Managing Leadership Challenges in a Crisis Case Study

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GM Culture Crisis and Organizational Culture

Leadership Theory

Leadership Style

The type of leadership type demonstrated in the case study is the Laissez-faire. With this style, the leader allows his or her team members the freedom to do their work in the way they deem appropriate (Gall, 2011). The team members determine the process and methodology of carrying out their duties and set their deadlines. The leader only provides support and necessary resources to the team. In the case study, the top management at GM was not aware of the problem of the ignition switch because the management was out of touch with the actual process on the shop floor of the company. This demonstrates that the management had given the team freedom to carry out their duties without interference from the leaders. Throughout the case study, the leadership style at General Motors has evolved. The leadership has changed from Laissez-faire to autocratic leadership style and finally to a democratic leadership style (Gall, 2011). The loopholes identified in the original leadership style occasioned the shift in leadership styles in the case study. The initial style provided too much freedom that ultimately led to complacency.

Characteristics of Management Their Decision Making Framework

There are several characteristics of the management in this case study that explains the shift in leadership style of the General Motor's company in this case study. Firstly, the management of the company in the case study is mainly reactive rather than proactive.

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A reactive management only responds after an issue has occurred. In this case study, the leadership style changes in response to the current issues. The limitation is that the leaders cannot foresee issues before they arise. After the ignition issue, the management changes leadership style in response to the issue. Secondly, the management in GM lacks a clear accountability and follow up the structure. For instance, a case in point highlights the fact that there is always a consensus about action plans, but no one goes ahead to implement such actions due to lack of accountability (Kuppler, n.d.). This factor led to a change in the leadership style to embrace a style that creates clear accountability.

The decision-making was largely a preserve of the top management and did not take into account the views of junior employees. As such, the decisions were out of touch with the reality of operations of the company. The decision-making framework necessitated a change in leadership that would embrace the view of every stakeholder.

Internal and External Influences on Change of Leadership Style

The external influences on the change of leadership style include the customers. The death of 13 people that lead to the investigation was the beginning of the leadership style transformation within the company. The effect of the incident on….....

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