Founded in 1940, Kiwi Foods is one of New Zealand's oldest food industry companies. Now based in Auckland, Kiwi Foods include cordials, dried fruits, flour, sugar, baking products, herbs, spices, and condiments. Although a long-term survivor, the company was losing market share in 2014. Australian businessman, Michael Robert, former CEO of another Australian-based company, bought Kiwi foods. At the time he was quoted as saying, 'The purchase of the business represents a significant opportunity for a dedicated focus on manufacture, marketing and distribution of key branded and innovative food products. The three years of Michael's management has seen significant changes. From a company in decline, Kiwi Foods has turned around to become a more streamlined, entrepreneurial and innovative organisation. Change was immediate after the takeover. Michael replaced few managers, as stated by him 'I can't afford to keep anyone who is not committed to organisational goals. He wanted key positions held by the right people and was keen to have committed people around him. Under Michael's management the values espoused include 'speed, innovation, value, quality and relationship'. He communicates the vision and elevates the importance of the visionary goal to employees. One of the staff pointed out that at first this created some uncertainty, 'particularly in the early days when so much was happening so fast'. At first, the impact on line employees were minimal. Even so, many were worried about what might happen. Ravi recalled: Everybody was insecure, and managers encountered resistance, which happened on several occasions. One major source of contention arose when the company wanted to increase working hours from thirty-eight to forty-two per week to gain more productivity. 'We wanted to utilise the flexibility of individual workplace agreements rather than the enterprise bargaining agreements,' said Lawrence Tay, a senior manager. This was to emphasise individual responsibility and performance, particularly for the more senior people, such as supervisors, leading hands, and some machine operators. 'To make the change attractive, the extra hours were paid at 'time and a half' rolled into the standard pay rate. Resistant employees were allowed to stay on the old agreement. Moving staff to the forty-two week also meant a shift to a monthly pay cycle and so personal financial management became an issue for some. Another sticking point occurred when the company wanted to introduce medical reviews that reduced paid medical visits to see doctors. Benefits to employees were increased and included company superannuation contributions above the legislated requirements. Redundancy entitlements were also increased to help allay staff fears and encourage some mid to senior managers to opt for voluntary redundancy. By early 2020 every facet of the business had changed. The company now had a dynamic team of relatively young managers. Under Michael's leadership there had been a steady growth in profit of over 15 per cent which was reinvested in the business. New packing machines and a new production line have been installed. Kiwi Foods has grown, with no increase of staffing. The company has gained two government grants for technically challenging and commercially viable food innovations. The first successful project was for commercial production of specialty vinegars, which are currently largely imported. The second grant was for the development of flavoured inclusions for the manufacturing sector. Things have changed a lot, said Jason Ee, by a supervisor: 'We've become the presenter of new ideas and concepts to marketers - a leader rather than a follower. The leader achieved what he aimed for at the expense of losing some good staff and overall staff wellbeing'. 'Are we happier and more fully committed than few years ago? Ravi remarked, 'Do we have a choice for what is happening here? 3 For both questions, cite evidence directly from the case to substantiate your analysis.

Question: Conduct an analysis of the CEO's leadership using an appropriate leadership theory. What impacts, positive and negative did this style has on performance in the Kiwi Foods?