Management leadership case report
Introduction
Leadership styles vary from one organisation or company to another as well as from one leader to another. Due to the ever rising demand for expansion across the world (Hsu et al, 2011, p.3097) of organisations, the expansion carries with it serious challenges which can be a threat to both the organisation and the staff. Caution should therefore be taken in the process of laying strategies for expansion and how these changes will be realised.
The need for expansion
The company has been strategizing on how to increase business activities but with a huge sacrifice of leadership and human resource. One of the factors to consider is leadership (Huang, et al, 2011, p.865). In many cases, profit oriented organisations and companies always look for more business opportunities so that they can increase their profit margin. Media AG is seen to follow this trend and it is in this process that several transitional issues erupt. It therefore requires transformational leadership (Chi, et al, 2012, p.1015) to achieve this objective without affecting the daily operations of the company. In the transition to other countries, the company finds itself in a dilemma of identifying the transformational leader who is going to take charge, and what qualities they will be looking for in the said leader.
Genuine expansion
The Media AG’s desire to seize the expansion opportunity provided by the European market is a good indication of a company that want to do business unusual. Since the financial state of the company is stable, this venture seems to be smart. Note that the company leadership is very categorical that they want to remain in the same industry by buying security printing shares. It, therefore, require excellent communication skills, which is very vital in leadership (Madlock, 2008, p.61), so that the leadership and the employees will work as a team. For this goal to be a reality, the process in which this message is going to reach the members matters a lot due to the fact that communication and leadership are inseparable (Howard, 2005. p.385). Therefore, the president of this media company, together with the team he heads embarks on the journey of identifying the leader who suits this description with immediate effect.
Pros and cons of new leadership
There is a huge disparity on how public and private organisations conduct their businesses. Owing to the fact that Warner was enjoying close business relation with Media AG, he found his way into the company and this provided a major shift from public to private sector, and engages him into a new set of challenges. He seemed to enjoy this move, since it had been in his dream to work in such a sector. To begin with, the president had to orient himself with the centralised mode of management and communication as well. It was, therefore, a matter of high magnitude that he attains equilibrium between the needs of his followers in terms of communication and managerial duties (Hyung, 2008, p.359). Secondly, the president had a wealth of experience in the civil service operations but little or no managerial skills in the private sector. This automatically energised him, to some extent, dependency to his subordinates so that together they can forge the way forward.
As a result, the president had to prepare himself emotionally and psychologically to deal with all the challenges which would arise in his interactions with people, their emotions included. It has been observed that emotions, whether negative or positive, are inter-rerated with organisational sociology (Zineldin & Hytter, 2012, p.748) and therefore play a major role in such work place relations. Lastly, the president’s production director seemed to be having a different leadership style which was already raising alarm bell especially due to his working relationship with a section of his staff. This could not be ignored because there are particular relationships that exist between the leader and his followers (Hawkins & Dulewicz, 2009, p.254), thus determining company’s productivity.
Rewarding the Loyalty
Abel’s introduction in the case is a total contrast of his predecessor in terms of his leadership style and priorities. Although he had worked hard in the company and seemed to be one of the oldest employees in the company, his professional qualification was highly wanting and therefore could cause hot debate on his suitability for a position in the company. His hard work and long term of service may have earned him respect for promotion. This could easily be connected with extravert personalities. Extraverts are known to be movers or catalyst (Grant et al., 2011. P.528) and they receive a lot of attention because of these qualities. It is very clear that Mr Abel exercises autocracy in his leadership endeavours. His way of decision making and authority is monocratic.
On the other hand, his position appears to have been elevated on top of every other position, probably explaining the reason as to why he would be sought for in matters of production. This is a dangerous precedence that the company would have set owing to the fact that Mr Abel’s position was not the most senior in the company. In other words, there could be a likelihood of not recognising the company protocol, which can never be ignored. Moreover, he is also prone to making a mistake of instructing the newly elected president of the company. While this is not a big deal, it may coin unnecessary conflicts between these two positions. The qualities of such relationships play a major role to the realisation of company’s goals and objectives (Liu, et al., 2013, p.357) and hence cannot be ignored.
Organisational culture also seems to contribute to the professional query revolving around Abel. One of the most sought characters by many employers is competence and it is this quality that landed him an undisputed position in the company. In addition, it has also qualified him the membership to the prestigious cadre group of French business values. Competence in the job market is good enough to motivate individuals to work extra hard and is also fulfilling (Lai, 2011, p.140). It can be reported that the group mentioned earlier enjoyed three benefits. To begin with, education qualifications were nullified by Abel’s ability to demonstrate competence over a period of 20 years. Secondly, his 20 years’ experience in working with Media GA had brought about the levelling place between trained credentials and experience. In other words, professional qualification equalled the wealth of experience. Finally, Abel’s access to the cadre status made him to be a graduate of Grand Ecoles.
With such in mind, one would almost predict a conflict of interest between Abel and members of the staff who qualified academically and competent wise, which would have been an added advantage to an individual who had both qualities. A recent study has shown managers varying leadership qualities will either become a Low Preferred Co-worker or a person with high Low Preferred co-worker from the colleagues (Hunt, 2012, p.483).
Clinical Implications
It is reported that Abel’s style of leadership could have contributed to the heart attacks twice and hence prompting the president to change him. The main argument here is that his retirement had already attracted several benefits and thus, it would be wise for the president to save him, a decision that goes well with the maternal company and Abel as well.
In search of a director
This time round, the management opted to combine academic qualities with experience and in the process; Dr Bernard was picked and appeared to be energetic for the position. In my personal opinion, his thesis statement for the award of his doctorate degree seems appealing and due to this fact, an assurance that the company will shoot upwards in terms of profit. Secondly, the blend of engineering and business provides a plat form for balanced innovation trend in the company. For instance, his engineering knowledge would lead to the choice of machines to be used in production and his business know how will help the company to know where and when to change the technology used in production, all in the name of profit margin increment.
However, his appointment did not go well with the French men. It is important to note that on a personal initiative, he had undertaken to study French and this implied that he had an added advantage dealing with employees, as well as clients, who may be French monolingual. This meant that Dr Bernard had an inner drive that motivated him to move on as an equipped leader. On the other hand, the French men came to the realisation that they stood a better ground because of the benefits of an exchange program. In other words, the managerial change would be more advantageous than a scenario of a zero grazing, that is, promoting a person who was working in the same company. Moreover, the track record was speaking loudly for Bernard because of the initiated and completed projects he had undertaken when he was a Personal Assistance to the chairman of the company.
Organisational changes usually bring about diverse leadership challenges (Oreg, et al., 2011, p.627), and these are the same challenges that Media AG experienced with the new leadership. It therefore meant that the company was ready to handle conflicts of this nature. Within the first days of office, there was comparison with his predecessor and there were no comparison between the two.
A new leader’s challenge
The first challenge that Bernard had to jump was fitting in the shoes of his predecessor which was either too big or small. The expectations were too high or low for him according to his followers. In this case, Bernard did not have too much expectation from the management of the company because of the existing track record as well as his accomplishments at the parent company. However, his followership had already made him aware of what they expected of his leadership term. There is a cordial relationship that exists between a leader and a follower and is referred to as Leader-Member Exchange, LMX (Thibodeaux & Lowe, 1996, p.98). From a look at things in this company, Bernard’s predecessor had established a strong LMX with his staff and is indicated by the remarks made by Abel’s colleague. The statement argues that despite of his professional suitability for the job, his LMX needed improvement. The colleague oversaw more trouble for him instead.
The second challenge was the means of introducing new ideas in his leadership. Dr Bernard had already shortlisted some features which was useful in his leadership. He had confidence from the fact he had discussed his plans with the management before assuming office. However, three members left and having justified the leave, it was later overturned when he received a critique from a dedicated company employee complaining of his style of leadership. This is the last challenge in which he had to overcome. Does it mean that Dr Bernard had failed to consider employee’s welfare? Any transformational leader will always have the interests of his employees at heart (Kelloway, et al, 2012, p.39) and this is what Maillot puts as the content of his letter. It is important to note that more critique was to come; which made Bernard to feel a sense of defeat, and a waste of time and resources.
Reflective conclusion
I believe that it is very important for the employers and employees to work as a team. In other words, the employers must be dedicated to check the welfare of their employees by equipping them with leadership skills and through allowances. They must be willing to show direction in every point in time in the company. Acknowledging and rewarding outstanding employees will motivate them to work hard. On the other hand, recruitment should be done using the guidelines that the company has in place in regard to this. For instance, I would recommend that people who have shown academic excellence and are able to show competence at whatever they touch to do should be given leadership positions. Finally, promotion and recognition of long service should be encouraged and such members ought to be consulted owing to the fact that they have been at it.
List of References
Chi, H. et al 2012, The moderating effect of transformational leadership on Knowledge management and organisational effectiveness. Social behaviour and Personality Vol. 40(6) 1015-1024
Grant, A. et al 2011, Reversing the extraverted leadership advantage: the role of employee proactivity. Academy of Management Journal Vol. 54, No.3, 528-550
Hawkins, J. & Dulewicz, V 2009, Relationships between leadership style, the degree of change experienced, performance and follower commitment. Journal of change management, Vol. 9, No. 3, 251-270
Howard, W. C 2005, Leadership: Four styles. Education, Vol. 126 Issue 2, p384-391
Hsu, C. et al 2011, Subordinates’ perception of managers’ transformational leadership style and
satisfaction: a comparison of electronic manufacturing companies in Mainland China and Taiwan. The international Journal of human resource management Vol. 22, No. 15, 3097-3108
Huang, C. et al, 2011, Perceptions of the impact of chief executive leadership style on organisational performance through successful enterprise resource planning. A journal of social behaviour and personality 39 (7) 865-878
Hunt, J. G 2009, Leadership-style effects at two managerial levels in simulated organisation. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 16 Issue 4, 476-485
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Lai, L. 2011, Employees’ perceptions of the opportunities to utilise their competencies: exploring the role of perceived competence mobilisation. International Journal of Training & Development Vol. 15 Issue 2, p140-157
Liu, S. et al 2013, How followers’ unethical behaviour is triggered by Leader-Member Exchange: the mediating effect of job satisfaction. Social Behaviour and Personality, 41(3), 357-366
Madlock, E 2008, The link between leadership style, communicator, competence, and employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication Vol. 45 Issue 1, 61-78
Oreg, S. & Berson, Y 2011, Leadership and Employees’ reactions to change: The role of leaders’ personal attributes and transformational leadership style. Personnel psychology Vol. 64, 627-659
Thibodeaux, H. et al 1996, Convergence of leader-Member exchange and monitoring: an investigation of social influence pattern. A journal of social behaviour and personality Vol. 11, No. 1, 97-114
Zineldin, M. & Hytter, A (2012) Leaders’ negative emotions and leadership styles influencing subordinates’ well-being. The international Journal of Human resource management vol. 23, No. 4, 748-758
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