...FROM: Renae Jackson DATE: February 26, 2015 SUBJECT: Leadership Approach Memo Recently the company made a decision to add a new department. In accordance with the business strategic plan to move into a new market segment, I have been appointed as manager over the new department and will be leading the department’s team with the tasks of meeting the objectives and expectations of the company. I, Tania Malveaux, along with Dawn Foster, Sonya Harriest, Wanda Lawson, and Iris Salas will work as a team to accomplish the goals assigned to our department. Because the company is venturing in to a completely new platform, our team will need to carefully and effectively evaluate all areas so that all objectives can be achieved. As department manager, I will develop a control process to measure the actual performance of my team members and a leadership approach. I have arranged a leadership plan to evaluate my team members, including myself based on a few measurable criteria. The leadership style we will use is a democratic style. An evaluation of the current situation in regards to the culture, urgency, and other factors will be included in this memo. I will also include some theories, guidelines, and best practices. My leadership plan consists of weekly brainstorming sessions to develop and critique new ideas. Two team members will be teaming up to go out and do some benchmarking. I will use personal observations and written reports as control processes to measure performance...
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...Team Leadership Memo Albert Johnson MGT/521 January 27, 2014 Lloyd Krieger In accordance with the company’s initiative toward entering a new marketplace, I have been asked to create this memo. Recently, I have been paired into a team with the assignment to meet the goals and expectations of the company. I, Albert Johnson, will team with Anthony Buglisi, Yoshika Middlebrooks, Timothy Ray and Latesha Wilkinson in order to attain the goals assigned to our group. We share a lot of similarities, while at the same time, maintain a status of being diverse individuals. By looking at the type of people we are, I think the best approach for us would be along the lines of a democratic atmosphere around our ideas around leadership. The similarities of our group can allow for an easier time for agreement on various subjects. However, the differences in approach between us will help illuminate what the main issues are; that need addressing. Whereas Timothy and I are very creative on our toes for solutions, we sometimes are willing to take risks that could be detrimental to the company without our knowing. This is where Anthony and Yoshika’s worth comes especially in this group. Any idea that pops up can be disputed and dissected for its pros and cons by Anthony and Yoshika. Latesha’s value to the group is that she’s highly persuasive. Whatever idea the group decides to agree on, Latesha is convincing enough to sell the ideas to fellow employees for support and execution, our managers...
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...To: Mr. Richard Dettling From: Chaquana Hales CC: Chaquana Hales Date: February 13, 2013 RE: Successful Team Leadership Memo Throughout the next few months to a year, as team manager of the newly formed department in the company, I will be working to uphold my tranquility and keep my employees involved while at the same time working to successfully steer through the contemporary and unexplored business atmosphere of today. Since recently, a great deal has been mentioned about the demand for maintaining motivation and engagement in the cutting edge employees during these times of important experiments and transformations. Up till now, as a leader in the company I am apprehensive and worried about the forthcoming for two reasons. The primary concern is an increased risk that my own personal livelihood might be affected due to the fact that all organizational levels will be impacted by the cutbacks in personnel. A secondary concern is that the survivors of the cutbacks will need my help and support to continue to stay engaged in their work. I will more than likely require these employees to achieve more with less. To aid in coping and enduring these difficult times while preserving effectiveness, I have come up with three propositions to consider. Establish Activities and a Positive Mindset It is common for all employees in times of change to communicate aggravations, put up shields, and oppose distressing transformations. Since these reactions all contradict production...
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...Organizational Planning Mario S Surla MGT/521 April 9, 2014 Donald Ratliff Organizational Planning Wal-Mart is an American multinational retail corporation and the top retail store with the lowest prices in the world. It is the biggest private employer and the largest public corporation with over two million employees worldwide. There are approximately 245 million customers and members that visit Wal-Mart each week, globally. It has stores in 27 countries and sales in 2013 were $466 billion. Wal-Mart’s mission statement of having the lowest prices is consistent with controlling cost, innovation and continuous improvement (Fortune 500, 2014). One of the strategic plans of Wal-Mart is to bring back “Made in America” products (“Time”, 2014). One of the reasons for having low prices is because Wal-Mart’s global out-sourcing. Goods and products that are made and bought overseas are cheaper. However, higher and increasing shipping costs, high global oil prices and wages overseas, translated to costlier fuel for ships and airplanes. There are also supply interruptions overseas as the middle class is growing and local demands are increasing in developing countries. This prompted Wal-Mart to re-evaluate its sourcing ways on variety of products. As you know, Wal-Mart does not produce goods or products but this giant retailer is playing a part in the manufacturing rebound in the U.S. It promised to buy $50 billion of U.S. goods over the next 10 years...
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...internal Cliffside Holding Company memo, Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice President of Human Resources of writes to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO to discuss the proposition of a leadership development program for junior insurance executives. Ms. Forsythe of Cliffside Holdings has proposed the new program and identified the total cost to be “$100,000.00 per year plus approximately the same amount for lost time on the job.” Mr. Ravaswami discusses the reasons he believes Cliffside Holding Company should not fund this new development program. The memo and rationale will be analyzed using the steps for Critical Thinking modeled in Asking the Right Questions by Brown and Keeley (2015). What are the issue and conclusion? The issue, or question being raised is apparent in the first sentence of the memo, “That we establish and fund a new leadership development program of our junior insurance executives.” Ravaswami writes that several of the senior leadership members at CHCM have not gone through such training and despite this, are all very “successful and effective without such programs” He goes on to point out that personality traits such as ambition, self confidence and intelligence were possessed by several known leaders throughout history show that leaders are not made, but born. The conclusion, as highlighted in the ‘Conclusion and Recommendations’ of the memo is “CHCM should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training.” In Asking the Right...
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...Critical Thinking: Leadership-Development Programs University of Maryland University College Introduction Critical thinking is a process by which a thinker can improve the quality of their thinking through a process. It involves a series of process, that actively and skillfully conceptualizing, evaluating, applying, and analyzing information to reach an answer or a conclusion. This allows the reader to process the information received to come to a reasonable conclusion based on a reasoned process. This process involve the utilization of the ten step methodology presented in Browne and Keeley’s book called “Asking the Right Questions”. These steps are used to achieve a clearer understanding of the issues being evaluated. In this paper, I will be using Browne and Keeley’s ten step methodology presented in “Asking the right questions” to analyze the memo title “Leadership Development Program” writing by Mr. Anil Ravaswami to Ms. Cynthia Castle (CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa CHCM). I will be analyzing the memo by going through each steps of the critical thinking model. This is to show my level of understanding of the intended messages being conveyed by Mr. A. Ravaswami’s memo. Critical Thinking: Leadership-Development Programs In Browne and Keeley’s book “Asking the Right Question”, Browne and Keeley discuss what the characteristics of an active reader or listener is. Browne and Keeley indicated that an active reader or listener is one who possesses the...
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...Abstract In his memo, Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President of Human Resources, analyzes Ms. Forsythe’s, The Director of Operations, proposal to fund a new leadership development program. He expresses to the CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa, Ms. Cynthia Castle, his dilemma which is, “Is it necessary to invest in a leadership development program?” (A. Ravaswami, personal communication, October 10, 2012). In which he states that the senior executive members never attended a leadership seminar but on average, the company's growth continues to excel. He challenges the proposition by stating that “leaders are born, not made”. He points out that leadership comes from within and that you cannot make someone become a leader. For one, to be a leader, he/she must possess qualities such as intelligence, motivation, and the ability to be influential. He goes on to list a group of leaders who possess similar qualities in comparison to one another. His theory disputes that it would be meaningless to train those who aren't natural born leaders as opposed to those who are. The methodology of Asking the Right Questions was used to analyze the memo which involves ten critical analysis steps to analyze and evaluate the author's argument. What are the issue and conclusions? The issues in the memo are that the Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa are mulling on the decision to budget...
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...to both sides of a discussion. Critical thinking is, in essence, the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of one’s experience, as it relates to the worth of the discussion at hand. The authors define critical thinking as, “the awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, the ability to ask and answer critical questions in an appropriate manner; and the desire to actively use the critical questions” (p. 4). This paper will evaluate the nature of critical thinking as an intellectual process and apply that to the memorandum date October 10, 2012 to Cynthia Castle from Anil Ravaswami to determine if the issue stated of whether the CEO of the company, Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) should invest $100,000 per year in leadership training program for junior insurance executives. Browne and Keeley (2010) make it clear that a critical evaluation cannot be done until the conclusion is found and instructs the critical thinker to find this by asking “What is the writer or speaker trying to prove”, and defines a conclusion as “inferred”, that is, derived from reasoning (p.26). DISCUSSION The 10 steps of the critical thinking model as discussed by Brown and Keeley (2010) include the following: 1. “What are the issues and the conclusions? 2. What are the reasons? 3. What words or phrases are...
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...Company of Massapequa (CHCM). The memo was in regard to establishing and funding something that CHCM did not have before; a new leadership development program specifically design for junior insurance executives. Mr. Ravaswami is suggesting to Ms. Castle not to invest on the leadership training because it will a waste of time and the money can be spent more wisely. I analyzed Mr. Ravaswami’s memo using the ten steps of critical thinking model from the book Asking the Right Questions. The way I accomplished this task was by asking one question at a time and explaining my results. What are the issues and the conclusion? The first step of the critical thinking model asks what are the issues and the conclusion with Mr. Ravaswami’s memo. After a senior executive meeting, the director of operations has suggested that it will be a good investment for CHCM to start a leadership development program for their junior financial executives. Mr. Ravaswami wrote a memo to Ms. Castle explaining his beliefs that CHCM should not proceed with the request because the program is not necessary and he concluded that the money could be spent better. What are the reasons? The second step asks for the reason why Mr. Ravaswami is suggesting not establishing a new leadership development program. As the first reason, the VP of resource discussed that in the last 50 years CHCM had an average rate of growth of 12% per year. He also pointed out in the memo that no one out of the 12 senior executives...
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...Introduction After carefully reviewing Mr. Anil Ravaswami’s memo to Ms Castle (A. Ravaswami, personal communication, October 10, 2012), I can say without a doubt that anyone who shall choose to base any idea, form an opinion or make a decision shall ensure that their critical thinking light is turned on. I have evaluated the memo using the ten step critical thinking method developed in Asking the Right Questions (Browne & Keeley, 2012 p. 9). As part of this method, systematic evaluation is completed by asking yourself ten different questions that help to identify things such as bias opinions, false statements or fallacies, attitudes, omitted information and even help to identify rival causes for reasons given or evidence used. By using this method of critical thinking, Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) will have a much more clear perspective as to whether or not a leadership development program should be created and funded for junior insurance executives. What are the issues and the conclusions? The first of Browne and Keeley’s ten step method is to ask yourself, “What are the issues and the conclusions” (Browne & Keeley, 2012 p. 18). When you read Mr. Ravaswami’s memo you can clearly identify the prescriptive issue at hand which is whether or not CHCM should establish and fund a new leadership development program for junior insurance executives. The issue here is clearly a prescriptive one as Mr. Ravaswami’s memo is attempting to persuade Ms. Cynthia Castle, CHCM’s...
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...relates to the process of asking the right kinds of questions. The authors define a critical thinking method by creating a 10-step strategy process that can be used to evaluate a memo from Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President of Human Resources of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa. The memo expressed his opinion about the junior leadership training program to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa. Step 1: What are the issues and the conclusion? Finding the issue is raising questions about what is right and wrong, good or bad (Browne & Keely, 2010). The company want to send employees off-site each year for leadership training. (The request was for his office to evaluate the merit of the request.) The twelve senior executives hadn’t want to attend the seminar and yet the company was successful. They think that it is a waste. Mr. Anil Ravaswami, vice president of Human Resources believes that leadership traits are innate. The issue set forth in Mr. Anil’s memo is whether to invest financially in the junior executives for annual leadership training. The conclusion set forth by Mr. Anil is not to invest in the training program. He said: “Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training.” (Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa, 2014). He believes that it would be a wasteful programs. Step 2: What Are the Reasons? It’s similar to Six Sigma. The...
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...Memo To: Recipient’s Name, Recipient’s Title Department of Defense Army National Guard From: Your Name, Your TitleSGT Jameka Samuel (Automated Logistic Specialist) CC: National Guard Bureau Name and title of individuals you want to copy in on your correspondence; if there are no courtesy copies, leave this line off Date: The date you are sending the memo19 June 2014 Subject: A clear subject line reflecting the focus of your document In need of a sponsor for writing course As we all know in the military being leader depends on your ability to think critically and creatively and to communicate your intention and decision to others. The ability to communicate clearly to get your intent and ideas across so that others understand your message and act on it is one of the primary qualities of leadership. Poor writing and communication in the military is mostly attributed to lack of proper training, lack of confidence and lack of leadership. Taking a soldier out onto the battlefield with a poor communicator could lead to potential deaths of inanest soldiers. With that being said this this is an opportunity to help a striving soldier to become a better leader in the military world by requesting to take a Business Writing Course at Kaplan University in Jacksonville Florida . The cost of the course is $1300.00 which includes all books and necessary course materials. The course will take place over a 6 week time period beginning June...
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...Company Memo University of Maryland University College Introduction Amidst this barrage of information in today’s world, it is often difficult to make a decision and stand by it, assured that it was the most advantageous to all those involved. Fortunately, critical thinking is a tool available to assist in making well thought out decisions in the face of contradictory opinions and impulsive actions. In Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, Browne and Keeley (2013) explain that critical thinking is “reacting with systematic evaluation to what you have heard and read” (p. 4). They further assert that critical thinking “requires a set of skills and attitudes that are built around a series of related critical questions” (p. 4). By asking the right questions, we employ the skill of critical thinking to enhance what and how we process information. To examine the concept of critical questions, this paper will analyze a business document from Cliffside Holding of Massapequa using the critical thinking model outlined by Browne and Keeley (2013) in Asking the Right Questions. Analysis Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President (VP) of Human Resources (HR) of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHMC), wrote a memo to CEO Cynthia Castle in response to her request for the evaluation of a proposal for a new leadership development program to be designed for Cliffside’s junior insurance executives (personal communication, October 10, 2012). To evaluate the memo, the...
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...Memo Review Your name here BCOM/230 August 26, 2013 Instructor name Memo Review Whenever an individual is in any type of a leadership role with their employer, it will be necessary to communicate with other department managers and possibly even upper level management. In this scenario, the boss has requested an overview of LIFO versus FIFO as it would apply to their company. The memo that will be submitted to the boss must be professional. The figures presented in the memo should be as precise as possible so that company officials will not be misled. The use of jargon in a memo is not professional and is not a good idea. Members of the accounting department use jargon when interacting with each another. Jargon and clichés are not uncommon while communicating within your department, but should be avoided when communicating with other department heads and management. This kind of treatment would inform readers that the author doesn't have particular concern for them and the current case is dealt with much in the same manner as others (Lesikar, Flatley, & Rentz, 2008). The memo presented to us for our assignment is an “inter-departmental memo” so the language used in it is acceptable. However, the memo that will be sent to the boss is official correspondence and the content should be presented in a professional manner. The memo alters from casual to official while revising the data. In this scenario, the memo under review is about...
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...In this paper, I am putting into practice the critical thinking technics learned from the book Asking the Right Questions by Browne, N. and Keeley, S. My intend is also to assess a memo by Mr. Anil, Vice-President of Human Resources at Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM.) the operations director came with the idea of creating a leadership-development program for the future leaders of CHCM. The plan of the director of operations is to prepare the staff that is working for the company, for they are expected to take on executive positions in the future. In a memo, Mr. Anil argues why a developmental program is not necessary. Mr. Anil’s memo is a response from a formal request of the installment and investment of the leadership development program for junior executives. The identified issue is: Should CHCM invests on establishing a leadership development program to train junior financial executives? According to Mr. Anil, Vice-President of Human Resources, it is a waste of resources for CHCM to invest on establishing a leadership development program and to send the junior executives for annual training. There are five reasons for Anil to decline the formal request by Ms. Forsythe. First, he highlight the high cost that would involve sending 20 staff members yearly. If CHCM were to send the junior financial executives to the training, the expense for the company would be $100,000.00. Moreover, the company would be at lose labor wise given that part of the personnel...
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