Intersect Problem Solution

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

Intersect Investment is a financial services organization that is struggling to compete within an industry that has been in a constant state of flux since September 11, 2001. This volatile climate has made it difficult for many financial firms to keep their clients’ trust as well as maintain credibility with Wall Street. In the past four years Intersect Investment Services has barely managed to survive but has resisted making any drastic changes. Now it is evident that the organization must make sweeping changes in the way it interacts with its customers if it is to be competitive and regain the company’s standing in the financial services industry.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Intersect Investments has found the business declining in the last five years. CEO Frank Jeffers has identified a new vision to provide a broad set of services and products to customers using a customer intimacy model that will build long-term relationships based on trust and value to the customer. Frank’s style of leadership is a transactional style that has served both him and the organization well over time. Transactional leaders exert corrective action only when subordinates fail to obtain performance goals (Kreitner, 2004). However, he did not do a good job selling his vision to his leadership team and this caused a strong resistance among management and employees to the changes. When the executive vice president of sales did not support the CEO’s vision and implement the customer intimacy model within the sales department Frank let him go. One year after the CEO identified this new sales model it is still not implemented at Intersect and sales are dropping, customers are dissatisfied with the services they are receiving, and employees are unhappy and unfulfilled in their jobs.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The alternative solutions that have been identified for Intersect Investments to achieve its end-state vision will address each of the stakeholder perspectives identified in Table 2. There is a fundamental conflict between upper management and the employees where the customer intimacy model is concerned. Over the last year while Frank Jeffers has identified this sales model as the path he wants the organization to take there has not been support from his management team, which has resulted in the employees receiving mixed messages and their perception that the management team does not know what is going on. The solution identified here will foster education and communication to staff members of the desired model and the results that can be achieved by implementing it. The customer stakeholder group is in conflict with the sales employees because research indicates that customers want to trust their financial advisors and want to develop a long-term relationship. The sales employees believe that in order to meet their sales goals they must make more calls and spend less time with customers.

There is a direct conflict in what each of these stakeholder groups wants. By implementing the customer intimacy model and changing goals and rewards for sales employees the organization can align these two stakeholder groups. There is also a conflict between the new executive vice president of sales and the vice president of sales. The new EVP has been charged with implementing the new customer intimacy model and the sales VP does not support it at all. Again, by using communication and education throughout this transition the organization can achieve alignment of stakeholder groups and provide both job satisfaction and job security.

Problem Statement

Intersect will become the trusted advisor to its customers by implementing a customer intimacy model that will build long lasting relationships with its customers.

End-State Vision

Intersect Investments will become the trusted advisor to its customers with continued growth of its customer base by transforming the organization using a customer intimacy model. The organization will achieve this end state by implementing a rewards program that will change the behavior of its employees to focus on customer satisfaction. Intersect will regain its standing in the financial services industry and increase both customer and employee satisfaction within the next 12 months.

Alternative Solutions

Intersect Investments has several alternatives to achieve its end-state of becoming the trusted advisor to its customers and increasing both sales and customer base. The customer intimacy model that the CEO, Frank Jeffers, has identified as the new business strategy for the organization has yet to be implemented successfully due to the resistance of his sales team management and consequently the sales staff.

The first alternative that Frank Jeffers can use is a transformational change of the organization’s culture. Organizations encounter many different forces for change. These forces come from external sources outside the organization and from internal sources. External forces might be demographic characteristics, technological advances, or market changes, or social and political pressures (Kreitner, 2004). Intersect must change the way it performs its business due to changes within the market. There are also some internal issues that suggest a change is needed within Intersect. There is a misalignment of expectations between management and the employees of Intersect, which is hindering the organization from achieving success. This transformation must begin with communication. Frank Jeffers and Janet Angelo must first communicate his vision of the customer intimacy model to his leadership team and provide them enough information to persuade them to support the new business strategy. Next, the new strategy must be communicated to the employees that will be expected to execute it. This part is going to require a campaign to educate employees on the benefits of the new model rather than the previous approach, which was to dictate the change and not educate employees and gain their support. The lack of communication and education on the new model has caused a great deal of resistance to the changes. Resistance to change is an emotional/behavioral response to real or imagined threats to an established work routine (Kreitner, 2004). There are many reasons why employees resist change; surprise and fear of the unknown, an environment of mistrust, fear of failure, loss of job security, peer pressure,