Seminar 11

What can we learn about effective strategic leadership from the PEPSICO case study? 

Effective strategic leadership at PEPSICO is mainly characterised by

• Effective partnerships (e.g. with Starbucks) as well as mergers and acquisitions in order to expand the company's market potential
• Locally customised products (with regards to flavour, etc.)
• A wide brand portfolio

Are being profitable and being responsible equally important? why? 


In my opinion there is a vice versa relationship between profit and responsibility in that customers nowadays expect companies not only to be profitable but also expect them to take responsibility for the well being of the environment, the public, etc. It is therefore vital for a firm to not only focus on profit but also take social responsibility. On the other hand a firm has to make profit in order to have the extra money to invest in projects that support the development/ protection of the society and its environment. It can therefore be said that both is equally important. 

How is their strategic leadership approach different or similar to other case studies?  

Similar 
+ Their approach to provide a wide range of products to cover different customer needs and pockets is similar to the "Carrefour approach" in that they also sell products of a wide spectrum.


+ PEPSICO's partnership- strategy in order to expand their customer potential is also applied by Madonna. The same holds true for their approach to position PEPSICO ("Madonna" respectively) as a strong flagship brand.


+ PEPSICO and IDEO both focus on the customer and provide products that best suit the needs/ preferences of the customer by individually (or regionally in case of PEPSICO) developing product specifications. 

Seminar 10

Why was the Faslane change successful? What did they do (or not do) that helped them to succeed?

It was agreed earlier that for change processes to be effective, they should include three steps: unfreeze, change and refreeze. Faslane and Babcock obviously managed to pass through these stages successfully. This was achieved as follows:

• Unfreeze: In order to make employees more receptive for the change process Faslane implemented "the event in the tent" sessions where employees can be informed about possible changes and goals but also are encouraged to raise issues and ask questions.
• Change: The actual change step at Faslane included various actions. Employees' focus "from the waterfront inwards rather than outwards to the ships" was turned into a clear customer oriented focus. A highly hierarchical structure was repealed in that management positions were cut. In regards to processes and procedures, series of review points were shortened what led to a speedier decision making process. Finally, the top-down leadership style was replaced through a bottom-up one and transactional management style became more transformational.
• Refreeze: The case study does not say much about this stage. However, Faslane must have been introducing changes to the organisation or structure that assure that change becomes a permanent part of the organisations.

What can we learn about effective strategic leadership from the Faslane case study?

The case study showed that especially during times of change an exchange of know-how is vital. This transfer must happen between new and experienced employees, generalists and specialists, and so on.

In addition, it became apparent that cost reductions and service improvements are possible at the same time. What is needed is a clear goal (strategic leader's responsibility), a certain autonomy for employees (limited autonomy is likely to be ineffective due to long decision making processes) and the inclusion of all affected stakeholders in the change process (customers, employees, local community, etc. in case of Faslane). 


Evidence for this leadership style being effective can be seen in the decision that Faslane would become the home base, not just for nuclear submarines but for the entire UK submarines fleet which means up to 2000 more jobs. 

How did their strategic leadership approach compare with Lynch's model?

This case study shows a hand full of parallels to the Lynch model.

• Organisation's purpose: The purpose to significantly reduce costs and improve operational effectiveness has been clearly defined and communicated within the company.  
• Competitive advantages (profit): The change in employees' mindset, speedier decision making processes, and more efficient operations clearly build the ground for sustainable competitive advantages over time. 
• Ethical standards: A focus on spending money (people's taxes) to receive the same budget again was turned into a customer oriented one what finally led to the creation of more jobs (clearly more ethical in my opinion).
• Stakeholders (external): The parent company, the MOD, the Navy Board, the commanding officer, security people, the local community, etc. were defined as stakeholders and the production process was geared accordingly.
• Human resources and organisational decisions (internal): Management of HR primarily happened in bringing change specialists from Babcock to sustain the change process at Faslane and in cutting jobs (mostly management people) to flatten the organisation's hierarchy. 

How was their strategic leadership approach different or similar to other case studies? 

Madonna's customer orientation, IDEO's strive to flat hierarchies and fast decision making processes, Energix's focus on numbers (in terms of goal definition), NHS's encouragement of open discussions can all be found in this case study to a certain point.