NerveWire: A Case Study of Leadership

Grand Canyon University

LDR600
Professor Stephen Young
April 22, 2010
Abstract
This paper is a review of the leadership of NerveWire, a professional services firm that was established in 1999. NerveWire’s Malcolm Frank, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Kirk Arnold, Chief Operating Officer (COO) are the key leaders in this company. Their leadership skills, attributes, personalities, and leadership styles are reviewed and compared to leadership theories; their effectiveness within the organization, as well as their effectiveness with customers and business growth is explored. Cultural norms and gender stereotyping and their influence on the leaders of NerveWire are also …show more content…

Hambrick, in their article, "Top-Management-Team Tenure and Organizational Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Managerial Discretion" suggests that the characteristics of the top managers in a firm determines the strategic choices and organization performance. The authors assert that “top managers make decisions to coincide with their view of the world" (Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1990, p. 486). This is consistent with Northouse’s suggestion that “a leadership team must identify and establish standards of performance so that pressure can drive members to perform at the highest level; otherwise, performance excellence will not be achieved" (Northouse, 2010, p. 127). As the primary leaders within the executive team, Malcolm Frank and Kirk Arnold’s leadership approaches undergird the strategic choices and organizational performance that contributed immeasurably to NerveWire’s success during both great and challenging periods. In addition, Finkelstein and Hambrick suggest that choosing an industry is a critical decision to which leaders must give careful consideration. Leadership staffing decisions will invariably have very different consequences depending on the industry pursued (Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1990). NerveWire, Inc. was created in 1999 as an alternative to a “broken” technology consulting industry model