BUSI1360 Managerial Practice & Theory Assignment Sample

Introduction: Description of critical incident

Critical incidents involve the learning situations that a learner experiences as exceptional, meaningful, and effective (Viergever, 2019). Such incidents and events result in significant educational learning and personal growth. Critical incident reflection can be used in various ways to develop narratives on the basis of recall of an experience. Such incidents are significant for gaining rich information regarding any experience (Awidi and Paynter, 2019). This assignment is based on reflecting on the critical incident I experienced during my internship. Thus, this report links my internship experience to the applicable leadership and change management theories. While fulfilling my responsibilities at the internship, I have developed various skills and competencies. In addition, I have also learned about some of the weaknesses I aim to improvise. This assignment covers my experience of the critical incident I encountered in leading the team and implementing change management. For this purpose, the assessment also analyses my performance against the two leadership and change management theories using defined literature. A detailed analysis of the alignment of my experience with the two theories has been done in the report. Lastly, this writing highlights my learning and evaluates the skills I have developed and areas I am needed to improve.

The critical incident describes the situation during the internship where I managed team members with different points of view and cultures. This created internal conflicts among the team members, and I was required to deal with these conflicts and motivate the team members to a common goal and shared task. With this, I also got the challenge of identifying the customer’s concerns and problems regarding the company and enhancing their experience. For this reason, I have concentrated on managing my team so we can achieve this task as efficiently as possible. However, the biggest challenge I encountered during this experience was applying the change in the team and company. To evaluate the customer’s preferences and enrich their experience, I first decided to implement certain technologies and digitalize the customer satisfaction process. I was responsible for gathering evidence of this innovative idea’s success; I got support and constant help from my team members. This was when I realized that the team members were quite satisfied with me and that I could come up as a good and effective team leader. However, there were also situations when I proved incapable of motivating two team members. This was my realization of my lack of motivation skills. The incident has made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses; thus, it is very beneficial for my career. Another self-developmental area that I have identified is my time management competency. I learned that I need to work on this skill to make me capable of working further as a key professional. However, while implementing the change within the team, I efficiently handled the situation of resistance to change when some team members resisted involving in the process. However, with my effective communication skill, I made them involved in the team working. I have used several techniques to engage them in the tasks, such as communicating with them and sharing the vision of the change and the benefits of the change process. Apart from this, this critical incident was fruitful for the company and me. This is because the company has experienced a slight increase in their sales volume, and the customers responded positively. The customers started commenting in favour of the company, and it increased word-of-mouth marketing. Overall, the implementation of AI and CRM was useful (Khan and Iqbal, 2020). For example, Artificial intelligence helps analyze customer data and identify customers’ buying preferences. Apart from this, this allowed on-demand assistance and immediate service that reduced the consumers’ queries. Furthermore, CRM software helped gain customer data, behaviour, and communications and helped in tailoring business practices to serve the customers better (Nurjannah et. al. 2022).

Link of the incident to leadership theory

Leadership can be defined as the action of leading a group of individuals or an organization (Pawar et. al. 2020). This is concerned with taking risks and motivating others to attain something better and new. Similarly, I have applied my leadership during internship by motivating the team members to adopt the change. A good leader possesses numerous capabilities, from self-awareness, adaptability, and risk-taking, to motivating others. For instance, I have recognized my adaptability skill of embracing change as per the situations and risk-taking competency.

There are several key frameworks of leadership; ethical and servant. Servant leadership is based on leaders prioritising serving the greater benefit. This is based on the philosophy that the key goal of a leader is to serve. The core elements of servant leadership are encouraging diversity of thought, fostering leadership attributes in others, and having a selfless mindset. The servant leader is the servant first and ensures that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The traits of a servant leader are authenticity, courage, integrity, listening, and accountability. For example, during internship, I gathered my courage to come up with innovative idea of implementing change within organization and also listened to the team members.

On the other hand, Coetzer et. al. (2017) stated that a servant leader must possess stewardship skills, develop relationships, and have a compelling vision. Applying servant leadership within a business organization increases work engagement, commitment, and self-efficacy. Contrary to this, at the team level, this leadership leads to increased service climate and culture and team organizational citizenship behaviour.

Apart from servant leadership, ethical leadership refers to individuals behaving as per a set of values and principles that are very well recognized by the majority as a sound basis (Banks et. al. 2021). Ethical leaders promote citizenship behaviour, innovation, and well-being. According to Duan et. al. (2018) Ethical leadership has several benefits, from higher productivity to increased loyalty towards the company. Ethical leaders do not believe in business, and fairness is ensured in every situation (Schwepker Jr and Dimitriou, 2021). Thus, ethical leadership theory concentrates on setting ethical direction and directing the organization accordingly.

Considering these two frameworks, I analysed that my experience connects and links with the servant leadership theory. I identified this because the key trait of servant leadership theory is courage. During the leadership experience, I demonstrated courage by initiating the change within the organization and convincing everyone within the team to work on the same. Besides this, another characteristic is listening. I have the listening capability because I listened to the opinions and suggestions of the team members. This reduced the level of employee resistance and made the whole process successful. One of the most important advantages of being a good listener can be stated as that it enables an individual to understand the perspective of other individuals very well. Considering my experience, being a good listener helped me develop better relationships with the team members and increased my sense of trust and confidence among the team members. This is one of the most important leadership qualities I think I have. This also enhanced my value and respect among the team members because they started understanding my perspective and helped me in difficult situations. Apart from this, at the individual level, I have also experienced that with the application of servant leadership theory, I have observed an increased work engagement. I recognized several times that the team members were motivated and determined to attain the goals, and we were excited to fulfil their responsibilities. This has enhanced the level of employee participation, and the engagement has resulted in generating positive outcomes (Iqbal et. al. 2020). Moreover, creativity and innovation are also factors that helped me execute the work tasks and functions.

Empathy is another crucial servant leadership principle that connects to my experience. This can be defined as the capacity or ability to feel and understand what another person is facing from within their frame of reference (Eva et. al. 2019). The leaders are required to consider the situation from the perspective of the team members, but they are also needed to understand the emotions and feelings that accompany the situation. Developing my empathetic skills has supported me in improvising my capability to respond to a different range of situations better. It can be stated that effective servant leaders are determined to understand and respond to the unique needs and experiences of the team members. Similar to this, I also remained attentive to identifying what my team members were going through. This perspective contributed to my understanding of the challenges they are facing so that I can resolve them even before they speak. as a team leader, I considered my responsibility to be available for my team members every time so that they cannot face any situation alone and can ensure that I Acknowledge their contribution.

Moreover, it is also stated that a servant leader is required to have a broad awareness, mainly self-awareness. A servant leader must have the capability to see situations and circumstances from a comprehensive and complete perspective (Bavik, 2019). Being aware of the actions and the impact of the actions on others is the major quality of servant leadership. Considering this, the first thing I did while entering the internship program was to reflect on myself. Before analyzing and judging others, I always focused on my attributes and my developmental areas. I was aware of the impact of my actions, so I emphasized leading by example. For instance, after implementing the change management within the team, I started working on the same, so I could guide my team members. Also, I asked them to find the challenges they were facing and communicate the same to me. I believe it is important for a leader to communicate with every team member regarding the issues they must face.

Summing up, it can be concluded that the critical incident I encountered during my internship completely links to Servant leadership theory. This is because the servant leader’s idea is to prioritize the greater good of others. Similarly, I have focused on achieving the company’s vision and offering strong support to my subordinates and team members. I emphasize not only evaluating and developing my strengths but also the strengths and abilities of my team members. I ensured that they must be aware of their strengths and weaknesses to ensure their self-development and professional development.

Link of the incident to the change management theory

Change management can be referred to as the process, techniques, and tools to manage the people side of change to attain the needed business outcome (Kotter, 2012). This is the systematic approach to transforming an organization’s goals, technologies, and processes. By (2005) mentioned that the purpose of this theory is to embrace and implement strategies for effective change, control the same, and help people adopt change. However, change management is important for organizations but equally challenging. The company and the change leaders face various barriers in implementing change, from leaving the comfort zone to employees’ resistance. The three most widely used change management frameworks are Kanter’s ten commandments for change execution, Luecke’s seven steps, and Kotter’s eight-step change process. Considering Kanter’s change process, there are ten commandments, including creating a vision, supporting a strong leadership role, communicating, reinforcing change, etc. As per Kotter’s change management process, there are eight steps, from creating a sense of urgency to anchoring new and improved cultural approaches. Lastly, Luecke has seven steps of change: mobilizing energy, developing a shared vision, focusing on results, and monitoring strategies (Luecke, 2003).

Figure 2: Kotter’s change management model

Source: (Paul, 2021)

From the above three change management models, it can be mentioned that I have applied Kotter’s change management model in my team to implement the change. For this, the first step is creating a sense of urgency, and the same has been done by me. I identified the situation and observed that the customer’s confidence and trust were declining. Therefore, it has become vital to winning their trust by enhancing their experience level. This was the first key potential threat that could arise in the distant future, and for this, I thought of developing various ideas to resolve this issue. Then, I identified some stakeholders in the organization and asked for their support in implementing my vision. I directly communicated it to my immediate manager, and he appreciated me for becoming so focused towards my work. I created a coalition and operated it as a team. I believe that it is important to have diversity in the team so that different perspectives and insights can be acquired. For this, I choose four different members from different fields to implement my idea efficiently.

After that, I started working on change management and created a vision for this change. After outlining a key vision, I made it clear and understandable so that it can be easy for everyone to understand the same. I used visuals to map out this system and process to identify what is working and what is not. This visual has helped me establish a sense of urgency among everyone and formulate a clear vision for the change. I created a logical strategy to communicate the same to my team members, the immediate manager, and the senior management team. Fortunately, I communicated the vision concisely to everyone and got support. Communication is one of the most important but difficult aspects because communication is important for getting approval (Burk-Rafel et. al. 2020). However, within this stage, I realized that I have good communication skills as I could convince everyone regarding my change vision. I communicated persuasively and convincingly regarding my vision, and I tied the vision to everything within the company, including operations and core values. I communicated that customers are the key important personnel and stakeholders of this organization, and their satisfaction and trust in the company are important. Therefore, for their trust and to achieve their loyalty, the implementation of the software’s in the company and relying on the software is important.

However, two of my team members were not convinced of my strategy, and they resisted this change. However, I believe that resistance to change is a common phenomenon and is expected during any change management process. I tried my level best to communicate the importance of this change for the company to every employee, but still, I felt that I had to remove certain obstacles to deal with this employee resistance. Firstly, I communicated and interacted personally with every team member so they would not hesitate to communicate their concerns and queries to me. After identifying their problems, I assured them that I would be available at every time to deal with them while working with new technologies. I even made them realize the development of skills they can experience while working on new systems and with new functions. Apart from this, I strongly believe that to motivate and encourage anyone, it is important to create short-term wins. These victories can be a great motivator for people who are working on the new vision (Kotter, 2012). Setting-up different short-term projects and embedding a culture of healthy competition is vital. This makes the people feel encouraged while working with this change management process. I also rewarded the team members who met the target sufficiently and without any excuses.

Lastly, it can be stated that with all the steps, I got the complete support of my team members as well as the senior management. Everyone was convinced regarding the importance of this change, and we started working together in order to identify the drawbacks in the whole project as well as the areas where improvisation could be done. Lastly, after the implementation of the new techniques and software in the system, everyone started using it efficiently. It can be stated that this change has been anchored in the corporate culture, and to ensure its efficient functioning, I always communicated the functioning of the new system with the team members. I analyzed the progress so that opportunities, as well as threats, could be identified and dealt with efficiently. Moreover, it can be stated that as a change manager, during my internship, I got to know and develop my knowledge of process control, business administration, and management. I experienced different stages of identifying the requirement of change as well as implementing the same in the company. I believe that I have developed certain capabilities of a change manager, such as excellent communication skills, taking responsibility for the team, making sound decisions and resolving problems.

Conclusion and reflection

The whole experience taught me about the leadership aspects and change management scenarios. With this internship, I got an opportunity to lead the team, deal with issues that arise during conflicts, and handle resistance to change. Eventually, this incident made me confident, and now I believe I can lead the team more effectively and contribute to the organization’s change management process. Besides this, I also got technical knowledge while implementing and working on the two software. The technical know-how will surely support me and ease my work in my future career. The knowledge I acquired regarding working co-ordinately with different departments and the importance of customer service will further guide me as a successful professional. The major strengths that I have developed are my leadership and communication skill. I refer to these two as strengths because I could fulfil my internship goal effectively with these.

Contrary to this, the areas where improvisation is needed are time management competency, critical thinking capability, and motivation skills. I will develop my time management skill by learning to prioritize the tasks and setting reminders for every task. Further, to enhance my motivation capability and become an influential leader, I will start supporting the team members and identifying the factors that motivate them the most. For this, I will set appropriate goals to help people stay intact to the tasks. Lastly, to widen my knowledge of critical thinking, I will discover various facts about any issue and think from different perspectives.

References

Awidi, I.T. and Paynter, M., (2019). The impact of a flipped classroom approach on student learning experience. Computers & Education, 128, pp.269-283.

Banks, G.C., Fischer, T., Gooty, J. and Stock, G., (2021). Ethical leadership: Mapping the terrain for concept cleanup and a future research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(2), p.101471.

Bavik, A., (2019). A systematic review of the servant leadership literature in management and hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Burk-Rafel, J., Harris, K.B., Heath, J., Milliron, A., Savage, D.J. and Skochelak, S.E., (2020). Students as catalysts for curricular innovation: a change management framework. Medical Teacher, 42(5), pp.572-577.

By, R.T., (2005). Organisational change management: A critical review. Journal of change management, 5(4), pp.369-380.

Coetzer, M.F., Bussin, M. and Geldenhuys, M., (2017). The functions of a servant leader. Administrative Sciences, 7(1), p.5.

Duan, S., Liu, Z. and Che, H., (2018). Mediating influences of ethical leadership on employee creativity. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 46(2), pp.323-337.

Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., Van Dierendonck, D. and Liden, R.C., (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The leadership quarterly, 30(1), pp.111-132.

Iqbal, A., Latif, K.F. and Ahmad, M.S., (2020). Servant leadership and employee innovative behaviour: exploring psychological pathways. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Khan, S. and Iqbal, M., (2020, June). AI-Powered Customer Service: Does it Optimize Customer Experience?. In 2020 8th International Conference on Reliability, Infocom Technologies and Optimization (Trends and Future Directions)(ICRITO) (pp. 590-594). IEEE.

Kotter, J.P., (2012). Leading change. Harvard business press.

Luecke, R., (2003). Managing change and transition (Vol. 3). Harvard Business Press.

Nurjannah, N., Erwina, E., Basalamah, J. and Syahnur, M.H., (2022). The Impact of E-CRM and Customer Experience on E-Commerce Consumer Loyalty Through Satisfaction in Indonesia. MIX: Jurnal Ilmiah Manajemen, 12(1), pp.56-69.

Paul, (2021). John Kotter’s 8 stages of change management. [Online]. Accessed through: https://www.dreamendstate.com/2021/02/16/john-kotters-8-stages-of-change-management/ Accessed on: 5^th January, 2022.

Pawar, A., Sudan, K., Satini, S. and Sunarsi, D., (2020). Organizational servant leadership. International Journal of Educational Administration, Management, and Leadership, pp.63-76.

Schwepker Jr, C.H. and Dimitriou, C.K., (2021). Using ethical leadership to reduce job stress and improve performance quality in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, p.102860.

Thomas, (2022). What is servant leadership: Framework, 10 principles, and benefits. [Online]. Accessed through: https://www.strategypunk.com/servant-leadership-template/ Accessed on: 5^th January, 2022.

Viergever, R.F., (2019). The critical incident technique: method or methodology?. Qualitative health research, 29(7), pp.1065-1079.

Appendix

STARP Table	Notes
*Situation*	I experienced the situation of leading a team of four members, and we were involved in evaluating the customer’s needs. With this, I was also responsible for implementing key technologies in the company. I evaluated the situation and focused on installing AI and CRM software in the company. This also resulted in change management because this led to an operational and functional change in the company. I felt that I had experienced leadership capabilities and change management with this internship experience. I experienced this in the middle stage of the internship, and this situation has helped me enhance my overall experience.
*Task*	In that situation, I led the team and implemented effective change management. I understood the situation and focused on fulfilling my responsibilities in the best effective manner. I was required to motivate, inspire, and guide the team members so they could contribute positively. Overall, I felt extremely confident because this made me realize my leadership capabilities and understanding of leading a team with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Firstly, I understood the company’s need to enhance the customer experience and satisfy their requirements. While joining the internship, I made this task my goal and started working on the same. For this, I have also suggested some major ideas to my immediate manager; among these, the implementation of technologies was selected. However, the manager has also assigned me the task of not only implementing but managing the whole change while dealing with employees’ resistance.
*Action*	Given the situation, firstly, I took the key action of motivating the team members. I also started coordinating with the members of other departments, such as finance and research and development. This is because I was required to take funds and finance from the departments to implement the technologies. I also took the help of the research department to conduct the customer survey and gain insights into the changing customer preferences. I collected every piece of information to provide evidence to the senior management team regarding my idea. In this process, the team members have cooperated and supported me in every phase. It can be stated that the action was complete teamwork.
*Result*	After this implementation’s success and my team leader’s experience, it is worth stating that the result was successful. I have analyzed this result based on the appreciation I received from the company’s senior management. In addition, I have also observed the positive reviews and ratings from the company’s customers. This also increased the sales volume and customer loyalty. After this incident, I learned that working on problems and finding the right solutions is important. However, it can be said that as a leader, I am required to work on certain areas, such as motivating every team member. I faced some challenges that I consider my weak areas, and I am dedicated to resolving them by enriching my skills.
*Plan*	After the overall self-assessment, I have understood that I am required to expand my knowledge base and should focus on improving some skills. To ensure continuous progress in my career, I must start learning and gaining knowledge non-stop. Although I proved successful in my internship task, this incident has also helped me uncover my weaknesses. I am motivated to accept my weaknesses and address these through continuous learning. Hence, I plan to develop my time management, critical thinking, and motivation skills. I will learn more about the strategies, join some professional courses, and concentrate on achieving more practical exposure.