Leadership and Change Management

Assessment brief:

The assessment is to produce an individual reflective account on leadership styles, traits and competencies that were exhibited in the case. Evaluate the leadership styles and traits of Gosfield park. Assess how the company utilizes its good reputation as a regional showground in the context of the company’s culture and the wider competitive environment. Give your reasoning for your choices of alternative actions and behaviors.

Assessment: case-Based Assessment

FURHTER CHANGE AT GOFIELD PARK

Gosfield Park is a 2,500-hectare country estate in North Brentshire. The estate has been in the ownership of the Kennedy family since the fifteenth century. The present owner, Sebastian Gosfield and his younger brother, Patrick, manage an estate that comprises of: * 20 cottages on the estate which are tenanted

* Two farms (both arable)

* One public house-The George’

Over the past twenty years the family has diversified into country leisure activities to maximise

the potential of the estate. Gosfield Park has gained a good reputation as a regional

showground and has, over the past few years, been successful in attracting major events such

as:

• Opera in the Park events
• Jazz concerts
• Open air Shakespearean plays in the summer months
• National Orienteering competitions
• Veteran and Classic car shows
• National Clay. Pigeon shooting competitions
• Regional dog shows

To attract such events the brothers constructed in 2012 an arena capable of taking 2,000 spectators. The brothers have also invested in indoor facilities that can cater for show-jumping events, dog agility competitions together with a range of country pursuit activities. The strategy

has also been to attract the younger generation to country pursuits with a range of activities led by local clubs and societies (archery, country crafts, nature conservancy events such as wild bird conservation including the protection of rare birds of prey- hen and marsh harriers that are in danger in the area). Gosfield Park employs some 25 full time staff and a further 30 par-time staff throughout the year. Many of the full-time staff have been there for years and many see themselves as part of the extended ‘Gosfield family’. Most people are called by them first names and the brothers regularly have a barbeque for friends and family of the estate workers together with their own family and friends. Everyone mixes well and the success of Gosfield Park has been mainly due to this close interaction and good working relations with is staff and suppliers. The house and park with its amenities attract some 100,000 visitors a year. The house runs events throughout the year which range from antiques fairs, murder mystery weekends, and private tours of the house and its gardens for small parties of guests. There is a farm shop and the visitors can purchase vegetables and other crops from the shop depending on the time of year. There is a restaurant that can seat 30 guests, as well as seasonal visitor attractions such – The Easter Bunny Show, dining facilities for private groups and, of course, Christmas parties and New Year celebrations. Over the past six months Sebastian and Patrick have been considering further changes to add to the business to fully maximise the potential of the estate. Sebastian has been looking at introducing to part of the estate a country holiday complex similar to that introduced by Center Parcs in the UK some 40 years ago. A 500-hectare site has been earmarked on the southern part of the estate where 30 lodges would be built for guests and their families to relax and enjoy the range of indoor and outdoor activities that are to be planned. Embarking on this major investment programme would complement the existing estate’s facilities. The family can fund most of the development required from their current business activities with only a mall loan from the bank if required. The development of the estate has, in the past, not been without its critics. The previous change at the Park did not go as planned, with staff poorly engaged in the proposed change and (according to staff) little in the way of communication and consultation. Some jobs were lost last time and the consultants who were brought in to manage the change were criticized by the staff for their unwillingness to communicate adequately with them. Both Sebastian and Patrick are aware that previous change was not greeted with unanimous acceptance by the staff. The brothers have learnt that to make change work they need to take their workforce _with them and not isolate them from the process. Kay Associates have again been brought in to plan for the change. The brothers know that success will depend on their experienced and close-knit workforce working closely with them to make the project successful. Previous change was not managed well. Sebastian and Patrick reflect on the way they handled the change before. They were intent on pushing the change through and did not fully grasp the people side of the change process, which they now understand to be crucial. However, there are still employees that remember those times and any subsequent change will obviously remind them of what occurred during the previous changes. Lessons must be learnt!

A meeting with the consultants (Kay Associates) has taken place and the brothers are convinced that the new development will be a welcome addition to the estate and means that additional staff would need to be employed to cater for the new development. Sebastian has emphasised to the consultants his staff’s concern of the way the consultants handled the change. Both brothers want to see from the consultants a clear strategy for how to plan for the changes and to keep in their minds the concerns the staff had last time over how the consultants managed the change. A few days after the meeting with Kay Associates, the proposed development filters through to the existing staff. Many who had witnessed change at Gosfield are a little concerned given the turmoil and stress that they went through last time. In the George pub that evening some of the full-time staff meets to discuss the whispers on the grapevine about the so-called changes. Tom, the Farm Manager remarks that-“I good start. We have not heard officially the news of the new development and as fam manager you would think I would have been asked for my input as some of the proposed land has currently been earmarked for tree planting. What does all this mean for the workforce and why is it that Sebastian and Patrick have not communicated any of this to the staff?” Ray, the Head Gardener remembers how the brothers left the changes last time to the consultants to manage. “The associates treated us badly little communication, staff did not know if they had a job or not. We’re not a factory or an office, we are a close-knit team, and we expected the changes to be discussed with us. We tried to do our jobs and had at the same time to cope with the changes that took place. We were all stressed. Sebastian and Patrick let the consultants deal with everything: no one would listen to our problems. Let’s hope the changes this time are better managed. I know Sebastian and Patrick are trying to make a success of the estate, but major changes affecting what we do on the estate should require some input from the staff who have to do the job day in and day out”.

Assessment requirement:

• Analyze and evaluate the managerial techniques employed by ebastian and patrick in implementing and managing change and innovation.
• Examine the implications of change processes experienced/implemented by Gosfield.

Structure will be in form:

• Introduction
• Analysis and evaluation
• Conclusion
• References

*** Word count: 2500 words

*** In-Text citations and references using Harvard style (Minimum of 10 references)