Question

Directions: Meet with a leader from a business, church, community group, government organization, etc. and spend time asking them questions about their approach to leadership to the mission/vision/value statement of their organization. Inquire how they remain focused yet relevant to changing external and internal events. Get some thoughts from them on how they manage win/win situations to make positive and meaningful impact.

Then, respond to the following prompts in response to the leader you interviewed:
• Identify at least 2 ways the leader you interviewed applies their personal or business mission to their daily operations.
• Explain how the leader you interviewed seeks to find win/win situations for their organization. Give at least 2 specific examples.
• Identify at least 2 specific things you learned from the leader you interviewed that you can incorporate and apply to your own life and explain why.
• Identify at least 1 specific thing that you learned from the leader you interviewed that you would be less likely to incorproate into your own life and explain why.
• Your paper must be 2 pages in length, use proper grammar, and follow APA guidelines.

Answer 1

In April 2008, Platinum Equity acquired manufacturing plants of fiberglass and intellectual property from Owens Corning that will become 3B. In next three years, Platinum built it from a regional company to a global enterprise.(Source: Company Website)

Further, in Feb.2012, Binani Industries acquired 3B –the fiberglass company for 275 million euros.

Create a vision: Creating a vision includes setting precise directions in which a company aims to head to achieve transformational changes. The first draft is prepared, and upon rigorous analytical and critical thinking over one year, the group comes up with a clear and sensible vision. As per the case, Braj Binani Group’s long-term vision was to become major fiberglass and composite player in the world with state-of-the-art technology, global ambitions, and unmatched competency.

Communicate the vision: The leader should be able to convey the vision both regarding interaction and behavior to thousands of people (who are going to be influenced) to get their support to make leading change more successful and sustainable. Under Platinum's ownership, 3B was successful in communicating their vision. They developed brand equity, diversified their portfolio and expanded the product line.

Empower others to execute on the vision: The article explains that any transformational process can sustain only if the obstacles are cleared away. They could take any form such as an employee not willing for the change to happen can be an obstacle himself. However, the typical hindrances observed in any organization are appraisal systems, limited job offerings and also the senior-level executives refusing to change because of various reasons. Over Binani group’s journey, they have been successful in adhering to their core values.

Plan for and design short-term wins: As stated earlier transformation process is a long-term process and can be achieved through short-term targets. Short-term goals should be planned so that they could act as milestones. Celebrating these milestones help people maintain their momentum in the long term. As mentioned in the case, the Binani group was internationally recognized for their focus on continual improvement.

Finding win/win situations

Establish a feeling of urgency: The phase one is essential as most companies begin their transformation initiatives when managers discover poor performance indicators. Establishing a sense of urgency includes examining the market for untapped opportunities and competitive realities for probable crises. 75% of management should be genuinely convinced about the need for the change. According to the author, 50% companies fail in the first phase as they could not bring people out of their comfort zones. The Binani group provides expert solutions in cement, construction, glass fiber, composites, and energy sector. They wanted to explore uncharted horizons of fiberglass market and scale new heights. After this M&A Binani group became global leader compounding and molding of thermoplastic composites.

Form a robust guiding coalition: requires growing group of people sharing same commitments to excellent renewal and also group as a whole must be powerful regarding titles, expertise, information, reputation, and relationships. The guiding alliance comprised of members who are not part of senior management hence it does not have a typical hierarchy. Before acquisition with the help of the platinum group, 3B fiberglass brought new management. Its success is a true demonstration hard work of management and proficient employees. With 650 talented employees, 3B managed to acquire 48 licensed patents. The acquisition helped Binani group to reach large diversified customer segment of acquired 3B fiberglass company.

Learnings

1. A strategy is always about: Choice, Tradeoff, long-term impact, an impact that is irreversible, and operating efficiency. One has to challenge assumption for a strategy to work.
2. Planning is about one resource doing planning for one or limited partners whereas strategy involves multiple stakeholders working towards a single objective.Companies should have dynamic capabilities i.e. ability to reconfigure existing capabilities into multiple skills as per the need of business and market