Trouble Spain faces challenges on both, formal and informal levels. The first challenge addressing both,
the formal and informal levels, is the lack of clear leadership, which surfaced during the interviews
with employees and can equally be seen in the Informal Leadership map (figure 3 in the case). Although
hierarchically, the General Manager stands on top of the organization, in terms of informal leadership
Victoria Rivera and Luis Martin proved to be the most influential executives (figure 3 in the case).
Despite having a formal structure, which usually helps organizations differentiate between
departments, understand task division and authority, or identify the chain of command, Troubled
Spain seems to be experiencing an opposite effect. The division between departments is blurred,
causing confusion in terms of responsibility and authority over tasks. This further resonates with the
consequential lack of accountability and a blaming culture when things go wrong. This is especially true
for the manufacturing and R&D departments, which is further emphasized in the interview with the
HR director, Maria Torres: “We try to differentiate between these two teams, but they are actually very
similar and their functions and roles get confused” (p.5). Finally, there is little integration of activities
within the organization, leading to poor collaboration between the key departments. Although the
Program Management department should be responsible for coordinating the interdepartmental
communication and activities, the unclear hierarchical position of the Program Manager, Susana Leal,
makes her division function inefficiently.
On the informal level, most issues stem from the fact that the majority of managers have worked
together for a long-time: rotated between different roles and developed difficult relationships, which
are now hard to change. The formal-level issue between the R&D and manufacturing departments is
actually rooted in a personal conflict between Victoria and Luis. In their responses, they address one
another’s departments as a cause of problems, while figure 1 presenting the difficult
interdependencies and collaboration, does not indicate much tension between the two. Additionally,
the aforementioned job rotation within the organization further deepened the blurring of the
department division as well as the hierarchy and authority boundaries, as the managers’ individual
skills became more relevant than their actual roles.
Keeping in mind the key success factors in the semi-conductor industry – the technological innovation
and the speed of execution, a smooth collaboration between the departments is crucial for improving
Troubled Spain’s situation. With that being said, the first thing that James should do is to address the
conflict between Victoria and Luis. Based on my analysis, the best way to do that is to let Victoria go.
Victoria and Luis have both been identified as informal executive-level leaders in the organization,
however, Victoria seems to have an individualistic leadership style, while Luis discusses his
responsibilities from the R&D’s team perspective, suggesting his team-orientated leadership. Next,
James should redefine the remaining roles across the organization and reestablish the authority that
comes along the hierarchical structure. Finally, to address the integration challenge, James should
reappoint the Program Management department as the responsible division for integrating activities,
especially between manufacturing and R&D departments as well as the front-end and back-end
manufacturing.
the formal and informal levels, is the lack of clear leadership, which surfaced during the interviews
with employees and can equally be seen in the Informal Leadership map (figure 3 in the case). Although
hierarchically, the General Manager stands on top of the organization, in terms of informal leadership
Victoria Rivera and Luis Martin proved to be the most influential executives (figure 3 in the case).
Despite having a formal structure, which usually helps organizations differentiate between
departments, understand task division and authority, or identify the chain of command, Troubled
Spain seems to be experiencing an opposite effect. The division between departments is blurred,
causing confusion in terms of responsibility and authority over tasks. This further resonates with the
consequential lack of accountability and a blaming culture when things go wrong. This is especially true
for the manufacturing and R&D departments, which is further emphasized in the interview with the
HR director, Maria Torres: “We try to differentiate between these two teams, but they are actually very
similar and their functions and roles get confused” (p.5). Finally, there is little integration of activities
within the organization, leading to poor collaboration between the key departments. Although the
Program Management department should be responsible for coordinating the interdepartmental
communication and activities, the unclear hierarchical position of the Program Manager, Susana Leal,
makes her division function inefficiently.
On the informal level, most issues stem from the fact that the majority of managers have worked
together for a long-time: rotated between different roles and developed difficult relationships, which
are now hard to change. The formal-level issue between the R&D and manufacturing departments is
actually rooted in a personal conflict between Victoria and Luis. In their responses, they address one
another’s departments as a cause of problems, while figure 1 presenting the difficult
interdependencies and collaboration, does not indicate much tension between the two. Additionally,
the aforementioned job rotation within the organization further deepened the blurring of the
department division as well as the hierarchy and authority boundaries, as the managers’ individual
skills became more relevant than their actual roles.
Keeping in mind the key success factors in the semi-conductor industry – the technological innovation
and the speed of execution, a smooth collaboration between the departments is crucial for improving
Troubled Spain’s situation. With that being said, the first thing that James should do is to address the
conflict between Victoria and Luis. Based on my analysis, the best way to do that is to let Victoria go.
Victoria and Luis have both been identified as informal executive-level leaders in the organization,
however, Victoria seems to have an individualistic leadership style, while Luis discusses his
responsibilities from the R&D’s team perspective, suggesting his team-orientated leadership. Next,
James should redefine the remaining roles across the organization and reestablish the authority that
comes along the hierarchical structure. Finally, to address the integration challenge, James should
reappoint the Program Management department as the responsible division for integrating activities,
especially between manufacturing and R&D departments as well as the front-end and back-end
manufacturing.
