Recasting the Role of the Ceo Essay

In the case study, â€Å"Recasting the Role of the CEO†, Vineet Nayar, Nayar used messaging to communicate to his employees while focusing the organization’s efforts on creativity and innovation, that address change and the adaptive challenge. He was responsible for preparing the firm, its members, and stakeholders for the future by fostering innovation and creativity through effective messaging. He was able to accomplish this by implementing a portal for the employees called â€Å"MyBlueprint†, and also my merging with a company called AXON. Different Ways Messaging Was Used  Instead of holding a live Blueprint meeting, HCL decided to have all three hundred of their managers record their business plans, which would then be posted on the MyBlueprint portal. Once all of the business plans were posted, they’d be open for review by another eight thousand HCL managers. The idea was to transform the planning process into a peer-to-peer review rather than a top-down judgment. (Nayar, 2010). After reviewing a few recordings, Nayar noticed the plans improved and were more efficient because the managers knew they would be reviewed by a larger number of people than in previous years. The managers were more honest in their assessment of current challenges and opportunities, and they talked more about the actions they would take to accomplish certain goals, as opposed to, what they hoped to accomplish. (Nayar, 2010). This internal messaging of the MyBlueprint portal had a huge impact on the future and innovation of HCL, because it allowed for employees to help each other and point their colleagues toward a recording that might be useful to them. Many of the employees within departments were able to discuss their futures with a better understanding of what’s required of them, and it allowed for the managers to make new connections with one another. Comments were posted about strategies being used, and that provided the managers with new perspectives and ideas. When new employees were hired, they had a place they could go to learn what the team was trying to accomplish and why. (Nayar, 2010). Everyone at HCL felt they were a part of the thinking and planning process. When HCL merged with Axon, Nayar used the concept of sharing responsibilities with the employees and business units in this merger. Nayar understood that acquiring AXON was going to strengthen HCL and help them to grow faster, because they were the largest and most successful independent SAP consulting company. Nayar didn’t force AXON to integrate into HCL’s organization, because he was well aware of HCL’s weaknesses so he only merged HCL’s SAP organization into AXON. (Nayar, 2010). By doing so, this allowed for HCL AXON to become extremely successful and the company experienced a great deal of growth in nine months. After seeing the positive results and advantages of the merger, the HCL AXON leadership team ended up running many other parts of HCL. Also, since Nayar continued to use the â€Å"Employees First, Customer’s Second† approach with this merger, they were able to acquire four more successful acquisitions in that year alone. (Nayar, 2010). External messaging was used by proposing this acquisition deal with AXON to plan for a better future for both companies. This allowed for AXON to leverage HCLT’s brand, customers, solutions, and innovations amongst other things. Effectiveness of Internal and External Communication When the company decided to have the managers record their business plans, it enhanced innovation and creativity on all levels. It gave the managers an opportunity to really analyze the challenges they faced on their teams, and to come up with realistic solutions as to how they’re going to solve them. It also gave them the opportunity to come up with realistic goals and solutions for their teams. The flood gates of creativity opened due to the recorded plans, because everyone had the opportunity to view them, so it llowed for different insights on strategies that were currently being used, and opinions on new strategies that could possibly be beneficial to the teams. â€Å"By involving the employees and giving them more power, choice, and information, they begin to believe that they can influence different situations and their outcomes. † (Hickman, 2010). The messaging was also very affective with the HCL AXON merger because HCL was successful before they acquired AXON, but once they merged, that made HCL’s brand stronger and allowed for innovation. The HCL AXON leadership team was so effective; they took charge of running many other parts of HCLT businesses after nine months of the acquisition. The merger generated such powerful results that four more successful acquisitions were completed in that same year. Effectiveness in Using Messaging to Prepare the Firm, its Members, and Stakeholders for the future Nayar was very effective in using messaging to prepare the firm, its members, and stakeholders for the future. The internal and external messaging was very affective for HCL in both cases. It proved that when a CEO focuses less on governing and more on enabling, the executive can accomplish much that might otherwise have been too risky to undertake. (Nayar, 2010). When the managers at HCL were required to post their business plans on the MyBlueprint portal, this was a form of workshop that allowed for all of HCL’s employees to be involved in, and discuss challenges and solutions that can be put into action. This also created a deeper understanding of each teams projects/tasks and how they fit into the overall objective of the organization. The managers now feel as though they have a sense of direction and they have the support of management as well as their peers. By using this form of messaging, it encourages the employees to communicate with their team members. Nayar was also effective with external messaging in reference to acquiring AXON. By acquiring the largest, most successful independent SAP consulting company in the world, this strengthened HCL and it allowed for them to grow. This acquisition prepared their employees, customers and stakeholders for the growth opportunities that were about to take place, whether it was internally or externally. Conclusion: Nayar had a responsibility to prepare his firm, its members, and stakeholders for the future. He was successful at this by fostering innovation and creativity through effective internal and external messaging. He found a way to communicate to the employees through a portal called â€Å"MyBlueprint†, which promoted innovation and creativity through an abundance of feedback from the organization. And he acquired a company called AXON which propelled HCL’s brand to new heights, and allowed for lots a growth and new business.