MBA 735 – Reflections on Module 2 Concepts.

MBA 735 – Reflections on Module 2 Concepts.
Look at your own organization. How has supply and/or demand changed at your organization within the past year?

My company, being in a very mature market, refractories, is not only competitive but ever changing. The customers are changing from the old "kick-back" and "handshake" environment to the modern age of lowest price with all the service. The integrated steel industry has dramatically changed the market. It always has - due to large volume of refractories it takes to make iron. The old time USA mills are bankrupt and/or being bought out by foreigners - Mittal, India - is a the biggest aggressor at the moment. All of this also effects the supply/demand of raw materials, which in turn effect the direction of product lines and their effectiveness in the market. Additionally, as the refractory industry as a whole is staying the same (only due to China and India building their infrastructure) - the monolithic market continues to grow. It is growing at the expense of bricks. This has been going on for decades and will continue. Skilled brick layers are getting more difficult to find and less people are wanting to learn this skill.

What factors impacted or instigated the change?

To continue.... The global market in my company's industry has more of an effect than anything else. As Aluminum engines become more and more popular, coupled with rising energy costs - the cost of aluminium units increases. This creates a competition of alumina for refractories vs the aluminium for metal. A supply/demand that effects every single consumer - even if they do not even know about it of even acknowledge it.

This is further fueled by the growing/developing infrastructures of China, India, and Russia. China has more integrated steel mills than the USA and is producing more tonnes as a result. This has lead China to import scrap metal and iron ore from the USA. This has created issues for mini mills, i.e. Nucor, that only uses scrap metal.

Raw material costs have gone up more than customers will pay for the refractories. The supply is high enough and the competitor are willing enough to lower margins and continue supplying the metal melting manufacturers. My company is branching out into heat containment applications, where demand is growing and competition is waning.

The growing infrastructure of China and India will continually compete for these resources.

Reflecting on your past professional life, briefly describe one mistake you have made in your professional career. What have you learned from that mistake?

Probably the most consistent mistake is my inability to play the office politics and brown nose the "bosses." Never been great at playing this game, sucking up to people just because they can advance me never has been my strong suit. I have learned that working hard and being loyal really only get you so far, but I also sleep well at night.

Time will tell, but all I can be is honest, loyal, be a Christan and practise this every day at work. Having integrity and having people follow me for what I do and how I do it, instead of my title and position of power is enough me. I hope that in the long run operating without hidden agendas, sharing the glory and the failures will result in a challenging position that includes stewardship.

Other mistakes include being overly aggressive and impatient when completing tasks and projects. My sense of urgency is usually greater than most. Through this, I learned to listen actively more and let others do the task with my guidance and mentoring. It is a little more rewarding to guide and teach others how to successfully navigate a project, then just doing it myself.

If factors are changing rapidly, which is common in growth organizations, when do leaders find the time to “reflect” on the mistakes to make corrective action?

Dean your comment is right on, the best time is to reflect the moment you have acknowledged the mistakes. I guess my key point is "when the leader acknowledges the mistake". This reflection needs to diagram exactly how the mistake happened and not just "blame" someone or something. Blame only results in a "band-aid" being placed on the issue, labelling it a "corrective action", which will lead to the mistake occurring over and over. Reflection is to dig deep and acknowledge exactly why the mistake happened and aggressively address it. This is called instituting an immediate corrective action and then follow up with an in depth fix or a preventative action. Preventive actions get to the real root of the problem and best done through immediate reflection of the mistake - not months later.