Leadership Strategies for Improving Performance

Dissertation Title: Leadership Strategies for Improving Performance of SMEs in Saudi Arabia

Despite governmental support, healthy international trade and application of varied leadership styles, small and medium businesses in Saudi Arabia continue to struggle and are unable to sustain their operations. One of the factors that contribute to the decline of such firms is poor management. The study adopted the use of both quantitative as well as qualitative approaches in exploring the leadership strategies for improving the performance of small and medium enterprises in Saudi Arabia.

It uses surveys as well as secondary sources from various literatures to determine the leadership strategies that successful businesses in the Saudi Arabia have used to survive, especially during the tough financial times. The conceptual framework that is used in investigating the particular leadership strategies is the transformational leadership theory.

The theory has four tenets, which comprise of idealized influenced, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. This research makes use of all these to determine particular ways of enhancing the profitability hence sustenance of the small and medium enterprise in the country. The intention of the study is to recommend the best leadership practices for small and medium enterprises.

The general objective of the study is to do a comprehensive study on Leadership Strategies for Improving the Performance of Small Businesses in Saudi Arabia. There exist various leadership strategies that when implemented have the potential of shifting fundamentally the organizational dynamics as well as the various strategic approaches to managing critical functions of small and medium businesses. The research will be guided by the following research questions:

  • How can leadership strategies be a tactical tool for enhancing success in the organization?
  • What are the leadership strategies that enhance the achievement of strategic business objectives?
  • What is the impact of strategic leadership on strategic development of SMEs in Saudi Arabia?
  • How do leaders drive organizational innovativeness as a strategy to implement change in the small businesses in Saudi Arabia?
  • How does ethical leadership influence the success of small businesses in Saudi Arabia?
Leadership Strategies Dissertation
Leadership Strategies Dissertation

Leadership Strategies Dissertation Contents

1 – Introduction
Context of SMEs
Background of the Study
Key SME Enablers in Saudi Arabia
Definition of SME
Strategic Management
Problem Statement
Objectives of Study
Research Questions
Importance of the Study
Limitations of the Study

2 – Literature Review
Organizational Innovativeness as a component of Leadership
Leadership versus Management
Strategic Leadership
Effective Strategy Implementation
Ethical Leadership
Theoretical Framework
Great Man Theory
Trait Theory
Contingency Theory (Situational)
Style and Behavior Theory
Skills and Characteristics of Strategic Leaders
Strategic Management Paradigm in Small Businesses in Saudi Arabia
Proposed Research Framework

3 – Research Methodology
Leadership Perceptions of small businesses in Saudi Arabia
Research Design
Case Study Research
Data Collection Method and Period of Study
Sample Population
Data Analysis

4 – Presentation of Findings
Gender
Measure of Age Central Tendency
Education Level
Years of Experience in Business
Area of Work
Strategic Leadership Skills key to SMEs
Commitment of Entrepreneurs
The effectiveness of Monshaat Support Center
Tactical Significance of Business Strategies
Significance on Monshaat to Strategy Development
Technology as an Essential Component of Growth
Influence of Ethical Leadership
Innovativeness
Inferential Analysis
ANOVA Model Summary
Testing the Relationship between Response and the Explanatory Variables

5 – Analysis of Findings and Discussions

6 – Research Discussions
Strategic Leadership Framework in SMEs
Monshaat Support Center
Organizational Innovativeness
Information Technology Capability
Presence of Monshaat Support Center
Effective Strategy Implementation
Ethical Leadership as a Strategic Tool for Growth

7 – Recommendations and Conclusion
Recommendations
Conclusion

References

Appendix
Survey Questions

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Relevant Research Material

Leadership Styles in HR Management

Effective Leadership

Did you find any useful knowledge relating to leadership strategies for improving performance in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.

Leadership Styles

Leadership Styles in HR Management

The process of globalization is acting to enhance many changes in everyday life of the population of the world, and leadership is considered one of the main means to achieve the desired results in the most effective way. Application of leadership styles in health care organizations is considered extremely important, as human life is the greatest value, as well as those health care workers who apply various leadership styles in order to contribute to people’s health maintenance and as a consequence, to life safety. Examining the concept of leadership, it is very important to distinguish several styles that can be noticed in the modern practice and also provide a clear explanation of traits of successful leaders. Description of real world leaders and their styles and practice would be useful for better understanding of the results of the concept application.

However, first of all, a clear definition of the concept of leadership needs to be provided. Leadership is not a passive theory, but it is a process which represents actions of people. It is important to pay attention to the fact that organization, hospital in this particular case, cannot represent a leader, but only a person can perform this function, as leadership is based on interactions among people (Leedy, Ormrod, 2010).

Leadership is directed to a person or a group of people whose behavior is aimed to be changed. After the aim is reached, these people become the followers and their present is an integral feature of leadership.

As a process, leadership means that some people should be influenced, and there are several ways to act so. First of all, the followers can be changed by intellectual activity; secondly, emotional influence can be applied, and finally, the leader might cause behavioral influence.

Being a complex concept, leadership does not only allow the leader to apply various modes to influence people, but it also gives the leader an opportunity to apply various leadership styles.

Leadership Styles
Leadership Styles

Three main styles of leadership can be defined. These are authoritarian, democratic, and free reign style. The first one is used when the leader tells the subordinates what should be done. For example, it takes place when a registered nurse tells their subordinates what actions need to be taken to provide a better health care or follow the rules of the hospitals. This style is appropriate when the leader has enough information and skills and also when the subordinates are well-motivated. Time limitations are acceptable for the style and do not make any significant difference when decisions of the leader take into account real opportunities of the subordinates.

Democratic leadership style is especially popular now. It is applied when the leader believes that it is better to work together with the team. Nevertheless, despite the common work, the leader is the person to make the final decision. However, this style of leadership is applied when it comes to internship in health care settings, as the leader does not possess enough information or skills. Such leaders are not required to have some sophisticated skills, so they start working with other employees who have better qualification. Such style is considered mutually useful, as it enables the leader and the team to make more reasonable decisions.

Free reign style is also applied at health care settings, especially when it comes to the work of nurses. Today their roles are increasing and they perform more and more functions. Some of them, such as medication prescription, are allowed to be performed without control of physicians and this example might serve to illustrate the style. It is important to notice that, despite the fact that representatives of the team make various decisions, their leader is the one to be responsible for them. The style is used only when health care providers are able to analyze the situation on their own and identify what should be done and how it should be done (Service, 2009).

Regardless of the fact which style of leadership is chosen, the leader needs to possess the following traits:

  • Being self-balanced
  • Being ambitious
  • Decisiveness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Being self-confident
  • Realism
  • Desire to learn
  • Being just and fair
  • Being creative, and so on.

The list of the traits can be continued, and it has been proven by Linda Aiken and Geraldine “Polly” Bednash who were recognized to head the list of the nursing leaders. These two nurses have outstanding experience in terms of teaching, research, and clinical practice; they have received numerous honors and credentials for their contribution to the world of medicine and health care provision (Fralic, 1999).

Thus, it is possible to conclude that leadership is extremely important to be applied in every health care organization. The history knows numerous leaders who provided health care and contributed to the health of population, and all of them possessed a range of skills. These are being improved and made more advanced under the influence of the process of globalization.

References

Fralic, M. (1999). Nursing Leadership for the New Millennium: Essential Knowledge & Skills. Nursing and Health Care Perspectives, 20 (5).

Leedy, P.D. and Ormrod, J.E. (2010). Practical research: Planning and design. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Service, R. (2009). The leadership Styles Quotient: Measuring toward Improve. Business Renaissance Quarterly, 4 (1).

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Effective Leadership

Title: Effective Leadership – Within this study, the topics being synthesized are the philosophy of leadership within the 20th and the 21st century. Furthermore, the skills and characteristics of a leader or manager are going to be synthesized, showing the reasoning behind having these certain skills.

Evaluate the philosophy of leadership within early years settings by critically analysing the characteristics and competencies of leadership. Ensure that you include why it is essential to have a leader who understands the importance of an effective and multi-disciplined team of staff

Over the 20th and 21st century the term leadership has been changed several times and the perception of what a leader is has also changed. Extensive research has been taken under the topic of ‘leadership’, it has been discovered that through the 20th century there have been more than two hundred different meanings (Northouse, 2010). In the early 1900’s it has been seen that leadership was defined as the centre of power and domination and further down the line in the late early 1900’s the term was defined as persons having certain skills, values, motives and also being able to deal with conflicts (Northouse, 2010). However, Bonnici (2011) explains that leadership is about receiving praise, it is about being influential to teams and improving the student’s way of learning. Traditionally, leadership has been defined as a person having certain personality traits and qualities (Rodd, 2006). However, in recent research the definitions of a leader have been associated with shared ideas and working together (Dunlop, 2008)

Furthermore, Effective Leadership is perceived as inspirational, influential and charismatic, whereas management is about the organisational techniques and controlling things (Walker, 2011). Essentially, leadership is constructing and sustaining a vision and interpersonal relationships and management is monitoring activities and functioning (Davies & Burnham, 2003). There are many misconceptions of the term leadership and is usually mistaken as ‘Power’, this is down to the progression of influence (Northouse, 2010).

There are many general leadership theories and few well known. House and Mitchell devised the Path-Goal theory which is centralised on a model of motivation and is a part of the contingency approach (Burnes, 2004). The leader must provide the employees with support, confidence, and influential behaviour to feel able to attain their future goals (Burnes, 2004). There are two different situational contingencies within this approach; one being staff member’s individual characteristics and the second being the environment which they work in (Alanzi and Rasli, 2013). This theory involves around different situations and behaviour and how the leader’s motivation could lead to other staff being achievement-orientated (Alanzi & Rasli, 2013). However, there is a lot of debate whether path-goal theory is efficient within settings and Alanzi and Rasli (2013) explain further that good leaders will know and understand when and what approach to use when needed. Furthermore, Devader and Alliger (1986) discussed that using the Meta Analyst approach and self-report measures of 120 surveys and discovered that the evidence of its efficiency was infrequent. From the surveys that were conducted analysed, they discovered the environment and the task would not be adequate, it will not change the behaviourism (Devader and Alliger, 1986). Therefore this implicates that the behaviour of the leader will not affect the performance of the subordinates (Devader and Alliger, 1986). The weaknesses involved in the path-goal theory are lack of research and findings. However, Aubrey (2011) explain that the theory does not encourage the staff/team to act themselves as leaders when needed.

Psychologist Kurt Lewin formulated this style of effective leadership in the 1930s and many people followed his path. Lewin debated that there are three key aspects to the styles, these are Autocratic, Democratic and Lasseiz-Faire (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Lewin believed through his studies a leader is not solely based on personality traits but he moved towards different behavioural styles (Lussier & Achua, 2015). However, Lewin has also gained many criticisms of this three step approach and academic sources have noted that he has been progressively critiqued as only appropriate small scale alterations in stable environments and also stated that his model has issues of ignoring conflict and organizational politics (Burnes, 2004).

The autocratic style involves a leader who dictates methods of work and staff, struggles to involve staff in decisions of the setting and also limits the staff to doing different jobs (Khasawneh & Futa, 2013). This could be a leader is the owner of the business.). Therefore, this leader could be over-ruling to staff and lead parents/staff feeling under-valued (Johnston & Williams, 2012). Within an early years setting, it is vital that parents and staff feel welcome. If staff are not enjoying their job, this may lead to retention (Sadek & Sadek, 2004). Similarly, Sadek and Sadek (2004) explained that an autocratic leader is ‘like a spider in the middle of the web’, this could indicate that the leader is the only one with the control and power. Nonetheless, there are positives of the style such as the leader of the setting/business is the only one able to make decisions, also this could mean that the leader makes sure things run smoothly (Johnston & Williams, 2012).

The second of the style is democratic; this type of leader is able to welcome ideas and encourage staff to participate in all decision-making and closely watches/supervises (Lussier; Achua, 2015). A style like this could be welcoming, and staff may feel as though they are able to input their ideas as to what needs to be improved and sustained (Johnston & Williams, 2012). Lussier and Achua (2015) indicate that the democratic style increases the chances of staff feeling a valued member of the team, this will lead to present and future motivation and commitment. However, Johnston and Williams (2012) discuss that staff may misunderstand and feel as though the democratic leader may not have any true values or visions themselves. Furthermore, being a democratic leader in a setting will be more organised and have staff feeling valued to the leader (Johnston & Williams, 2012).

The third style is called ‘Laissez-faire’ which is also seen as non-directive and leaders who pursue this style may prefer to let the group of staff set their own goals. However, if problems arise within the setting, it is likely that they will be unable to get the staff back to being positive and motivated (Wood, 2012). However, leaders within an early years setting acting in the style of ‘laissez-faire’ could lead the other practitioners to become somewhat lazy and inefficient (Wood, 2012). In addition, Johnston and Williams (2012) state that a setting ran by a laissez-faire leader would come across and welcoming to children, parents and recruiting new staff. However, a setting ran by a leader who wants to work for an ‘easy life’ could also be seen as chaotic at times due to the lack of management (Lussier & Achua, 2015). Similarly, Wood (2012) adds on explaining that staff could lack in vision or no direction, also this could lead to future retention as the staff feel unsatisfied with the way the setting is.

Furthermore, Goleman’s research indicates that the visionary or effective leadership style is the most efficient and this is by making the vision everyone’s future goals (Burns, 2010). Leaders with this set style are able to connect with every individual in the workplace and know their capabilities and be able to give them time to grow and also how to achieve their goals (Mersino, 2013). Staff are able to benefit with this type of leader as they are able to tell them what they are doing right (Mersino, 2013). Visionary leaders heavily rely on the competencies, emotional intelligence, self-confidence, self-awareness and the ability to be empathetic to staff or others involved (Wood, 2012). In contrast, there are many issues with this style as Burns (2010) did not define how to be a visionary leader, this could come across as confusing. Furthermore, as this happened many researchers began to analyse the theory and show the cracks of it (Solan, 2008). Similarly, Bennis and Nanus (2003) searched further into the term ‘vision’ and researched into the behaviours of leaders with this style. They set out to do qualitative research and interviewed 90 different leaders. To add on Sashkin and Sashkin (2003) explained that Bennis and Nanus (2003) discovered that leaders have five different patterns of behaviour which were all down to trust, confidence attention and more.

One of the earliest leadership researches was based on characteristics of efficient leaders by Gregoire and Arendt (2004) who split these into a group of 5.

  • Surgency: – The traits being the individual characteristics and sociability.
  • Conscientiousness: – Dependability, the need to achieve and integrity.
  • Agreeableness: – Positivity, usefulness and connection.
  • Adjustment: – Emotional Intelligence, self-worth and strength of mind.
  • Intelligence: – Desire for knowledge, broad-mindedness and being learning orientated.

Since this approach based of characteristics, Jillian Rodd (2006) discussed personal assets of an early year’s leader. However, Jones and Pound (2008) indicate that characteristics, attitudes and skills are the base of an early year’s leader. Nowadays, researchers are following to think that the term effective leadership is now based solely about the interaction between leaders, staff, parents and agencies on the outside and also the emotional competencies between this (Jones & Pound, 2008).

Effective Leadership
Effective Leadership

Organisation is an important aspect of being a leader or a manager in a setting and this is because everything can be at hand. Practitioners that have a system in place for how they organize paperwork make it easier for inspections, to call people when in emergencies and also to look at different requirements for the children, for example, food requirements (Gabriel, 2005). Having paperwork at hand means that if anything goes wrong or they need to back themselves up by showing inspectorates that they have their filing systems up to date and showing that the staff are qualified up to standard (Gabriel, 2005).

Effective Leadership

A leader needs plenty of skills to be able to both manage and lead a setting. This includes many aspects such as assertiveness. Being assertive without needing to be may put the staff off their work and this may lead to possible retention (Stein-Parbury, 2013). However, being assertive for the right to be heard, valued and respected. Gabriel (2005) found within their research that practitioners were a lot better at being assertive in optimistic situations and this led to staff feeling appreciated and respected themselves. However, most of the research that has been done showed that assertiveness is usually seen in conflict and negative situations (Stein-Parbury, 2013). Furthermore, if an early year’s practitioner spoken to a staff member and told them to do something that they didn’t want to do, they would have to act assertively and also bring in an empathetic tone and let them know how it would help them move up and development (Stein-Parbury, 2013). Similarly, Maravelas (2005) explains that with high assertiveness, staff can become intimidated and undermined. On the other hand, she discusses that there is a low and high assertiveness and the lower toned assertiveness is used less (Maravelas, 2005).

Ofsted highlight the significance of having a strong leader within an early years setting which can influence how they are marked out of good and outstanding operations. The report also states that the visited settings have had few strong leaders who have the ability to self-evaluate and each staff being able to reflect on their own work (OFSTED, 2013). Furthermore, in the inspections, the leaders explain that it is vital to have staffs that are able to interact with the children effectively as it has a profound effect on the children’s development and learning (OFSTED, 2013). Ofsted created a survey that they gave to their ‘strong leaders’ and the findings were that they were inspiration to their staff, they were persuasive and passionate (OFSTED, 2013). Furthermore, the leaders were able to explain to other staff within the setting what strategies could work and why and also how this may be effective for children’s learning and development (OFSTED, 2013). Furthermore, due to the demand of “outstanding” schools and settings, there are many criticisms that OFSTED are facing, such as a member of the think tank explaining that “you’d be better off flipping a coin” and this shows that OFSTED are possibly becoming unreliable due to the amount of inspections that they are facing (Flanagan, 2014). In light of this, the inspections that OFSTED give are reasonable guidelines for schools and other settings. However, staff within a school may become pressured to do everything before the inspection as it is only once a year that it is done (Flanagan, 2014).

Blatchford and Manni (2006) explain that communication is key for all leaders working within a setting. Communication involves many factors, these include: reflecting, empathising, verifying, acknowledging, consulting and listening. Being accessible is vital for communication. Similarly, communication in the work place is vital, working with children involves a lot of communication as the job is pressuring and demanding, Making sure that everyone knows their role is especially important as the leader does not want the staff to make decisions without them and without consent to do so (Moyles, 2006).

In the early months of 2004, the government had dedicated themselves to use the United Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Furthermore, in 2011 the government devised a new law which is called the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure which also helps to confirm that the principles within this are actively used (Welsh Assembly Government, 2012).

There are also policies put in place to make sure settings such as nursery settings, family centres and child-minders have quality standards, such as nappy changing facilities (Welsh Assembly Government, 2012). One of the biggest of the policies is health and safety, Record keeping is also one of the health and safety standards. Records will consist of the parent’s contact details, the child’s health records (if there are allergies), medical administration, and statements on procedures in emergency, records of accidents (Welsh Assembly Government, 2012).

Over more than several years policies and governments have been changing the way they are working, especially with child care. Problems have risen within the past 20 years with mothers having to work and having to pay for childcare. It has been found that working parents pay more than twice as much for childcare than they do for food and bills (Lyus, 1999). Rutter (2015) has also found that 25% of families can afford to pay for full-time child care, whereas the other 45% rely on unreliable sources of care such as relatives, babysitters and friends (Lyus, 1999). In 2015 the family and childcare trust sent out a childcare cost survey and the findings were that parents still have to find the money to fund such necessities. Child care has risen for children under the age of two by 33% by the parliament (Rutter, 2015)

There a several different approaches to define leadership theory, for example the trait approach. Devader and Alliger (1986) established that traits of the personality were intensely related with insights of leadership. Furthermore, Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) claimed that efficient leaders are diverse types of individuals in several ways. However, Stogdill (1982) had conclusions and his findings were that individuals will not become leaders because of certain personality traits that they have, but because they are able to be a leader in certain situations and then not necessarily be a leader in a different situation. Emotional intelligence is an important factor of our leadership skills; Devader and Alliger (1986) suggests that emotional intelligence entails two competencies which are personal and social. These include self-awareness, confidence and motivation (Northouse, 2010). However, the trait approach has several recognizable positives and has been researched for a century with theorists to back it up; secondly this approach shows what type of personality would fit a leadership role (Northouse, 2010). Nevertheless, the trait approach also has several weaknesses which could be critical, firstly it doesn’t state a definite depiction of the approaches needed to become a leader (Northouse, 2010). Furthermore, Stogdill (1982) implies that it is problematic to separate traits when there has been no insight to situational factors which is equally important as the leader might not lead in certain situations.

Since leadership has become wide spread within settings raising achievement in children, this is called shared / distributed leadership. This term is where a team within a setting are all active leaders other than the head leader (Lindon & Lindon 2011). Other team members have a role to play and it is their responsibility and feeling as they are capable to act as a leader in their own enjoyment (Lindon & Lindon, 2011). Distributed leadership is a well-known democratic theory, also in the category for ‘transformational leadership’ (Rodd, 2006), Moreover, this kind of effective leadership focuses on practice rather than delegation based on an individual’s expertise and encourages staff and practitioners to excel further and motivate them to work harder towards their goals (Rodd, 2006).

Lindon and Lindon (2011) explain that there are many misconceptions of the term and can be problematic within a setting. Distributed and shared leadership have separate meanings, the difference is that shared is that the leader delegates different roles to practitioners (Rodd, 2006). This would lead to effective partnerships within the work place, especially communicating with each other. Communicating is important when being a distributed leader and being able to listen to views of others, understanding and empathising with them (Williams and McInnes, 2005). Listening means providing individuals with their time and privacy and may require constant appraisal so that the staff feel invaluable (Williams and McInnes, 2005). Entrusting staff may be problematic, but with plenty of team working and outings, this may be reduced over time and staff time needs to be used efficiently (Williams and McInnes, 2005).

An example of shared/distributed leadership is family centres, such as sure start family centres. Becoming a leader within a family centre involves the ethic of care and sustaining caring relationships (Blatchford, 2006). Family centres involve multi-agency teams which consist of professionals within health care systems and supporting parents and children holistically. With extensive research in to ‘Sure Start’ family centres there have been many noted challenges. The challenges consist of: maintaining high quality services, leading through change, maintaining morale and motivation, increasing vulnerability, managing outside agencies (Rodd, 2006). Furthermore, family centres need staff that are able to form strong relationships by partnering with children, staff, parents and multi-agencies (Rodd, 2006).

There are many successes in working with multi-agencies, however there are also challenges. The children’s act (2004) brought out a plan to improve children and family services and emphasized the importance of integrated teams of educational professionals, health professions, social workers, job advisers and support for vulnerable parents and young people (Aubrey, 2011). Since the Every Child Matters Green Paper (2003) was devised because of the Victoria Climbie died from negligence and reports were made that on 12 occasions integrated services could have been able to help. This Green Paper is also along with the Children Act 2004. Every Child Matters (2003) discuss that ‘integrated working focuses on encouraging and enabling all professionals to work together and to have common visions which they can deliver, building around the needs of the individual children’. The professionals involved in working in a multi-disciplinary team could be:

  • Police
  • School teacher
  • Early Years Practitioner
  • Midwife
  • GP
  • Social Worker
  • Speech and language therapist
  • Health Visitor
  • Educational psychologist

There are several key aspects of working with other professions, such as having an early intervention before problems become more of an emergency; The CAF which is Common Assessment Framework and is also consent based (NDNA, 2007). Furthermore, multi-agency working also involves record keeping, sharing information to the right people, working with the family and the leader (NDNA, 2007). There are also policies and legislation supporting multi-agency working such as EPPE Report (2003), local safeguarding children board (LSCB) and Children’s Act (2004-06).These legislations have strengthened the meaning of multi-agency working bringing all professionals together in sight of the child (NDNA, 2007). However, there are many potential barriers for integrating professions which can be parental consent. Parents can often feel judged and pressured by certain individuals. In comparison, Aubrey (2011) explain further that with a code of ethics within the setting and moving forward with strategies such as developing a mutual respect and trust, support the continuing development of the parents’ skills and help to develop them further. Furthermore, other publications such as the DCELLS (2005) explain that the challenges could include recruitment. Recruitment can be vital in a centre with such professionals due to new talent, and this could show more of a diverse work-force.

Methods of communication are also important within the early year’s sector with staff. For example, communicating face to face now and again is essential and gives the member of staff time to feel listened to and a valued member (Daly & Byres, 2009). However, Lussier and Achua (2015) explain that communicating one on one could also have negative effects from being unable to record informal discussions and make other team members worried that they haven’t been in a meeting and therefore they may feel less valued. Group meetings are also an easy form of communicating; this would consist of staff being able to make their opinions known and to share views on certain aspects. Employee handbooks can also be an official way of communicating with the leader and other staff, this could be important when a job role has changed (Daly & Byres, 2009) However, this could also have a negative effect as all written information needs to be up to date and this could apply with the National Minimum Standards (Daly & Byres, 2009).

Parents are as much a part of their child’s education as the practitioners and Bowlby (1969) stated that parents are the child’s first source of learning and need to be in close contact with the work that is provided to the children (Daly and Byres, 2009). In successfully managed settings, the leader will have to keep the parents up to date and communicate about the development of their child. Parents being able to feel welcome, valuable and able to trust the practitioners are a key aspect (OFSTED, 2013). Childcare providers can assure the parents that the information that they give them about the child is with them and that they will take care of every child’s needs (OFSTED 2013). It is important that parents feel that they can confide in the manager/practitioner so that they can give them the information that they need and so they can be used to organise activities for particular needs (OFSTED, 2013). There are many ways of keeping parents frequently updated on the development of their children. For example, there are systematic approaches which enable the parents to be updated every six weeks. The ways that communication can be easier for parents/practitioners are regular text messages through mobile phones, emailing via the internet and also the settings website page (OFSTED, 2013). However, systematic approaches to the means of communication can also be hard due to parents having lack of technology to enable them to contact the settings (Bryant & Oliver, 2009). In sight of challenges, many parents feel as though they are being judged by their children’s practitioners and back away from having face to face contact with them weekly (Moyles, 2006).

Challenges that are faced within the workplace need to be underpinned by the leader for some form of conflict resolution. For a good leader, being able to notice staff that are not getting on for some reason should be easy, however sometimes this may be challenging as staff do not want to go through problems that they are facing (Moyles, 2006). There many general ways of how a conflict is, competition, accommodation, avoidance, collaboration and compromise (Rodd, 2006). Leaders with a certain amount of emotional intelligence will be able to understand strategies how to resolve conflicts between staff members. Generally, solving problems such as conflict are able to gather information and evidence to what has possibly happened, and after the time it has taken to get the information, they may get staff in separately and speak to them (Rodd, 2006). However, Sadek and Sadek (2004) explains that many colleagues suffer from conflicts between each other now and again and this may hinder their ability to be efficient to children or other adults within the setting.

ACAS (2015) provide conflict resolution for managers and leaders to show them effective ways of problem solving through times like this. ACAS (2015) also offer information and case studies for leaders and managers to help them with these possible challenges. The government sees wider benefits to improve ‘leader and employee relationships’ which will lead to the ‘high trust relationships’. They have come up with a method of how to manage and avoid conflict within the workplace. Developing strategies which may help manage conflict before it may become a problem is essential within the workplace, such as developing handbooks for staff before they enter the place of work (ACAS, 2014). A democratic leader would be needed in such situations, as this would be an empathetic situation in many cases and they will not presume the problem, they are able to communicate informally (ACAS, 2015). The steps which can be taken are 1. Informally asking an individual to come and talk to you about the problem. Furthermore, if the informal stage isn’t as effective as it is needed then the issue would need to be investigated informally. 3. If stage 2 doesn’t work, then internal procedures need to be used (ACAS, 2015). Finally, making diagrams which could also be designated to the staffroom wall could be used for staff to understand policies and procedures which may be used when a conflict arises (ACAS, 2015). Adults need as much support during team building exercises as much as children need help when they have conflict with peers. Team building is vital within any daily job or setting as colleagues need to get to know each other and get to know how to work together on a daily basis (Williams and McInnes, 2005).

To conclude, this discussion shows leadership in positive and difficult situations. Distributed leadership is seen as one of the most important factors of a setting and partnerships with parents are also significant. The organisation ACAS (2015) has given leaders and managers information and procedures on many challenges that will be faced through working with parents, staff and children. Overall, the most efficient style is Goleman’s visionary leadership, where all staff are aimed towards the same outcome and goal.

References

ACAS (2015) Mediation and Early Resolution.

ACAS (2015) Conflict Management.

Alanazi, T & Rasli, A. (2013) ‘Overview of Path-Goal Leadership Theory. Journal of leadership. London: ED Publications.

Aubrey, C. (2011) Leading and Managing in the Early Years. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Bonnici, C. (2011) A Successful Leadership Style. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Bryant, J. & Oliver, M. (2009) Media Effects. New York: Routledge.

Burnes, B. (2004) Kurt Lewin And The Planned Approach To Change: A Re-Appraisal. Journal of Management Studies.

Burns, J. (2010) Leadership. London: Harper Perennial Modern Classics. 33-56.

Bennis, W & Nanus, B. (2003) Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. London.: Harper Business.

Blatchford, I, and Manni (2006) Effective Leadership in the Early Years Sector (ELEYS) Study – Research Report, London: Institute of Education, University of London/General Teaching Council for England.

Daly, M. & Byres, E (2009) Early Years Management in Practice. Harlow: Heinmann.

Davies, B. & Burnham, A (2003) The Handbook of Educational Leadership and Management. London: Pearson Education.

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Dunlop, A. (2008). A Literature Review on Effective Leadership in the Early Years.

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Flanagan, P. (2014) Ofsted Inspections: ‘You’d Be Better Off Flipping A Coin’.

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Leadership Dissertation Topics

Leadership Assignment

Leadership Assignment

Leadership: It is the process in which an individual leads a group of people or an organization by influencing them with the same notion to attain a common goal. We can also define leadership as defined by Theo Haimann as “Leadership is the process by which an executive imaginatively directs, guides and influences the work of others in attaining specified goals”.  The leader is at center of the group’s power structure and responsible for keeping the group together along with infusing life into it so that it can move towards its goal. Inside each every one of us there is a leader who is waiting for an opportunity to come out and lead it in an effective manner. A good leader is fully aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses. I would like to list down some of my strengths related to my personal leadership effectiveness –

  • Optimistic: I am highly optimistic person. I have the ability to think positive and look after the bright side of everything. It’s really important for the leader to lift the people of his/her group to the clouds instead of dragging them into mud. I seek out the positives in people and help them overcome their feelings of self-doubt which helps them keep motivated.
  • Confidence: Highly effective leaders know deep down inside their minds that they and their team can accomplish the work they set themselves for. Confident makes you motivated and helps you strive even in difficult times. In a group if the leader is confident about something, his followers will be too. I also possess this trait of confidence in me. I am always optimistic and confident about any work that I have to do because it helps me complete the work easily.
  • Self-Assessment: I believe I know my areas of strengths and weaknesses and it helps me to self-assess myself which is really important. A Leader should always be good self-judging himself and also others so that at every point of time, the leader has an idea that whatever he is doing is not wrong which would allow delegating to others who have those abilities.
  • Decisive: Basic duty of a leader is to make decisions. I personally believe I have that decision making quality in me. I am not afraid to make decisions and quick calls when circumstances require it. Once I make a decision I stick with it unless there is some strong particular compelling reasons for me to change it.
  • Supporting my Team/Group: I have worked in various teams as a leader. Be it in school or during my work term, I have always supported my team/group by making it safe to take risks, speak up or to tell the truth. Supporting your group by making this kind of environment always facilitate the group’s progress towards attaining the desired aim or goal.

Some of weaknesses include procrastination due to which sometimes I pay a lot attention to non-urgent work rather than concentrating on the urgent work.  Also the compulsiveness to complete one task while having the stress of all the other tasks at the same time has led me to think unkindly about the person or the circumstance. Sometimes I get too much occupied with work that I even don’t think about my personal life. This is due to the inability to say “No” to people who ask me for any kind of help or work. I also have this problem of overthinking sometimes. I care way too much about things than normally required.

Too leverage my strengths and to develop my weaknesses the best thing can be asking people around for the input and then deciding- what areas to work on. Asking people to give genuine feedback on what they feel about my abilities and weaknesses will help move forward in the right direction. I have always listened carefully whenever someone has given me feedback and I try to work on my weaknesses. I have to stop being procrastinating which will allow me to take on urgent tasks rather than taking on something I like. This will help me complete those urgent tasks first and then proceed on to other tasks. To do this I will make a task plan stating which tasks need first attention. The issue of compulsiveness can be solved by managing equally between the tasks. Even if I have multiple tasks to work on, I will not limit myself onto solving one task first; rather I will aim on completing each of them side by side which will eliminate any kind of compulsion and the effects after. Talking about overthinking, the best way to overcome this is self-satisfaction. I usually don’t get satisfied easily with anything which creates this problem of overthinking and over looking into matters which do not even require that attention. I believe all of the action plan discussed above will help me overcome my weaknesses. To grip on my strengths I will keep on working in the same leadership style and manner. To improve and gain new skills I will set specific life goals with timelines. The goals can be designed by moving backwards in time of your life to the present month. After setting up goals and deadlines next thing is to formulate the action plan so I can commit to that and it will help me achieve those skills. I will keep on educating and improving myself in every possible way. The person who thinks he is an expert in something, has a lot more to learn. Learning never stops. I aim to be receptive to others perceptions and information I get from people I meet daily. I am keeping my self-updated with any kinds of development in my field. As John F Kennedy once said “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” So always learn and grow.

There are different barriers that can come up while implementing the plan we discussed above. We always fear of overstepping our boundaries and think that the response to our initiatives will be “Mind your own business”. Some of us are even afraid to get evaluated by others because of uncertainty about what people think of us. There are challenges that come from different sources, some being external and some internal (ctb.ku.edu).  External challenges usually include public criticism, financial issues, and hostility from powerful forces etc. whereas internal challenges come up from within the (leader) person. Internal challenges can include emotional intelligence which is defined as the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions. If someone has a high degree of emotional intelligence then that personal know what their emotions are, what their emotions mean to themselves and to others, and how their emotions can affect themselves and others. To be an effective leader one should has strong understanding of his/her emotions so that emotions does not create any kind of barrier while leading a group. There are some other internal factors like impatience, lack of decision making ability etc. that can result in hampering the growth of the leader.

Leadership Dissertations
Leadership Dissertations

Values guide human actions and they are really important in understanding leadership as they explain the focus and directions of people’s actions (Katherine D, 2015). They may vary with culture but some of the values are fundamental like honesty, credibility etc. which fits all human beings uniformly. Demonstrating the values through appropriate actions enables leaders to build network and connection with their followers which helps in building the bond of trust and commitment. To satisfy followers, a leader has to connect with them and then values come into the play as values are the primary way in which that connection is made. Our values certainly influence every decision we make in our daily life. As values play such an important role, so it becomes critical to recognize, understand and evaluate these values in sound decision making. Some of the personal values driven by leadership are:

  • Perception of Decision: The personal value associated with a decision is the perception of considering it as successful or ineffective. As an example let’s consider a leader who thinks more about the people and environment will consider a decision to invest in community and environment in contrast to the leader who thinks about company’s annual profit will make decision that favors statistical performance. The thing that matters is value associated with the decision making.
  • Loyalty and Trust: If someone is loyal and trustworthy then this personal value of that person helps to remain committed and loyal with anyone that persons works for. If a group is made of members who are loyal to each other and trustworthy then that group is effective in terms of achieving the final common goal. I personally think being loyal and trustworthy has helped me get many lead roles in the organization I work. Being someone whom your management can trust can surely help that person attain leadership roles.
  • Vision stimulation and inspiration: If a leader has a vision setup in his mind regarding the goal of his team/group, the personal value is inspiration and motivation to others. In order to get employees passionate about what they are doing, leaders have to possess great energy so that they can spark excitement and achieve results. (Katherine D, 2015). According to Peter Ernest, CEO of Values Journey, “when a truly values-based leader ensures that his organization has an engaging process for the people to explore their personal values, as well as their teams’ and the organizations’ values, there are benefits on many levels”.

To understand the behavior of people there are few variables such as attitudes, motivations, personality, skills, knowledge, confidence, perceptions etc. The importance of a value system is that once internalized it becomes, a standard or criterion for guiding one’s action. Thus the study of leaders’ values is extremely important to the study of leadership (Bruno F.C, 2006). Personal values impact leaders in at least two ways one out of which is it acts as a perceptual filter that shapes decisions and behavior, and personal values act as a driver of leader’s methods of creating these values.

Heroic Management versus Engaged Leadership

After reading the article by Mintzberg, I have a clear understanding of the differentiation between a heroic manager and an engaged manager. Let’s first start off talking about heroic managers. To manage is to make decisions and allocate resources and it often involves analyzing and calculating. In heroic management, the managers are considered important people which are quite apart from all those who develop the products or deliver services. As these managers go higher up, they become more important part of the organization and at the “top” of the organization is the chief executive. They have a clear, deliberate and bold strategy and the chief is the one who takes the dramatic steps that drive up the share price. Everyone else implements the same. But this is the time when the problem comes because although chief embraces change, most of the other people resist it. This is the reason to favor contractors or consultants over the insiders. The rewards for increase in the share price go largely to leader and the risk taker who pays no penalty for drops in the share price. According to a recent survey, “Executive Excess 2001,” conducted during the 1990s by the Institute of Policy Studies, CEO pay rose by 570%, while profits rose by 114%, and average worker pay rose by 37%, barely ahead of inflation (Anderson S. 2001). Real leadership is often more quiet than heroic. It is about teamwork and long term goals, which builds an organization slowly and collectively.

Let us talk about Engaging Management and leadership. According to Mintzberg, in this type of leadership managers are important to the extent that they help other people be important as well. Managers understand the importance of other employees in an organization and they create engaged teams. An organization is not a vertical hierarchy rather an interacting network where effective leaders work throughout and not sit on the top. People who develop the product or deliver the services solve little problems using strategies that later merge into new initiatives. In this type of management formulation and implementation go side by side and cannot be separated. The managers involved in this type of leadership style believe in bringing out the energy that exists naturally within the people thus making it more engaging and inspiring. According to a study conducted by Gallup, just 35% of the US managers are themselves engaged while 51% are not engaged. The not engaged group costs US $77 billion to $96 billion every year through their impact on those they manage (Gallup, 2015).

I work for a multinational oil and gas company. My organization has both types of managers and the management style. I will talk about my department and the managers I deal with. My manager use engaged type of management. They provide intensive feedback and training to new employees and proactively manage the onboarding process making a positive first impression. They communicate with their staff in a clear manner. Many of us prefer on having informal conversation with our supervisors regarding performance reviews or feedback which not only helps us keep involved with the team but also helps in performing the job better and easily. The engaged managers know that they are held accountable for the performance management of their employees. When employees are not meeting expectations, these managers listen to their employees and make suggestions from the vantage point of their professional capacity that will help them overcome their problems and difficulties (Insightlink.com, 2015). Being a part of the organization and led by such managers gives me chance to be effective during my work and it keeps me motivated and confident. Engaged employees are builders of an organization.

The two types of leadership styles impact on employee morale and performance. When an employee joins an organization he/she wants to know the role and their expectations which are desired by the supervisor/manager. It helps them meet their objectives and exceed them. Engaged management with the employees help them perform at consistently high rates. This also helps them use their talents and skills in the right direction. Hence the employees work with passion and drive innovation to move the organization forward (Govleaders.org, 2015). This different leadership styles sometimes also lead to participative approaches during projects. In this the employees working on a project in a team take part in decision making which gives them a chance to develop their leadership skills as well. Managers also have to challenge employees within their areas of talent and help them to acquire the required skills and knowledge which later can be turned to their strengths.

The strategic leadership of an ethical behavior in business practices cannot be ignored. To be considered a leader in ethical business practices I believe my organization can follow the points below –

  • The goals of creating and sustaining ethical climates within which employees act ethically as a matter of routine should be included in the strategic leadership responsibility for business executives.
  • Secondary stakeholders may be viewed with more urgency by executives than primary stakeholders. The government can shut down a business in a matter of hours; it takes much longer for disgruntled customers to have such a drastic effect (Terry Thomas, 2004).
  • Special attention should be paid in finding and developing the best people as it involves taking ethics and character into account in the selection process.
  • There should be a conversation across all levels of the business where the basics of value creation, stakeholder principles and societal expectations were routinely discussed and debated.

I think organizations should start establishing new standards and best practices that everyone can enjoy, learn from and improve along the way. The new workplace is less about the business defining the individual and more about the individual defining the business. The point noted above should also be taken into account towards an ethical behavior in the business practices.

Organizational Ethics

 “The Corporation” movie revolves around the notion of limited liability and corporate social responsibility. It also shows the development of corporation as a legal entity and is an attempt to assess the “personality” of the corporate person. The film is based on the argument that – since the corporation has been given the rights of a legal person, we can evaluate what type of person it is. I work for an oil and gas corporation. My organization has its own culture where everything related to health, safety, environment and production growth is taken care of. The corporation movie revolves around the concept of corporate social responsibility and I will discuss what my organization has done for the same. My organization is committed to partnering with community members and other stakeholders in the areas it operates. A long term trust is built by sharing information, consulting with stakeholders about business decisions and working collaboratively to understand their needs and expectations. Now limited liability is the type on investment in which the investor/partner of any organization cannot lose more than invested amount. Even my organization has the same notion in which there is limited liability benefit that is given to all the organization’s partners or investors. So they are not afraid to suffer with any kind of loss.

Code of ethics is a kind of policy statement or a properly framed code in which the organization forms and issues a set of guidelines to its employees to help them conduct their actions properly. My organization also has an integrity work guide stating its code of ethics. Some of them are:

  • Respecting each other and Environment: As my organization deals with the production of oil and gas, special concern is given to the environmental safety. My organization believes in respecting its employees, stakeholders, customers and most importantly the environment. In respect of this, the organization ensures that emergency response capability is in place and is tested for all company operations and facilities. Everyone is open to different points of view and approaches while doing things and seek to understand and value each other’s perspectives.
  • Confidentiality and Privacy: As any other organization, mine also respects confidentiality and safeguards intellectual property. Sensitive information outside of organization is shared only with authorized parties who have signed an appropriate confidentiality agreement.
  • Accuracy: Ensuring accuracy and completeness of business records helps us make informed business decisions and allows us to meet our responsibilities to our stakeholders. There is proper disposal of business records according to policy and legal requirements; no undisclosed or unrecorded amount is maintained.
  • Secure Work Environment: My organization believes in protecting the assets and maintaining a secure work environment. All the movement of company’s equipment, its materials and inventory is tracked and reported accordingly. The organization is responsible for the security of all its employees and workers.
  • Avoiding Conflicts of Interests: Trust is important to every successful business relationship. To manage the conflicts of interests my organization discloses any situation that could be perceived as potential interest conflict.
  • No Bribes: A direct or indirect offer of anything of value like money, gifts or advantage of any kind is prohibited. My organization complies with international anti-corruption laws even when bribery may appear to be an accepted part of local business practice. Reasonable steps are taken to avoid making indirect payments to government officials, other employees and also customers.

The code of ethics reflects about an organization and if there is any failure in code of ethics it means that there is a failure in leadership as well. An organization always tries to create and define a logical and defensible code of ethics but it’s not easy to cover all the possible scenarios. The process of identifying an ethical problem and defining the facts and resolving organizational, interpersonal and professional conflicts that arise are instrumental in giving organizations ethical leadership credibility. When a system fails to adequately address legitimate employee concerns whistleblowing may occur (ispub.com, 2015). Leaders and employees adhering to a code of ethics create an ethical organizational culture. When leaders have high ethical standards, it encourages workers in the organization to meet that same level. Ethical leadership also enhances the company’s reputation in the financial market and community (smallbusiness.chron, 2015).

Sometimes organizations face some challenges while shifting or enhancing the social responsibility. One main problem that usually comes up is growing consumer skepticism. Consumers now recognize that for many organizations, social responsibility is simply a public relations campaign in disguise. They are skeptical about the true motivation behind corporate social responsibility and are not easily convinced that a business is acting in the best interests of the community and environment (toolkit, 2015).

After filling the survey on code of ethics, I came to know about a noticeable fact that 51% of the people say their organization currently does not have a code of ethics. And 62% people lack of know-how which they feel to be a barrier in creating code of ethics. An implication for my role in my organization is to have an ethical behavior among workers in the organization that ensures that employees complete work with honesty and integrity. I use ethics to guide my behavior, also referring to the organization’s work guide that adheres to employee policies and rules while striving to meet the goals of the organization. Ethical employees also meet standards for quality in their work, which can enhance the company’s reputation and also helps in responsible development.

Summary

There is a conventional wisdom that management and leadership go hand in hand, that every manager is (or at least should be) a good leader, thus leadership in management has been taken up as a cause to be promoted, and leadership as a word has become a mantra chanted by all. One should understand his/her own strengths and weaknesses to become a successful leader. The strengths should be changed to skills and the weaknesses should become strengths. I have learnt that to be a successful leader, one should have the ability to delegate and it’s also important to trust your team with sane vision and goal which will eventually help to take progress to the next stage. I have also learnt to be optimistic, confident and decisive. Personal values and ethics guide leadership and human actions and they are really important in understanding leadership as they explain the focus and directions of people’s actions. Talking about Heroic and Engaged management I learnt that a proper blend of both kinds of leadership and management style can help in getting out the best from the employees. They have an impact on employee’s morale and performance; implementing these styles properly can not only help employees give their best but also help them exceed their objectives. Heroic leaders set an example of discipline whereas the engaged keeps the morals of the team high and keeps the team members cohesive. While working in a team, one should listen to the ideas or point of views of the other team members. Although different arguments might lead towards conflict, but a real team leader listens to all the members unbiased and then makes a final decision which is favorable for the whole team. I have learnt that emotions also control the style of leadership. That is why it is worthy to keep a happy environment and a positive attitude in the team as well as in personal life.

Talking about the code of ethics, it is really important for every business as it guides all managerial decisions and is common framework upon which all decisions are taken. It also helps in creating a cohesive understanding within an organization and also with stakeholders and customers. Code of ethics is used by many companies to prohibit any inappropriate employee behavior which compromises company’s policies and standards. Code of ethics can help employees understand what inappropriate actions are and what they are accountable for.  Not only this, code of ethics build trust between the organization and its employees. Let’s now discuss the barriers towards more corporate socially responsible behavior. The common one being Lack of stakeholder awareness which is due to the lack of ethical awareness that keeps the stakeholders uninformed about CSR implementation. Also sometimes there are financial constraints due to lack of financial support from the upper level management. Due to this organizational managers find that implementing CSR does not fit their budget. Sometimes company culture also becomes the barrier as some organizations rely on old company culture and are resistant to new strategies (Duarte F, 2015).

References

Ctb.ku.edu,. ‘Chapter 13. Orienting Ideas In Leadership Section 6. Recognizing The Challenges Of Leadership Main Section  Community Tool Box’. N.p., 2015. Web. Sept. 2015

Katherine D. (2015). Values Based Leadership – Valparaiso University’. N.p., 2015. Web. Sept. 2015.

Bruno F.C (2006). Personal Values and Leadership Effectiveness.

Anderson, J. Cavanagh, C. Hartman and B. Leondar-Wright, “Executive Excess 2001” (Washington, D.C: Institute for Policy Studies, 2001), 1

Gallup (2015). Gallup, Inc. ‘Only 35% Of U.S. Managers Are Engaged In Their Jobs’. Gallup.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 2015.

Insightlink.com, ‘The Nine Habits Of Highly Engaged Managers Insightlink Communications’. N.p., 2015. Web. 2015.

Duarte, F.P.; Rahman, S. Perceptions of corporate social responsibility by Bangladeshi managers: An exploratory study. Int. Rev. Bus. Res. Pap. 2010, 6, 119–136.

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Organizational Change Management

Organizational Change Management

The purpose of this report is to analyse the case study on D2 which is an auto-components manufacturer undergoing major structural changes to minimize costs and implement innovation and technology. While managing the change, the organisation had to face different kinds of issues. Thus, the report would be identifying the issues and proposing relevant solutions and their implementation to manage change effectively, by using the 5D-Framework which comprises of definition, discovery, dream, design and destiny.

Definition

When a company undergoes change, there are a series of opportunities and challenges that it has to face. Change is not a onetime occurrence but rather could take years to be implemented. When an organisation is undergoing strategic change, it needs to re-formulate its mission and strategies and thereafter align all its business operations with the overall strategy (Cummings and Vorley, 2009). While managing strategic change, implementation is more challenging than just designing the change.

Lack of Communication Alignment

Therefore, one of the primary issues witnessed in the D2 case was that the management would have difficulty in implementing the change due to improper communication channel used for communicating the strategy to the rest of the employees. Apart from this, having a balanced strategic change is also a significant challenge since in order to achieve the balance, the organisation needs to assure that its internal management and resources are aligned with each other and with the external opportunities (Bordum, 2010).

Environmental Pressures

Apart from this, environmental pressures are another reason why organisations undergo change. In order to be aligned with the environment, there is a certain organisational structure and a strategic positioning required. One of the key issues in the case was that there has been an outpaced growth of technology over the years and in order to meet that pace it needed to undergo significant innovation and get rid of the obsolete technology. This required greater strategic flexibility which then bore a cost to the organisation since the employees resisted the change and job insecurity arose (Skordoulis, 2013). Moreover, owing to the environmental pressures, it was significantly cutting costs and thus, had to face a trade-off between lowering costs and smooth flow of work. The smooth flow of work would be disrupted since to lower costs, it would have to shut down some of its manufacturing facilities that are not producing enough and would have to redeploy staff to other geographic regions which would require a lot of planning and control. According to Alessa and Kliskey (2012), responses to environmental change management is required which can be done through change agents. These agents can be of three types: the initiators, the supporters and the opportunists. These environmental change agents would assure that the company’s strategy is in correspondence with the changes in the external environment. In the case of D2, the changes in technology were an environmental pressure which required a change agent to manage it effectively and efficiently.

Leadership Issues and Resistance to Change Management

Change management can be of many types, varying from a change in structure to a change in culture, leadership style, operations, systems and strategy. At times one change may lead to another change and while doing so, organisations encounter a number of issues. Another key issue evident in the case was the autocratic leadership style and a centralized management as a result. In identifying the change management areas, the management itself first made decisions and formulated the strategy, and then later informed the employees. As the case stated that the decision was yet to be announced and the workers in UK might be shock to hear it since the firm had made heavy investments in the manufacturing plants. Moreover, while redeploying the employees from one geographic region to another, cultural issues might also be faced which would require heavy investments in training. Thus, a greater resistance might be expected from the employees since they were not part of the decision making process and the organisation’s interests might then be in conflict with the interest of the employees (Banutu and Shandra, 2007).

Trade-off between managing change management and maintaining core competency

Lastly, and most importantly, since the company’s operations are dispersed geographically and one of its core competencies is the pace and quality of its product development, in change management , the company might lose out its current strategic position or the core competency it has, thus, assuring that the pace and quality product development remains the same while re-structuring its manufacturing operations, would be very challenging for the company. Furthermore, change management is not following a planned approach. This might cause D2 to lose out its competitive position in the market which would then be difficult to re-obtain since by focusing on cost reduction rather than value addition, maintaining the sustainability of operations is less likely to happen.

Leadership Issues and Employee Resistance to Change

Discovery

The underlying problem chosen for in-depth discussion is the employee resistance to change and the leadership issues in bringing about the change. As stated in the case, D2 required an urgent need for change management therefore it cannot go slow in bringing about the change and would require major transformations in its structure and human resource. While deciding which operations to shut down and which ones to expand, it has been taking into account the external environment and the returns it would get out of it. However, in doing so, it has neglected the reaction that might be expected from the employees, and which could majorly impact and hinder any change management process that happens in the organisation. Resistance to change usually occurs when employee needs are not addressed; their goals and organisational goals are not aligned; there is communication gap between the different hierarchical levels as well as in horizontal communication; when there is downsizing and mistrust is created among employees; when there are major cultural issues to be faced as a result of change management ; and when employee participation in decision making is lacking (Bovey and Hede, 2001).

5D-Cycle Organizational Change Management
5D-Cycle Organizational Change Management

Furthermore, when the leader fails to apply a transformational leadership style where he articulates the vision and re-defines the strategy, the resistance increases further as employees are unclear about the goals and objectives they need to achieve as individuals as well as collectively (Eisenbach et al., 1999). The management needs to keep a balance between the organisational needs and the human needs since ultimately it is the human resource that needs to implement the change (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011). The key issue in the case of D2 was that a feeling of mistrust and insecurity was occurring not only in the U.K. region where it plans to close its facilities but also among the employees working in other subsidiaries located in Spain since the change management process is not communicated effectively and the decision making authority is vested in the hands of a few senior managers indicating that bureaucratic leadership style is more evident in the organisation which means that the increased level of formality between the management and the employees and the lack of communication would result in a decrease in employee morale, and hence, a decline in performance.

In order to address the issues, the leadership styles need to be changed. According to Bamford and Forrester (2003), using a middle-out approach would be of significant advantage in addressing the issue. This would involve giving the middle management the authority to lead the change under the supervision of the top management. In doing so, employee needs would be addressed in a better form since the line managers are more closely linked with the operational level staff and thus would be able to provide adequate feedback to the top management of how to create a link between the overall strategy and the needs addressed. Greater teamwork and participation of the workers would also be required to increase their motivational level and making the flow of communication more efficient. Leadership issues are also one of the reasons why organisations fail in managing the change. Uncertainty often accompanies change and as a leader, one needs to minimize the uncertainty levels and create an environment of greater employee commitment and trust. According to Ahn et al. (2004), globalization and change of technology at an accelerating pace requires that effectiveness in leadership has become immensely important, which is demonstrated through the leader’s adaptability to different management styles that involve greater coordination and engagement among all members of the organisation. According to Ashman (2012), ‘redundancies have become an unwelcome necessity across all sectors of the economy’, and while strategy and procedure in change management are important, the third element, psychology, is not given much attention which focuses on how employee emotions need to be dealt with to prevent any resistance to change management. Thus, this requires that to avoid such issues the message is communicated accurately while the sensitivity of such messages is taken into account adequately (Ashman, 2012).

Dream

One of the ways in managing the issues is to adopt a planned change management approach. The 3 step model of Lewin is applicable here which suggests that the organisation needs to plan change management in three stages: unfreezing, moving, and re-freezing (Burnes, 2013). In the case of D2, a sense of urgency was created and the change was seen more as an emergent one rather than a planned one. However, to make the change more sustainable, carrying out the planned approach would decrease employee resistance, since the unfreezing stage would first help in abandoning the old ways of doing work and preparing the employees for change. For instance, D2 could have addressed the issue of mistrust among its employees in other regions as well as in U.K. by defining the need for change and how it would benefit the organisation as a whole. It should then also point out the alternative employment opportunities available and how these would be a better platform for their growth. The moving stage then would involve applying the change process such as re-structuring, changing leadership styles, re-articulating the vision or changing the strategic position. This is when D2 should start shutting down its facilities and redeploying the staff where expansion is happening. The moving stage would then be followed by the re-freezing stage where the new practices would be adopted in a more permanent basis by providing training and aligning the new behaviors with the organisational strategy and culture (Bamford and Forrester, 2003).

Another potential solution of managing organisational change would be to conduct training programs and adopt situational leadership style. The situational leadership theory states that there is no one best style of management and the leader would have to either adopt a relationship-oriented style or a task-oriented style depending on the situation being faced (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011). Similarly, motivational levels of employees would also have to be taken into account and the purpose of the chosen leadership style would be to boost employee morale and assure that they have a positive attitude towards the change.

Also team building should be the ultimate focus of the organisation. This should involve self-managing teams, cross-regional/cross-cultural teams and cross-functional teams (Sisaye, 2005). The purpose of having such teams would mean greater diversity and flexibility among employees as well as greater coordination between different divisions and manufacturing facilities. By having cross-cultural teams, the employees would be more familiar with the cultural differences between Spain, France and U.K., thus, any issues arising as a result of change in culture could be better handled through cross-functional teams. The team performance model suggests that in order to create a team there needs to be orientation, trust building, goal clarification and commitment; and in order to sustain that team there needs to be implementation, high performance and renewal (Cooperrider and Dan Whitney, 2001).Therefore, the employees and the management should get involved in formulating the teams before the change management process and since this change is more about implementing new technology while cutting down the costs, the teams may focus on how the technology can be implemented. This would also be accompanied with extensive training to avoid any ambiguity among the employees.

The firm’s strategy of achieving cost leadership while maintaining the pace and quality of product development requires that it should, it focuses on value addition. This would mean cutting down costs by minimizing any wastage of resources and streamlining processes. At the same time, it would also be adding value through the innovative tools and technology used. This strategy would have to be defined by the leader after taking employee opinion and feedback using the bottom-up approach and would then have to be implemented across the organisation.

Design

In order to implement the proposed solutions, careful planning and formulation would be required. The use the planned change model can be implemented by having a leader who first identifies the potential areas that require change in terms of employee attitude and behavior Also, while addressing the need for change, the leaders should first conduct a field force analysis to identify the factors that are for and against the change (Schwering, 2003). The leader could then use the forces that can help in driving change as an advantage. This would include the consumer demand for more innovative auto components, availability of technology, upgraded technology in the other two manufacturing facilities and the identification of a new strategy. The drivers against change management would include employee resistance due to increased mistrust, decrease in morale in case of deployment and fear of exploring the new methods of working. Thus, once the forces are identified, in order to overcome any barriers, training programs should be conducted throughout the change process, that is, the unfreezing, moving and re-freezing stage. These training programs should involve two way communications which would mean delivering the new company strategy to the employees and also taking their feedback on what concerns they have and how they think it can be improved further (Hoag et al., 2002).

Apart from this, in helping leaders being aware of different leadership styles, leadership workshops should also be conducted. These might include assessment centres and activities where the management can be given different scenarios and asked to adopt an appropriate leadership style (Cummings and Vorley, 2009). The workshops would then be concluded with feedback and suggestions. Also while change management is being implemented, the performance should be monitored and measured more frequently in order to understand employee behavior and their progress. In case of teamwork as well, the leader would have to assure that there is no group think that could result in in-group conflicts, and the goals of the team are aligned with that of the organisation (Raza and Standing, 2011). The management would have to be more decentralized in its approach by practicing open door policies and being on the floor to address employee needs. The alternative employment opportunities available for the employees need to be clearly identified before the change process in order to conduct the implementation smoothly. Similarly, while communicating the new strategy to the employees, the opportunities available to them should be delivered first, which could act as a buffer to the disappointment they might have on hearing the shutting down of operations.

In order to cut down costs while maintaining the core competency, the organisation should align its operations with the new strategy. This would mean implementing change management simultaneously. The firm should first start expanding its operations in France by investing in new technology and setting up the production design, it should then plan out staffing requirements and communicate the strategy to the employees in the U.K. as well as Spain regarding how the expansion could help organisation grow and how the operations in U.K. might decline the overall progress of the organisation. Online video conferencing or virtual teams can also be formed where there could be cross-regional communication to assure that all its units are at the same pace and the goals of the organisation are communicated clearly across. Also by using internet as a platform for communication, organisation would be further saving on its time and costs in coordinating the teams.

Destiny

In implementing the proposed solutions, the possible limitations that might be faced include the heavy investment costs associated with training. This would conflict with the overall strategy of the firm of cutting down the costs. Therefore, in order to minimize the training costs, the management can focus on more informal ways of training such as in-house training where the costs of additional trainers and location can be saved. Similarly, the organisation could identify change agents who are trained and competent enough before the change takes place and then these agents could help other employees in carrying out the change (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011).

Furthermore, in identifying leadership styles, one of the factors that have been ignored is the number of cultural issues. For example, the effectiveness of relationship-oriented style is not only dependent upon the organisational situation but also on the culture where it is operational. There might be differences in terms of collectivism and individualism, and power distances (Kirsch et al., 2012). To overcome this limitation, the leader can identify the similarities in culture that can help employees adjust in the other two regions and make them aware of the differences to avoid any cultural shock.

While implementing the solutions, another possible limitation is the effectiveness of the feedback. Employees might be reluctant to speak up any negative feelings regarding the process or the feedback might be unstructured and more intuitive rather than formulized. To overcome this limitation, the management can take anonymous written feedbacks and then re-evaluate performance after the feedback is taken into account, in order to measure its effectiveness.

Thus, by strategizing the change process and aligning the structure, the culture and the processes with the overall strategy, implementing the change process would be more effective, reducing any potential resistance of the employees through greater involvement and empowerment in decision-making. Also by applying the three-step planned approach to change, the employee attitudes would be more positive towards change, removing any ambiguities that might exist regarding the strategic change.

References

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Hoag, B.G., Ritschard, H.V. and Cooper, C.L., 2002. Obstacles to effective organisational change: The underlying reasons. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, 23(1), pp. 6-15.

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