Leadership Style of Ivan Seidenberg - Essay Example

Leadership Style of Ivan Seidenberg Verizon communications is one of the leading American telecom companies of the United States of America (USA). The company started in the year 1983 as “Bell Atlantic” and is headquartered in New York City. The company provides telecom, satellite and internet solutions to customer and businesses enterprises. It provides satellite and high speed internet services to around 2.1 million customers (Seidenberg, 2010). Majority of the revenue of the company is generated from the wireless communications and internet sector. Ivan Seidenberg became the CEO of Verizon Communications since the year 2000 and the sole CEO in the year 2002. Ivan Seidenberg had served as a CEO and chairman of Bell Atlantic Corporation Ltd and NYNEX Corporation. Mr Seidenberg is regarded as one of the key element responsible for several successful mergers and acquisitions including NYNEX Corporation, Bell Corporation, MCI Inc and GTE Corporation in the years 1997, 2000 and 2006 respectively. He has also served as a director BlackRock International and Honeywell International Inc since 2011 (Forbes, 2013). Although Mr Seidenberg has given his resignation from his CEO post from Verizon communication Inc (Verizon), he will remain chairman of the board (Wall Street Journal, 2013). It is observed that Mr. Seidenberg had exhibited transformational leadership style at multiple stages and various situations. Transformational leadership skills include dealing with the complexity of the management problems effectively and with ease. Transformational theory was defined by theorist James McGregnor in the year 1978 (Sadler, 2003). Transformational leadership skills lead to excellent performance of the employees which are usually beyond the expectation of the organizations. Mr Seidenberg has always been promoting a congenial work environment which helped in achievement of targets and improved the organizational culture. The leadership style exhibited by Mr Seidenberg helped in promoting active participation in decision making, moral and social support, cooperation, etc. (Noguchi, 2005). Organizational Structure & Verizon Communications Under the control of Mr Seidenberg, Verizon Communications had developed a mechanistic and bureaucratic structure which is appropriate for the mass production and makes the employees task oriented. The structure of the organization determines the culture and the performance of the employees. It is believed that organizations are rational entities and the employees are considered as economic components (Martı´nez-Leon and Martı´nez-Garcı´a, 2011). The attributes which are found in bureaucratic and mechanistic organizational structure are as follows: Different hierarchy levels where the authority emanates from the top level managers to the middle level managers and lower level managers (Martı´nez-Leon and Martı´nez-Garcı´a, 2011). Intense work division which helps in generating work specialization A high degree of horizontal differentiation where certain employees are given specialized roles and responsibilities. High formalization which is derived from strict compliance to the formal rules and regulations (Martı´nez-Leon and Martı´nez-Garcı´a, 2011). High relational complexity and centralization deriving from the managers need to coordinate the organizational activities which would help in developing effective control over employees and problem resolution. The organizational structure at Verizon had a strong hierarchical control, and the top level managers, especially the CEO, were responsible for decision making. The CEO was responsible for the creation of formalized groups, rules, protocols and procedures. The decision and information disseminated from the top level to the low level managers. The job duties, responsibilities and procedure are clearly defined. Although high centralization helps in improving the existing process, it can reduce the innovation procedure (Dastmalchian and Blyton, 1992). Higher formalization procedures like written memos, letter etc were not practiced in Verizon. Bureaucratic structure was designed by Mr Seidenberg to achieve targets on a routine basis, but it is unable to cope with organizational change and development. It is observed that organizational performance and leadership is interrelated and there is a positive impact of leadership qualities of the leader on the organizational performance. The cultural traits in the leader of the organization have a positive impact on the behaviour and outcome of the employees. However, it was observed that it was not the leader but the leadership effectiveness that increased the organizational commitment and outcome of the employees. As mentioned before, the top level manager exhibits transformational leadership which improves the organizational performance in an indirect way. Transformational leadership and organizational culture are directly interrelated and lead to consistency, excellent performance and organizational effectiveness. The culture bearing elements like social interaction, employee performance and behaviour in Verizon had a positive effect on the employee performance and teamwork of the employees. The employees were encouraged for creative and independent decision making and believed in cooperation among themselves for the attainment of the goals. The managers of the organization laid emphasis on the practice, assumptions, values and culture of the organization to improve the overall organizational effectiveness. Ethical Conduct, Communication & Motivational Skill of Leader One of the main objectives of Mr. Seidenberg was to increase the financial performance of the company by adhering to the ethical standards. According to the manager ethical conduct played a pivotal role in demonstrating organizational effectiveness. Mr. Seidenberg believed that accurate sustainability accounting and developing products which are ecologically safe can enhance the performance and brand image. Mr Seidenberg had laid special emphasis on energy conservation and launching of eco friendly electronic products (Harrison, 2011). The 4G LTE network launched by Verizon had helped consumers in experiencing high quality television, internet and satellite services (Verizon, 2010). Although, Verizon followed a hierarchical order facilitation of communication was smooth between the managers, employees and the top level managers. Several training programs were conducted to enhance the skills and motivate the employees. The Verizon Foundation leading education technology encouraged the employees to focus on technological innovation and enhance their technological skills further (Verizon, 2010). A sufficient amount of money was invested in the human, capital and technological resources for the betterment of the employees (Verizon, 2010). Financial incentives were rewarded to the employees for delivering excellent performance. The management under Mr. Seidenberg had launched several employee benefit schemes which benefitted the employees monetary and non monetary wise. Organizational Practices Leadership and motivation are associated with each other but not interrelated. One of the major objectives of the leadership practices would be to set goals and help the employees in aligning the goals with their personal interest. Moreover, performance of an employee is impacted because of various attributes and not just motivation. The managers can adopt certain leadership styles according to the different management situations. Firstly, the Fiedler’s LPC contingency theory signifies that there is no single proposed model which can improve the group effectiveness but the leadership style should be adopted as per the situation. Fiedler had made a well defined distinction between task and relationship oriented managers. According to Fiedler a manager following an approach which focused on task and relationship led to organizational effectiveness (Bolden, 2004). Secondly, task oriented leadership approach helps the managers to set targets for employees and believe in accomplishing their targets in a structured manner (Bolden, 2004). Apart from achieving targets the manager focuses on customer oriented activities. Thirdly, the managers can adopt the participative leadership style. This leadership approach emphasizes that managers should take suggestions, opinions and recommendations from their subordinates. This would help in active participation and creative thinking of the employees. The managers should not focus on adopting a singular leadership approach but should adopt the above mentioned leadership approaches as per the managerial situation. Managing Cultural Diversity Globalization has increased the interdependencies among the various countries which have led to the need of better understanding of the culture in various organizations. Managing the cultural diversity effectively signifies how leadership can be critically important to the success of the organization. Cultural Diversity has always presented as a challenge to the managers and leaders in various organizations. Cultural clashes and cultural barriers can be a major hindrance to the organizations to attain their objectives and create synergies (A.G. Canen and A. Canen, 1999). A multinational corporation without understanding the effectiveness of cultural awareness can lead to an organizational environment with minimal cultural value and systems. Although the difference in the cultural languages can create miscommunication and hamper the productivity of the employees it is believed that if the managers are able to proceed with cultural identity then it will have significant impact on the organization productivity. A positive cultural environment lays emphasis on organizational outcome, team affiliation and maintaining stability. Increase in social interaction among employees can increase the cooperation among employees and will help them in aligning their personal interest with the professional goals. However, managing cultural diversity is not an easy task and needs to be effectively managed by the leaders. Firstly, cultural identity of organization or country is very crucial for the leaders of the organization. Secondly, they should follow certain guidelines or approaches which would help them to monitor their own performance. Thirdly, once cultural identity is done by managers then it will be easy in facilitating the knowledge sharing process among employees and leaders. Implementation of Business Strategy for Managing Cultural Diversity The cultural dimension approach proposed by Geert Hofstede is instrumental in reducing the barriers to the cultural diversity. Hofstede had identified 5cultural dimensions; power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, dynamism and masculinity (Brewer and Canen, 1999). Individualism: It refers to the degree to which the organizations prefer group affiliation and autonomy. Employees belonging to countries with a higher score in Individualism prefer making group decisions and believe in social interaction (Brewer and Canen, 1999). Power Distance: Employees belonging to countries with a high power distance index prefer making centralized decision making. A hierarchy is maintained and information, instruction emanates from the top level management to the lower level management. The orderliness of the hierarchy is maintained and employees are required to follow standardized behavioural codes (Brewer and Canen, 1999). Masculinity: Employees belonging to organizations with a high score in masculinity are more concerned with achievement, material success, and accomplishment of targets. These employees believe that task oriented leadership is the key to the success of the organization (Brewer and Canen, 1999). Dynamism: This cultural dimension theory lays emphasis on the long term and short term achievements of the organization. Organizations with a high score in dynamism lay special emphasis on increasing the organizational sales (Brewer and Canen, 1999). Uncertainty Avoidance: Organizations with a high score in uncertainty avoidance view uncertainty as a huge threat and therefore implement various policies to avoid the risk. Managing the conflicts becomes a crucial task for the managers as conflict is imposed as a huge threat that can decrease organizational performance. The above mentioned theory will help in reduction of the knowledge gap between employees of different countries. It will also help in reducing the cultural barriers of and an organization situated in different countries. References Bolden, R. (2004). What is leadership?. Retrieved from https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/17493/what_is_leadership.pdf?se. Brewer, P.C., & Canen, A. (1999). International cultural diversity and design of management accounting systems. Mid American Journal of Business, 12(1), 74-77. Canen, A.G., & Canen, A. (1999). Logistics and cultural diversity: Hand in hand for organizational success. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 6(1), 01-08. Dastmalchian, A., & Blyton, P. (1992). Organizational Structure, Human Resource Practices and Industrial Relations. Personal Review, 21(1), 58-67. Forbes. (2013, May 22). Ivan G Seidenberg. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/profile/ivan-g-seidenberg/ Harrison, C. (2011, July 23). Verizon’s New CEO Brings ‘Entrepreneurial Culture’ From Wireless. BloomBerg. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-23/verizon-ceo-brings-entrepreneurial-culture-from-wireless-to-boost-profit.html Martı´nez-Leon, I.M., & Martı´nez-Garcı´a, J.A. (2011). The influence of organizational structure on organizational learning. International Journal of Manpower, 32(5), 537-566. Noguchi, Y. (2005, March 23). Two Styles, High Stakes. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58447-2005Mar22.html Sadler, P. (2003). Business and the organisation. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Seidenberg, I.G. (2010). Verizon CEO Seidenberg calls for economic growth and jobs formation Retrieved from http://www.economicclub.org/doc_repo/0623-Seidenberg%20(2)%20JF%20Edit.pdf Verizon. (2010). Annual report. Retrieved from http://www.economicclub.org/doc_repo/0623-Seidenberg%20(2)%20JF%20Edit.pdf Wall Street Journal. (2013, May 22). Ivan Seidenberg. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://topics.wsj.com/person/S/ivan-g-seidenberg/253 Read More