Whale Watch Kaikoura Case Study

Document Type:Case Study

Subject Area:Management

Document 1

The group had a vision of turning around the economic status of community by creating a venture that would generate income to community members. With this vision, the Kati Kuri group members formed the WWK in 1987, at a time when the Kaikoura community was experiencing significant economic decline characterized by high rates of unemployment. This group believed that the local Sperm Whales had the answer to the unemployment challenges of the community members (Spiller & Bhowmick, 2014). Despite experiencing several challenges, the Kati Kuri exhibited great leadership skills and applied impressive strategies to oversee changes within the community and company that ultimately created solutions to the community’s economic problems. Introductory information on the Case Study Although the establishment of the WWK is linked to opportunity pursuit, its agenda was a collective effort of the community rather than a venture of one individual.

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Most of the challenges arose from stakeholders in Kaikoura who raised concerns over various elements of whale watching in the community. One major concern arose from the environmentalists who feared that the increased tourists in the area would negatively affect the marine life. The Kaikoura tribal members also expressed concerns that outside investment into the whale-watching venture would shift control to external money-bags. Also, in the initial years of the idea, the Kati Kuri faced financial challenges since they had difficulties in securing loans (Spiller & Bhowmick, 2014). Competition and Sources of Change Whale Watch Kaikoura has no competitors. Another strength is derived from positive international recognition. For instance, in 1995, the company won the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award in both the Pacific and Global region categories (Spiller & Bhowmick, 2014).

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One major weakness of the company is the fear that increased tourist numbers in Kaikoura would turn the area an overcrowded tourist destination, which would have negative impacts on the natural environment. For any organizational change process, there is a source, cause, force, or reason of the change (Palmer, 2014). For WWK, the main source of change is the desire to improve the economic condition of the Kaikoura community. Also, the Kati Kuri were focused to the long-term goals of the whale-watching company and the sustainability of the venture. The leaders also played a positive role in local affairs and environmental issues, which made the community to hold them in high esteem. This is reminiscent of transformational leadership qualities. Other than the transformational leadership, the Kati Kuri also showed some characteristics of the Trait Theory of leadership.

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These leaders showed traits of confidence, tenacity, initiative, emotional intelligence, flexibility, and honesty and integrity (Northouse, 2018). Likewise, the social environment was challenging at the beginning but later changed to become supportive. Applying a Change Management Model Change management can be a challenging task. Like any other leaders, the Kati Kuri experienced challenges in implementing change in the Kaikoura community through the WWK Company. The three stages of Kurt Lewin’s change management model can be applied to illustrate the change process in the Kaikoura community in the context of whale watching. The first stage of the model is Unfreeze. The community understood and accepted the company’s commitment to preserve the Kaikoura’s natural environment (Brockington & Duffy, 2010). One shortcoming in applying the model in the information needed to implement change successfully.

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The Kurt Lewin’s change management model only established general stages, while additional information is needed to adapt the stages to specific situations. How the Case Study follows the QBL The Quadruple Bottom Line (QBL) is an approach to assessing the aggregate cultural, social, environmental, and economic sustainability performance of an entity (Teriman et al. According to the QBL, a company should not only focus on the economic value it adds, but also on its social and environmental contribution. Therefore, for the company to become sustainable and remain relevant to the surrounding community, it had to base its values on environmental conservation. WWK is nationally and internationally recognized for its efforts to maintain the area’s natural environment. The final item, which is Progress, is exhibited in the company’s desire to remain sustainable in the face challenges.

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The company’s vision of progress is embedded in its desire to remain economically beneficial to future generations while respecting the Kaikoura community’s culture and maintaining the natural environment. The importance of long-term sustainability for the Whale Watch Business Long-term sustainability is a broad discipline that gives observers insights into most aspects of the human world from social to economy to environment and the progress (Bansal & DesJardine, 2014). The whale-watching venture is a unique business that requires a combination of effective leadership skills and appropriate strategic management models to ensure success. In this context, though the case study, I have learned that effective strategy can lead to the success of an entity regardless of the existing difficulties and challenges. For instance, proper application of the Kurt Lewin’s change management model and integration of the QBL elements can guide a company towards the achievement of its vision, mission, and objectives amidst challenges (Teece, 2010).

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The major strengths of the case study include community support, national and international recognition, social responsibility, and conservation of the natural environment. Support from the community is evident in how the Kaikoura people are committed to ensure the success of the Whale Watch Kaikoura Company. Like any other holiday areas, Kaikoura, New Zealand, has witnessed considerable changes in tourist numbers and the pattern of visitors. The trend in Kaikoura is that visitor numbers have peaked in recent years. Despite having a positive economic implication, the increasing number of tourism in the area threatens Kaikoura’s social and natural environment. As such, the overcrowding of tourists threatens the qualities that attract the tourists in the area. For this reason, the national and local authorities have a policy obligation to ensure the conservation of the natural environment as well as the area’s economic sustainability.

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