Dilemmas and solutions of a leader through a case study
Telecom session
Eszter Nagy (Körvonal Fundation) — György Sági (Gordio Group) — Zoltán Németh (Telenor)
Dilemmas and solutions of a leader through a case study
In 2010, within the frames of a complex organizational development competition we concluded an agreement with an IT Telecom company with more than 1000 employees to develop both managerial community composed of self-identical managers and organizational innovation. We have been and are working with multiphase research/analysis in close connection with workshops and other development processes.
We are combining five types of research methodologies:
• organizational network research,
• organizational culture research (GLOBE)
• innovative window aimed at finding innovative personnel
• satisfaction assessment
and finally
• analyze of performance indicators.
The case study whishes to demonstrate how we combine these experiences, what kind of concerns are emerging during the process, what are the applied solutions, and by what means new organizational values may originate from all of these aspects.
The lecture will demonstrate by means of factual case studies:
• the organizational demand having initiated the research
• the questions and dilemmas arising (in the management, in the managers, in the personnel, in the consultants/researchers.)
• the process and our many years of related experiences
• the uniqueness of sampling and examinations
• the steps of organizational adaptation
• the reactions: in the management, in the managers, in the personnel, in the consultants/researchers.
• further questions emerging during the process.
The situation in brief:
The comprehensive organizational analysis and organizational development planned for a period of one year will focus on increasing the managerial community’s Cooperation Based Capacity, developing the managers’ Extended Leadership competency and making them aware of it (Gordio standards), as well as developing organizational innovation.
The network research has been implemented by means of on-line queries, with 29 questions, in 12 dimensions.
Dimensions:
1. confidence 2. sympathy 3. reliability 4. cooperation 5. forming opinion 6. flow of information 7. change 8. innovation 9. decision 10. proactivity 11. representation of corporate values 12. professionalism
Using the different multiplex structures of dimensions we created 5+1 key areas that we were examining closely:
1. personal connection – personal relation 2. working relationships 3. level of working cooperation 4. influence 5. innovation 6. representation of organizational values
By analyzing the correlation among the dimensions we performed a simple validation of the answers.
The examination was implemented in 5 phases:
1. assessment of corporate satisfaction (based on the organization’s own standards)
2. network analysis of the full management personnel
The on-line questionnaire was filled in by 141 of the 147-member management (because of the leadership change taking place during this period, there were only 5 persons, instead of 6, who actually did not fill in the questionnaire).
Managerial levels of the organization
• Management
• Directors
• Head of office
• Group manager
As for the management, the methodology has not been a completely new feature, and they see an excellent opportunity in understanding the organizational processes and in developing the managerial community’s operation, considering it a high priority opportunity.
As we can experience it for 12 years, the first concern is that a questionnaire filled in by indicating the name will give cause for fear. In the personnel, these questions may be formulated as follows:
• What is it being used for?
• Based on it, who is going to be dismissed?
• What is its general purpose (for the management)?
and professional questions as well:
• How reliable are the data collected in a way like this?
• In fact, what are we going to find out exactly?
During the presentation of the results, the conception being presented about the organization was received by the various levels of management with different reactions. Some of the typical reactions:
• It doesn’t contradict my everyday experiences.
• I catch it, but it makes me unsure, please, let me know what to do!
• It is very exciting.
• It helps me a lot to see the operation.
• etc.
We presented the results during individual consultations, organizational meetings, comprehensive presentations, and then the results were processed in extended management workshops, on division level. In connection with this, we provided extended leadership trainings among the key users.
3. innovative window in the whole managerial personnel (3 times during the year)
Three times during the year of development, we will ask a question and raise an issue in e-mail, for that we are looking for a solution on organizational level. Then, together with an internal expert, we will analyze the received answers and making use of it we will identify the personnel being active in terms of innovation.
4. GLOBE research of organizational culture in the whole organization
The survey has been implemented not on the level of individuals, but of organizational units, and compared with network and other data.
5. complete organizational network analysis
The course of processing and adaptation is generally similar to the course of network analysis on management level.
The purpose of our lecture is to present the methodology that we are working with in a multinational organization, to demonstrate the organizational dilemmas and our answers to them, and to provide a summary of the interventions.
