Change management and change leadership is essential as the ability to maintain a competitive advantage becomes more difficult in the face of unrelenting change according to Ilozor, Love, & Treloar, (2014). By simply changing the work culture or workplace environment you can ultimately add value to the end user consumer and other stakeholders. The study showed that the more employees found the work setting to be environmentally innovative, the higher their level of productivity. Employee satisfaction improved when they could give input in work setting design decisions. The bottom line is that simple changes in the everyday workplace can foster employee motivation, work ethics, and confidence and provide a sense of calmness that will allow employees to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

In the workplace it is often stressed to ensure the customer is taken care of, we have heard repeatedly that the customer is always correct. Yet, the absence of management clearly understanding that employees are also customers becomes problematic. It is essential for leadership to demonstrate exceptional customer services internally as well as externally.

Why is the emphasis of excellence so directed to external customers with little consideration to the internal customers that are responsible for providing exceptional customer service?

Big Daddy is a popular designed T-Shirt brand in town. Every clothing shop sells this brand because of how fast it sells. It is recognized even in the international market. The owner of the brand, Dada B as he is popularly known started designing his own brand after working with Dolce and Gabbana for close to twenty years. At the early stage of his business, Dada B struggled for so many years with how he could get his brand accepted and attract customers. He took advise from the leaders of the industry and acted upon it. After couple of years, he was able to get his brand accepted in Ghana and the international market. Dada B has over 500 employees who work for his company. He pays them by using the bulk credit system. In 2010, Dada B signed a contract with a popular UK brand called Banny Fashion to supply them with his designed T-shirts for a period of 15 years. Dada B and Banny Fashion’s business relationship has been successful for the past 11 years now with no breach from either party. Banny Fashion settles Dada B through bank transfer whenever Dada B supplies them with goods. Coincidentally, Dada B and Banny Fashions in the UK have one banker, Standard Chartered Bank. Sending and receiving funds from Ghana and the UK has been thus simple and easy for these two parties. Five years ago, Banny Fashion recommended Big Daddy brand of designed T-Shirts to some fashion companies and suppliers of fashion accessories and fabrics in Serbia. Dada B stopped importing sewing accessories and fabrics from China and started dealing with the Serbian suppliers. He used Standard Chartered Bank to settle his suppliers in Serbia whenever they supplied him with goods. Standard Chartered Bank had an intermediary Bank in Serbia called Nordis Bank that they used every time they transferred funds to Serbia. Two months ago, Dada B undertook a funds transfers transaction at his branch and one of the relationship officers advised him to open a bank account with Nordis Bank in Serbia. This according to the relationship officer, would help him receive payments from his debtors in Serbia and make payments to his creditors in Serbia through the account. This would help avoid the huge cost of funds transfer from Ghana to Serbia. He was pleased with the advice and acted upon it. Two weeks ago, Dada B received supplies and had to make payment to his suppliers in Serbia. Unfortunately for him, he did not have enough funds in his account with Nordis Bank in Serbia so Dada B ordered Standard Chartered Bank to transfer a sum of $20,000 to Barbados Bank in Serbia, which is the bank of the supplier in question. Barbados Bank had been cautioned by the Central Bank of Serbia severally, to maintain their minimum capital requirement else the bank would be closed down. Standard Chartered Bank had no idea of this so when the order was given by Dada B, they executed the order. Three days after the funds transfer, the supplier (beneficiary) called Dada B that he had not received the payment and his bank has even been closed down. Dada B went to his branch to inform them and the bank called their intermediary bank, Nordis Bank in Serbia to confirm the information received. Nordis Bank confirmed the information to Standard Chartered Bank and even went ahead to inform them that as soon as they transferred the money, before the beneficiary’s account could be credited, Barbados Bank was closed down. Dada B is not happy about this because the $20,000 involved is huge and the supplier too has been threatening with law suit to recover hismoney. Dada B spoke with one legal professional who advised him to sue Standard Chartered Bank since it was their duty to know that Barbados bank was in crisis.RequiredShould Dada B go ahead with the law suit? Advise Dada B.