Blaze Mining Case Study

Blaze Mining Case Study

Leadership is crucial for the development of an organization, especially in the modern, rapidly changing business environment. Poor leadership affects the performance of employees, thus affecting the general performance of an organization. The Blaze mining company is at risk of incurring losses due to reduced performance because there is a lack of collaboration among internal teams hence damaging the operation and management of critical functions. The company also lacks proper leadership because the leadership is antagonistic. The type of change proposed to improve the performance is adopting collaborative leadership, whereby internal teams work together with leadership to manage and operate critical functions. Newell et al. (2012) argue that this type of leadership focuses on sharing power among groups and units in an organization. It is widely accepted as an integral part of achieving anticipated organizational performance. Lack of collaboration among leaders in an organization reduces motivation and increases conflict because individuals are in constant competition to outdo one another. It is, therefore, important to promote collaborative leadership, particularly in organizations working in teams. The ability of team members to collaborate is important for team effectiveness and the general performance of an organization. Blaze Mining Company should, therefore, focus on creating a unified team motivated to promote the company’s success. The proposed intervention will include three workshop sessions that will be held for three months, with each workshop running for one month, a specialized intervention with every department, and a wrap-up session engaging all stakeholders. Enhancing team building and effective leadership through workshops and leadership coaching promotes the effectiveness of collaborative leadership by encouraging participation in decision-making and meeting shared organizational goals.

Action Research Process

According to Reason & Bradbury (2013), action research is a democratic, participatory process that focuses on developing practical knowledge in pursuing useful human purposes founded on a participatory perspective which people believe is currently emerging. It considers combining reflection and action, practice and theory in participation with others while looking for practical solutions that are important to people and the success of individual people and communities. The action research process for Blaze mining company’s organization development will include diagnosis, analysis, feedback, action, and evaluation. Diagnosis will consist of gathering information about the problems among leadership and the teams in the company, as well as the required changes that employees would recommend. The employees in different teams in the company will be asked questions about when issues started among team members, the attitude of leaders when responding to the issues among team members, and the causes of the issues. Leaders will be asked about possible causes of the lack of collaboration. Diagnosis will also include reviewing employee records to determine changes in team performance. This will help in setting aside the teams that have high levels of lack of collaboration to ensure that more attention is paid to them in the implementation of the proposed intervention program. The analysis will include identifying the patterns of problems in the company based on the responses provided by the leaders and the teams. The main focus of the analysis will be identifying common problem areas, patterns of problems, and possible actions. Feedback will include sharing the information gathered in the diagnosis with employees to ensure that everyone in the company is actively involved in determining the best solution for the problems the company is currently facing. Action will focus on implementing the solutions identified in the feedback stage. The final step will be feedback, which will incorporate reviewing the impact of the solution on the company to determine whether it was effective or not.

Diagnostic Process for the Planning Phase

The diagnostic process will include two diagnostic models, which will be force field analysis and Likert system analysis. According to Baharudin & Abdullah (2020), organizations should use more than one model in the diagnostic process to avoid being trapped by one model because if one perspective drives a diagnostic process, a consultant can miss important issues. The Force Field analysis focuses on identifying motivating and preventive forces within an organization. The motivating forces could be environmental aspects that push the organization to embrace change and restraining forces such as organizational factors that may hinder change due to poor morale or limited resources. This model is founded on the process of achieving change with the social effects incorporated in the model. This model has been selected because it is effective in identifying the restraining and driving forces that are contributing to the lack of collaboration in Blaze mining company and helps in intentionally moving the organization to an appropriate equilibrium state by eliminating the restraining forces such as the antagonistic behavior among leaders and adding factors that drive collaboration such as collaborative decision making. Likert system analysis includes communication, motivation, decision-making, interaction, control, goal-setting, and performance. This model will be used to measure the perception of leaders and internal team members of the organizational dimensions. For instance, the internal team members will be asked about their perception of communication between them and the leaders, their involvement in decision-making, whether they feel motivated, and their interaction with the leaders and other team members. Leaders will be asked about their perception of interaction among them, involvement of all leaders in decision-making, communication among them, and control over management and operation functions in the company.

Intervention Type and Implementation

One of the interventions that will be used to improve collaboration among internal teams and leaders in Blaze Mining Company will be workshops. The company will hold three workshops. Each workshop will last for a month, and an assessment of changes in the behavior of team members will be conducted after every workshop to monitor the progress in achieving the necessary change. The workshops will include team-building activities to promote team cohesiveness and allow team members to understand one another. Guerrero & Fenwick (2014) argue that team building in an organization’s development strategy is usually used to enhance team members’ commitment, productivity, and satisfaction. The team-building process will include assessment exercises and tools to gauge the capacity of the team and improve their functionality. The level of team functioning in assessing the impact of the workshops will include determining the changes in communication among team members and reducing conflict. The second intervention will be specialized intervention, which will include coaching leaders from each department in the company. Webster (2021) argues that coaching leaders focus on enhancing the effectiveness of leaders and the effectiveness of the organization and team. It will include establishing a solid one-on-one relationship among leaders to impart vital lessons by assessing, challenging, and supporting them. Leaders in each department will be assigned specific responsibilities and be asked to work together to successfully complete them. They will also be challenged to manage complex teams so that they can be prepared to handle complex challenges and consult one another, hence promoting collaborative leadership. Coaching will also include moving the leaders toward measurable goals that contribute to organizational and individual goals.

The final stage of the intervention program will include a wrap-up session with all stakeholders. The session will involve discussing the results from the specialized intervention program and workshops and how the change will impact the organization. The 360-degree feedback approach will be used in this stage. Fleenor (2019) argues that this approach systematically provides leaders with insights into their performance from different perceptions, including peers, subordinates, leaders, and superior’s self-assessment. The session will include leaders and internal team members. They will be allowed to give their viewpoint on the proposed changes and express any concerns they may have on the effectiveness of the change in the organization. The stakeholders will be required to accept the feedback provided and be willing and open to embracing the changes.

Conclusion

Leadership is the backbone of the performance of every organization. Effective leadership incorporates collaboration between internal teams and leaders. This paper has established that antagonistic behavior among leaders and reduced collaboration between internal teams can be addressed through collaborative leadership. It is, however, important to ensure that an organization creates a teamwork culture by introducing team-building workshops and activities and coaching leaders on how to work together and deal with complex teams and challenges. It is also important to engage stakeholders by informing them on the results of proposed intervention programs and their rationale based on how they affect the performance of the organization. There is also a need to regularly review the positive and negative changes in the organization after introducing change aimed at achieving organizational development.

References

Baharudin, I. S., & Abdullah, B. (2020). A critical analysis on organizational diagnostic models and new diagnostic model proposition for construction companies. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 899, 253-267. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.899.253

Fleenor, J. W. (2019). Delivering 360-degree feedback. Feedback at Work, 227-247. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30915-2_12

Guerrero, E. G., & Fenwick, K. (2014). Organizational development and change. Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0176

Newell, T., Reeher, G., & Ronayne, P. (2012). The trusted leader: Building the relationships that make government work. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506335667

Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2013). The SAGE handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice. SAGE.

Webster, S. (2021). A whole-person approach to leadership and executive coaching. Emerging Conversations in Coaching and Coaching Psychology, 158-169. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315114514-11

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Blaze Mining Case Study

Organizational Problem:

Blaze Mining is a mid-size, family-owned oil and mining company located in Louisiana. Over the past 10 years, the leadership of the company has fractured and become antagonistic. Non-collaborative internal teams have caused great damage to the management and operation of critical functions within the organization. Recently, a new CEO joined the organization and was stunned by the discord within the leadership team and its effect on the bottom line.

Organizational Design:

Blaze Mining is family-owned and managed. There are multiple divisions and departments pertinent to the type of operation occurring: Mining, Oil, offshore, Human Resources (HR), Finance, Education, and Safety. Each section is led by a family member and a personally selected team. The CEO is the overseer of the company.

Challenge and Request Criteria:

For the company to survive, the problems within the leadership team must be identified and addressed in a professional manner. The CEO of Blaze Mining is requesting an OD intervention to interact with the leadership group and develop a cohesive team focused on the success of the organization. The intervention is to include three workshop sessions, once a month for three months;
specialized intervention with each division/department, and a wrap-up session with all stakeholders