Industry
It is important to note that the skincare industry is a highly competitive environment dominated by a number of large competitors, where each specific target market is dominated by large corporate entities. It is an industry with a high growth potential estimated to reach $200.25 billion by 2026 (Fortune Business Insights, 2021). The current market value is more than $134 billion, with an annual growth equal to 5.24% (Fortune Business Insights, 2021). The popularity of skincare products is increasing rapidly due to a rise in global demand. The main driving factor is lifestyle change among the younger generation, which is more health-conscious and beauty-seeking.
Company
The company selected for the given analysis is Almay, which is an American company with customers all over the US. The company was founded in 1910 by Ms. Arden as a salon, with the first product being a complete line of color cosmetics and skin care products launched in 1916 (Almay, 2021). The products sold can be categorized into five major groups, which include face makeup and skincare, eye beauty products, lip beauty products and care, makeup removers and care, and collections (Almay, 2021). Skincare products make up a significant portion of Almay’s product line, especially since modern consumers are becoming more invested in health and organic products rather than solely beauty-focused ones.
Problem Summary
The problem at hand is related to management and leadership, where these positions were previously held by the George family for generations. However, since the current president is stepping down and no other family member is planning to replace him, the consultant is tasked with finding a new and competent leader for the company. The challenge is manifested in an intricate, delicate, and complex organizational culture, which requires a specific set of personality traits. Therefore, a new leader needs to be selected not only on the basis of his or her expertise but also on personality trait suitability for the current organizational culture and changes required to be made at the company.
Company Culture
Almay’s organizational culture is unique and intricate due to the tight bonds and interconnectedness of employees. The company workers need to be perceived as a community rather than a mere group since they themselves find a replacement for their own positions and highly focus on reliability. In other words, the company culture has established a fixated attitude towards quality above all else. However, it offers little to no flexibility, creativity, and diversity, which are important if the company is to expand globally. Therefore, any form of change is unwelcomed, which is the role of a future leader and is of paramount importance. The necessary changes require a leader who is dominant, willing to go against the crowd, and able to communicate directly and openly without emotional hindrance.
Big Five Personality Traits
The first framework of a leader’s personality analysis is the Big Five Personality Traits, which include openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Robbins & Judge, 2019). Firstly, openness can be considered a desired trait since it promotes insight and imaginativeness, which will be necessary for the implementation of future changes and the determination of future directions for the company. Secondly, a moderate level of conscientiousness is needed since the current organizational culture is unique and has a fixed set of values, which need to be considered in order to ensure cooperation.
Thirdly, extraversion is also necessary due to employees being described as one big extended family, which is an extraverted leader needs to be able to assertive and talkative to build relationships. Fourthly, agreeableness needs to be low since future changes will not be welcomed by the employees, which is why some form of disagreeableness needs to be present. Fifthly, neuroticism needs to be minimal or nonexistent since a leader will be put in a position with no room for emotional instability, moodiness, and sadness.
Holland’s Typology
The second framework of a leader personality analysis is Holland’s Typology, which includes traits such as realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional, denoted as R, I, A, S, E, and C, respectively (Robbins & Judge, 2019). Since realistic trait is more direct and task-oriented than human relations-oriented, R needs to be within a low and moderate range. Investigative trait needs to be high because new changes assume technological enhancements and technical improvements, which are supported by me.
Artistic trait needs to be low since it supports impulsivity and excessive self-expression, which might be a hindrance to the current culture. A new leader must have a moderate level of social traits in order to promote cooperation but not be willing to sacrifice the necessary changes for the welfare of employees. Enterprising trait supports self-confidence, sociability, and ambition, which are critical for a new leadership role, which is why high E is desired. A new manager needs to have a low C since it promotes conformity, which will be problematic when going against the employees’ wants.
Raymond Cattell’s Personality Theory
The third framework of a leader personality analysis is Raymond Cattell’s Personality Theory, which extensively contains 16 personality traits. These include warmth, vigilance, tension, social boldness, sensitivity, self-reliance, rule-consciousness, reasoning, privateness, perfectionism, openness to change, liveliness, emotional stability, dominance, apprehension, and abstractedness (Cherry, 2019). Among these traits, the most desired ones rule over consciousness, dominance, and social boldness. A new leader must value new rules and plans over employees’ welfare since some of them might be laid off. A new leader must also exert dominance since he will have to manage the current employees as an outsider. A new leader will need to enforce changes by being socially bold.
Desired Personality Traits
Therefore, the desired personality traits are openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion for the Big Five Personality Traits, whereas, for Holland’s Typology, these include realistic, investigative, social, and enterprising. In the case of Raymond Cattell’s Personality Theory, the desired traits are ruled over consciousness, dominance, and social boldness. The main benefit of these traits to employees is rooted in some form of consideration as well as direct, transparent, and open communication. The primary benefit of the desired traits to the company is manifested in the fact that the changes will be implemented, which include technological modification, diversity, and growth.
References
Almay. (2021). Our company. Web.
Cherry, K. (2019). Cattell’s 16 personality factors. VeryWellMind. Web.
Fortune Business Insights. (2021). Skincare market size, research, share & global trend. Web.
Robbins, S. P., & judge, T. A. (2019). Pearson. Web.