Management and Leadership Skills/Style

Management and Leadership Skills/Style

Introduction

PureLife Foods is a company that currently manufactures and distributes organic vegetarian foods to major retailers such as Safeway and Giant. However, the company is looking into expanding its product line and has decided to start producing and distributing all-natural energy bars with its existing clients. Recently, the Senior Lead Consultant of the company has been working to begin the planning of a new division. Still, she believes that a new Executive Director would be in a better position to roll out this new venture. The Executive Director will be responsible for establishing the new division, bringing the old and new divisions together, and bringing in the well-oiled machine for the roll-out of the new product. The new Executive Director is expected to be open to innovations that will help develop green and sustainable energy bars. These bars should not only be popular among the traditional PureLife Foods customer base but also will be the face of the organization when marketing company products. Three candidates have provided their transcripts and have been interviewed for the position. This paper will look at the candidates’ credentials, experience, and leadership skills to evaluate and decide the one who is best suited to occupy the role of the Executive Director in PureLife Foods Company.

Management and Leadership Skills/Style

The first candidate to submit her transcript was Beth Jordan. Beth has 25 years of experience working at StarLite Foods, which is a mid-sized vegetarian food company in Texas. Beth has served in various leadership positions such as Vice President of Operations and Marketing and Regional Director. She has had previous success in the food industry and has a lot of experience in the sector. She says that her leadership style is strict, as well as hands-on. She is a transformational leader who believes in leading through service, and therefore she practically shows her subordinates what she expects them to do, and asks them to follow her lead. Although PureLife is looking into venturing in green bars, Beth believes that the company should focus less on green initiatives and sustainability because the industry is quite difficult for new entrants. Beth has the experience, leadership qualities, a previous track of success.

The second applicant was Sharron Tulles. Tulles has been working for one year at PureLife in the position of Executive Director at the West Coast Division. His duties included research to ensure that the Meatless Hamburger Patty branch was more human and environmentally friendly in its practices. Tulles holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and has served in various leadership capacities. She has worked as a production manager for eleven years. Employees have ranked Sharron as being a task-oriented leader. She is fair to the employees and ensures that she consults them over decisions before acting on them. Through her task-oriented leadership style, Sharron has managed to keep employees motivated and engaged in the plant’s daily operations and has managed to foster cohesion and unity in her teams. However, Sharron does not have any marketing experience to be the face of the new product, but she is willing to learn those skills to be successful in the venture.

The third applicant was Jack Tillson, who is the current owner of Bigby Frozen Foods. This company focuses on vegetarian frozen foods and has had record sales of over $300 million per year. PureLife has agreed to purchase Bigsby Frozen Foods, and as part of the purchase, the company has decided to give Tillson a position as one of the company’s executives. Tillson has previous experience in the US Air Force, where he worked in the logistics and financial departments. Also, Tillson has headed Bigsby Frozen Foods, and with him as the leader, the company has had success. Tillson is more of a Laissez-Faire leader, which means he takes a less hands-on approach. For example, he admitted that Rico, who was his deputy, was responsible for marketing campaigns, which resulted in the exponential growth of the company.

Candidate Recommendation

Some of the duties of an executive director include fundraising, community outreach, and marketing. An executive director takes the role of a leader where he leads innovation and compliance of the company that will lead to its success (Erbschloe, 2019). PureLife is looking to roll out a new product that is environmentally friendly and innovative at the same time. Sharron Tulles is the best candidate for the position of Executive director. This is because, first of all, Sharron already has experience working as an executive director in the company’s Texas Branch. She, therefore, understands what he position entails.

Similarly, Tulles has in charge of overseeing the company’s compliance with food safety regulations. This duty means that she is aware and conversant with the protocols and procedures that should be followed when rolling out a new food product (Murugesan, 2012). Additionally, Sharron has been researching how the company can be more customers an environmentally friendly. Sharron is also a transformational leader who believes in involving employees in every part of the decision-making process. All these qualities make Sharron the most suitable candidate for the position. The fact that she has been working at PureLife for a year means that she is also adept with the company’s culture and ideologies. It, therefore, will not be hard for her to adapt to the culture and company policies (Murugesan, 2012). Although Beth would be a fit candidate, she does not believe in having the company go-green initially. This disqualifies her because this is the sole intention of the company. Tillson is not a fit candidate for this position because he does not have prior experience in marketing. He is specialized in logistics and finance, which will be difficult for him to integrate into the position of Executive Director.