Intersect Investments

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: INTERSECT INVESTMENTS

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

University of Phoenix

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

Intersect Investment is a financial services company who has been experiencing difficulties since the events of September 11, 2001 shook up the investment world. They are a company that needs a new direction, as well as a strong leader to get them there. Janet was hired to be this person and implement a "customer intimacy" policy. She will have to basically restructure the company in order to apply this idea, and hope it works. Other companies have succeeded in the same basic process, but had more than 12 months, which is Janet's deadline. This paper will exhibit ideas and processes available for Janet to use in order to complete her mission. The big question is; will 12 months be ample time to show enough change for her to stay a part of the firm?

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

There have been many events in the past that have affected Intersect Investments. One is the stock market declining, decreasing stock value for the company. Customer service in the past has not always been great, which is why some customer base has been lost. When customers leave and stock options decline, there is not a lot left to hold the company together with, especially when they are without a string leader. In order to build the company back up, there must be employee building and learning. Someone needs to piece the workers together before the outside part of the company can advance.

Intersect Investment must realize that there are many issues the company must address in order to achieve the goal of getting back to the top of the financial services industry. The most important issue that the CEO and executives must look at is the employees' reaction to the new vision and how the workers are going to accept the new plan. They need to have incentives to make this huge change.

The final issue the company must face is the timeline in order to get the plan in completed. The CEO is giving the executives a 12 month period to have everything in order and to be back on top. The company may need more time with the major changes that need to take place within the organization. The CEO may be rushing the completion of the plan and in the end the plan may not be as successful as it would be if the executives had more time to get everything in place and obtain full employee participation.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The main stakeholders in Intersect Investments that need work are, as mentioned above, the workers. Janet will hopefully be able to group the company together, as they have not been in the past. New processes and ideas need to be adapted to ensure employee cooperation. This will allow for the external issues to be examined once steady internal procedures have been achieved. The decisions that Intersect Investment will make to change the corporate culture in support of the new company vision will have an effect on all the company stakeholders including the employees, executives, clients, and stockholders. The executives of the company have the most challenging decisions to make in order to put the new plan into place appropriately. The employees must learn to adapt to the new vision and do their job accordingly to make the vision a success. The clients of Intersect Investment will have better customer service, more products and better relationships with the company with the new plan.

Problem Statement

Intersect Investments will become a successful customer centered organization by realignment of transformation commitment culture with leaders and employees commitment to the vision.

End-State Vision

The end-state vision is a well organized and efficient company, at this moment, Intersect Investments seems to be people thrown together and shoved into a closet. In order to stack neatly and straighten out the company, so to speak, processes and practices need to be instilled in the employees and department heads. This gap is what Janet was hired to close; the creation and implementation of; which should be accomplished within 12 months. The following six topics are the goals for Intersect Investments:

 Practice the new vision within 12 months.

 Communicate vision to all employees.

 Train all employees on the new vision.

 Implement leader commitment to the new vision.

 Increase customer satisfaction by 10%.

 Decrease employee attrition by more than 25%.

The benchmarking section will give examples and ideas of processes and steps to take towards the goal.

Alternative Solutions

Upon company analysis and the creation of the end-state goals, alternatives were developed for the company to fulfill its mission through.

 Use steps and solid procedures to implement change.

 The "Yo' Mama" test.

 Communicate new vision to all employees via BLITZ.

 Implement Six Sigma.

 Do nothing and see how the company fairs.

 Use money incentives to encourage employees.

Dale Lick says that strong sponsorship and a positive learning approach are needed for appropriate change. (Zablocki, 2006) This is partially why Intersect Investments needs to be sure that their implementation plan is strong and has good leaders. Also found through benchmarking was a "three phase design-build" process used to ensure projects are done correctly, no matter how big or small. (Curry, 2005) Vision communication is greatly represented by Ronald Reagan. He has the ability to take large complex things and illustrate them to tangible items people can relate to. (Warren, 2006)

Michael Dell exhibited a desirable leadership trait when he admitted he was wrong. It