Gene One is a company that recently enjoyed breakthrough success with a discovery that benefits the plantation and farming industry. This gene technology intervenes with the eradication of disease in tomatoes and potatoes. "As a result, farmers no longer needed to use pesticides when growing these plants and consumers were pleased to buy homegrown products untainted by chemicals." (Gene One Scenario, 2010) The discovery was in the biotech division of the company and was facilitated by Teri Robertson, Gene One's chief technology officer and research scientist. This company is just 8 years old and was started by founder and CEO, Don Ruiz. The discovery is credited for helping Gene One to grow from a $2 million dollar company to the $400 million dollar company of today. The board of directors is convinced that Gene One could become an industry leader and have aspirations of becoming a successful public company. Various leadership changes at the Food and Drug Administration are further enhancing investor confidence in the industry and this has led to the proposal that Gene One is going to have to go public within the next three years in order to keep pace with the demand. According to the local newspaper, the Daily Gazette, the company plans to increase its annual growth and sales by 40%. This is to be done through more gene technology products that will reduce the need for pesticides. This creates the need for more financing to support the new research that will enable Gene One to meet these growth figures. Gene One faces several challenges for a successful IPO. First is the lack of IPO experience in the company. No one at the company has had any experience with this and it will be necessary to bring in external help. Second is the fact that not everyone agrees with the IPO. Third, Gene One must develop a new organizational plan and structure that will help ensure the success of this new endeavor. This needs to include a shared vision and adaptive corporate culture reflecting the desire for success by all team members. With the passing of Don Ruiz, his siblings are tasked with identifying different leadership styles among the existing members and recommending the best leadership style to implement the IPO successfully. Keeping the original team members will ensure a better chance for honest communication and collaboration about the realities of positioning Gene One for a successful future.
Greg Thoman is the human resources officer and has the leadership qualities to implement hiring and training plans to position Gene One for the future but needs extra staff to enable him to focus on the progress of his programs. He is considered an asset to the team and company and is in a position where his concerns and issues will be heard and his opinions received by his peers. Greg can implement a leadership development program that can be provided by an outside company with a proven track record to bolster the corporate structure and further develop an appropriate strategic vision that can be successfully trickled down through the ranks of employees in the timeframe available.
Charles Jones is the marketing professional who created the success of Gene One's first products through creative branding. He is well received by his peers, but also lacks the deep experience to head up the marketing of a public company. There are some individuals on the team that question his ability to adapt to being a publicly traded company. He will have to allow experienced additions to his department and work with them as he learns the nuances of a more proactive style of marketing needed for the IPO. Charles can keep working at developing a new and proactive advertising campaign and when appropriate, bring in help.
Teri Robertson is the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and must put aside her own aspirations for personal career development in exchange for the company success. She needs to realize that she will advance in her field by supporting the company vision to go public and needs to be directly involved in deciding how best to set up and run her research department to best support the company and its success. She will also need to acquire more research scientists and get on board as a leader of her division to help direct all the new talent that will be at her disposal. This will require her to change her outlook about Wall Street and the stakeholder value to Gene One.
Michelle Houghton is one of the original team members and is dedicated and committed to the growth of the company. She is also concerned with the compliance issues that arise with a company that goes public. She has addressed concerns and already researched some of the inconsistencies that will have to be corrected to meet the standards and regulations of the Sarbanes-Oxley act. Up to this point, Michelle has been the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and has done an admirable job. She lacks the experience to be a CFO for the implementation of an IPO and may require outside experience from individuals who have been involved with taking a company public and all the financial requirements necessary to make the transition successful. Alternatively, Michelle may be considered a better fit for the role of Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) due to her lack of experience with financials during an IPO implementation and because of her passion and commitment to the company and ensuring they are complying with all laws and regulations that have a direct affect on the company.
Gene One also needs to have a more definitive strategic vision and company culture. Seeking out a professional IPO consultant that will help develop a more suitable strategic vision and culture to include all Gene One employees is recommended. Establishing a successful and more accurate overall company vision will entail clarifying their beliefs and assumptions and stating their values. Gene One needs to know where they are headed in the future with this endeavor and building an accurate and meaningful strategic vision and corporate culture that reflects the values of biotechnology and consumer advances is necessary to establish themselves as an industry leader.
Everyone in the company that has been there through the initial stages of development and success needs to have a shared vision for Gene One. They all need to agree and have a developed corporate culture that reflects their desire to go public. The minor personality conflicts and differences need to be identified as a hindrance to advancing the company. These opinions should be voiced and reasoned with for the overall support of Gene One's future success. Dissention among the founding leadership will not promote the unity they will need to succeed at IPO.
To help reduce the risks involved with implementing an IPO, external experienced IPO consultants and financial partnerships should be considered. Securing and implementing a leadership development program of high caliber is a priority to change the current philosophy. A leadership structure and style that is best suited to move Gene One into the future must include a solid end vision of what Gene One will become and how to provide a better and greener future for society.
Leadership is important to bring a company together to move forward with any type of change. In order for Gene One effectively to transform the corporation from a privately owned company to a publicly traded company management should focus on developing a leadership style that will provide the employees with security and ensure him or her of the amazing opportunities that an IPO company has to offer. There are many different leadership styles available, but the style selected as a best fit for Gene One is situational leadership, developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. According to Robbins & Judge (2007), situational leadership focuses on the followers by selecting the right leadership style based upon the follower’s readiness (p. 413). The term readiness is defined as “…the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 413). This leader-follower relationship is analogous to the relationship between a parent and a child. As the company grows and changes; leadership styles must also change with the company. Striking a balance between task and relationship behaviors is the best way to lead people and manage a company. The end vision for Gene One is to create new and improved produce varieties through new and innovative technologies that benefit society as a whole while maintaining a level of commitment to the stakeholders. Gene One remains committed to offering healthy and affordable produce options to consumers that are pesticide free in addition to securing their stakeholders financially by taking the company public. Leaders of the company need to have a shared vision and understanding of the benefits going public will do not only for the company, but to the stakeholders and consumers around the world. Understanding how different styles of leadership will help to handle different followers will result in a smoother transition for the organizational culture to adapt from being a private to public company. Privately owned organizations limit their ability to have continued growth, whereas publicly traded companies open their doors for investor opportunities to gain additional capital, resulting in increased revenue and growth for the company. Gene One has realized the need to become a publicly traded company to continue bringing new and innovative products to the world while increasing their competitive edge in the industry. The organizational change taking place requires a change in leadership styles and structures and the situational leadership style is the best-fit for Gene One to move forward and be successful in the implementation of their IPO. References
Gene Once Scenario. (2010). Retrieved February 10, 2010, from University of Phoenix online classroom web site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/gbam/xmba520.1/Mainpage.asp
Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.