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1. Executive Summary

Mr.Clifford Fonseka has a big challenge in front of him to be success in CROA (Pvt)

Ltd., as the General Manager Sales. The situation shows a demotivated sales staff to

be handled by Mr.Fonseka because of his appointment. Therefore, he should have to

carefully manage this situation to survive in his position and to achieve the company

goals and objectives.

First at all, he should analyze the present situation and his span of control before

implementing solution for the problem and he should identify and improve managerial

skills to manage his subordinates. As the General Manager of sales he has to improve

his conceptual and human skills to the expected level. Not only that, but also he would

be able to improve his technical skills because he is new to the construction industry.

Communication skills are very important to this role, because there are two senior

managers, four sales managers and ten Sales Executives Island wide to achieve the

companys objectives. Administrative skills are also more important, because he is

going to handle unhappy employees.

Management process should implement carefully, by Planning, Organizing, Leading

and Controlling to achieve the goals and objectives in the company. Because, he should

report directly to the director board.

Finally, he should improve his leadership skills and understand the leadership

methods to facing and win the situation. He should discuss about the motivational

strategies with director board and should get the approval to implement them.

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2. Introduction

2.1. CROA (Pvt) Ltd

CROA (Pvt) Ltd is a subsidiary of a Holding company in the country where the

group is managing over 15 companies diversified in to many industries. CROA is

a leading supplier in building material in construction industry. It is importing and

distributing multinational brands to Sri Lanka.

2.2. Mr. Clifford Fonseka

Mr. Clifford Fonseka is the newly appointed General Manager Sales with an

overall responsibility of managing his Strategic Business Unit (SBU), reporting

directly to the board of directors of CROA. He is a well-qualified manager who is

holding an MBA from leading university, specializing Project Management,

knowledgeable in analytical skills and having very good relationship building

personality.

2.3. Span Control under Mr. Fonseka

Fig. No. 2.1 Span Control under Mr.Fonseka

Board of Directors

Genaral Manager - Sales

Mr. Clifford Fonseka

Senior Manager

Sales Manager

3 Sales Executives

Sales Manager

2 Sales Executives

Senior Manager

Sales Manager

3 Sales Executives

Sales Manager

2 Sales Executives

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Mr. Clifford Fonseka is the head of 16 people, including two Senior Managers,

four Sales Managers, and 10 Sales Executives. Therefore, this newly appointment

made uncomfortable environment among these employees, because, they thought

that they will lose the opportunity to becoming the General Manager or Senior

Managers in their carrier.

Other than to that, Mr. Clifford Fonsekas industry experiences were mainly into

Information/Communication Technology industry. He has a very big challenge to

manage those people without the industry experience. But, He should have to

bringing shareholders expectation of financial profitability to the company by

managing all the things.

2.4. The Challenge

The challenge is manage the situation carefully without disturbing the company

sales and organization structure.

Because, the senior managers and sales managers are having more experience

within the industry and they are the assets to the company. As well as sales

executives are also doing a very good tasks to increase the sales volumes in the

company. Mr.Fonseka should have to use their knowledge to get highest

contribution from his team. Therefore, he has to build up a smart and strong

relationship with the team as well as he has to direct them to the companies

objectives carefully.

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3. Management Process

Management is principally the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and

controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective.

- Source James L. Lundy Definition of Management

Management of the SBU should be done according to achieve the organizational

goals and General Manager Need management skills in achieving key performance

indicators.

Fig. No. 3.1 Process of the management for CROA

As the General Manager Sales, Mr. Clifford Fonseka has a big responsible to

keep the employees loyalty among the company as well as performances of the

sales team. There are managerial skills to follow by Mr. Fonseka to keep the

awareness towards him as the General Manager.

Fig. No. 3.2 Management Skills

Resources and capabilities

Well experienced staff.

Directly reporting to the board of directors.

Proffesional qualifications.

Intergrating the Management functions

Define SMART objectives among the staff.

Direct them to correct path having the control.

Creating motivational factors to motivate the staff.

Performance by achieving objectives

Monitor the sales team with the relationship.

Creating the PR with distribution channel.

Analysing performance of the sales team with competition & awarding

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As the General Manager of Sales, Mr. Fonseka in the Middle Management level

in the company, therefore, he should have to manage and practices all the skill as

well.

3.1. Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills involve knowing how to and being able to formulate ideas.

Individuals who have strong conceptual skills typically have excellent cognitive

abilities to think creatively and solve problems. In a business environment,

someone who has these skills might come up with an idea for a new product or a

new process. He is able to examine a complex issue and formulate a specific,

effective course of action.

People who have conceptual skills can examine how ideas are interrelated. They

effectively perceive individual elements in relationship to the whole. People who

have strong conceptual skills are often identified as effective leaders or managers.

This generally is because of their ability to understand the organization as a whole

and develop creative strategies. Top-level managers often need to have technical

skills and human skills in addition to conceptual skills.

As the General Manager sales of CROA Mr. Clifford Fonseka is directly

reporting and getting instructions from the director board as well as he will be able

to suggest and propose new plans to the top management, therefore, he should be

having conceptual skills in higher level.

He will be able to take decisions and suggest them to the director board, to be

effected to his sales team and companys objectives, such as;

Salary increment for sales staff

Increment of the incentives

Awarding ceremony for all the distribution channel including the staff

Other benefits to the staff

Performance base promotions

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3.2. Human Skills

Human skills, also called interpersonal skills, involve knowing how to interact

well with people. Typically, no one enjoys working for a manager who is rude or

inconsiderate, and a manager who has poor human skills can reduce both the

morale and productivity of his or her subordinates.

Managers who have effective human skills, however, often have employees who

possess positive attitudes and strong desires to increase their productivity. In a

business environment, it typically is important for managers to work effectively

with their peers, subordinates and supervisors. Other interpersonal skills include

the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with teams.

Mr. Clifford Fonseka, is having very good relationship building personality

where he had been practicing in his corporate life. As well as, to face this situation

he should be able to work deploying rich human skills in CROA, then he could be

able to face to the problem positively.

3.3. Technical Skills

Technical skills involve knowing about things and physical processes. For

example, if three steps are required in a waste management process, individuals

who have technical skills would know how to implement each of these three steps.

People often obtain technical skills either through job training or technical colleges.

Supervisors over specific departments usually are managers who have strong

technical skills.

As a new comer to the construction industry, Mr. Clifford Fonseka, should have

to improve his technical skills among the industry to face this situation. Otherwise,

he has to depend on another person, it is not good for his position, therefore, and

he should have to improve technical skills.

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Other than the above skills, he should be considered about the following skills

also.

3.4. Communication Skills

Fig. No. 3.3. - The communication process

Effective communication is about more than just exchanging information; it's

also about understanding the emotion behind the information. Effective

communication can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations

by deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-

making, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or

difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust. Effective

communication combines a set of skills including nonverbal communication,

attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment, and the capacity to

recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person youre

communicating with.

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There are several Effective Communication skills as follows;

3.4.1. Listening

Create an environment where everyone feels safe

Save time

Relieve negative emotions

Avoid interrupting

Avoid seeming judgmental

Show your interest

3.4.2. Nonverbal communication

Practice observing people

Be aware of individual differences

Look at nonverbal communication signals as a group

Use nonverbal signals that match up with your words

Use body language to convey positive feelings

3.4.3. Managing Stress

Recognize when you are becoming stressed

Take a moment to calm down

Bring your senses to the rescue

Look for humor in the situation

Be willing to compromise

Agree to disagree

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3.4.4. Emotional awareness

Emotional awareness the consciousness of your moment to

moment emotional experience and the ability to manage all of your feelings

appropriately is the basis for effective communication.

Emotional awareness helps you;

Understand and empathize with what is really troubling your staff

Understand yourself, including whats really troubling you and what

you really want

Stay motivated to understand and empathize with your staff, even if

you dont like them or their message

Communicate clearly and effectively, even when delivering negative

messages

Build strong, trusting, and rewarding relationships, think creatively,

solve problems, and resolve conflicts

3.5. Administrative Skills

The top-level management needs administrative skills. They should know how

to make plans and policies, which are important to the organization and also know

how to get the work done. Yet, they should be able to co-ordinate different

activities of the organization and also to control the full organization.

As a well experienced and knowledgeable professional, Mr. Clifford Fonseka

has the administrative skills in the expected level. He should try to show his skills

on his subordinates by Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling to achieve

the objectives of CROA.

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3.6. Management process

Fig. No. 3.4 Management process

3.6.1. Planning

Planning is the function of management that involves setting objectives

and determining a course of action for achieving those objectives. Planning

requires that managers be aware of environmental conditions facing their

organization and forecast future conditions. It also requires that managers

be good decision makers.

Planning is decision making process, it is making decisions on future

course of actions, such as employees carrier & income development

Planning involves taking decisions on vision, mission, values,

objectives, strategies and policies of an organization. for an

example; increasing company sale by 30% within next five years

Planning is done for immediate, short term, medium term and long

term periods and it is a guideline for execution/implementation.

It is a measure to check the effectiveness and efficiency of an

organization.

Planning

Select goals and ways to attain

them

Organizing

Assign responsibility for task accomplishment

Leading

Use influence to motivate

employees

Controlling

Monitor activities and make corrections

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3.6.2. Organizing

Organizing is the function of management that involves developing an

organizational structure and allocating human resources to ensure the

accomplishment of objectives. The structure of the organization is the

framework within which effort is coordinated. The structure is represented

by the span of control of Mr. Clifford Fonseka. Decisions made about the

structure of an organization are generally referred to as organizational

design decisions.

Organizing involves determination and grouping of the activities.

Designing organization structures and department based on this

grouping.

Defining the roles and responsibilities, authorities and relationships

of the departments and of the job positions within these departments.

3.6.3. Leading

Leading involves the social and informal sources of influence that you use

to inspire action taken by others. If managers are effective leaders, their

subordinates will be enthusiastic about exerting effort to attain

organizational objectives.

It is one of the most important functions of management to translate

company's plans into execution.

It includes providing leadership to people so that they work willingly

and enthusiastically.

Directing people involves motivating them all the time to enthuse

them to give their best.

Communicating companys plans throughout the organization is an

important directing activity.

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3.6.4. Controlling

Controlling involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from

standards. Controlling consists of three steps, which include;

a) Establishing performance standards,

b) Comparing actual performance against standards

c) Taking corrective action when necessary.

Performance standards are often stated in monetary terms such as

revenue, costs, or profits but may also be stated in other terms, such as credit

collections, number bad debts, or levels of quality or customer service.

It measures actual performance against the plans.

It sets standards or norms of performance.

It measures the effective and efficiency of execution against

these standards and the plans.

It periodically reviews, evaluates and monitors the performance.

If the gaps are found between execution levels and the plans,

controlling function involves suitable corrective actions to expedite

the execution to match up with the plans or in certain circumstances

deciding to make modifications in the plans.

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4. Power and Influence of the position of General Manager Sales

Both Leaders and followers use power and influence to get things done in

organization.

4.1. Power

Power is the potential ability to influence the behavior of others. The power of

traditional managers comes from the organization. The position of the manager

gives him the power to reward or punish subordinates to influence their behavior.

Different sources of power have been identified and can be described based on

power Sources, Positional Power and Personal Power:

4.1.1. Positional Power

a) Legitimate power

Legitimate Power is related to the position or status of the person in the

organization. The person believes that they have the right to make demands

on others and expect them to be compliant. Legitimate power gives the

leader power over their direct reports. The more senior a person is and the

Power

Influence

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more people in their team the more positional power the person perceives

that they have. All managers have some degree of positional power.

As the General Manager of Sales, Mr. Clifford Fonseka is directly getting

this legitimate power uncontestably. Therefore, he can use this power to

influence his subordinates as long as. But, Mr. Fonseka should keep in mind

that subordinates are influenced by the position and not by him and should

develop other sources of power to increase his influencing skills and achieve

results through his subordinates.

b) Reward power

Reward power is the ability to give rewards. Examples of these rewards

are promotions, pay increases, working on special projects, training and

developmental opportunities and compliments. Reward power is the result

of legitimate power. Reward power is using the pull approach to influencing

others. Reward power is limited the leaders position in the organization.

Leader may not always have complete control over the rewards. However,

due to leaders position he may be able to have some influence in the

rewards.

Therefore, Mr. Fonseka have to suggest some rewards strategies for his

subordinates and should make feeling them that he is the person who give

them rewards. Then he can create a positive relationship among his

subordinates.

c) Coercive power

Coercive Power is the opposite of Reward Power. It is the ability to use

threats and punishments. Many leaders abuse this source of power leading

to greater problems. Extensive use of coercive power should be avoided by

Mr. Fonseka. Leadership styles may tend to be very autocratic. Be careful

that Mr.Fonseka is not exerting power over others inappropriately.

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4.1.2. Personal Power

a) Expert Power

Expert refers to the power that people have who have specialist

knowledge, who are experts in their field or have knowledge or skills that

are in short supply. People tend to listen more to those who demonstrate

expertise. Expert power does not require positional power. Leaders and

managers should also be aware of use expert power where it exists in their

teams. To ignore is potentially abusing their positional power.

Mr. Fonseka, is not expertise in the construction industry, but he is an

expert as a Manager, as well as he is holding an MBA from leading

university, specializing Project Management. Therefore he can use that

expertise to influence subordinates.

How can Mr. Fonseka use and develop expert power as a leader?

Use it to offer guidance and support to his team and to motivate them

Use it to gain respect for his position, skills and knowledge from his

peers, those above he in the organization, from his team, from

customers, suppliers and other that he interacts with

Develop expertise, both knowledge and skills, that are required for his

position. Keep himself informed of new developments in his area

Maintain his credibility by participating in discussions that he is well

informed on. Beware of trying to give the impression that he is an

expert in all areas.

Be open to discuss concerns that his team or others may have. By

listening to their concerns he can use his expertise to allay them. Thus

creating credibility and respect. This is a very important skill in leading

change and managing resistance

Acknowledge the expertise that is in his team. He does not need to have

more expertise than them in every area

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b) Referent power

Referent power is the ability of others to identify with those who have

desirable resources or personal traits. Mr. Fonseka may also hear of

charismatic power. This comes from the personal characteristics of the

person. For example: Their energy, endurance, empathy, toughness, humor,

charm. People with this source of power can influence people. However,

again be careful that Mr. Fonseka does not abuse it.

4.2. Interpersonal influence tactics to be used.

Fig. No. 4.1. Interpersonal influence tactics

Leaders often use a combination of influence strategies, and people who are

perceived as having greater power and influence typically are those who use a wider

variety of tactics.

Leader

1. Use rational persuasionshould make them feelings, if theyachieve targets they will be rewarded

2. Make people like youshould show consideration and respect,treats people fairly, and demonstratestrust in others.

3. Rely on the rule of

reciprocity

Mr.Fonseka can influence othersthrough the exchange of benefits andfavors.

4. Develop allies

Mr. Fonseka can talk withsubordinates outside of formalmeetings to understand their needs andconcerns.

5. Be assertive-ask for

what you want

Make an enviroment to make a directand personal request from Mr.Fonsekaby subordinates

6. Make use of higher

authority

sometimes to get things doneMr.Fonseka may have to use hisformal authority

7. Reward the behaviors

you want

Mr. Fonseka can also useorganizational rewards andpunishments to influence other'sbehavior.

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5. Leadership

5.1. Servant Leadership

A servant leader behave self-interest to serve others and the organization.

Servant leaders operate on two levels; for the fulfillment of their subordinates

goals and needs and for the realization of the larger purpose or mission of their

organization.

Fig. No. 5.1 Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership

Share Leadership

Value People

Develop People

Build Community

Display Authenticity

Provide Leadership

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5.1.1. Characteristics of Servant Leadership

a) Listening, Empathy & Healing

A servant leader puts the emphasis upon listening effectively to

others. A servant leader needs to understand others' feelings and

perspectives. A servant leader helps foster each person's emotional and

spiritual health and wholeness.

b) Awareness, Persuasion & Conceptualization

A servant leader understands his or her own values and feelings,

strengths and weaknesses. A servant leader influences others through

their persuasiveness. A servant leader needs to integrate present realities

and future possibilities.

c) Foresight & Stewardship

A servant leader needs to have a well-developed sense of intuition

about how the past, present, and future are connected. A servant leader

is a steward who holds an organization's resources in trust for the greater

good.

d) Commitment to the growth of people & Building community

A servant leader is responsible for serving the need of others and to

help create a sense of community among people.

5.2. Authentic Leadership

Fig. No. 5.2 Authentic Leadership

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Authentic leaders, genuinely desire to serve others through their

leadership. They are interested in empowering the people they lead to make a

difference; more than they are interested in power, money or prestige for

themselves. They are guided equally by the heart and the mind practicing heart-

based guidance grounded in passion and compassion, as well as thoughtful

leadership grounded in the qualities of the mind.

They lead with purpose, meaning and values. And their people relationships are

extremely strong. People follow them because they are consistent, reliable and

strong. When they are pushed to go beyond their beliefs and values, they will not

compromise. They are dedicated to personal growth and learning because they

believe that becoming a leader takes a lifetime.

Authentic leaders are self-aware and genuine

Authentic leaders are mission driven and focused on results.

They lead with their hearts.

They focus on the long term.

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6. Motivational Strategies to be implemented

To win this challenge, Mr. Clifford Fonseka should have to use motivational

strategies for his subordinates. If they motivate Mr. Fonseka will be able to achieve

organizational goals easily.

a) When set goals should have to be sure they are realistic and achievable and make

them small to start.

b) Establish rewards for progress towards goals. Such as, create a competition to

reward the most achievable sales team with, cash prizes, foreign tours, etc.,

through am awards ceremony.

c) Create a strategic promotional scheme based on performances, attitudes and

beliefs for the sales team.

d) Creating an attractive incentive scheme based on sales performances to

encourage to achieve targets.

e) High benefited medical insurance scheme to the sales team and their families

could be introduced.

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7. Conclusion

As a very good relationship building personality Mr. Fonseka will be able to absorb

and practices above characteristics to solve the situation facing in CROA and he will

be able to create a great team with the current team. As well as he should try to giving

awards to the current sales team behind him to encourage them to achieve the company

goals.

He should follow the instruction and methods given above to win the task in CROA

as well as should follow the motivational strategies to encourage the staff to drive to

the goals of the company by discussing with board of directors.

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8. References

The Study book, New Era of Management by Richard L. Draft

www.wikipedia.org

www.investopedia.com

www.leadership-development-tips.com

www.forbes.com