Case Study: Sink or Sloan Women in Management

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Table of Contents

Case Study: Sink or SWIM
SWIM’s strengths
Conference Process Analysis
Recommended Resolutions
Consequences of the Half-Day Resolution
Contingency Planning Process
Challenges of Organizational Decision-Making
Conclusion
References

This paper presents an evaluation of the leadership and managerial decision-making process involving the MIT Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) club. The case study involved the decision to cancel or proceed with the planned meeting in the face of an impending weather challenge. The decision involved several issues, including the costs of cancellation and the repercussions of proceeding with the meeting if the snowstorm would hit on Friday as predicted. This report examines SWIM’s areas of strength, their decision process, and recommended solutions. Further, the consequences of the proposed solutions are presented with a clear focus on future contingency plans. In the culmination of the case, this report discusses the challenges of organizational decision-making.

Case Study: Sink or SWIM

An organization’s progress and sustainability depend heavily on the managerial decisions made. The policymaking landscape is dynamic as it presents leaders with new challenges in handling the environmental, social, and economic responsibilities. In risky situations, leaders are expected to act logically and make practical decisions to sustain the organization (Bauer & Erdogan, 2017). Surviving and sustaining operations in any organization calls for creativity and innovation. We live in times when anything can happen at any time, disrupting business processes. While good leaders are expected to plan ahead of time, some events are unpredictable. Unforeseen events can result in significant losses to an organization that the organization may have a challenge recovering from the damage. As the SWIM leadership navigates their third annual meeting preparation, they must consider all the probable events and their consequences. The club can utilize its strong points to avoid severe repercussions while understanding that the future depends on current decisions. Since the future is unpredictable, there is a need for contingency planning to prevent event and business’ disruption.

SWIM’s strengths

SWIM has several strengths that can be utilized for the club’s success. These strengths include the club’s size, resource endowment, and leadership skills. SWIM’s most significant strength is its growth over the years, contributing to a large membership giving the club a good reputation. The case study highlights that the planned third annual women’s conference was set to be the largest (Ankeles et al., 2013). The attendance was estimated at 500 guests, a number that called for a whole year’s planning. The club started with a few members and grew over the years, reaching a point where it could host a large meeting with many speakers handling various topics on business and women. The club can utilize the good reputation to call in for support and attendance from many businesswomen and influencers globally.

The club is endowed with the resources necessary for hosting large business meetings. The case indicates that at MIT Sloan, rarely closed, meaning that the halls and other projection systems were available for SWIM. The meeting venue had the capacity to hold over 500 attendees (Ankeles et al., 2013). Also, the club has financial resources from its numerous sponsors. This point is explained in the case study whereby the co-presidents questioned the response of sponsors if the event was canceled. The restaurants are also available and have prepared to feed the attendees. These are some of the resources at the club’s disposal that enable it to carry out the large meeting. SWIM can take advantage of this strength by maintaining a good relationship with its sponsors and other stakeholders to sustain their support.

In addition to external support, SWIM’s leaders are dedicated and demonstrate good leadership skills essential for steering the club forward. The case indicates that the three co-presidents and the two conference directors planned for months to ensure the third annual meeting would be successful. Also, when forecasts of a snowstorm came, they set everything aside to evaluate their options and derive a suitable plan. They are responsible and accountable to the stakeholders, not wanting to disappoint them or ruin the club’s reputation (Tourish, 2005. Their leadership demonstrates flexibility and creativity as they are willing to consider several options, including running the meetings concurrently with different speakers or going for a half-day seminar. SWIM can capitalize on its excellent leadership by promoting involvement and creating accountability for all leaders. Other leaders in the club should also be mentored to develop critical thinking skills that would make them capable leaders in the future, thus sustaining the club.

Conference Process Analysis

The conference process can be analyzed from the perspective of the challenges at hand, the leaders’ decision-making methods, and the related outcomes. The conference was primarily focused on a solution to the impending threat and its impact on the club. The main issue is that a major snowstorm was expected to strike the Boston area on the conference day (Ankeles et al., 2013). The snowstorm will alter the conference’s result and present the co-presidents and event directors with a slew of new challenges.The obstacles that will be encountered if a snowstorm occurs are established as the problem elements. They define the direction SWIM should take as they seek to balance costs and benefits.

One issue addressed at the conference is that if the event were canceled, the speakers would have to change their travel arrangements. Speakers who had set off for the meeting or had landed would then have to adjust their plans, and some tickets could be non-refundable. In this case, travel expenses ought to be reimbursed, and the burden of proof would rest on the group. Another significant issue is sponsorship money. The group has already received a substantial sum of money from sponsors, and those funds would need to be returned if the event were canceled. The non-refundable initial payments for the location, catering, and other similar costs will have to be covered by the company.

SWIM also ran the risk of losing these sponsors in the future. In severe weather, such as a snowstorm, safety is a serious worry. If the event proceeds as scheduled, attendees will believe that the organization is unconcerned about their safety. Furthermore, the company or school may be held responsible for injuries that occur on school grounds, such as a parking lot fall. If the event were to go ahead, proper safety procedures would have to be put in place, which the event organizers may not have considered. Even if the institution closed and the meeting was moved to a different venue, there might be some uncertainty about the event’s location (Ankeles et al., 2013). Ticket sales income is also a significant problem. Since certain costs are non-refundable, SWIM will have to shoulder a significant financial burden. SWIM would have to handle ticket refunds if the event was canceled or modified in some way.

Recommended Resolutions

Based on the present circumstances, there are several variables to look at in the likelihood of a snowstorm. First and foremost, the third annual meeting could proceed as expected without implementing any venue or procedural changes. This option would minimize extra costs and preserve the club’s reputation. On the downside, it would make it look like the SWIM officials were not concerned with the attendees’ security, which would ruin future relationships (Ankeles et al., 2013). The second option was to hold the conference on the planned day, but in a half-day format by running events concurrently in different venues with different speakers. The third alternative was to postpone the meeting until a later date. Unfortunately, the present administrators were set to graduate before rescheduling the date, so this choice was not viable.

In my opinion, the best move would be running the meeting for half the scheduled time. Since the storm was predicted to hit in the evening, running the meeting half-day would protect the attendees. Running a half-day meeting with concurrent speakers in different venues would be the most appropriate decision as it would meet the club’s goal, which is cost minimization and safety. All speakers would be given a chance to address different topics, and the audience would choose their preferred subject. In any case, flexibility would be provided whereby a person could spend some time in a particular venue then move to the next in order to capture all the necessary points. The day would not be wasted, nor will the sponsors be disappointed or demand to be refunded. Most importantly, SWIM would preserve its reputation of excellence and develop stronger relationships with its stakeholders.

Consequences of the Half-Day Resolution

As the half-day resolution turns out to be the most feasible solution, there are three significant consequences associated with it. First, half-day meetings with different venues require an additional cost of renting halls and public address systems (Ankeles et al., 2013). This is a cost that was not initially factored into their budget. Secondly, some attendees may miss important sections of the meeting. It would not be practical for all attendees to attend each session. The missed points may be viewed as an inefficiency in the meeting’s plan and delivery. Lastly, there would be significant post-meeting costs pertaining to cleaning and returning the rented equipment. Regardless of the highlighted consequences, the half-day schedule remains the most cost-effective.

Contingency Planning Process

Disaster preparedness is critical for business continuity and organizational sustainability. A contingency plan offers a guideline as to the processes and backup procedures that will be called in when disaster strikes. Effective contingency planning involves leaders ad experts at all levels within the organization (Tourish, 2005. As technological and environmental changes continue advancing, organizations need to stay ahead by preparing backup plans to offset the consequences that may arise. SWIM can follow several steps to develop contingency plans that will sustain the club’s operations if disaster strikes in the future.

The first step SWIM can take is to invest in extensive research. Disaster preparedness requires knowledge of all potential cause-effect relationships of all potential calamities. The club should assess its internal and external environments and develop a list of all events that can limit its operations. There might be a need to involve experts from specific sectors such as the environmental sector to get relevant updates and insight into potential disasters (Pavlov et al., 2019). The second crucial process involves using the risk analysis tool to develop feasible contingency plans. Different disasters have different levels of risk and therefore have other impacts on the organization. SWIM should evaluate the level of risk associated with each disaster outlined in step one. This would help the club to narrow down its attention to the most significant risks.

Lastly, SWIM should re-align its standard operating procedures (SOPs) with its logistics department to ensure that disaster response is made effective. This last step is crucial in any organization so that the response time to disaster is shortened in order to limit the effects of a calamity. With three co-presidents and two directors, SWIM should look within its leadership and identify key personalities who can be placed in charge of each part of the contingency plan. These three steps will enable SWIM to deliver on its strong points and ensure sustained growth.

Challenges of Organizational Decision-Making

Decision-making in organizations can be challenging, mainly because of conflicts. These conflicts can be categorized into process and relationship conflicts. Process conflicts arise due to disagreements concerning the best alternative. Some members may be looking at the most feasible solution, while others focus on superior choices, leading to conflicts (Gino, 2015). These conflicts slow down the decision-making process and may result in the formulation of unpractical techniques, further limiting organizations’ growth.

The relationship conflict arises when members of an organization focus on an individuals’ personality rather than the decision required. These conflicts are common in many organizations and can have other consequences such as fights. Relationship conflicts develop due to personal issues dragged into the work environment reducing the efficiency of operations (Kemp et al., 2020). In such circumstances, members are most likely to reject a good alternative from a person they don’t like.

Conclusion

In conclusion, disaster preparedness has become increasingly crucial for business and organizations’ survival. SWIM’s third annual meeting was at the brink of failure due to an impending storm that would have left the club in a bad situation. The leaders had to think fast and strategize on the most cost-effective measures to handle the event. Utilizing their strengths, the club can use extensive research, risk analysis, and SOPs realignment to develop effective contingency plans. Many organizations suffer from poor decision-making due to ineffective conflict-handling techniques.

References

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2017).Organizational behavior (2nd ed.) Soomo Learning

Ankeles, L., Graham, M., Pittore, R., & Ramamurthy, P. (2013). Sink or SWIM (downloadable case). Web.

Gino, F. (2015). Introverts, extroverts, and the complexities of team dynamics.Harvard Business Review. Web.

Tourish, D. (2005). Critical upward communication: Ten commandments for improving strategy and decision making. Long Range Planning, 38, 485-503. Web.

Pavlov, A., Ivanov, D., Pavlov, D., & Slinko, A. (2019). Optimization of network redundancy and contingency planning in sustainable and resilient supply chain resource management under conditions of structural dynamics.Annals of Operations Research, 1-30. Web.

Kemp, E., Briggs, E., & Anaza, N. A. (2020). The emotional side of organizational decision-making: examining the influence of messaging in fostering positive outcomes for the brand.European Journal of Marketing. Web.

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