Business and Society - Leadership and Motivation - Coursework Example

Business and Society - Leadership and Motivation A small business is a privately owned corporation, sole proprietorship or partnership. They also have minimal number of employees, annual receipts and the capital pool (Caroll and Buchholtz 15). The two sectors that generally attract small businesses include the hospitality industry and IT. This is because the two sectors require limited capital and are easy to operate. Most individuals who start small businesses know about the high rate of failure and its causes and take no actions to prevent it.

This is owing to the fact that they lack the expertise and resources to prevent failure in business (Caroll and Buchholtz 27). The steps taken in managing failure include managing cash flow, avoiding debt and developing an effective business plan. Leadership and motivation are important determinants of success in a business entity. Effective leadership guides employees towards achievement of the entity’s goals and objectives (Caroll and Buchholtz 35). Additionally, employee motivation helps improve employees’ productivity resulting to overall improvement of the firm.

Leaders are different from managers in various ways. Leaders focus on people while mangers focus on structure. Leaders innovate while managers administer (Caroll and Buchholtz 42). Leaders inspire trust while managers control. Retired General Colin Powell defines leadership as followership. His definition of leadership is accurate since leaders act in a way that inspires those that follow them. I agree with his definition since leadership is all about inspiring one’s followers. There are various leadership styles including bureaucratic, charismatic, servant and transactional (Caroll and Buchholtz 45).

The style I prefer most is servant leadership since the leader leads since it considers employees’ participation. The style I prefer least is bureaucratic leadership since it inhibits innovation, creativity and flexibility. Dr. Phil’s and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs can be used to motivate and manage employees. Employee motivation increases their productivity (Caroll and Buchholtz 47). It is clear that money is not the sole motivating factor, other aspects including the working conditions impact employee management and motivation.

An organization is a social unit of individuals that is designed and managed to pursue collective objectives (Caroll and Buchholtz 7). The specific characteristics of an organization include an organizational culture and the ability to work towards collective goals and objectives. Corporate culture refers to behaviors, beliefs and values that establish how a company’s management interacts with its employees and how it handles any external transactions. Hierarchy based cultures are structured to improve stability, market based cultures focus on achievement and competition, clan based cultures focus on nurturing and mentoring while adhocracy based cultures focus on risk taking and innovation (Caroll and Buchholtz 51).

Business ethics are the rules dictating behavior within an entity (Caroll and Buchholtz 5). Business ethics are shaped by individuals’ personal ethics since their behavior shapes what is considered ethical in firm. Factors affecting ethical behavior include nature of business relationships, business and leadership. The skills for an effective manger for a sporting store include intelligent communication, acceptance of responsibility and learning how to deal with confrontation (Caroll and Buchholtz 78).

It would take flexibility, hard work and proper decision making for me to become a successful manager. Average citizens benefit from SBA activities in various ways. For example, the prices of goods reduce and the quality of production increases owing to increased competition.Work CitedCaroll, Archie and Buchholtz, Ann. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. Cengage Learning, 2014. Print.