Case Study Analysis -West health Plans Inc

Case Study Analysis- West health Plans Inc

Part A- Analysis of issues faced by West health Plans Inc.

Background

Under the management of Martin Quinn, previously the department had been facing the problems of increasing cost related to the departmental operations and training. After the retirement of Evelyn Gustafson, Martin Quinn had to appoint a new manager for leading the teams in the department and to control the increasing cost as well. He appointed Erik Rasmussen. He is a young and fresh graduate of business administration (Daft & Lane, 2009).

The issues

The organization has been facing the issues that are as follows:

Higher Cost

The cost of business operations had been increasing. Erik Rasmussen controlled the increasing cost by increasing the number of customers call per hour and incorporating computerized calls based systems. The organization has higher training costs as well (Daft & Lane, 2009).

Low Satisfied Employees

Erik Rasmussen was focused on employee productivity and departmental cost of operations. His policies are not designed with considerations of employees. He incorporated a system f work that increased the employee productivity without any benefit or flexibility to the employees. This led to higher employee fatigue and higher turnover rate (Daft & Lane, 2009).

Higher Customer Complaints

Due to higher turn over rate, new inexperienced employees were hired who could not satisfy the customers on calls. Customers simply are not satisfied. When they are satisfied, they tend to express their grievances in many different ways. The management of customer complaints can be a rewarding experience for the client, employee and business if done correctly. However, it leads to cancellation of accounts, since it is not done correctly (Daft & Lane, 2009).

Part B (1)-Leadership style of Erik Rasmussen and Evelyn Gustafson

Evelyn Gustafson's Leadership

According to the analysis of the case, Evelyn Gustafson had been a democratic leader. She prioritized employee involvement. In addition, she provided her subordinates and employees flexibility in their working style and allowed them to vote for the policy to be followed and make different decisions based on what the group thinks. She promoted group discussion and appreciated the efforts of her employees for their job. She appreciated the feedbacks of her subordinates when she was in the need to solve a problem. As the leader, she offered various solutions, among which the employees must resolve what has to be the most appropriate (Daft, 2008).

This type of leadership is also known as "free rein", here the leader functions delegated to the community and expect them to take responsibility, motivation and control of different situations which the organisation has been facing. The problem solving activity takes every one into account. This is a way of providing favours to the participation of all in decision-making. The group, therefore, feels more involved in the choices and, feeling active part of the group, is more motivated. In this case the head constitutes an active presence in the group and cooperates with it as all other members. Through this style of leadership, the leader expresses confidence in team members, supporting ...