What is Winstons problem?

Regional sales manager at Campbell and Bailyn, Ken Winston is struggling with what many
managers face at one point or another: the resistance to and frustration with implemented
changes from his team members (and even some customers).
As a result of sub-prime economic downfall as well as new competitive products, increased
specialized competitors and the presence of low-service, low-priced brokers, investment bank
Campbell and Bailyn has seen a decrease in overall sales, specifically in one of their top-selling
regional offices Winstons Boston office. In attempts to lift these sales and fix the issue,
Winston, on his own initiative and with the backing of senior management, had combined five
of the top sales generalists into a new key account team, asked them to pool their customers, and
assigned each salesperson a specialty sub-segment of the firms product offerings. This team is
entitled the Key Accounts Team (KAT) made up of the five original generalists who were used
to having their own clients and taking on sales and accounts of a wide base type. They were each
assigned a specialty of focus among the different account types, forcing them to pool their
clients and take on jobs and accounts relating to their specified field.
A second major change has come in the form of more generalized division-wide performance
management system for regional sales people. In order to keep the regional offices more
connected with their traders, product managers and researchers in their NYC corporate office,
these New York professionals would supply performance reviews on the regional
salespeople. Now his independent-minded sales people were to be reviewed regularly on a
corporate level.
These changes have come with financial success, so far as the numbers have proven. However,
they have also come with some resistance from the team including the KAT as these former
generalists are accustomed to working with certain individual clients and making deals on
human relationships rather than assigned specializations. It has also come with complaints from
about half of their clientele, mentioning that when it comes to bigger trades, having to work
with all of these specialists gets complicated. The new order is forcing them to deal with two
or three different sales people rather than the one with whom they had built a relationship so
they also feel a concern learning to trust new specialists rather than relying on the trusted
relationships built over years of business. The employees also seem somewhat stifled and
frustrated with the new arrangement of being watched over and managed from NYC. They must
feel some of their independence and self-motivation has been taken away.
Now Winston is charged with representing his firm and the new developmental changes therein
at the annual year-end meeting of the Campbell and Bailyns leadership team. He is preparing a
presentation revolving around the positive and negative results from the changes his team has
implemented. Only problem is even he himself has not fully decided whether the pros or the
cons have weighed-out most heavily relating to the implementation of KAT and the new
performance management system.
Why is a resolution to this problem important for the organization? for his unit?
for the employees?
Winstons agency has been one of the top-selling regional offices of Campbell and Bailyn. He
has a trusted team who has proven successful across many years of business and positive sales
numbers. When the dip occurred, Campbell and Bailyn was surely faced with a decision: keep
on the same path and hope that things level out in time, or make strides via company changes to

fix the issue. While each long-standing company will most-likely need to implement change and
reorganization here and there, it is an issue that is often met with resistance, confusion and
frustration. The future success of Campbell and Bailyn is being tested through these changes for
Winstons Boston team, and is riding on his ability to carry them through the transition stage of
these new changes with the least amount of negative backlash. If, after the trial period, Winston
and his superiors are convinced that these changes are what the company needs right now
they will have to work toward smoothing-out the implementation and integrate ideas to get the
disgruntled employees and clients on board, helping them to understand the long-term benefits
of reorganization.
This company needs to start functioning and supporting each other as a team in order to achieve
general success. Heckscher and Prusak explain that collaborative communities encourage
people to become motivated by a collective mission, not just personal gain. Its imperative
that Winston helps them start understanding their personal gain and growth as integrated with
and directly related to the growth and development of the team and company at large. The
article adds like a good strategy or vision statement, an effective shared purpose articulates
how a group will position itself in relation to competitors and partners-and what key
contributions to customers and society will define its success. Smoothing-over this transition of
changes is crucial for the continued success of the individual employees, the Boston office and
Campbell and Bailyn as a whole specifically if they are to implement these changes companywide. Otherwise they could potentially face employees jumping ship, clients dropping, and the
probable consequence of business decline or failure.
What is Winstonss leadership style?
From the discussions he has with his team, he seems to be very level-headed and engaged. He
listens, yet does not let the team take over and run the show. He is authoritative while still
considering all angles of his teams perspective. One can see that he internalizes the concerns of
his team, and is heavily engaged with making the right choices for the benefit of his employees,
the Boston office, and the company as a whole. He does, however, seem to flirt with the line
between leader/manager and friend. His openness to joke and take casually the opinions and
interruptions of team members could potentially cost him.
How is he perceived in the organization?
Winston is described as widely admired and liked in the office as fair-minded and willing to
listen to the complaints of his staff. He also bears clout as a past leader of sales so he
understands the position of those he manages. He is definitely approachable as in the article he
is given the candid opinions of his team members regularly and in a casual environment. He
seems to have a generally good balance of capable leader and concerned listener. He doesnt
however seem to be regarded as a higher level manager that demands respect. Terms he uses
like Whats up and nicknames Callahan Cal, his eye rolling and his employees tendency to
feel comfortable interrupting or barging in his office do show a lack of proper hierarchy and due
respect. This politicking from team members implies that certain employees dont see Winston
as the final word regarding the changes. Kotter and Schlesinger note that political behavior
sometimes emerges before and during organizational change efforts when what is in the best
interests of one individual or group is not in the best interests of the total organization. He
doesnt seem to be respected by all as one who makes group decisions regardless of individual
self- interest.
Why type of power and influence does Winston use?

Winston seems to use logic and friendship to influence his team. One can see that his exchanges
with the employees is light and friendly. He feels comfortable joking with them, and seems to
want them to find him approachable, yet assertive. He does not try to overpower or intimidate
them. When they bring concerns to his attention he will use logical analogies to ease their
minds. It is evident that even though he knows the changes are not flawless, he is determined to
show his team that he supports the company and their decisions, and will not cower to the
immediate emotions of his disgruntled team members. He doesnt however seem to use
education, involvement and transparency to help influence his team. From this case study, his
influence also seems very individually based, and not given to the team as a whole.
Is it effective? Why or why not?
This type of leadership and influence may work well for him in some regards as his team will
have respect for his willingness to listen and understand on their level. He doesnt throw down
an iron fist or disregard their challenges. This should help the team respect his desire to
communicate and work through their problems. However, this type of power and influence can
also have a major disadvantage. If his team sees him as a buddy they may take advantage of
that relationship. They could see that he is inclined to care about each of their worries, and
consequently they could turn into a squeaky wheel in order to get their way. He will have to
keep the boss/friendship barrier well-guarded.
It also seems that he lacks the skill or knowledge to influentially bind his team into a cohesive
unit, working toward a common goal rather than their own self-interest. Heckscher and Prusak
detail that the key coordinating mechanism of a collaborative community, which is often made
up of overlapping teams, is a process for aligning the shared purpose within and across the
projects, and that people support what they help create. I believe that if he used education
and overlapped team involvement as a way to influence the individual members, he would have
much greater success in getting them to understand as well as support the changes made.
What is your recommendation on how Winston could become a more effective
leader?
First I would recommend he find a better balance between leader and friend. While its
important for his team to know he has concern for their contentment and his willingness to
respect their needs, it is equally important for them to respect him as one who will keep the
benefit of the company at large and make tough decisions even if they do not benefit any one
employee directly.
I would also suggest his implementation of some employee education on the changes- the teamrelated benefits and possibly even how it can appeal to their self-interest simultaneously. From
the information given in the article it looks like certain employees are seeing the changes at an
individual level only, and are aware only of the negative impact they have on their career and
customer relationships. He would probably find more success if he let his team in on the why
behind the changes, as well as the proof of success thus far and how it could benefit them longterm collectively AND individually. Our text mentions that resistance to change can be positive
if it leads to open discussion and debate. Winston needs to open the floor to a group discussion
on their thoughts and hash through their ideas together.
It sounds like he does have some team members who are amiable toward the new
organization. Jen compliments, however round-about, I just dont know if we would have
made it through this sub-prime collapse if we had only one specialist on duty around here. It
seems that he should use the positive attitude and perspective of Jen to influence and help get
Callahan on board. Helping them work as a unit and letting Jen rub off on Callahan with her
optimistic perspective would both foster teamwork and help cooperative efforts in the changes

made. It cannot be an individual race. Winston needs to help Jen see her place as a motivator
within the KAT.
He could also work to involve the disgruntled individuals in a more personal way helping them
to feel involved in the success and decisions. The text states that our egos are fragile, and we
often see change as threatening. Perhaps Callahan needs to be pulled in and given a specific
team-building assignment to stroke his ego a bit, help him feel involved and personally tied to
the success or failure of the KAT. As Kotter and Schlesinger describe one common form of
manipulation is co-optation. Co-opting an individual involves giving him or her a desirable role
in the design or implementation of the change. I would bet a little co-opting could be just what
Callahan needs to drop his prejudice and support the company changes.
Why and in what ways would your recommendation make a difference?
In order for these changes to take effect with the least amount of resistance, the team members
need to feel involved, trusting and educated. Kotter and Schlesinger detail in the Harvard
Business Review people resist change when they do not understand its implications and
perceive that it might cost them much more than they will gain One of the most common ways
to overcome resistance to change is to educate people about it. While the case study suggests
employees close relationship with Winston through his approachableness, one gets the
impression that they are fighting the system of changes rather than working with it. It is really
Winstons responsibility to foster this positive communication, transparency and team-player
attitude. Kotter and Schlesinger add unless managers surface misunderstandings and clarify
them rapidly, they can lead to resistance. By educating and involving his team more directly,
they will start to understand and take responsibility for the success of the new organization.
They all need to see and understand the benefits from a company-wide perspective. Winston
needs to foster their team spirit by showing them the positive outcome that the changes and
the individuals have already churned out. In the text we read it is difficult to resist a change
in which weve participated their involvement can reduce resistance, obtain commitment
and increase the quality of the change decision. Feeling involved, educated, and trusting the
management from which the changes stem would certainly give these team members a clearer
view of their individual works value, help them feel more comfortable taking direction from the
management, motivate them to work through the challenges that the new organization will
encounter, and start to see the greater good these changes could bring from a much broader
perspective.
Personal Reflection
While the overall learning from the Organizational Behavior course has been insightful, there
are two areas in particular which stand out. The first came from the engagement discussions
and readings. It was quite surprising to me after taking the Leadership IQ Report to see my
rankings a bit lower than I would have anticipated. As I analyzed my score I was able to
pinpoint some of the areas where I was doing very well as well as those areas that were open for
improvement. Throughout the course I have taken the opportunity to reflect back on my
engagement report to see how new organizational behavior techniques can be applied in order
to drive my organizational engagement scores higher.
An example from a low scoring area was in striving which was discussed by Leadership IQ as
proactively and purposefully working towards a significant and clear future goal. At the time
when taking the engagement report I found my company in a state of confusion and fracture
because we were trying to determine which strategic course should be set for a successful
future. We had slightly lost our way with regards to overarching company values, success driven

behaviors and organizational striving. While there is still some level of fracture within the
organization I was able to focus on striving engagement with regards to my personal
career. Doing this has lead me to become more proactive in approaching how I will drive my
own career through developing, setting and following a clear strategy for personal and career
success. By making this effort I was able to find some clarity for my personal development and
decided to make a few strategic shifts which would allow for a greater level of personal striving
engagement.
The second area in which I made the cognizant effort to improve was with regards to the
Leadership IQ report is reason performing meaningful, important and interesting work with
a focus on quality and customers. It became clear to me that some changes needed to be made
in order for me to feel personally valued as an employee as well as helping others feel the same
when engaging with me on work projects. As I self analyzed I began to feel more and more like
we as a company were doing things for the sake of simply gaining money from customers rather
than actually providing a product and service which added value to our customer base. I needed
to be part of something that provided a positive impact on the industry and we did not simply
for a monetary gain (which is also important) but also to help set the stage for those we engage
to excel because of their contact with us. This has become a very important goal for me to reach
in my personal life and career.
One of the quotes from Jim Clifton Gallup Chairman and CEO stood out to me, Gallup finds
that the 30 million engaged employees in the U.S. come up with the innovative ideas, create the
most of a companys new customers, and have the most entrepreneurial energy. It goes without
saying, I need to ensure that Im always part of this group and focusing on all around
engagement will be one of the keys to ensure that this is possible.
Another area that has been of great interest to me is that of emotional intelligence. While
reading the article What Makes a Leader I highlighted the following, emotional intelligence
provided to be twice as important as [other managerial skills] for jobs at all levels. The higher
the rank of a person considered to be a star performer, the more emotional intelligence
capabilities showed up as the reason for his or her effectiveness. This was an eye opening
insight and started me thinking about my own IE and if it were possible to speed
development. The maturity that comes with age is obviously a large contributing factor for IE
development. With that said, I dont just want to sit back and rely on age to develop this trait. I
think that one of the most difficult aspects of IE is developing a high level of self-awareness. I
feel as though my I have a high level of self-awareness regarding my values and how they lead
my personal life. But, there is room for improvement regarding how my value set either meshes
or clashes with others. Its important to find a place where being yourself can not only make
you happy but also provide others with a positive experience. Daniel Goleman described this as,
people who are in control of their feelings and impulses that is, people who are reasonable
are able to create an environment of trust and fairness. In such an environment, politics and
infighting are sharply reduced and productivity is high.
These insights have led me to vet a few new potential companies for which I targeted as
potential employers who have the same growth goals and allow for my new found focus to
flourish. Im happy to say that part of my learning in the Organizational Behavior course has let
me to accept a new position within an industry and company which will indeed because a
guiding course for future success.

Issues and Analysis

Issue 1: Fears of Job Specializations
It has been expressed by your team members that theyre worried about the new team structure
limiting their future career prospects. Managers often neglect to further develop skills of

employees that are in a specialized role since the managers are satisfied with their employees

current role and performance of their employees(Tucker). However, if your team members start
to believe that their current role has no advancement opportunities, they may leave your

company to find a career that provides better opportunities to learn transferable skills and the

possibility to advance further in their career. Therefore, this may lead to your company seeing a
higher turnover rate.
Issue 2: An increase in customer dissatisfaction
Its obvious that, because of specialization, trades have become more complicated for your
clients since they would have to communicate with several different departments rather than
dealing with just one generalist. This made trading more complicated and tedious for your

clients and about half of them didnt believe the change was necessary. Also, by forcing your
clients to deal with more than one person, the personal connection between client and

generalist is lost.

Issue 3: Resistance of Performance Management System

Currently, theres tension and resentment within your sales staff due to the rash

implementation of this system. Unlike the introduction of the KAT team, we noticed theres little
communication during the transition period. Employees are less likely to accept change when
there is a lack of communication and they feel excluded from the process (Langton 551).

According to the cognitive evaluation theory, the increase in working pressure to make higher

profits has also shown to be an ineffective method of encouraging employees in the long run. If

your employees continue to be dissatisfied with the new management system this may lead to a
continuance commitment or an increased turnover rate.
Alternatives
Alternative #1: Resign of Evaluation System. With the new system, the bonuses are solely based
on feedback; however, we dont think this is the best solution to judge a persons efforts. We

advise you to redesign your effectiveness evaluation system by considering both sales volume
and feedback in the evaluation. Financial incentives are still necessary, so that employees are

rewarded both intrinsically and extrinsically. Its common that people may focus too much on

getting the compensation. However, the new performance management system may destroy the
work environment and cause them to lose their target while theyre chasing the sales figures.

Alternative #2: Unlimited Vacation Days

We initially thought of offering your employees unlimited vacation days. Not only will your
employees feel recharged from the extra time off, they may also enjoy the feeling trust thats

bestowed upon them since theyre asked to take time off at their own discretion. However, this
policy can be both underutilized by employees, when theyre too scared to take time off and

abused by employees who dont care about the company. Therefore, we believe our

recommendation of communication and setting team goals would be more beneficial.

Recommendations and Solutions:
Recommendation 1: Problem-Solving Team and Job Rotation
We recommend that your company should develop a problem-solving group consisting of

members from the Key Accounts Team and hold weekly meetings. We believe that this would
provide your employees with more opportunities to develop their personal soft skills. The
purpose of each meeting would be to increase communication within the company, so all

members are well informed of any major decisions.It also allows group members to express any
dissatisfation with the company and therefore, would be in the Voice quadrent of the Job
Dissatisfation Response Chart. Also, a job rotation system should be implemented with

quarterly rotations. We believe that your organization should still have specialized roles since it
increases productivity (Tucker). Not only will job rotation increase motivation, itll reduce the
fear of future job prospects since employees can learn a wider range of skills (Langton 189).
Recommendation 2: Conference Calls
Due to specialization, the process for in-house traders to receive information is now more

complicated. Therefore, your company should utilize conference calls that would include the

client and all the members of the KAT team. This would allow the client to receive all the

information theyre looking for at one time, rather than having to make three different phone
calls. This could also please the clients since theyre now receiving more facetime with the
employee that theyd initially worked solely with.
Recommendation 3: Team Goals and Increasing Communication
Currently, the biggest concern is the loss of customers due to specialization. In order for the
performance management system to resolve this we suggest increasing lunch visits, dividing
the customers amongst the specialists, and integrating customer satisfaction into the

performance evaluation. Through this, close working relationships will be maintained and your
company will be able to keep their personal connection with clients which can build trust and
loyalty. Another crucial change needs to be an increase in communication.By allowing your

employees to provide feedback, it gives your employees a voice and is a good indication of how

well the new system is working. Furthermore, just as you had shared sales figures from a

competitor you should continuously share valuable information regarding your companys
position compared to competitors to motivate employees. The feeling of purpose and

meaningfulness to the company are high intrinsic motivators for employees (Langton 190). Not
only will this improve the overall satisfaction of the employees but studies show this will

increase customer contentment and loyalty (Langton 101). Lastly, by creating small goals

for the team and rewarding these short-term wins, this will increase both teamwork and the
likelihood of the new system being accepted by employees.
Conclusion
After a careful analysis, we strongly believe that our recommendations will be highly beneficial
for your company. Not only will they decrease the fears about job specialization, they will also

increase communication between employees. We also believe that they will solve the problems
that your clients face, especially having to make several calls to receive the information that

they need. Attached to our analysis, we have included an implementation plan that will give you
the initial steps of using our recommendations.

The image above is our suggested implementation timeline. We believe that, immediately, you

should implement conference calls since it takes very little effort to implement it. Also, by using
conference calls, you are also increasing communication immediately. After one month, we

believe you should have set goals for your team and extrinsically reward them for being able to

work as a team. By month 3, we suggest that the problem solving team is implemented and that
you begin the quarterly job rotation. We wanted to introduce the problem solving 3 months in

rather than immediately so that you are given an opportunity to communicate the idea to your
team members.