Hanna Andersson Corporation, a family-owned business founded in 1983 with the purpose of selling European-style accessories and clothing for children to the United States. The ideas of value-based management have been more relevant as the company has grown. The leadership style does not focus on organization and monitoring, as opposed to the traditional management model. The leadership requirements of organizations in the twenty-first century are increasingly complex and challenging to manage (Ahdrian & Claudé, 2019). It faced many new hurdles as it developed its business, including increased competition and increasing use of the internet to shop. Hanna Andersson Corporation was in an awkward position. It didn’t have a plan for the future.
To make major organizational reforms, the company devised an internal strategy. Gun Denharts was a board member until 2007, but the plan required a shift in ownership and management. Increasing competition, as stated by Ahdrian and Claudén (2019), makes good human resource organization a competitive advantage for a business. The case study clearly shows that the company made adjustments to its human resources, supply chain, and technical processes. Many employees who have been with the company for years felt that they were in unfamiliar waters because of the adjustments made by management. However, strong leadership was able to mitigate the negative effects of these reforms. They were able to control the process and create a plan for making changes to the business. Then they created a system to evaluate their progress.
A number of prominent people have led the company since its inception. The firm’s founders wanted to make unique European accessories and apparel for American children, while simultaneously caring for their employees, their community and their families. HannaDowns and HannaHelps are two programs that the founding members of this company believed would help achieve a sense a equilibrium. Both environmental protection as well as philanthropy were the respective goals of each program. The leadership style of Gretchen Peterson and Iosca changed significantly as he expanded the company’s market share through the addition of additional outlets. Peterson and Iosca were strategic leaders who maintained and predicted the future of the business, as well as motivating staff and initiating strategic change (Rahman and co., 2018). Due to the expansion of the business, modifications were needed in HR, supply chain, marketing and other operations.