Intersect Gap

Gap Analysis: Intersect Investments

Being a part of America's vast business financial industry is a task for any company within the field. Due to the change in this country's economy since September 11, 2001 it has become even more difficult for the financial industry to maintain. Intersect Investments is a financial company that barely managed to prosper after "9/11". To counter this crisis the CEO of Intersect Investment Frank Jeffers, identified the following vision: "Provide a broad set of products and services to consumer and small business customers using a model of customer intimacy that will build long-term relationships based on trust and value to the customer." In order to fulfill this vision, the company had to adopt the ideology of "customer intimacy". Thought this may have seemed to be easily obtainable, this rapid strategic shift resulted in a few unforeseen issues. The following text will briefly examine the situation. While doing a focus will be placed on the issues/opportunities, view the perspectives of the stakeholders, establish an "end vision", and look at the gap that stands between the problem and the solution.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

The Intersect Investment Company has seen its share of hard times. With help from the devastation of September 11, 2001, the entire financial industry has experienced a substantial amount of instability. Due to this unsteadiness many financial firms, including especial Intersect Investment, are struggling to the trust of their clients and credibility that it needs on wall street to remain successful. Over the span of Intersect history, there have been periods when the company has barley managed to stay alive. In an effort to combat this trend, the CEO of the company Frank Jeffers has identified a new vision: "Provide a broad set of products and services to consumer and small business customers using a model of customer intimacy that will build long-term relationships based on trust and value to the customer." This can be seen as an example of adaptive change because the change took place to focus on the changing needs of the company's stakeholders. (McShane-Glinow, 2004) In order to realized this vision there must be some changes made within the company. There have been changes made, however, in order for this vision to come to pass there must be even more changes and a better implementation process set into place. Thought the current condition of Intersect is not one that exudes favor, there are past events that have led to the current state.

As mention in the scenario, since September 11, 2001 the entire financial services industry has suffered drastically. It is now due to this shift that financial firms of today must regain the trust of clients and credibility on Wall Street. Intersect of not a company that is exempt from aforementioned issues. Aside from the devastation caused by the "9/11" tragedy, the resistance of the CEO to make a drastic change or strategic shift also led to the current issues. This behavior that Frank Jeffers displayed severely hindered the company the company's growth.

Main past events that have led to the company's current issues:

1. Devastation caused by "9/11".

2. The CEO's resistance to change to promote a strategic shift.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The stakeholders of the company in reference to this assignment would have to be the following: current and future customers of (including the Wall Street market), current employees of the company, and leaders of the company. It is safe to assume that the stakeholders would share the same interest, rights, and values, however, that was not the case in this scenario. It was the decision of the CEO to identify a vision that he felt would propel the organization to future success. With the focus now placed on "customer intimacy" (being a trusted advisor, providing exceptional services, and providing services that add value to the customers) this was an idea that had to be accept by the entire company, however, this would prove to be a task as the company adopted this model for improvement. It is understood that Intersect's decision to shift its strategy was to improve the relationships with customers. It can be safely stated that there would not be any conflict with the customers regarding this decision, however, the same cannot be said for the said for employees of the company.

With the new shift there were issues that arose internal. The employees were used to conducting business in a manner that did not resemble that suggested by the "intimacy model". During several meeting that were conducted by Janet Angelo, employees were given the opportunity to express their concerns. Some of the concerns that were mentioned included:

1. "Leadership does not communicate effectively."

2. "We do not believe leadership."

3. "We work in a poor environment."

4. The employees' focus was on sales and not building customer rapport, which is suggested by the "intimacy model" (Intersect scenario)

Due to these issues the main problem us now realize. The resistance that is observed is the main issue that this company faces. If the employees are not will to accept this change, the company will experience a major lost. When presented with the idea the employees understood the reason for the shift, however, they were unclear as to how this would help with current sells. This disruption in the learned tradition caused a substantial amount of resistance amount the employees. According to Kreitner and Kinicki, the abovementioned one of the seven main causes of resistance. (Kreitner-Kinicki,