MUNDER DIFFLIN PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

An Observation of Problems and Solutions at Munder Difflin

Dylan Emerson

COMM 3440 - Sec OL1

Dr. Liesl H Eberhardt

March 22, 2021

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Executive Summary

Munder Difflin is an organization that is in dire need of reform. All across the board, it is

apparent that Munder Difflin has been lacking in recent years and is getting dangerously close to

succumbing to its unfortunate habits. Some of these vices include angry leadership utilizing fear

tactics to enforce an increase in sales volume, an absent leadership that is unwilling to take

feedback while maintaining a high expectation for research and development, and an immature

work culture where pranks are commonplace and there are no friends, only allies and enemies. It

is time for co-founder and CEO of Munder Difflin, Bob Difflin, to accept change in order to

create a better future for the company and increase the quality of his employees’ work life. Best

Boss Leadership recommends adjusting leadership styles to a democratic-focused leadership

style in both the sales department as well as the research and development department, and

encouraging a semi-formal work environment. If Munder Difflin is willing to make the

aforementioned cultural and organizational changes, Best Boss Leadership is confident in the

organization’s ability to overcome its past flaws and increase its ability to become a profitable

organization.

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An Observation of Problems and Solutions at Munder Difflin

According to Hackman & Johnson (2018), “leaders should be ethical and serve the

common good” (p. 14). A good leader is one who treats their workers with respect and dignity

with a beneficial end goal for the whole organization, whether that end goal be increased profit

margins or developing a healthy workplace culture. Munder Difflin is a technology company

employing 350 people, co-founded by Bob Difflin, who is the current CEO, and Rob Munder,

who has since stepped down from the company. Over the past few years, sales have been

decreasing and the research and development wing has done little development. Upon observing

Munder Difflin, it is apparent some of their managers are lacking good leadership qualities. They

are sufficient leaders, rather than efficient leaders. One such manager is the head of the sales

department, Ryan Hollard. Hollard routinely uses fear tactics and verbal abuse to communicate

to his workers that sales are falling behind, and he will not tolerate poor sales numbers. Another

manager that directs the research and development wing, Jan Garrison, simply assigns teams to

different projects and seemingly disappears into the background without hearing feedback or

input from her subordinates, leading to unproductive confusion from the employees. The culture

in general is immature and rivalrous, which undermines employee morale. Lastly, the executives

behind Munder Difflin are not a cohesive team; they look out for themselves and their own

branches with disregard for the rest of the company. These executives understand that they must

work as a team to deal with several of these issues within the company, but have made no

meaningful strides to work towards the necessary change. Our intention at Best Boss Leadership

is to provide solutions to several problems within the organization to boost sales and company

morale.
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Problems Within Sales

The primary problem within the sales wing at Munder Difflin is the evil leadership

techniques utilized by Ryan Hollard, the Director of Northeast sales. It is worth noting that he is

quick to engage in verbal abuse to instill fear in his employees and motivate them to increase

sales numbers, with one employee being told “The only person who should be more disappointed

in you right now is your family, who have to permanently live with a failure. Now get out of my

face before I am tempted to throw something at you.” Not only is Hollard undermining this

particular employee by calling them a disappointment and a failure to his family, but he also

threatens to throw something at them. According to Kathy Bosch (2004), “[verbal weapons] are

methods used to weaken, control and manipulate another person” (para. 3). It is apparent

Hollard’s goal as the director is to weaken his employees’ mindset to control them, adopting an

authoritarian leadership style that “maintains strict control over followers by directly regulating

policy, procedures, and behavior” (Hackman & Johnson, 2018, p. 40).

Solutions to Problems Within Sales

Our solution to the problems within sales is to replace Ryan Hollard with a new leader

that adopts a democratic leadership style. While it is understood that Hollard has an ability to

drive sales, with Bob Difflin specifically stating, “Ryan can be tough on people, but that’s what

motivates people to be their very best,” it should go without saying that the abusive techniques

Hollard utilizes is unhealthy for the workers and is a large contributor to the weak morale at

Munder Difflin. According to Hackman & Johnson (2018), “Communication is irreversible...We

can never completely un-communicate” (p. 10). Even if Hollard is willing to change and learn

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how to be a good leader, the verbal abuse he employed on his workers is irreversible and many

of his employees may be unable to forgive and trust him as a leader. A new leader that adopts a

democratic leadership style would not only be entering the company with a clean slate, allowing

workers to develop a healthy follower relationship, but a democratic leader also encourages

follower participation and discussion to give their followers a voice. Giving the workers a voice

will empower them and make them feel like they have a large part in the success of the company,

motivating them to increase sales numbers and effectively boosting company performance. As

observed by Hackman & Johnson (2018), “[d]emocratic leaders assume that followers are

capable of making informed decisions. The democratic leader does not feel intimidated by the

suggestions provided by followers but believes that the contributions of others improve the

overall quality of decision making” (p. 40). In summary, Hollard’s harsh, authoritarian

leadership style is inappropriate and contributes to low company morale, so he should be

replaced by a new leader that adopts a democratic leadership style because of the innate ability of

a democratic leader to take input from their workers and create a sense of belonging and

camaraderie.

Problems Within Research and Development

The research and development (R&D) wing of Munder Difflin has been unproductive as

of late, with no meaningful development over the past five years. After observing the

organization, the director of the research and development wing, Jan Garrison, seems to be the

primary problem that is holding back the department. That is not to say Garrison is an offensive

leader like Hollard, but Garrison needs to take more initiative and pride within her department.

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Observing the research and development wing of the company reveals that Garrison adopts an

abdication form of the laissez-faire leadership style, meaning Garrison gives the R&D teams

their tasks and removes herself from future development until the next time she needs to assign

tasks based on current trends. According to Hackman & Johnson (2018), abdication laissez-faire

leaders “withdraw from followers and offer little guidance or support. As a result, productivity,

cohesiveness, and satisfaction often suffer” (p. 41). Discussion with some employees also reveals

that Garrison does not solicit opinions or feedback from the team, and is seldom willing to

provide any sort of support for team members on their projects. Team members were under the

impression that project deadlines come and go, and failed projects were simply ignored; it was

uncommon that any R&D employee was to be terminated for underperformance. Without any

sense of direction or ability to provide input within the department, it has become increasingly

apparent that Garrison is also in need of a leadership reform in order to boost productivity.

Solutions to Problems Within Research and Development

Garrison appears to be all but present within the research and development team when

she needs to be, which has led to decreased productivity within the department for the past five

years. This is because Garrison adopts an abdication form of the laissez-faire leadership style,

meaning she distances herself from the team, offering little to no guidance or support. To

increase productivity within the team, it is recommended that Garrison undergoes a leadership

reform to develop a democratic leadership style. The research and development team has not

developed anything meaningful within the past five years, so adopting a democratic leadership

style should promote productivity and lead to meaningful future developments because

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“[d]emocratic leadership is associated with increased follower productivity, satisfaction, and

involvement/commitment” (Hackman & Johnson, 2018, p. 46). Garrison is known to give a

presentation to the division at the start of each year about the current hot new trends and tech

developments. During this presentation would be a prime opportunity to communicate with her

team, allowing them to provide feedback, brainstorm new developments, and debate the

likelihood of success of the division’s projects. Adopting a democratic leadership style would not

be a dramatic change for Garrison, as she would not have to directly supervise her team, but she

should be present enough to promote creativity and productivity for the research and

development branch. This would be the most beneficial change for the research and development

team to improve performance.

Problems Within the Culture

Currently, Munder Difflin’s company culture and morale are quite low. Petty rivalries

preside between division managers and employees within divisions, with practical jokes and

general immaturity being commonplace throughout the organization. On one visit to Munder

Difflin, an employee, Tim Malpern, was observed submerging another employee’s office

supplies in Jello. When asked about the culture of the organization, Malpern mentions that it

reminds him of junior high - “you get your kicks when the teacher isn’t watching.” Bob Difflin,

co-founder and CEO of Munder Difflin, has tried changing the culture in the past by engaging in

employee appreciation days and events to no avail. The immature culture at Munder Difflin has

led to poor productivity and performance across the organization, which needs to be improved

for the sake of the company.

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Solutions to Problems Within the Culture

It is clear the inadequate culture at Munder Difflin is a large factor in the company’s

mediocre performance over the past few years, primarily due to petty rivalries and immature

behavior across the organization. Our recommendation at Best Boss Leadership is to change the

company culture to be more semi-formal. Changing a company’s culture is a lot more

complicated than it sounds, as “culture change can’t be achieved through top-down mandate. It

lives in the collective hearts and habits of people and their shared perception of ‘how things are

done around here’”(Soule & Walker, 2017, para. 3). Rather than attempt employee appreciation

days or mandate some kind of cultural change, Bob Difflin should encourage the cultural change

the organization needs. To begin with, we suggest implementing a semi-formal dress code so the

office has an aura of formality. This would be the starting point of a cultural shift because it may

prevent immaturity within the organization, as the formality would demonstrate that Munder

Difflin is a serious technology company that wants to innovate new technological developments,

as opposed to a playground that breeds practical jokes and poor performance. After Difflin takes

this step, he should then frame the real issue with the company and call for greatness within

individuals around the company. Once Difflin identifies his exceptional employees that

demonstrate the small wins and cultural change he is going for, he should spotlight them and

incorporate them as role models for the company, encouraging team cohesiveness and

productivity rather than petty rivalries. Munder Difflin should be team-oriented and without

rivalries that undermine the company’s potential for development. According to Hackman &

Johnson (2018), “[f]ounders/leaders often lay the groundwork for future change by promoting

people who will share some, but all, of their values”(p. 256). Promoting team cohesiveness and
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working together could incite collective action, leading other employees to work towards the

status of their exceptional coworkers for recognition, which would effectively drive a cultural

reformation that would increase morale, efficiency, creativity, and productivity.

Conclusion

Munder Difflin is a technology company that employs 350 people and was co-founded by

CEO Bob Difflin with Rob Munder, who has since stepped down from the company. Over the

past few years, Munder Difflin’s productivity and performance has been on the decline, and

Difflin has been worried about the possible dissolution of the company. Upon further

observation, it is clear that Munder Difflin suffers from poor management within its sales and

research and development divisions, as well as a lackluster culture. Our recommendations to

Munder Difflin are to shift leadership styles to adopt a democratic leadership style across both its

sales and research and development divisions, as well as adopting a semi-formal dress code and

initiating a cultural movement that will reform the current culture to increase morale and

productivity. If Bob Difflin as CEO and Munder Difflin as a whole is willing to make these

changes, Munder Difflin has a strong likelihood of boosting performance, increasing sales

numbers, and becoming the technology giant it has the potential to become.

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References

Bosch, K. (2004). EC04-469 When Words Are Used As Weapons: The Signs of Verbal Abuse

(Part 2 of a four part series). Historical Materials from University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Extension. 545. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/extensionhist/545

Hackman, M.Z., & Johnson, C.E. (2018). Leadership: A communication perspective [7th ed.].

Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

Soule, S.A., & Walker, B. (2017). Changing Company Culture Requires a Movement, Not a

Mandate. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/changing-company-culture-

requires-a-movement-not-a-mandate

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