Running head: UNITED GRAIN GROWERS CASE STUDY 1

United Grain Growers Case Study

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United Grain Growers Case Study

Influences of participative management to greater responsiveness to customers’ needs,

increased accountability, and more innovative solutions to challenges

Participative management refers to the participation of non-managerial employees in the

process of decision-making in the company. The participation of workers gives employees the

psychological and mental satisfaction and thus this leads to increase their involvement in the

company’s affairs. Thus, this type of management allows for more collaboration. Additionally, it

involves management treating the suggestions and ideas of employees with respect and

consideration (Fraser, Simkins, & Narvaez, 2014). Employees feel that the company values

them. In a hierarchical structure, there is a singular group of power at the top with subsequent

levels of power beneath them. Decisions made often benefits the department rather than the

entire organization (Wiseman & Poitras, 2002). Increased time is required to respond to clients

as there is an increased bureaucracy that can hinder the company’s speed to change.

Participative management creates a sense of ownership in the company and as a result,

the employees are motivated to increase productivity so as to achieve the organizational goals

(Kim, 2002). Employees feel that they are part of a team with a common goal and thus

increasing their creative fulfillment as well as finding their sense of self-esteem. As a result, they

will be able to serve customers more effectively. Additionally when they have a sense of

ownership they are more receptive to change and thus change will be implemented more

effectively with minimal resistance. Further, participation will help employees have a wider view

of the company, and thus there will be increased accountability. Also, through the process of

decision-making employees will be able to acquire the conceptual skills required to become top

executives and effective managers. Finally, by enabling employees to have input into decisions,
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the company will benefit from the synergy that comes from a broader choice of options. As a

result, the company will be able to know more about the interest of the customers as employees

are the ones who serve the customers. Additionally, this will give me the opportunity of having

valid and unique innovations from various perspectives.

Circumstances where the hierarchical “command and control” structure will produce

superior results

A command and control approach to leadership is authoritative in nature and uses a top-

down strategy. This approach fits well in organizations that practice bureaucracy where power

and privilege are entrusted to senior management. In this situation, the top management has all

the powers over the juniors (Wiseman, & Poitras, 2002). The top management takes control of

all organizational issues and ensures employees have the capacity of doing their duties. Another

situation where this approach can have superior results is when a company is supposed to run on

a tight deadline and budget. If there is a small deadline to finish a particular task, then the

authority must ensure that employees work fast and the decisions will also be made first from a

central point. Additionally, if there is a tight budget, there will be a central point to make all

financial decisions to ensure the right decisions are made and make sure all projects are on track

with the budget. When there are a lot of decisions from various people, the company might

overspend due to the long processes of decision-making.

Factors that led UGG/ AU to be pioneers in ERM 

I believe that when the company changed its organizational culture its when they excelled

in their ERM. This was brought by the change in their style of leadership. This change enabled

them to enhance their levels of communication which led to better decision-making. Further, the

company was more receptive to the customer’s needs. The new organizational culture enhanced
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the association between all the management teams and this lead to delegating responsibility to

the middle management teams for decisions. As a result, everybody in the company felt that their

input was worth it, and thus they became more productive. According to Yilma and Flouris

(2017), organizational culture is vital for the success of a company’s risk management. The

quality of a leader in decision-making determines the effectiveness of ERM as they know how to

improve employees' motivation and make them loyal to the organization. Additionally, effective

leadership styles promote the creation of a safe environment. There will be a strong risk culture

where employees understand the company’s strategic orientation and the company’s risks.
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References

Fraser, J., Simkins, B., & Narvaez, K. (2014). Implementing enterprise risk management: Case

studies and best practices. John Wiley & Sons.

Kim, S. (2002). Participative management and job satisfaction: Lessons for management

leadership. Public administration review, 62(2), 231-241.

Wiseman, V., & Poitras, J. (2002). Mediation within a hierarchical structure: How can it be done

successfully?. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 20(1), 51-65.

Yilmaz, A. K., & Flouris, T. (2017). Enterprise risk management in terms of organizational

culture and its leadership and strategic management. In Corporate risk management for

international business (pp. 65-112). Springer, Singapore.Doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-4266-

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