A Window on Life

Case Study: A Window on Life

Discussion Questions:

1. Identify the symptoms indicating that problems exist at Lcrosse Industries, Inc.

The symptoms that indicated that problems existed at Lacrosse Industries Inc., became evident in the change of leadership. When Gilbert Lacrosse, founder, decided that, “the organization’s success and survival depended on the expansion to other parts of the United States” and having consulted with employees made the difficult decision to sell a majority share to Build-All Product, Inc.: “a conglomerate with international marketing expertise in building products”. With this decision, Lacrosse spent more time with developers and a VP was brought in to oversee production, significant change came to the organization as a result of this:

* Noted change in operating procedures such as how the production orders were sent; instead of the usual visit orders now came by supervisory memo

* Product quality declined, this was a priority in the company’s history, “less attention was being paid to inventory controls; with the introduction of strict inventory guidelines and outlined procedures on using supplies for each shift”

* The increase in defective windows being returned by developers and wholesalers as a new purchasing procedure was introduced

* Employees started to quit

* Lastly, the lack of communication between all levels

It became evident that Lacrosse Inc. that was founded on “products had to be of the highest quality because they gave families a “window on life” was facing a demise.

2. Use one or more leadership theories to analyze the underlying causes of the current problems at La Crosse Industries. What other organizational behavior theories might also help explain some of the problems?

Lacrosse operated his company under path-goal theory of leadership: a contingency theory of leadership based on the expectancy theory of motivation that relates several leadership styles to specific employee and...