Craft Originalities’ Case Study Analysis
The survey results of Craft Originalities showed that, while there are positive aspects to the company’s culture, there are facets that need development. The companies organic design, which was rooted in the founder’s own style and the rural environment, demonstrated elements of an easy-going and less formal atmosphere (Daft, 2021). Rules are flexible, unqualified managers survive by playing politics, and the day-to-day is less standardized and more like organized chaos. In my experience, this is typical of homegrown, family run businesses where nepotism is commonplace. As well, the available manpower, within rural areas, is less likely to include people who are familiar with the mechanistic formalities of highly structured organizations. That is not to say there are no benefits to an organically grown organization. In fact, such organic designs should encourage collaboration, empowerment, and innovation; however, in this company, these positive realizations may be hindered by a lack of sophistication among the employees (Daft, 2021). While many companies thrive, like Craft Originalities did for many years, with this structure and ways of working, when economic disturbances occur or the company grows to a tipping point, staying afloat may become impossible without radical intervention. The current CEO needs to implement transformational changes to get the company back on track, and understanding the culture can help drive his effort because he can tailor his approach accordingly.
With that in mind, Craft employees had high scores on relationships with coworkers and job enjoyment, which indicates that the working environment is friendly and cooperative. This type of supportive atmosphere is essential for keeping morale high and to encourage teamwork. Moreover, Craft Originalities’ employees scored high on personal initiative to improve their work, which also denotes a proactive and engaged workforce. In fact, maintaining this aspect of the culture will be key if transformation is to be accepted and productivity enhanced. As discussed by Santhanam and Srinivas (2020), happy employees are less likely to experience burnout, are more likely to remain engaged, and less likely to leave, which means stability. In transformations, where stress can be overwhelming due to resistance to change, ensuring that organizational commitment is ingrained in the culture by encouraging employees to form strong friendships, and remain proactively engaged, may be key to getting the necessary changes implemented without turnover disruption.
On the other hand, the company struggles with leadership issues. The employees responded with lower scores in supervisor performance and fair pay. As well, there were moderate scores indicating that there is room for improvement on the company being well-run. This highlights challenges in leadership effectiveness and remuneration practices. These perceptions of the management are a concern because effective and supportive leadership is a key moderator between job meaningfulness, job performance, and employee engagement (Panda et al., 2022). Basically, if jobs are designed well so that employees find their roles meaningful, and they are well supported by their leaders, then performance improves. Since the CEO wants to institute production processes and methods like Saint Crafters’, this aspect of the culture cannot be overlooked. Otherwise, when the changes are implemented, all trust may be lost, and the culture will be impacted negatively. Instead, what is needed is an adaptive culture, which is driven by transformational leaders who motivate, as discussed by Lasrado and Kassem (2021). This adaptivity willingness, encouraged by leadership, would enable the company’s employees to respond quickly to changes in the manufacturing environment, adopt new technologies, and maintain high productivity levels despite external or internal fluctuations. Furthermore, Sahoo (2022) points out that organizational culture can make or break the long-term sustainability and impact of practices, like lean, where workers strive for continuous improvement and change, which significantly improves efficiency and productivity in manufacturing. Thus, improving the Craft’s supervisors’ performance to be more adaptive and motivating could help employees embrace change and to adopt new technologies and production processes.
Another cultural concern is the low score received for communication. Without effective communication, substantial challenges will hinder new technology and process implementation. As a matter of fact, communication may be the most essential cultural element necessary for success. Communication is especially essential to good teamwork and collaboration. According to Tortorella et al. (2023), clan cultures, which improve efficiency and productivity and are characterized by high morale, participation, commitment, communication, and teamwork, are more likely to successfully institute new technology and have better process coordination. The good news is that although the survey shows that Craft’s communication capabilities need improvement, the Craft Originalities team already encompass many of these clan culture qualities within their culture. Thus, the CEO may be able to bring about the required enhancements and production improvements, as seen in Saint Crafters’ facilities, with moderate adjustments. The immediate cultural corrections should focus on leadership training, so that managers can learn better communication practices. As stated in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (New American Standard Bible, 1971/1995). This biblical principle further highlights the importance of fostering supportive leaders who can communicate well, with their peers and subordinates, to create a comprehensive culture where cohesion and effectiveness are the norm.
If the goal is to take a stakeholder approach, and ensure that the customers, employees, and owners are satisfied (Daft, 2021), then Craft Originalities must balance changes in production and company structure with their cultural qualities. Craft must introduce stronger production processes, similar to their primary competitor, to remain viable in the toy market, or they will collapse under the weight of disorganization and lack of structure. Fortunately, their organic and rural roots have embedded within their culture several strong qualities that can help see them through the tough changes needed during this transformation period. Research supports the concept that teamwork, communication, job meaningfulness, strong peer relationships, and respected managers are central to improving technologies and processes, and many of these traits were identified in the survey results (Tortorella et al., 2023; Panda et al., 2022). The bible also highlights the fact that Craft employees can help better each other by inspiring and motivating each other. Ultimately, while the internal and external demands and influences may be tumultuous for Craft Originalities, their robust culture and friendly employees can succeed if guided properly through better communication and genuine leadership actions. By enhancing these aspects of their culture, improving production, and developing some formalities, the company will be poised to reap the benefits of innovation, performance optimization, and market penetration, which should allow the company and its stakeholders to thrive.
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