Running head: PERSONAL CASE STUDY 1

Week One: Writing up the Personal Case Study

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
PERSONAL CASE STUDY 2

Week One: Writing up the Personal Case Study

Introduction

Logistics support is a critical component of any business organization's success. Logistics

support representatives support organizations by ensuring clients receive timely purchase

deliveries. They handle various roles, including noting client orders, receiving cargo, planning

deliveries, and tracking shipments to ensure safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in the

supply chain. Providing such customer support requires one to maintain a stable state of mind to

avoid inconveniences to customers. However, their functions cross with the functions of sales

representatives and production managers, who may influence logistical decision-making

differently. While sales representatives emphasize the timely delivery of company goods and

services to maintain positive company-client relationships, production managers may make

decisions disregarding the urgency of the logistical process to ensure product quality and avoid

after-sale inconveniences. The conflicting needs of sales and production personnel mean

logistical support representatives should balance conflicting management ideas that influence

their roles.

Background

Having worked in logistics support, I have encountered competing demands from

different departments within my work setting. One incident happened when I was new at Bell

Helicopters 8 years ago. I had just completed orientation at the company and supervised the

logistical support division for helicopter parts. I was also one of the youngest employees at the

company, and age sometimes affected my ability to interact with other company employees.

During this instance, I was in charge of packaging and transporting helicopter rotor blades to a

testing site to test a new helicopter recently developed by the company. Initially, I consulted with
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the project manager, who told me he suspected they would delay production. However, I was

under pressure to ensure timely delivery by the marketing and sales director, who argued that

timely delivery would mean early sales and profits to recover the company's investments. He did

not want this helicopter's sales profits to extend into a new financial year. I pressured the project

manager to deliver the blades within 2 days. However, upon arriving at the testing site, some

blades were not properly aligned and tightened. I reported this to the project manager, who told

me hurrying his team may have interfered with quality checks. The negative outcome meant the

project was delayed by two weeks.

Theory Integration

The current case highlights intra-organizational differences and how managers should

balance competing interests to ensure the best results. The incident involved competing interests

from the sales and marketing manager and the project manager. Each delivered a case for why

their suggestions to the logistics department warranted consideration. While the sales and

marketing manager argued for the company's fiscal well-being, the production manager argued

for project quality. This case highlights a lesson from this week's material: team members have

enduring differences and competing interests that create conditions of diversity more than

homogeneity. This can be avoided by sharing similar values (Bolman & Deal, p.185). The lesson

is derived from the Challenger space shuttle disaster, where competing interests led to poor

safety culture and inadequate technology testing before launch causing disaster. The course

content highlights the political aspect of managing political interactions between different

departments.

Secondly, the case study highlights the importance of effective communication channels

in ensuring project success. One of the project's failures emerged from a lack of proper
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communication between the managers and myself. I did not converse with both managers present

to help them understand each other's perspective and lessen the decision-making burden on

myself. Managers use communication processes to coordinate business activities, make

decisions, and implement them for effective cooperation and agreements between working team

members (Bucăţa & Rizescu, 2017, p.50). Different communication scenarios demand

appropriate communication channels and task forces to ensure all challenges and opportunities

for collaboration are explored. This is an important part of management missing in the case

study.

Central Inquiry Questions

Given the nature of this case study, a few questions arise concerning handling the

situation and solutions for subsequent incidents.

1. How can project leaders respond to competing interests between departments and teams

to avoid conflicts and project failure?

2. How should leaders handle communication to ensure multiple project teams remain

updated on progress, goals, and expectations?

3. How should young leaders handle age differences in decision-making?

Conclusion

In conclusion, logistical support representatives face conflicting interests between sales

and project management teams, requiring them to develop skills in balancing the conflicting

ideas that influence their role. This is an important skill in logistical decision-making as it

influences their ability to ensure safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in delivering client

orders. The current case study involves a case from 8 years ago when I was new at Bell

Helicopter. Pressure from the sales and marketing manager to deliver rotary blades within a
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specific financial period made me hurry the project manager, who missed some quality checks

and delayed the project after structural defects were detected in some blades. The case reflects

some lessons from this week's material, including balancing competing intra-organizational

differences between project teams and the importance of effective communication channels in

ensuring project success.

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References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Bucăţa, G., & Rizescu, A. M. (2017). The role of communication in enhancing work

effectiveness of an organization. Land Forces Academy Review, 22(1), 49–57.

doi:10.1515/raft-2017-0008