Organization and Leadership Analysis Essay

The Company chosen for this analysis is Cummins Inc. and I am confident the description that follows will give a better understanding of the organization for any third party considering a career with this organization. Clessie Lyle Cummins built his first steam engine in rural Indiana with the backing of banker William G. Irwin in the year 1919. These men together built the first company that would take advantage of the technology developed by the German Engineer Rudolf Diesel in the late 1880’s. From that early beginning thru today Cummins Inc. has been a world leader in Diesel power engines and service products with sales and service locations in 197 countries and gross sales of over nineteen billion dollars  in 2015 (Cruikshank, 1997). I have Chosen Ericka Rodriguez Eastern Distribution Center Site Material’s Leader for this analysis. I chose both the company and one of its leaders as they have carved a niche for themselves in the field of diesel technologies and s ervice products. It has been an inspiration to learn from the leader ship style portrayed by Ms. Rodriguez. Organization Description The Company chosen for this analysis is Cummins Inc. and I am confident the description that follows will give a better understanding of the organization for any third party considering a career with this organization. Clessie Lyle Cummins built his first steam engine in rural Indiana with the backing of banker William G. Irwin in the year 1919. These men together built the first company that would take advantage of the technology developed by the German Engineer Rudolf Diesel in the late 1880’s. From that early beginning thru today Cummins Inc. has been a world leader in Diesel power engines and service products with sales and service locations in 197 countries and gross sales of over nineteen billion dollars in 2015 (Cruikshank, 1997). I have Chosen Ericka Rodriguez Eastern Distribution Center Site Material’s Leader for this analysis. I chose both the company and one of its leaders as they have carved a niche for themselves in the field of diesel technologies and serv ice products. It has been an inspiration to learn from the leader ship style portrayed by Ms. Rodriguez. Organization Description Cummins Inc. was founded over ninety years ago with a vision of revolutionizing the concept of how diesel power was produced and serviced. This organization has been the global leader in diesel technologies and services for over 75 years and its products have been emulated by several other global companies. These advances were only achieved by the whole hearted dedication of its workforce. The customers and stakeholders show immense support of Cummins Inc. and it is because of their belief that Cummins Inc. is the leading enterprise in the diesel technology and service ecosystem. Customer are now able to obtain the power needed in the quantities needed over a variety of business fields. They have facilitated the process of selling and servicing there markets ensuring the success of  the company for years to come. Cummins Inc. has three overarching business objectives: 1.) Achieve Financial target over the quarters. To succeed and grow into the future, we must demonstrate performance by consistently meeting or succeeding our financial targets. 2.) Be the first choice of customers. Cummins success depends solely on our customers. As we succeed in our ability to help them, they will view Cummins as a partner in their success and we will then become their first choice in our competitive market place. 3.) Be a great place to work. The ability of Cummins Inc. to achieve these objectives is based on our workforce. Cummins Inc. must be able to attract, develop and retain the skills need to pursue the first two objectives (Hanafee, 2011). Aspiring to fulfill their objectives helped Cummins Inc. maintain its position in the diesel power and service market and over time ensuring its success. The commitment to customers, communities, and partners they serve, and the employees with diverse employment cult ure has positioned Cummins Inc. to maintain that global first choice power leader status. Leadership Practices I interpret Ms. Rodriguez leadership style as situational, she is skilled at mentoring individuals, sharing her vision, and motivating her employees. She has portrayed situational leadership style and this can be rationalized from the following three examples: 1.) Coaching – Ms. Rodriguez has portrayed this attribute, and has successfully been able to lead her group in achieving the strategic objectives of the organization. She coaches her employees by providing detailed instructions while encouraging her subordinates, requesting feedback and explaining the decision making process to them. She gives specific feedback to all individuals on their metrics and how there metrics can be achieved to meet overall organizational objectives and goals. Situational leaders reduce their involvement in daily activities as the dynamics of her group changes and matures. Ms. Rodriquez gives her people the freedom to do their work. The most productive work can be accomplished by people given th e space needed and are entrusted by the organization to be of the highest quality. Ms. Rodriquez is a leader of the highest integrity, though she is portrays a situational leader she does not change her approach to take advantage of the situation. She is seen to adapt to the is most appropriate practice after considering factors such as level  of maturity, organizational structure and culture, and the business metrics. She works with integrity and is not motivated by a desire to capitalize on a weakness of her team or organization 2.) Flexibility- The fundamental nature of a situational leader is to move their style in the business environment of an organization and encourage the thoughts of innovative employees. Ms. Rodriguez is more adaptable to the various changes that occur and welcomes innovation in her group. Rather than abiding by the typical views of a leader and not adapting to change. She is a risk taker and seems to enjoy the freshest concepts brought to her attention. She faces many challenges but still enjoys her work and the people who work for her. The people who work for her are likely influenced by her nature and work ethic and will mirror this behavior and expectations in their own work. 3.) Courage- Ms. Rodriguez as a situational leader is never afraid to take on new challenges because of the fear of incurring losses. She portrays a clear vision and takes complete charge of where and how the team is moving forward. She takes it upon herself to mentor, lead, delegate responsibilities to employees on a personal level and have each person accountable for their metric within the organization. This leadership style allows her to determine and embrace most behaviors and strategies to get the goal achieved. Her projects humility at various levels and as a key leader does not claim to have all the answers. She encourages participation of all level of employees and makes sure that her group has ample scope of engagement and remains close with them. The above mentioned attributes lead me to conclude that she is a true leader, and because of this leadership many employees at different sites across Cummins Inc. would like to work here. Ms. Rodriguez treats her employees as family. Cummins Inc. offers diverse career opportunities for people to enhance their skills and ensure growth not only for the company but employees as well. She recognizes that investing in vast amount of resources for overall development for her work force will only enhance the employee experience as a whole. This spirt of family acknowledges that she has the full support of her team which ensures good will amongst her them Relationship Between Leadership and Organizational Culture A leader’s beliefs and values shape the culture of any organization. Talented people from around the world come to work at Cummins Inc. because of the diversity it represents. The opportunity to eclipse other companies in an atmosphere that has numerous opportunities, a fast pace, and leaders that motivate, inspire and invent new technologies. Cummins Inc. offers uncommon career advancement opportunities regardless of the ethics, gender, and race. Employees chosen to work from Cummins Inc. are results oriented, entrepreneurial and independent. . People do not join a company simple on the brand name it offers, it is the culture and atmosphere that binds the work place together. People thrive under the growth, guidance and opportunities that an organization provides. Each employee wants to connect with an organization that facilitates, engages, and cares for its employees and their families. It is impossible to invest employee time and energy to the best interests of the organization without proper support to their families. Cummins rewards exceptional performance are direct results of exemplary employees and customer success. Ms. Rodriguez is always encouraging first class performance from her group and helps them understand the value of the hard work. She redirects her groups work when necessary to make sure the work is aligned with the company culture and strategy for long the term health of Cummins Inc. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats revolving around a corporation. This analysis involves determining the objective of the corporation and identifying the internal and external environmental factors expected to benefit or burden the achievement of company objectives. After the business identifies that objective a SWOT analysis is performed to examine the strengths and weaknesses(Internal factors) and then considers the opportunities posed by business conditions(external factors) By identifying the company strengths, a company will be better able to think of strategies that will take advantage of new opportunities. Identifying current weaknesses and the threats, a company will be able to identify changes needed to improve and protect its current operations. Organizational Strengths The strengths identified for Cummins are summarized in that they are a market leader for diesel technologies and products? One of the most important strength is that the company has a strong and loyal customer base across the globe. Its ability to reach around the globe with its master and regional distribution centers is clearly an advantage against their competitors. A second important strength is the yearly improvements made in the research in new diesel technologies. I emphasize yearly because competitors can take multiple years to produce results that Cummins Inc. routinely makes year over year. Lastly Cummins Inc. financial stability and security is a major strength. The company consistently maintains market position, financial disciplines and operational strengths to contend with cyclical nature of its business. The Financial Stability of Cummins Inc. is a key strength of this organization with Moody’s assigning an A2 rating. Moody’s determined that Cummins will maintain its market status, operational durability, and the financial self-restraint necessary to deal with the substantial cyclical nature of its business. Cummins Inc. recognizes that the cyclicality in the market it serves and maintains a high degree of financial discipline that is characterized my low levels of debt and a healthy liquidity profile (Park, 2014). Organizational Weaknesses Weaknesses that have been identified at Cummins Inc. are the weak profit margins on Diesel engine filters. A low profit margin will leave little room for them to lower their selling prices. Which is sometimes necessary to gain a competitive edge against competitors. A low margin means little funds available for profits and expenses. Reducing your selling price without a corresponding and proportionate reduction in the cost of goods sold will further reduce the funds available for expenses and profits. The biggest disadvantage for Cummins Inc. is that of a low profit margin is poor operational efficiency. Profit margins are lower than the industry average are indicative of a need to improve performance. The lack of improvement results in a lower level lower than would normally be attainable. Heavy dependence on a few suppliers is also another weakness with the Cummins Inc., strategy. The supplier will have the opportunity to take advantage of the company. When they are at the opportune time they may drive up prices because they understand that they are the supplier of choice at Cummins Inc.  even though they are contracted to do otherwise. Cummins will also be vulnerable to losing company technologies and research because suppliers are part of that information flow during the development process. Lastly a significant disadvantage is the supplier capable of meeting the future capacity of the company. Suppliers may withhold this information until product launch and once the launch of the new product is complete there may become capacity constraints with their production lines. Organizational Opportunities With the Cummins product Market environment consistently changing due to continuous improved product offerings need to adapt and change to what the customer wants. To be able to maintain the growth and profits of the business it is of vital importance to safeguard and diversify its product range. Possible opportunities to explore are capitalizing on the growth and expansion of diesel technologies. Product growth in this area can be a key imitative. Cummins takes the lead with these technologies. Cummins should also be able to, because of significant capital reserves, undergo strategic acquisitions and synergies, for example overseas dealerships that are privately owned and also undertake strategic alliance with competitors like Parker-Racor Corp for an interdependency that will cater to a wider consumer base. Organizational Threats The outlook for Cummins still looks positive but there are also are threats to the business that need monitored and/or addressed. China has enjoyed rapid growth for the past few years but is has been noted that diesel trucks purchased in China are down ten percent. China is the second largest market behind the United States in sales and any prolonged sales weakness there would have a large impact on Cummins Yearly performance. Secondly, with the long term in mind, emerging technologies in artificial intelligence could pose another threat. Self driven vehicles may possess a significant long term danger to Cummins. While this seems far off, one has to consider the limitations of human driven trucks. Simply put is that automating a truck fleet would put less trucks on the road because you would not have down time as you do now with humans. Leadership Evaluation My choice for the Leadership Evaluation is situational leadership theory, it is representative of the leadership form characterized by Ericka Rodriguez for her organization. It is pertinent from this background characterization and can be attributed to its overall success of the leadership qualities she exhibits. Leadership Strengths The scholarly sources that I have chosen are listed below: 1. Blanchard, K. (2010). Leading At A Higher Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Blanchard Management Corporation. 2. Hanafee, S. (2011). Red, black and global: The transformation of Cummins, 1995-2010. Columbus, IN: Cummins. 3. Winkler, I. (2009). Contemporary Leadership Theories Enhancing the Understanding of the Complexity, Subjectivity and Dynamic of Leadership. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg. Cummins Inc. is prospering by becoming the leading diesel engine builder and service provider in addition to maximizing its workforce and develop world class business leaders. Under Ms. Rodriguez the Eastern Distribution Center has grown from a regional parts Distribution center to a facility services the globe. She exhibits situational leadership style and are justified from the following instances; 1.) Coaching, participating, directing- Ms. Rodriguez has portrayed these attributes, and still successfully directs all her employees into achieving the strategic goals of Cummins Inc. She coaches, encourages, inputs solicitation, and explains why she has made certain decisions. She gives out specific instructions about what the objectives are and how the goals are achieved. As a situational leader Ms. Rodriquez gradually reduces her involvement in the day to day activities of her employees. She works with the highest integrity and never appears motivated by a desire to capitalize on the weaknesses of the team or Cummins Inc. She gives her employees the freedom to do their work to the best of their abilities. She does not change her approach to merely take advantage of the situation as she visualizes it but rather to take advantage by adapting to how the employees  visualizes and coaching accordingly(Winkler, 2009). 2.) Flexibility- A fundamental nature of a situational leader is to be able to flow with the changes in the environment of an organization and encourages thoughts from different people. These are the people who take risk. They enjoy new concepts, take challenges and enjoy their chosen profession. Employees enjoy working under Ms. Rodriguez. These employees are more than likely influenced by her working style (Blanchard, 2010). 3.) Ms. Rodriguez consistently encourages improvement of performance in her group and helps them to better understand the value of hard work and consistently motivates them to direct their work towards the strategies of the organization with humility and grace. Leadership Weaknesses Leadership: Situational leadership style exhibited by MS Rodriguez has certain perceived weaknesses. The Situational leadership style may be exhibited as a management technique instead of a leadership style. A vision of a manager maybe limited but a leader has a broad vision. This is a drawback that Ms. Rodriquez on occasion portrays a lack of long-term vision. The lack of vision has allowed competitors to capitalize in servicing our customers. Awareness: Ms. Rodriquez is a situational leader who can be manipulative. She fails to understand the perception of her employees. This perception may lead to the employees considering Ms. Rodriquez as a dictator. This form of leadership is unacceptable in the company culture of Cummins Inc. This will reduce the credibility and trust of the employees towards Ms. Rodriguez. It will be to her benefit if she is more transparent towards her employees (Hanafee, 2011). External factors: The decision making of Ms. Rodriguez may be affected by certain external factors. A situational leader is successful if they take into consideration external factors. There is a fair chance that there will change be in the situation with a change in leadership. It is the capability of the leader to adapt to this change and then adapt to these new circumstances. This capability is lacking in Ms. Rodriquez. Recommendations for Leadership Development I would suggest the use of situational leadership projected by Ericka Rodriquez, Eastern Distribution Center Site Materials Leader, on the fact that under her leadership productivity and employees moral has increased immensely since her hiring. I respect her strategies and completely take into account the knowledge that I have learned in the process of completing this assignment. The knowledge that I have attained can be summarized as follows- 1.) Delegation: Ms. Rodriquez is a considerate leader. Her decision making style is seasoned. She is a flexible leader but on occasion lacks the broad visions necessary to be a complete leader. A broad vision is essential to maintaining a business that is organized and efficient. Engaging with employees is also crucial for the essential for the continued success of Cummins Inc. This organization must work as a team. 2.) Ms. Rodriquez should adopt different styles of leadership according to the requirement. She must be able to provide confidence to the employees in times when Cummins Inc. is not attaining its organizational goals. Her employees will find confidence in these situations if she addresses these situations effectively. The will build and maintain a positive mental feeling (Northouse, 2013). 3.) Ms. Rodriquez leadership style must maintain an open commutatively rather than portrayed as a dictator. Situational leaders have a tendency to be manipulative. Ms. Rodriquez must reduce her dictatorship and take into consideration employees ideas. This will help keep her employees motivated (Brackett, 2011). These strategies of situational leadership are implemented will ensure the viability and sustainability of the Eastern Distribution Center for Cummins Inc. References Bass, B. M., Bass, R., & Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. Blanchard, K. (2010). Leading At A Higher Level. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Blanchard Management Corporation. Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi, P., & Zigarmi, D. (1985). Leadership and the one minute manager: Increasing effectiveness through situational leadership. New York: Morrow. Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., & Salovey, P. 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