Wednesday, 7 March 2012

NASA and the 'blame game'


Looking at the case study, I have learned that strategic leadership can be the determining factor as to whether an organisation creates output/productivity or not. 
Ineffective strategic leadership can result to loss, either monetary wise or health wise, this will ultimately lead to the "blame game" 
A number of reasons where/are to blame for the loss of lives and the shuttle launch failure.
1. Leaders and workers (management and employees) should have listened to each other
2. Protocol should have been followed and observed thoroughly, whether in relations to health and safety or profits and loss. 
3. In addition to the above point, all parties in an organisation or individuals taking on a project should have ethics and morals from my perspective. NASA seemed to fucus on the "creating of a star" Christa McAuliffe the choses first civilian to go into space. 
4. Pressure from the media and management was another reason the stopping of the launch was over-ruled as NASA managers where told to put on their "management hat" to me it was more of a take-off-your-ethics/morals-hat and put-on-your-money hat. 
5. Lack of communication and evaluation amongst them and the contractors was also a factor involved as NASA did not believe the temperature readings of the contractors

There are a number of things I could have done if I could foresee the disaster that took place
1. Blow the whistle, either by going to the media or ignoring the management I was dealing with to speak to their superiors and showing my evidence as to why the mission should be aborted
2. I would have persistently asked for the equiptment and personnel required to do my job to its very best 
3. I could have advised them to do more test-runs and rehearsed the exercise to be 100% certain that a successful launch was achievable

The blame could be put on anyone in particular, as an organisation with different departments and members its difficult to blame one person. Although the NASA management was to blame.
If it is fair to say...nature could be a part of the blame. Even though it was a human that would determine if the temperatures allowed a safe launch. 
Its also fair to say that NASA wanted to launch because they wanted to FEED THE MONSTER (anxiety) they created. This "monster" was created through their publicity by getting a civilian (teacher) involved.
Lastly NASA's method of poor internal reporting is also to blame, where I'm sure that a new management style has been adopted or the old one tweaked. 
A series of lessons learned from this catastrophic and emotional event are:
Both leaders and workers taking on a project or working together towards a goal should listen to each other (in depth-evaluation and asking questions). 
At the same time, Protocols should be observed and followed at all times. Removing the influence of external factors (media pressure) Ethics and morals should also be adopted whether its in relations to health and safety, or profit and loss (financially)

The right managers should be employed to do their jobs rightly with emotionless thinking, at the same time they need to be able to lead with a good and solid heart. This can be done by questioning every decision and issue raised by ALL parties. This should be done with the adoption of good communication skills alongside impeccable methods of internal reporting. Eg memos, emails, video conferencing or even telephone calls. 
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MADONNA the Chameleon


Strategic leadership can be looked at in different ways...
According to Lynch 2009 ' starategic leadership is the ability to shape the organisations decisions and deliver high value over time, not only personally but also by inspiring and managing others in the organisation' 
Looking at Phyl Johnson's, strategy explorers: Madonna: "the reigning queen of pop?" Madonna has managed to sustain her success in a Competitive industry for a long time by adopting different tactics, I think her best attribute is 'the chameleon tactic'. 
For someone who has been in the music industry since the 80's till now, she has adapted to the different trends, cultures and lifestyles that the music industry has given birth to, after all, she is one of the 'mothers' in the industry. 
She has the ability to drag her old audience along with her to a new place..for example featuring with Justin Timberlake. This kind of music helps her keep her old followers and potentially creates new ones. 
Always in the media
The Business minded Madonna has had 18 albums and also had multiple sell-out tours which helped increase her revenue, in addition to that, she has had major roles in 6 films. 
She has a very Versatile characteristic which she depicts by changing or featuring with different artists. She does this by easily adapting various music genres, eg pop, techno, trashy pop, ballads, dance music fusion, acid rock, electro-pop urban etc. 
I could safely say she has the ability to Forecast the entertainment industry and divulge into different sectors in the industry when the time comes. 
Experience has given her the advantage of staying marketable throughout her career. 
Madonnas Focused drive and determination has also aided her in her career as she doesn't have a 'give-up' attitude. Other artistes in her age group have retired or handed-in-the-towel whilst she still pushes on. 
Madonnas strategy could be related to Miyamoto Musashis' saying that 'in strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things' with her forecast abilities.
Madonna's strategic leadership could be easily compared to the NHS and CARREFOUR for a number of reasons, 1. It could be argued that its easier to manage an individual than an organisation. 2. Depending on what/who is being 'managed' 
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