Traditional Models of Leadership Are Challenged in the Wake of Globalization - Coursework Example

HOW TRADITIONAL MODELS OF LEADERSHIP ARE BEING CHALLENGED IN THE WAKE OF INTENSIFYING GLOBALIZATION AND INCREASING SALIENCE OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETS Name Course Instructor Institution Submission Date Introduction Leadership has been one of those things that determines how organisations and people achieve their goals in life and in other areas. Leadership determines ways of managing people and institutions so that the final goal can be achieved effectively according to the set priorities (Robertson 2006, 16). In its application, leadership can often be described as the process that involves social influence, where a person enlists the support and aid of others in the process of achieving a certain task or goal. (Mendenhall 2012, 497) For instance, some people view a leader as someone that they follow, or one who guides and directs others to perform certain tasks. Additionally, leadership is regarded as the process of organising groups of people in the process of attaining set goals and objectives. The studies of leadership have been effective in the development of various theories and traits, which have been applied in various contexts. They include power, values, vision, charisma, functional behavior and intelligence among others. It is important to understand that amidst all these, effective leadership in institutions and organisations should consider the welfare of all people. It should inspire confidence and motivation to achieve certain goals and objectives, in this case, people often appreciate effective leaders as those that put the welfare of others and the organisations they work for first before their own. In the recent past, traditional models of leadership have been facing challenges from modern developments in human societies and modes of life (Alan, Daly & Moolenaar 2010, 26). For instance, globalization and the ever-growing trends in international marketing have been the chief factors challenging most of the long-held traditional models of leadership. This paper examines the influence of globalisation and the growing trends in international markets on the various traditional forms of leadership that have happened in business organization and other systems of life. Traditional models of leadership In the past, many organisations have used traditional models of leadership in the process of understanding their business environment and achieving competitive advantages. While it was has been successful in various ways, the concept has been facing much criticisms because of its inability to address the emerging challenges being brought about by various changes in the modern work place. It is important to note that in the recent decades, there has been an in increase in the use of information and technology in the process of achieving personal and social goals and objectives. Individuals and organisations alike have been greatly influenced by globalisation trends as well as internationalization process that have been taking place in the world today. In this case, most of the long-held traditional models and theories have been losing relevance and ability to be effective as they used to be in the past. Some of these models and theories include the following. The trait model or theory One of the traditional approaches to leadership that has been used widely in the past is the trait approach. In this theory, effective leaders are those that effectively observe and learn from the methods and approaches used by other recognized leaders. It is believed that in this approach, a number of factors are often responsible for the success of effective leaders. In this case, a person wanting to perfect his leadership skills has to learn how to integrate effectively these skills in his own leadership to make it successful. However, in as much as the effectiveness of a leader in this perspective is determined by various factors, it is the most dominant ones that influence the success of these leaders. Some of these traits in their order of decreasing effectiveness include; team builder, a trait that is composed of elements like tolerance, support, motivation and inspirational. Second is that of captaincy, having traits like reliability, fairness, trust and respect. The third is that of being strategic, with attributes like trustworthy. The fourth is that of creativity, involving such characteristics as innovativeness, visionary, inspirational and courageous among others. The final trait is that of impulsivity, where a leaders is often said to be obsessed with curiosity, ideas, energy and participative approaches from other people. The person endeavoring to a leader for a business organisation or group of people needs to understand which trait may suit his knowledge and skills and integrate it in his life. The success of either of these factors may not really be in the same way they have influenced the leader being copied, rather, it largely depends on how the leader incorporates them in his leadership. Behavioral model or approach According to these theory, a leader is defined according to the behaviors and actions he does, which leads to accomplishment of certain tasks. Some of the studies conducted on this kind of leadership model indicate that effective leadership in organizations is that which is employee relationship-centered, basing on the needs of the employees (Sinha 1984, 92). In this case, the main point of focus is always on getting work done in the most effective way. Most effective leaders, according to this trait are those that have certain behaviors that have been identified as including the following, change and project management, information sharing and problem solving among others. These traits are those that give emphasis to the needs of workers, while creating proper mechanisms by which their motivation and determination can be effectively addressed toward ensuring that organisations become effective and successful. In this understanding, the leader who lacks these traits finds it impossible to manage people and achieve set goals and objectives. Modern approaches to leadership Following the developments that continue to be witnesses in terms of informational and technological advancements, the modern workplace and business environment has been changing significantly. Companies are looking for ways to grow and expand their business as well as effective ways of managing their employees in the process of achieving their competitive advantages. This has seen the development new model of management an leadership, contrasting sharply with the traditional models that have been used in the past. Businesses have been involved in the processes of seeking various innovative techniques and solutions to the modern economic environment, which is sometimes very challenging in its own way. These companies and other business organisations have been devising various ways of increasing their productivity by encouraging their workers and other aspect of general economic growth (Bass & Steidlmeier 1999, 12). The traditional leadership approach that involves top down kind of management has slowly been changing, evolving into the collaborative approach, which is known to empower workers and all employees of an organisation. In this case, the traditional image of worker and boss is blurred, bringing in a more interactive approach that considers all people as having equal abilities to work for the success of the organisation. How globalisation trends are influencing leadership Many businesses are continuing to realize the numerous businesses and market opportunities existing in various countries across their borders. This understanding has been necessitated by the influence of technology, which has brought about various opportunities existing in various places. Businesses that have followed this trend and expanded have been required to adopt effective leadership styles and approaches that take into consideration the multicultural workplace that these business organisations and companies have had to adopt (Runde & Nardon 2010, 25). Internationalization of business organisations means that businesses have been expected to employ people from different cultures so that they can effectively enter the new markets and offer their goods and services (Van-Eeden, Cilliers & van-Deventer 2008, 254). These changes have brought the need for development of new leadership skills, which can effectively address the needs of all these workers in the organisation. As many companies and businesses are adopting new cultures comprising of open innovations, new leadership and management styles are fast developing. This has seen the emergence of collaborative leaders, who often aim at creating and using leadership skills that incorporate the abilities of all people (Deresky 2011, 61). aspects of power sharing and team building have been fast replacing most of the traditional approaches, something that has been thought of as encouraging creative thinking in the modern workplace. In the wake of the increasing salience of international markets and globalisation, the roles of leadership have been changing rapidly into diverse team building based approaches that gives more attention to creativity and innovations. The idea of internal “crowd sourcing” has been creating new paths toward corporate growth; in this process (Bowen & Inkpen 2009, 241), it has established different kinds of business models, which offer employees a great ownership of their duties at the work place than the way it used to be before. It can be observed that with all these developments, the future of organizations looks bright and highly collaborative. Workers in these organisations are becoming highly creative and innovative for the success of these organisations, something that has made them to be successful in the design and sale of their technologies. Characteristics of modern approaches to leadership Modern approaches to leadership have been effective in influencing the success of most organisations. One of the elements that has been of greatest competitive advantage to modern business organisations is technology. Collective team development and management has characterized businesses that have been adopting modern approaches to leadership because of the influence of globalisation and internationalization process (Caliguri & Tarique 2012, 619). These businesses have realized the potential that exists in creating teamwork in the process of exploring various ways of achieving their goals and objectives. Teamwork is the only process by which employees get to share their diversity in terms of skills and other important competencies necessary for their success and development. In these organisations, information is the cornerstone of their success (Jung & Avolio 1999, 205). Teamwork ensures that information sharing in these organisations is something that all employees are to esteem. It is important to understand that the success of business organizations on in the globalised depends on information. In this case, businesses that have effective systems for gathering and sharing of information ends up developing competitive advantages compared to those that rely on traditional forms of leadership and people management. What most businesses are investing heavily in is research and development, which provides various ways in which market characteristics can be effectively understood. After getting this information, these businesses often engage in brainstorming so that their employees can participate in the process of understanding and making use of this knowledge (Javidan & Walker 2012, 37). In this process, emphasis is given on opinions, suggestions, ideas and concepts that can influence best practices in the business. This is in contrast to the traditional approaches where one talks and the other have to listen and implement the ideas offered without much questioning on the effectiveness of such ideas. Modern approaches to leadership in modern business organizations appreciate the fact that employees are essential to the success of these organisations; in this case, management and leadership aspects have to be concerned with ways of encouraging people to become active participants in the management process (Shin 1999, 43). Leadership in this case, involves influencing people to develop and implement strategies that can enhance the success of these organisations. One of the organisations that has been successful in the development and implementation modern approaches to leadership has been Apple Inc., which has been one of the most successful companies as far as innovativeness and creativity is concerned. Apple has effectively created an organisation culture that emphasizes on teamwork and creativity. The success of this company has largely been attributed to innovativeness and technology, which its employees have used in the process of designing and developing various kinds of consumer technologies (Dorfman 1997, 241). Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to realize that modern developments in information and technology have been the leading factor towards globalisation and developing of international markets. The success of these organisations depend on the manner in which they understanding the international business environment and develop management and leadership strategies that give them competitive advantages (Millikin & Fu 2005, 126). In most organisations, traditional models of leadership have been fading off slowly because of their inability to address the rising challenges being brought about by these developments in the modern business environment (Cohen 2010, 8). 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