Leadership Plan for the Merger.

Learning Team "B" has developed this paper to develop a leadership plan to be used during the transition phase of the merger/acquisition being undertaken. The Path-Goal Theory of leadership was chosen as the application model. Potential communication and empowerment issues, as well as the needs of the group, will be discussed.

Methodology.

In preparation for this assignment, Learning Team "B" (the team) reviewed various behavioral motivational and leadership theories and studies including the Ohio State studies, the University of Michigan studies, the Motivation Hygiene theory, the Hawthorne Experiments, the traditional theories X and Y, Maslow's theory Z, McClelland's Achievement Motivation, Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid, the Fiedler Model, the Leader Participation Model, and the Path-Goal Theory. The team's review indicated that the most logical leadership theory around which to base our leadership plan is the Path-Goal Theory. As mentioned by Robbins in Organizational Behavior, "The essence of the theory is that it's the leader's job to assist his or her followers in attaining their goals and to provide the direction and support or both needed to ensure their goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization (2001, p.229)."

English: Theory of Human Motivation Français : Py...

The Human Resources Manager

English: Motivational Saying

The team came to this conclusion after reviewing the given scenario: An American company (we chose to call Acme Widget, Inc.,) was the target of an acquisition by another corporation (the E-Z Widget Corporation). As the management of Acme Widget, the team is asked to develop a leadership plan during the merger/acquisition transition based on the theoretical and practical dimensions of effective leadership.

Team "B" Leadership Plan

The leadership plan calls for the behavior of the production manager of Acme to take on several diverse characteristics. To paraphrase Robbins (2001, pp.229-231):

The manager's behavior must be acceptable to the employees as it is an acceptable means...