Understanding Leadership and Ways to Develop Leadership †Sample

Question: Using relevant theories and models critically evaluate and analyse the leadership of a 21st century business leader. If you were in the position of the leader, what could you do to be a better leader and make a stronger impact on the followers and on situation/s? Answer: 1. Introduction Yukl (2012) opined that leadership is the process of social influence exerted by an individual to guide and provide support to a common mass. The organizational leaders should have definite leadership style in order to guide the activities of the employees of the organization. The assignment here deals with the evaluation of the leadership styles, behavior, attitudes and power used by the leader of the selected retail organization of Australia namely Harvey Norman. The assignment further evaluates the type of alternative leadership skills and styles that can be adopted by Harvey Norman CEO in future for the purpose of effective management of the organization. 2. Analysis of the organization Harvey Norman founded in 1982, is one of the large Australian based retailer dealing in bedding products, consumer electronics, furniture and entertainment products. The company has four more subsidiaries namely the Domayne, Space furniture, Ariston appliances and Joyce Mayne. The company has integrated its product line in the subsidiaries in order to ensure marketing of specialized products and also to decrease the work burden of the employees in a single store (Harveynorman.com.au,2015). The CEO of Harvey Norman adopts a 6 elements business model for satisfying of the following strategies namely production of large and diversified product range, competitive and penetration pricing strategy, management of people, selling through ownership and franchise system, social appearances for advertising and promotions and property investment and development (Harveynorman.com.au,2015). 3. Description of the leader The organization was co founded by two upcoming entrepreneurs namely Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman. Gerry Harvey is presently the CEO of Harvey Norman group of retail chains. Initially starting his career as a sales man, Gerry decided to open a retail store in partnership and thereby expanded the same to around 42 stores at present. Johnson et al. (1964) opined that the major reason behind the success of Gerry in expanding the business line lies in his hands on approach. Gerry is seen to appear as a spokesperson in every public announcements to discussion about the economic and business strategies of this company. This has helped him to relate to the common mass and create a positive image in the mind of the mass customers. However the reports as per the Business Review Weekly about the CEOs personal life reveals that he is not interested in any kind of charities and stays aloof from the society meetings. This may show that Gerry adopts and introvert attitude in social context (Leroy et al. 2012). The following leadership principles are noted within the Harvey Norman organization: To make self evaluation and evaluation of business before starting of the business To motivate co workers to be highly productive To integrate best business strategies within the organization To continue formulating new ways to conduct business and motivate employees (Buchanan, 2013). 4. Analysis of the situations In the present scenario with the advent of global retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot dealing in the same product line, Harvey Norman may face low turnover rate. Global operations require the organizations to make effective links with external suppliers, associates, and internal employees (Caldwell, 2012). Hence to establish this effectively the organizations require a mentor as a leader. The autocratic Style adopted by Harvey Norman CEO Gerry will restrain the expansion plan of the company. The company in this respect requires a coach or mentor who will guide them rather than instructing them on job specifications. Moreover the increase use of online retailing is threatening the job position of employees of the retail sector (Wirba, 2012). However in case of Gerry it is seen that the leader is in denial about the rise of online retailing is not switching over to the same. 5. Evaluation of the leader Gerry Harvey the CEO of Harvey Norman is the key figure to success of the Harvey Norman operations. An effective analysis of the management roles and leadership styles adopted by him will show the reason behind the success. Management roles: According to Buchanan (2013) three types of management roles may be adopted by an organizational leader namely interpersonal role, informational role and decisional role. Gerry plays the three management roles successfully. His interpersonal role is ascertained from the initiative taken by him in travelling throughout Harvey Norman business and engaging with the employees. He adopts the role of a figure head which enables him to gain support of the employees in business change management. Information dissemination is a part of Gerrys informational role. The effective implementation of the decisional role of Gerry is seen in the introduction of the franchise system and incentive system. Personal skills: Boone and Makhani (2012) opined that for a leader to become successful the following personal skills or attitudes should be present within the individual namely people skills, visionary skills, adaptability skills and ethical skills. 1. People skills: According to Caldwell (2012) the ability of the leader to be empathetic and sensitive to the needs of the team members is an effective way to show good people skills. In order to be publicly acceptable figure a leader needs to have good verbal and non verbal communication strategies like positive body language, making eye contact, making appropriate gestures and open communication. Media interaction and public appearances of Gerry suggests the effective use of the people skills in managing of economic, political matters and also managing the shareholders and customers. 2. Visionary Skills: The major quality of a true visionary leader includes openness to new creative ideas, participation of the team members in decision-making process, imagination, persistence and conviction (Forman and Ross, 2013).However in case of Gerry the skill is not seen. The lack of implementation of the online retailing services shows that the leader is nor foresighted and is conservative in nature. 3. Adaptability skills: With the rapid changes in the world economy and business sector it is utmost important for a leader to possess flexibility and adaptability skills. The expansion and existence of a business depends upon the flexible decisions of a leader (Wirba, 2012).For instance CEO of Face book Mark Zuckerbergs acquiring of Watsapp showed his flexibility with the changes in the emerging social media apps trend. However the lack of adaptability is seen in case of Gerry making the company lose market share to the global competitors. 4. Ethical skills: Leaders are responsible for cultivating culture within the organization hence implementing ethical process for performing of tasks is necessary to make a congenial working environment (Forman and Ross, 2013). Gerry adopted a low profile strategy to keep ethical considerations within the organization. The CEO of Harvey Norman generally has a very low salary compared to other Australian executives which denotes that the CEO is performing the operations in an ethical manner. Leadership style: The adoption of the correct leadership style formulates the effective management of stakeholders as well as achievement of the long term objectives (_).The following are the basic leadership styles generally seen within different organizations. 1. Autocratic leadership style: The classical and the oldest form of leadership style is the autocratic style which gives the leader the power to dominate the team members and suppress the decisions of the team members (Gosling et al. 2012).Although not followed presently however the instance of autocratic style was seen in the commando generals of early times. Adolf Hitler, the greatest German commander possessed and implemented this style which brought about his fall. Abrell et al. (2011) opined that adoption of this style within an organizational context may lead to high employs turnover and absenteeism and low morale of the employees. 2. Bureaucratic leadership style: This is one of the most prevalent leadership styles in where the leader follows the guidelines and rules of the organization. The leaders with this style have no decision power and merely act as a source of rules delivery. Paul Teutul of Orange County Choppers who produces bikes and bike parts adopts this style within their organization. Penney (2011) opined that this type of style is effective in companies where the employees are performing the routine tasks regularly. However in organizations like media house, retail sectors where change is necessary this style is not effective. 3. Participative Leadership style: The participative leadership style commonly known as democratic leadership style is the most preferable leadership style within an organization (Tebeian, 2012). A leader adopting this style encourages the staffs to be a part of all kind of organizational decisions. This creates a sense of connectivity within the employees. A striking example of participative leadership is seen in Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Renault and the present CEO of Nissan Japan. The CEO is seen to provide various challenges to the employees to make them perform better and also make them realize about their capabilities. The use of this leadership style reduces the burden of the leader and also reduces the risks of the leader. 4. Laissez Faire leadership style: This is a unique leadership style generally used by small scale organizations who appoint in experienced leaders. This is a hand off style where the leader gives no advice or direction in relation to the organizational activities to the team workers. These types of leaders are more focused on the fulfillment of the individual goals instated of concentrating on the organizational goals.Hargis et al. (2011) opined that the use of this style will be successful only in case of organizations where the staffs are highly skilled, trained and experienced. Analysis of the leadership style adopted by Gerry Harvey it may be seen that the success of the company majorly depends upon his interactive and interpersonal nature. The CEO leads a simple life with no high salary or well furnished office. However the leader pays personal visits to the business houses and the retail stores to check the operations and the satisfaction levels of the employees. The use of high people skills and entrepreneur leadership style has helped Gerry to succeed in expanding the retail operations (Penney, 2011). However the lack of situational and adaptable leadership style within Harvey Norman will result in the future threatening situations for the company. Harvey Norman is still focusing on the franchise system of opening stores rather than focusing on online retailing. Gerry adopts a traditional and old fashioned leadership style of being bureaucratic in his operations. Hence he is overlooking the changes in the global retail sector. Organizational structure and leadership style: The implementation of the leadership style depends upon the appropriate organizational structure (Wirba, 2012). The adoption of hierarchical organizational structure reduces the pressure on the employees and ensures chain of command. CEO of Harvey Norman follows the hierarchical structure thereby making division of labor. The accountability and authority rests with the CEO and the co founder followed by a downward chain of command. Tebeian (2012) opined that this leadership style and organizational structure reduces the chance of mistakes within the organization. However the freedom of opinion or creativity is endangered in this kind of structure. Power of influence: Anderson (2012) opined that leaders should use effective power to influence the decisions of the employees and the co workers. The power of influence is concerned in two ways namely the negotiating power and the bargaining power. The negotiating power enables the leader to reach an agreement on mutually accepted terms in order to fulfill the needs of the employees. On the contrary bargaining power is the ability of the leader to exert influence in order to acquire a situation in their favor. Gerry makes use of the bargaining power within the lower levels of the organization. The CEO in this respect adopts the quick win philosophy that will enable him to resolve turmoil between the lower level workers and will not hamper the growth process of the company. However the use of the bargaining power creates a autocratic style within the organization and exerting of pressure may result in reduction of employee participation (Wirba, 2012). 6. Analysis of alternative recommendations for leadership styles The analysis of the leadership style followed within the Harvey Norman shows that although the adoption of the bureaucratic style has been a success for the company however after the death of Gerry Harvey the management of the organization will get hampered. Hence the following styles and skills may be adopted within the organization to make it adaptable to the changing market scenarios. Adoption of participative style: The adoption of participative style will help Harvey Norman to make easier decisions (Buchanan, 2013). With the change in technology and market structure the company should concentrate on taking the views of all employees within the organization. The proposals of the employees will help Gerry to introduce new product lines, promote the products more aggressively and retain the market share from the competitors. Situational leadership strategies: Forman and Ross (2013) opined that adoption of situational leadership strategies helps the organizations to adapt to the changing situations. Gerry Harvey had founded the retail chain long back and hence he has adopted the traditional strategies to look over the operations of the company. However with the emergence of the global retail chains like Tesco, Walmart, Sainsbury and Asda the market competition for innovation is increasing. Companies like Wal-Mart and Tesco are providing easy online retailing options. Adoption of negotiation power: Gerry as a successful leader should adopt the tactics of good negotiation power rather than relying on bargaining power (Caldwell, 2012). The use of the negotiation power will help the leader to achieve the loyalty of the employees and also achieve the organizational objective without making any compromises. Additional skills: The leader of Harvey Norman should also possess the following skills namely skill of strategic thinking, skill of self management, complex problem solving ability, flexibility and adaptability and team coordination (Caldwell, 2012). It is seen that Gerry depends upon his secretary for all computer works since he is not self trained in this matter. Hence to be an effective guide he should first incorporate self management skills within him. Structural changes: The organizational structure followed by Harvey Norman is divisional structure however the company should think of adopting strategic alliances, outsourcing and flat organizational structures. The adoption of outsourcing will help to reduce the costs of the company (Boone and Makhani, 2012). Moreover the implementation of flat organizational structure will help the company to widen the span of control and cut the costs and make the organizational structure more flexible and adaptable. 7. Conclusion The assignment focuses on the different leadership styles of 21st century. With the advent of technology and emerging competition from various strategies adopted by the organizations it requires the organizational leaders to be adaptable, flexible and participative. The assignment highlights the skills that will be helpful of the largest retail chain of Australia Harvey Norman to succeed in the long run. Apart from the recommended styles the leader of Harvey Norman should also undertake the responsibilities towards the shareholders in reconciling their interests. The management of the company should also adopt the classical management style of planning, organizing and controlling of the activities so that the leadership styles can be implemented successfully. Reference list Books Buchanan, M. (2013).Leadership and religious schools. New York: Bloomsbury Academic. Forman, J. and Ross, L. (2013).Integral leadership. Albany: State University of New York Press. 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