Premium Essay

Electra Products

In: Business and Management

Submitted By fgfg1
Words 662
Pages 3
Case Study: Elektra Products, Inc.

The Case:
Problem: Once leading manufacturer/retailer of electrical products/supplies has declining market share, low employee morale, inter-departmental communication gaps (sales and manufacturing not talking), slow innovation (i.e. new products few and far between)

One of the solutions: employee empowerment but with a buy-in problem from the department heads during the proposal by B. Russel.

Important characters in the case:
Barbara Russel (VP for manufacturing; team leader manufacturing team) – working on ideas to improve how retail stores got the merchandise they needed it by: * Manager follow a product from design through sales to customers * Allow salespeople to refund up to $500 worth of merchandise on the spot * Make information available to salespeople about future products * Swap Sales and manufacturing personnel for short periods for job awareness
Martin Griffin (New CEO) – excused himself during presentation
Department heads – had concerns with Russel’s proposal.
Some Employees – not buying the idea

Case Discussion 1. How might top management have done a better job changing Elektra Products into a new kind of organization? What might they do now to get the empowerment process back on track?

The role of the top management in employee empowerment or in any change management is to exhibit commitment to the change, provide leadership which involves influencing employees to excellence, molding and creating shared culture and values, communicating the goals to all employees (Daft, 2010) and lastly to facilitate the change through honest, sincere and open communication with all employees.
The top management’s all-out support shown through Griffin’s commitment to the program should have been visible and credible had he carved time for the meeting and attended it until the end.

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