, leadership and management challenges of Newsprinter will be discussed in detail.
Section 1: An analysis of the company’s strategic position
Overview of the company
Newsprinter is a paper manufacturing company even though it has been mentioned that the company is situated in the United Kingdom. Moreover, it may be implied that the company is a part of a multinational company, as well as the company, has printed 60% to 70% of national titles in the UK. On the contrary, the business of the company has fallen by 5% to 8% every year due to some reasons.
1. Identification and application of two appropriate tools and techniques to analyse
- A) The internal environment of the company
The internal environment of the company may be described by SWOT analysis:-
| Strength
One of the biggest strengths of Newsprinter is that the company has invested £600 million which indicates that there was no shortage of funds in the company. Moreover, it may be implied that Newsprinter is part of a multinational company and it is a renowned paper printing company in the UK which indicates that the brand value of the company is one of the strengths of the company. On the contrary, it may be opined that the brand value of a company may enhance the competitiveness level of the organization (Gupta et al., 2020). |
Weakness
One of the biggest weaknesses of the company is that the industry has been diminishing for 20 to 30 years and for that reason the company has faced lots of difficulties. Additionally, due to the diminishing conditions of the industry, the revenues of the company have decreased significantly. Due to poor leadership styles, the company has hired many extra employees who are not directly related to production, for that reason the expenses of the company have increased while the revenue of the company is not growing significantly. |
| Opportunity
The management of the company has invested in implementing new technologies which may help to increase the production and profit of the company. Apart from that, the printing technology of the company is better than any other company in the UK. |
Threats
It has been observed that the leadership styles of Newsprinter are the biggest threat while establishing effective communication is another threat to the company. |
Table 1: SWOT analysis of Newsprinter
(Source: self-created)
- B) The external environment of the company
The external environment of the company may be discussed by the PESTEL framework-
Political factors
It may be opined that the company is located in the United Kingdom while it has been observed that the political decisions are the strategy of the British government is extremely helpful for the growth of the company. Moreover, it may be observed that due to Brexit the organizations of the UK have been poorly affected while the entire productivity of the organization has decreased by 2% to 5% (Bloom et al., 2019).
Economic factors
It has been observed that the inflation rate of the UK has been increased significantly as well as it may be opined that the consumer price inflation rate of the UK has increased by 2.1% which may affect the production of the company (Ons.gov.uk. 2021).
Social factors
The youth generation of the country is not fond of reading newspapers while the majority of the country has used digital news platforms while Newsprinter needs to establish a digital platform to increase the revenue of the company.
Technological factors
It may be opined that in the United Kingdom the technology is growing day by day while it has created a fatalistic impact on the news printing industry. On the contrary, the Company needs to implement strategic planning to establish a digital change through innovative technology which may help to attract the young generation to read newspapers on digital platforms.
Environmental factors
The main raw material of the company is papermaking pulp which comes from trees while using lots of papermaking pulp may create a harmful impact on the environment.
Legal factors
Newsprinter needs to implement the contract law which will help to appoint employees through a proper contract even though it may cut down the extra expenses of the company.
2. This analysis of the company’s strategic position
- a) Leadership and communication
One of the biggest issues of the company is that the management of Newsprinter is not able to implement an effective leadership style that may help to manage the employees of the organization. Due to ineffective leadership, the company has hired extra working staff such as extra cleaning staff which may increase the production of the company. On the other hand, it may be opined that the company has recruited lots of cleaning and peripheral staff who are not directly related to production even though the management of the company has decided to cut peripheral employees to cut down the expenses. Moreover, it may be mentioned that the main approach of leadership is to increase the organizational performance of a company while it has been observed that ineffective leadership styles resulted in low productivity and high production cost (Ibrahim and Daniel, 2019). Additionally, the leadership skills of the company are not suitable to manage the employees of a multinational company. Apart from this, the communication level of the company was not so effective while it has created lots of difficulties in the organization. Furthermore, it may be asserted that effective communication is extremely impactful to increase the organizational performance and construct the organization while it helps to maintain a healthy relationship with all stakeholders of a company (Leje et al., 2019). In addition to that, the higher management of the company did not check the messages properly which is the main reason for miscommunication in the whole department of Newsprinter.
- b) The company culture including its ethical and value base
The organizational culture of the company is extremely old and it may help to control the environment of the organization. On a contradictory note, it may be implied that the organizational culture of the company is based on authoritarian styles even though the culture of the company is not suitable to incense the production of the company in an effective way. In addition to that, the organizational culture of the company consists of humanity, honesty and trust while it is extremely difficult for the company to spread the cultural values all over the company.
- c) The company’s position in the sector
It may be opined that the industry is shrinking day by day which is one of the biggest issues of the company while the company has printed 60% to 70% of national titles which is the strength of the company. The management of Newsprinter has invested in printing machines which are best in the market, however, after all the innovation the company’s annual revenue is not growing significantly.
- d) A critical evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the tools and techniques
Strengths
One of the biggest strengths of the SWOT is that it may easily manage the various amounts of data while it may help to recognize the opportunities and threats of an organization. Moreover, it may be implied that the PESTEL analysis may develop strategic thinking and provide a clear concept of the external environment of a company.
Limitations
One of the biggest limitations of the SWOT analysis is that it is oversimplified which may not help to amylase the data in an effective way. On the contrary, it may be implied that if the external factor changes then it may harm the growth of the company which is considered as one of the limitations of PESTEL analysis.
- e) The client needs
The management of the company needs to conduct digital changes which may help to increase the satisfaction level of clients as well as the company needs to conduct a contract law and requires termination of the peripheral employees to exist in the industry.
3. The main issues that need to addressed
The management of Newsprinter needs to address the leadership problem of the company while due to ineffective leadership the company has faced lots of difficulties. Moreover, it may be argued that the main approach of the leadership is to address and resolve the problems of an organization even though the leadership skills of the company are not suitable to resolve the issue of the company. Apart from that, due to ineffective leadership, the management of the company is not able to manage the employees while the leadership of the company may result in ineffective communication. On a broader note, it may be implied that effective leadership is extremely important to increase the motivation and job satisfaction of employees of an organization which will help to establish a trustful environment in the workplace (Koohang et al., 2017). Additionally, the management of Newsprinter needs to resolve the issues of the organization through improving the communication level in the overall organization otherwise it may harm the future goals of the company.
Section 2: Recommendations to the organisation
Three recommendations for the company
1. Democratic leadership should be adopted
Democratic leadership should be adopted within the organisation as it will help in dividing the responsibilities between people and ensuring an atmosphere of trust between the leaders and the subordinates. Moreover, it may be stated that the democratic form of leadership will help in analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the leader so that improvements may be done in their leadership style. It may be noted that it is not feasible for one person to fulfil all responsibilities so it is important to divide the responsibilities among trustworthy people. A good leader needs to provide opportunities to other people as they will be able to fill the gaps that are present in the leadership style of the leader. Democratic leadership is a good style of leadership as it will help in increasing the amount of motivation of employees and enable the employees to perform better with increased productivity (İnce, 2018). Democratic leadership may be able to enable innovation within the company as it will allow employees to present their ideas freely. The democratic style of leadership will enable leaders to be themselves as people tend to find out easily if the leaders are not being themselves because the employees are perceptive. Democratic leadership will enable creativity and brainstorming of ideas as a result of which the company will be able to make strategic decisions on matters of importance.
2. Communication should be improved
Communication should be improved within the organisation as the company faces problems in effectively facilitating communication among all employees. It may be noted that the company communicates through newsletters, notices and emails and despite that there is a communication gap within the employees. A person visiting the company from the outside will feel that good communication is maintained within the organisation as there are too many notice boards within the organisation. However, communication is a two-way process and while the sender sends the message it needs to actually reach the intended recipient in order to get the desired outcomes. The company fails miserably in ensuring that the message reaches the intended recipient and the recipient actually understands the message as a result of which a huge communication gap is evident within the company. The effective facilitation of communication within an organisation is necessary as it increases mutual understanding and improves relationships with stakeholders (Borner and Zerfass, 2018). Moreover, it may be stated that effective communication will also improve the decision-making process in the company as it will help in gathering as much information as possible about the stakeholders of the company. Additionally, it may be stated that enhanced communication within the organisation will help in improving the prevailing organisational culture.
3. The company should start making cuts
The company pays the employees more than market rates as a result of which the company is facing a financial crisis. The profit margin of the company is reduced as the company’s revenue gets spent in paying the employees. On a broader note, it may be stated that the company is required to pay the employees according to market price so that the company does not run on loss. The company has always operated on a large-scale so it is difficult for the company to cut down its expenses as getting investments has never been a problem for the company. However, since the industry has been declining since the past few years and the company strives to be one of the last surviving companies in the news printing industry, the company needs to wisely make amends.
Section 3: Implementation of Recommendations
1. Implementation of the recommendations
Democratic leadership may be achieved within the organisation by conducting all the operations in the company with honesty and transparency. It may be noted that if honesty and transparency is maintained by the leaders it will automatically spread within the organisation. The leaders are expected to exhibit humility as it makes leaders more believable and employees follow their guidance and direction to achieve organisational goals. Communication within the organisation needs to be maintained in an effective manner so that the operations of the company are being conducted efficiently. It may be mentioned that organizing frequent meetings at regular intervals will help in the free flow of communication among the employees. The employees are required to be notified about important issues within the organisation as it will enable them to gather knowledge about the views of employees on a matter of strategic importance. The employees are required to be encouraged to take work related emails seriously and the employees may come up with queries if they do not understand what is being communicated.
The company needs to get rid of employees who are not useful for the company as it will help in reducing the expense of the company. Moreover, it may be opined that the company is required to develop a new salary structure according to the market rate so that no employee is paid more than what they deserve and the company does not run on loss. The company needs to hire as many employees as required because the presence of extra employees is creating a situation of disguised unemployment within the organisation. Furthermore, it may be opined that the company needs to recruit new talents who will be able to learn new skills quickly and contribute towards the growth and development of the company.
2. The Leadership styles, strategy and communicating styles of Newsprinter
- a) The authoritarian leadership style is based on control and even though it reduces time consumption as one person is responsible for taking all decisions it curtails creativity. Participative leadership style is considered to be an effective leadership style for giving rise to innovations as it allows all employees to participate in the decision-making process. Democratic leadership is the kind of leadership in which autonomy is provided to the employees and the employees are delegated more responsibilities as a result of which an atmosphere of trust and cooperation is created within the organisation. Transactional leadership is the leadership style of making employees more productive by transactions between employees and leaders in the form of rewards and incentives. Transformational leadership is known to positively influence job satisfaction and organisational commitment of employees as transformational leaders help employees to achieve personal as well as professional goals (Eliyana and Ma’arif, 2019).
- b) The communication needs to be improved within the organisation so that the stakeholders properly understand the vision of the company. The vision needs to be defined clearly so that the stakeholders such as business partners and employees develop a better understanding of the vision of the company and implement actions that align with the vision of the company. On the other hand, it may be argued that clearly defining the vision helps in getting all the stakeholders on board for achieving the aims and objectives of the organisation. The key to communicating the vision of the company to the stakeholders lies in valuing employee engagement as it will make employees work hard and implement strategies to attain the vision of the company. The communication of corp[orate strategies to internal and external stakeholders is important as it helps in taking suitable actions for the achievement of organisational goals (Köhler and Zerfass, 2019).
- c) The leadership strategies involve defining the organisational aims and objectives as it helps in getting a clear idea about the way in which the goals may be achieved. Leaders need to recognise the high-performing employees in the company so that the employees feel motivated to perform even better. On the other hand, it may be argued that acknowledging the contribution of the employees towards the organisation will enable to increase the commitment of the employees towards the organisation. Furthermore, it may be opined that leadership strategies will involve training the employees as the transformation towards the digital new medium will require effective training of the employees to deal with the change. It may be noted that leadership strategies revolving around increasing extrinsic motivation increases the commitment of employees due to indebtedness (Krajcsák, 2019).
3. Action plan for achieving SMART objectives
| SMART objectives | Action to be taken | Person responsible | Resources required | Time required |
| The specific objective is to employ democratic leadership. | Responsibilities will be divided among employees. | Top level leaders and managers | Human resources | 2 months |
| The measurable objective is to maintain honesty and transparency in all operations. | The operations conducted in the organisation will be analysed. | Admin Manager | Human and financial resources | 3 months |
| The achievable goal is to facilitate effective communication among employees. | Meetings will be scheduled at regular intervals. | Top level managers | Human resources | 3 months |
| The realistic goal is to cut down the expenses of the company. | Employees will be paid according to market rate. | Accounts Team | Financial resources | 2 months |
| The time bound goal is to hire eligible and suitable employees. | Interviews will be conducted for the most suitable employees for the company. | Human Resource Managers | Human and financial resources | 3 months |
Table 2: Action plan for implementing the recommendations with SMART objectives
(Source: Self-Created)
Section 4: Critical Reflection
Description
The leadership and management competencies that I am the most aware of are problem solving as resolving the conflicts is the key to becoming an effective leader. According to me, leaders need to be honest and transparent so that the leader is able to influence others to conduct the operations of a company in an ethical manner. Leadership and management competencies involve the sharing of knowledge and motivating employees to follow the footsteps of the leaders (Jamieson and Donald, 2020).
Feelings
I feel that leaders are required to aid the personal and professional development of employees so that the organisational goals are being met as well. I think that leaders need to be empathetic and understand the situations of the employees so that the employees freely share their issues with the leaders. I believe that the leaders are required to influence the employees to be more creative and imaginative so that innovation may be obtained within the organisation.
Evaluation
The professional framework of leadership is based on leading people, leading oneself and leading the organisation so that effective leadership is implemented. I think that leadership needs to be able to develop and refine strategies according to the needs of the organisation and the employees. It may be stated that the employees need to be trained effectively so that the employees are able to become future leaders and lead the organisation (Seemiller, 2018).
Analysis
I have analysed that leadership is all about vision and planning so that employees are able to develop faith in the leaders and depend on the leaders to guide them in the right direction. I believe that leaders need to be able to facilitate effective communication among employees so that the operations of the organisation are maintained in a proper manner.
Conclusion
It may be concluded that leadership is about guiding the employees towards achieving organisational goals. I feel that leaders need to be focused on directing others as the employees are dependent on the leaders to guide them on the right path.
Action Plan
I will develop a better understanding about the leadership styles so that the most effective style may be implemented according to the situation. I will learn to effectively communicate with the employees so that the organisational conflicts may be resolved and a better organisational culture may be achieved.
Conclusion
From the above, it may be concluded that the management of Newsprinter needs to build a strategic plan to increase the growth of the company. Additionally, the company needs to implement effective leadership styles to resolve the challenges of the company in an effective way.
References
Bloom, N., Bunn, P., Chen, S., Mizen, P., Smietanka, P. and Thwaites, G., 2019. The impact of Brexit on UK firms (No. w26218). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Borner, M. and Zerfass, A., 2018. The power of listening in corporate communications: Theoretical foundations of corporate listening as a strategic mode of communication. In Public Relations and the Power of Creativity. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Eliyana, A. and Ma’arif, S., 2019. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment effect in the transformational leadership towards employee performance. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 25(3), pp.144-150.
Gupta, S., Gallear, D., Rudd, J. and Foroudi, P., 2020. The impact of brand value on brand competitiveness. Journal of Business Research, 112, pp.210-222.
Ibrahim, A.U. and Daniel, C.O., 2019. Impact of leadership on organisational performance. International Journal of Business, Management and Social Research, 6(2), pp.367-374.
İnce, F., 2018. The effect of democratic leadership on organizational cynicism: A study on public employees. İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi, 10(2), pp.245-253.
Jamieson, M. and Donald, J., 2020. Building the engineering mindset: Developing leadership and management competencies in the engineering curriculum. Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA).
Köhler, K. and Zerfass, A., 2019. Communicating the corporate strategy: An international benchmark study in the UK, the USA, and Germany. Journal of Communication Management.
Koohang, A., Paliszkiewicz, J. and Goluchowski, J., 2017. The impact of leadership on trust, knowledge management, and organizational performance: A research model. Industrial Management & Data Systems.
Krajcsák, Z., 2019. Leadership strategies for enhancing employee commitment in TQM. Journal of Management Development.
Leje, M.I., Kasimu, M.A. and Kolawole, A.F., 2019. Impacts of Effective Communication towards Performance of Construction Organization. Traektoriâ Nauki= Path of Science, 5(8).
Ons.gov.uk. 2021. Inflation and price indices – Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: <https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices> [Accessed 12 July 2021].
Seemiller, C., 2018. A competency-based model for youth leadership development. Journal of leadership education, 17(1).
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