Strategic Management



Strategic Management at Ben & Jerry's

Introduction

Ricardo Semler has successfully employed participatory management and approach towards decision making. According to Semler, decentralization is one of the most effective ways to engage employees in getting organization ahead by transforming itself as per the trends in the market organization is in, emerging markets in which organizations should try their luck, and last but not the least, customers' needs and wants. This strategy is opposite in nature to the prescriptive school of strategy (also known as traditional or autocratic management) which calls for entrusting the authority to decision making in the hands of top management only. Participative management allows employees to take responsibility, accountability and authority over work done for a company. This leadership strategy typically empowers qualified employees and allows executives to focus on strategic planning while subordinates manage daily operations. Effective leaders establish a clear mission, vision and set of objectives before deferring management to employees. Management communicates the organizational goals, describes what is expected in terms of results and then encourages employees to think creatively to solve problems and figure out how to improve performance. By establishing performance measurement criteria for learning, leaders can use participative management strategies to their advantage. Promoting Learning and Career Development Using participative management strategies, effective leaders encourage their employees to identify performance gaps and set their own career path using company resources, including formal education, workshops and self- paced courses. Employees use assessment tools to identify their strengths and weaknesses in achieving company goals. Then, they create a development plan and review it with their managers. This enables the employee to create a customized action for improving her skills over the coming year. By empowering the employee to assess her own competency and establish a plan, the leader guides the employee and provides a supportive atmosphere in which to develop the skills necessary to achieve the company's strategic goals. Participatory decision making brings about employee satisfaction, especially in the subordinates who feel disgruntled and disillusioned from the top management (Goleman, 2000, Pp. 78).

Participatory Management and Decision Making at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

In the past three decades, “Ben & Jerry's” has made a transition from a local ice cream maker into a large multinational corporation. The unique history and culture has made Ben & Jerry's brand into a social icon. The core values and mission of the company have been defined as three interrelated parts in Ben & Jerry's mission statement. The ever changing market has posed constant challenges to Ben & Jerry's, which calls for a comprehensive strategy that addresses the competitive difficulties, while allowing Ben & Jerry's to remain consistent with its mission and background. Analysis Following the merger with Unilever, Ben & Jerry's faces challenges as it navigates within a larger corporation while maintaining its identity and making improvements to compete globally. Ben & Jerry's has built an iconoclastic corporate culture. The company's environment is unconventional and innovative, and features casual dress, relaxed demeanor, flat hierarchy, open communication and a participatory ...