Impact of Effective Leadership upon Store Performance - Coursework Example

The study involved one respondent. After analysis of the interview, the following basic elements of effective leadership were identified: behavioral practices, previous experience, tactical goals, and task orientation. The case study findings were then related to the existing theories and models of leadership process described in scholarly literature in an attempt to determine the most appropriate model which would help elucidate the key principles of effective leadership. The attempt largely failed: neither model nor theory fully fitted the set of effective leadership qualities retrieved from the case study. Consequently, neither of them could be used to effectively predict or reason the behavior of an effective leader. One implication is that the traditional management and leadership dimensions are supplemented rather than different as many leadership studies claim. This conclusion was found to be consistent with contemporary scholarly tendencies in leadership and management research.
Demographic changes, developments in technology, and market strategies that occurred throughout the 1990s – early 2000s resulted in a vast change in the food retail industry both globally and domestically (RNCOS, 2006). Businesses turned increasingly globalized and, as a result of acquisitions and, the main players in the food retail market became larger, their number decreased and they became more dominant than ever before.
Unprecedented continuing competitive pressure is one of the most vital challenges facing retailers in the UK. As a result of severe price competition, prices tend to squeeze while food inflation has consistently been running below the general rate of inflation (TNS, 2006). The food inflation causes the so-called ‘Wal-Mart effect’ i.e. downward pressure on prices from Asda/Wal-Mart’s aggressive ‘Everyday Low Price (EDLP)’ strategy (Arnold & Fernie, 2000).
The recent demographic trends such aging population and increase in working women, coupled with declining meal preparation force the UK retailers to increasingly focus on added-value products such as the ‘food-to-go sector, and premium products. Increasing own label's share of their business mix and other improvements (such as supply chain consolidation) meant to drive costs out of the business has become another distinct trend in the UK food retail industry (Huxley, 2006). Overcapacity in the food retail industry, which adds to the difficulties associated with intense cost/price competition, represents another vital challenge to be dealt with. Therefore, value growth is expected to remain slow for the major UK retailers (RNCOS, 2006).
Such developments in the food retail industry highlight importance of the human resource issues to be faced by the retailers. Growing competitiveness in the market forces the companies to rely more on skilled and motivated personnel than on technologies and products.