Changing the Game from Vision to Adaption

Changing the game from Vision to Adaption

Lewis Carroll’s quote, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”. The purpose of the vision of every company is to clarify the pathway forward. Is a mental image of where we want our business to be at some point in the future, based on goals and aspirations, the vision will stop you as soon as you are heading in the wrong direction.

Yinscape and Yangsearch. The Internet firm Yinscape located in Mumbai India acquired the American competitor Yangsearch with the assistance of a wealthy private investor (Jick & Peiperl, 2010). This acquisition now requires the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to set the tone for the future, creation of a vision statement and how to communicate the message to the stakeholders. According to Jick and Peiperl (2010) vision can be developed individually, through a leader-senior team or a bottom-up environment. The individual approach assumes leadership is the key based on legitimate power. The leader-senior team vision development is an informal collaborative approach. The bottom-up method allows creativity if conducted through a gathering of ideas from individuals possessing the ability to influence others. Jick and Peiperl explain managers possessing the ability to “appeal to a common purpose, communicate expressively, and sincerely believe in what they are saying” are successful in providing a vision.

Motorola in 1983 was at a major turning point in its history. The CEO Bob Galvin knew his company was in trouble and was in need of change and had a sense of urgency to communicate and apply his vision before retiring. (Jick & Peiperl, 2010) In 1983, Motorola had just come out from the recession in the semiconductor industry. The CEO was ready to improve and revive the company but conflicts between layers of management caused delays in the production. Also the international competition was rising. Japanese technology was expanding. As a corporation in general they needed to become more efficient in production in order to compete with the strongest to be. On April 24, 1983 the CEO gave a speech with words that brought confusion among his employees. He stated that he "wanted to decrease the many layers of management and to bring management closer to the product and market” and he had a good point, the many layers of management were a breakdown for the corporation. This caused drastic confusion and frustration throughout the company. He knew as the company grew it would only get worse. This was a revolutionary idea with great vision. However, the timing of the speech and lack of proper preparation for the following after effects were imprudent. Bob had not consulted with his two upper management partners, William Weisz and John Mitchell or had he discussed it with Human relations department. Although the HR team shared Galvin’s sense of urgency and his belief in the necessity for change, they questioned both his structural focus and some aspects of the culture he had built. (Jick & Peiperl, 2010).