Scenario 1: Tech Startup with Rapid Growth Problems

Reagan Badskey, Johanna Barrios, Daniela Fernandez Torres, Richard Garcia, Matthew Lima,

Owen-Jon Mierjeski, and Chaeyun Woo

Department of Business, Azusa Pacific University

MGMT 210: Principles of Management

Professor Marlon Ware

October 14, 2025

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NexGen Software Solutions

Situation

With the start of our company, NexGen Software Solutions, we have come to face

growing challenges in the wake of our great success. After taking in a major investment along

with the overwhelming popularity of our app, the company has experienced a surge in demand

that far exceeded our wildest expectations. While this growth marks a milestone for NexGen, it

also exposed critical weaknesses in our company infrastructure. With how popular our app has

become, employees have been struggling to keep up with the pace, causing them to work

overtime with rising levels of stress and burnout. The lack of clear communication across

departments has created a significant amount of confusion, which is partly due to the fact that

our company has no standardized project management system. Without one, it makes it

increasingly difficult to coordinate and deal with our expanding workload. To add onto that, our

customer service department has taken a big hit, receiving countless complaints due to response

delays. To address all of this, our paper aims to examine these operational challenges head on

and outlines steps our company will take to stabilize our tremendous growth and strengthen our

foundation for long-term success.

Management Functions

Planning

After reviewing our list of weaknesses…Inside the office and throughout the company;

We plan on improving our struggling company by using our strengths instead. Such as AI /

cybersecurity, our established relationship with midsized businesses, and adaptable development

teams to grow our company in the upward trajectory it is headed towards. We will also be

mindful in keeping true to our core values and mission/vision statement throughout our growth.
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We will start by adjusting our work environment, and hiring more employees to meet the high

demand of our company’s services. We will begin a project management system that will

effectively improve communication across the departments, and ease the workload to minimize

any burnout with employees. After creating a solid foundation for our in-office work

environment, we can begin to lookout for opportunities to grow the quality and services for our

company. For example, the rising demand for AI-driven analytical tools is an opportunity for us

to expand our brand name and marketize the strengths of the business, hopefully connecting us

with a strong upper class business relationship. With this we can come up with our companies

short-term and long-term goals and apply them with ease.

Leading

The way we lead this plan into success is to manage our coworkers with the strength and

resources to stay driven and on task. This will be implemented by our management skills and

application of the various different work improvement theories. (ex. Systems theory,

Applications to NexGen, Critical thinking etc.) With positive reinforcement and open

communication / feedback. Hopefully we will achieve a better work environment with passion

workers and happy customers. Once we see improvement in this area, we will push to encourage

others to step up to bigger roles and become leaders to those underneath. Mutual respect for

those who succeed would set a tone of leadership and hard work.

Organizing

We will reorganize our company by restructuring each department and assigned work. As

we defined earlier, rapid organizational growth often generates operational challenges that

require systematic management responses. In this case, employees working overtime, a lack of

clear communications between departments, and the absence of standardized project

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management systems highlight the need for reorganization. To overcome these challenges, the

company needs to implement a redistribution of work and establish clearer job definitions for

each department. Additionally, before making a change, we need to analyze the exact jobs they

have and the work they do based on their plans, in order to identify any issues between

departments. Since the steps we need to take have been transparent, redistributing tasks more

evenly among teams and establishing effective communication protocols will be more effective

and efficient.

Controlling

To apply all of the previously mentioned plans and systems, we will manage every factor

in the company by establishing an effective controlling system. Managers will set clear and

measurable goals and criteria to assess whether workloads and communication processes are

working properly. We will also have regular review sessions during the meeting, so that each

department can enhance interdepartmental coordination and ensure whether employees are using

an appropriate workload and time. This process helps us respond quickly whenever

improvements are needed, and therefore, we can oversee all the parts of the company as an

integrated organization

Theory/Concept

Systems Theory views an organization as a collection of related parts such as

departments, employees, a process that must work together to achieve goals. When one part fails,

the entire system is affected. NexGen’s departments are not communicating effectively, causing a

breakdown in the system. The lack of synchronization between product development, customer

support, and management, is leading to response delays and operational inefficiency.

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Because NexGen scaled too quickly without strengthening internal systems, the interdependence

of departments became a weakness. A systems oriented restructuring, such as implementing

integrated communication tools and standardized workflows, would help align all units and

restore balance across the organization.

Maslow’s theory suggests individuals are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. From basic

physiological safety, to higher level esteem. When lower needs are unmet like rest, balance, and

job security, motivation and productivity decline. Employees working overtime and experiencing

burnout are likely stuck at the “safety and physiological” levels. Their fundamentals needs rest,

stability, and manageable workload. If NexGen continues to overwork employees without

addressing these needs, productivity will drop, turnover will rise, and innovation will suffer. To

improve motivation, leadership must implement workload management, recognition programs,

and work life balance initiatives.

The communication theory emphasizes that effective communication requires a clear

sender, message, channel, receiver, and feedback. Noise barriers can distort or block the

message. The lack of clear communication channels creates “organizational noise.” Without

structured updates or centralized platforms, messages between departments are delayed or

misunderstood leading to confusion and customer dissatisfaction. Introducing tools like, Slack

or project management software, can streamline communication, reduce noise, and ensure

transparency. This shift would transform communication from reactive to proactive, improving

department collaboration.

Contingency Theory argues that there’s no single best way to manage. The ideal structure

depends on the organization’s environment, size, and goals. Before its rapid growth, NexGen

may have operated successfully with a flexible, informal structure. But after expansion, the same
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structure became ineffective. NexGen’s leadership must adapt, moving from an informal startup

culture to a structured organizational design with defined roles, standardized processes, and

formal project management systems. Failure to adjust management style to context will lead to

chaos and burnout.​

Functional Plan

“To empower businesses worldwide with intelligent, secure, and user-friendly software

that drives growth and innovation.” Our vision statement drives us to a goal as to what we want

our tech company to look like. As for the budget of making the functional plan work, the money

comes from a large investment we have received, as well as early sales we have made, which

totals about $5,000,000. Allocating these funds is important to streamline efficiency and ensure

that each department can be effective, such as the marketing and sales department getting 15%,

or $750,000, of the budget allocated towards partnerships, reaching new customers, and going

global.

With the outline of our strategic plan, more specifically, core values, the managers will

use these to guide their new responsibilities, which include: monitoring KPIs, ensuring

collaboration across different departments, overseeing risk management, the IT department

specifically, and leading global expansion. With the managers having a more maintaining growth

role in the company, this will allow for more streamlined communication, organization, global

growth, and collaboration to fix issues like a lack of communication and a lack of direction.

Human resources will also help the managers build a talented IT team so that our risk

management is at peak performance to protect the company from cyber attacks and data leaks.

IT/Cybersecurity gets a 10% cut, or $500,000, of the budget to go towards their work of keeping

trade secrets secure, as well as dealing with any technical issues or glitches that may occur.
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Along with building an IT team, HR will also be responsible for improving employee

engagement, which can come from performance incentives, as well as improving the

workspace/environment to push for more active communication between employees, and lessen

employee burnout/turnover. To also help with employees’ professional development, HR will be

in charge of leadership training and technical skill development so that the employees can keep

up with the company's growth and future. Human Resources gets a 25% cut, totalling $1.25

million, to go towards their future work and these goals.

Customer service has been a big part of where the tech company is at today, but there

have also been some problems that need to be addressed, such as the lack of response from our

team, the lack of bug resolutions, and relationships with customers have been at an all-time low.

Responsibilities for the customer service team include focusing on customer relations, customer

response time, feedback collection, and strengthening relationships with other businesses to

create partnerships to help remove our dependency on CRMs. Customer Service gets a 15% cut,

totaling $750,000, in order to support customer relations, communication across the departments,

and reaching out to other businesses to create partnerships.

​ Lastly, Research and Development is the heart of our company, as they are where we

create our technological products and services. The most important focus for the R&D

department is to maintain a competitive edge, enabling us to outperform our competitors through

product innovation, operational excellence, intuitive user-interface design, and collaboration with

HR to share technological ideas and insights. With this, they get a 35% cut of the budget, totaling

$1.75 million, to go towards the company's goals of keeping up with competition and being

advanced in technology.
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How to be Efficient and Effective:

In order to reach an efficient and effective outcome, we strive to work across all of the

issues the company is currently facing in a timely manner. Firstly, we will work on fixing the

company’s communication difficulties by setting up a clear communication system in which all

employees can interact and connect across different departments. To make this more efficient, we

will assign leaders/team managers from each department to conduct weekly meetings where they

can discuss and resolve current concerns. Secondly, we will establish a consistent and defined

standardized project system with clear objectives and a consistent tracking method so that the

tasks at hand for the company are easier to achieve. Additionally, to form a better relationship

with our customers, we will establish a reliable and rapidly-working customer service

department that works directly to respond to customer’s needs. Our goal is to increase customer

satisfaction rates from 82% to 95% by conducting surveys and gaining feedback. Lastly, since

employees are being overworked due to the stress of keeping up with demand, we will assign

clear roles and organize a schedule consisting of clear deadlines so that employees are up-to-date

and we can reduce the risk of burnout rates.

Faith Integration

​ In NexGen’s issues, as a manager one might be able to apply the Bible and faith to each

of the issues stated. Firstly, approaching employees working overtime with high burnout risk,

starting with God as the ultimate example,“so on the seventh day he rested from all his work…”

(Genesis 2:2 English Standard Version). Additionally, the Bible shows us how we ought to

approach work, to do it with diligence but not make working an idol, “Unless the Lord builds the

house, those who build it labor in vain. It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating

the bread of anxious toil: for he gives to his beloved sheep” (Psalm 127:1-2 English Standard
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Version). Furthermore, your employees’ rest is just as crucial as yours, “that your ox and your

donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed”

(Exodus 23:12 English Standard Version). The next issue being the lack of clear communication

across departments, through scripture one is able to see that it is necessary to have open

communication with those your work with, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an

abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14 English Standard Version). In this,

counselors from the Hebrew meaning “to advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise,

plan” (Blue Letter Bible). This then leads into the next issue, that there was no standardized

project management system. God clearly illustrates that it is wise to plan ahead and communicate

it effectively, “the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty

comes only to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5 English Standard Version). Scripture stresses how you

must work, thus working ahead and with purpose can lead to good results, “In toil there is profit,

but mere talk tends only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23 English Standard Version). Lastly, customer

service complaints arising due to response delays, as Christians we ought to live out what we say

we are going to do so doing that is how we could avoid complaints, “When you vow a vow to

God, do not delay paying it. Pay what you vow.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4 English Standard Version). We

must do what we promise we are to do and we will be found well favored in God’s eyes,

“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2 English

Standard Version). Furthermore, addressing complaints is also necessary, “Let no corrupting talk

come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it

may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29 English Standard Version). Our faith should

be lived out in how we act no matter if we are directly talking about the gospel or not, “And he
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commanded us to preach the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the

judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42 English Standard Version).

References

1 Corinthians 4 (ESV) - Moreover, it is required of. Retrieved from

[Link]

Acts 10 (ESV) - And he commanded us to. Retrieved from

[Link]

Ecclesiastes 5 (ESV) - When you vow a vow. Retrieved from

[Link]

Ephesians 4 (ESV) - Let no corrupting talk come. Retrieved from

[Link]

Exodus 23 (ESV) - Six days you shall do. Retrieved from

[Link]

Genesis 2 (ESV) - And on the seventh day. Retrieved from

[Link]

H3289 - yāʿaṣ - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (esv). Retrieved from

[Link]

of Management, P. (n.d.). Cognella Textbook. Retrieved from

[Link]

Proverbs 11 (ESV) - Where there is no guidance,. Retrieved from

[Link]
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Proverbs 14 (ESV) - In all toil there is. Retrieved from

[Link]

Proverbs 21 (ESV) - The plans of the diligent. Retrieved from

[Link]

Psalm 127 (ESV) - A Song of Ascents. Of. Retrieved from

[Link]