Leadership Theories and the Place It Finds in Practice - Coursework Example

Leadership Theories and the place it finds in practise. Leadership is a concept which is not only hard to define, but the meaning of it also changes with time and context. It may mean different things to different people placed differently in society. The concept that people have of leadership has also changed and evolved with time. Thus, there is no one theory of leadership but there exist a number of theories, there are the eight classical theories, from the Great Man theory, Trait theory, Contingency Theory, situational theory, behavioural theory, to participatory theory, management theory and relationship theory. There have been also other theories that have been developed in the recent times which are more contemporary, and in sync with the needs of the changing global economy and marketing and managerial strategies. In this essay there will be a detailed discussion on the existing leadership practices that are adopted by different organizations and companies, and an analysis will be made on the basis of these case studies. There shall be an attempt to realise if the theories are actually in practise or confined to the academic arena alone. Leadership has always been the mode through which growth and development has taken place be it economically, socially or politically. Leadership has always placed a crucial role in growth, development, change, evolution, etc. the functioning and management of any organization, company or firm is contingent upon a strong and strategic leadership. In this paper we shall see how leadership has come to be placed in the management of the working and how it has changed the operations that the company conducts. Leadership it was believed earlier came naturally to some, but today it is believed that people can be trained to be leaders and it is believed that true leaders understand the fact that they need to continually learn and develop the skills that will make them successful. True leaders also understand the importance of leadership being a process instead of a position. There are various characteristics and qualities that a good leader needs to have. Some of them include knowing how to deal with mistakes, knowing how to deal with people, respectful and service-oriented toward subordinates, and hard-working. Subordinates usually like their leaders to show them how to do things, not just tell them. Leaders are normally expected to lead by their example. Followers also appreciate honesty. Leadership doesn’t necessarily equate with power. Leadership should be looked at more as an influence to cause change. Thus leadership today entails not only leading the working classes, and looking into their interest, it also needs to take into account the changing demands and requirements and ensure that these can be adopted by the agencies to help them improve the quality of services that are provided by them. They also have to be innovative in their outlook, ensure that the objectives of the company are fulfilled and achieved. We shall now look at the leadership programs of KFC and MacDonald. Both these companies are important components in the fast food chain and are global leaders in this sector. MacDonald follows a policy of strong leadership where the organization lays special emphasis on training of the recruited members. (Career Builder) McDonalds places the consumer at the core of its business activity and makes a commitment to the consumers for providing services promised, to give back to the community and also to ensure that there is continuous growth and development so as to improve the already existing system. Employees engage in a two way communication, where the represent the company’s ideas to the customers and take their feedback to the management. (Creative and Live) The management looks into the existing communicating system, and try to improve on this through strategies, communication councils, tactics so as to ensure that there is development of greater leadership priorities, programs, etc. The leader should also be able to train the employees of the company in communicating with the consumers, so that there is greater satisfaction and also that data can be gathered on the requirements and demands of the consumers which can then be communicated to the management which would then develop strategies to accommodate these demands so that the company grows and changes with the changing needs and also to ensure that the objectives of the company are fulfilled and achieved. The employees of the organization must have good communicating skills, should have superior oral, written and organizational skills, should be able to study the changes required and be able to translate it into reality. This has to be ensured by the leader who has to coordinate the functioning of various components together. They should also be able to project the global context and outlook of the company. They should also be able to interact regularly with the management and communicate to them the changes in the management and productivity process so as to ensure improvement. (Environmental Defence Fund 2008) They should also be able to work in a team. This is accomplished by training the human resources and also holding regular work shops, training sessions, etc. these are organised and executed b the leader, so a s to ensure that the capabilities of the employees is regularly challenged and improved upon.(Junk Food News). The leadership qualities that the company thus employees and requires needs to not only coordinate all these but also ensure that the management and coordination of all these are effectively followed so that the company can provide better services to the consumers. The leader also has to ensure that the working of the company is in sync with the global image of the company while it also is able to adopt itself to the social and cultural environment in which it is operating. It also has to ensure that the requirements of the employees are also looked into and that there exist a good working environment and the human resource management is carried out effectively and efficiently so that the operational and functional process is economical and ensures that all the resources are utilized to their maximum capacity. KFC follows a rather similar training and recruitment process as MacDonald. KFC is also a global fast food chain and it caters to the needs of a wide range of customers. The company devised a policy where there is training and screening of its employees is more aggressive as well as more suited in the functioning of the organization. (The Deadline) The leadership of the company has to realise that the company is functioning in the global market and has to project the image of a universal organization, but still be able to retain its main objectives and aims.(Wagner) This is done by ensuring that the company follows the same policies in its daily functioning, while there are made changes on the basis of marketing and advertisement from region to region so that the company can adopt and incorporate in itself the cultural and social variety of the environment in which it is to function. Another area where leadership is required in the organization is the collection of data, and the reading of the changing needs and requirements of the consumers and customers as well as the market. KFC follows a very aggressive policy here and prides itself to being sensitive to such needs and believes that it can change and alternate itself to adopt these requirements. (KFC Australia) It falls o the shoulders of the leadership to ensure that the required changes are bought about and are adopted for provision of better services as well as of improved quality of end product provided to the consumers and the customer base of the company. The leadership of KFC has also over the years worked hard in evolving and maintaing the image of the company in the local, national and international market. It has evolved a trademark image for the company which is both universal as well as collective in its totality. It now aims to maintaince of this image which is one of reliability and efficiency that has come to be associated over the years with the organization. By far one of the most important functions that the leadership of any company can manage is that of leading its work force. It has to ensure that it is able to not only motivate its employees to perform better and improve their quality of work. The leadership at KFC aims to motivate its employees to continuously push and test its limits to develop a more efficient production and management process. It initially holds training sessions for all its recruitments and then later holds other training and work shop meets to ensure that the human resources employed by the organization do not become stagnant but continuously grow and develop. The leadership that has to be developed has to be in the context of the requirements of the contemporary times and it has evolved from it initial conceptualization that was portrayed in the ‘great man theory’ and the ‘trait theory’, which believed that leaders are born, and they cannot be trained and evolved. (Leadership) Humans are born with certain qualities and traits and it is only those who have these traits are suited to leadership. But with the passage of time there have evolved certain other theories such as ‘situational’ theory which believes that circumstances shape men, behavioural theories of leadership which is based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born, participative leadership theories which suggests that the ideal leadership style is one that takes the input of others into account, management theories (also known as “Transactional theories”) which focuses on the role of supervision, organization, and group performance, and the relationship theories (also known as “Transformational theories”) focus upon the connections formed between leaders and followers. These leaders motivate and inspire people by helping group members see the importance and higher good of the task.  The case studies that we have seen points out that there exists in practice parts of all these theories and the practical experience is more an amalgation of all these theories rather than just one of these. (Ciadvertising) The leadership process that has been adopted by MacDonald has more inputs from the participatory and managerial theories, while the leadership program that has been adopted by KFC is leaning more towards that of situational, behavioural theories. (Yum Brands) The influences of the relationship theories are found equally strongly in both the programs of both the companies. There are certain theories that have been developed which have been accepted in all the programs, be it economic, social, managerial, and political in nature. These are those that point out some of the universal characteristics of leadership, such as charismatic leadership. It is believed that one to be a strong leader one has to be charismatic. Charismatic leaders have a compelling vision or sense of purpose, communicate that vision effectively, demonstrate consistency and focus and know their own strengths and capitalize on them. Thus we see that the theories that have been developed over the years on leadership have not lost relevance. These have been come to be adopted by various organizations, companies, firms, etc in their managerial and operational purposes. The concept of leadership has not changed but has gradually evolved during the years so as to ensure that it is still relevant in the changing times and can still be implemented in the newly emerging social and economic scenario. Interest in leadership increased during the early part of the twentieth century. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill level. The theories my not be found holistically in the functioning of any organization, but it has been observed that they have been clubbed together to form improved processes which are more efficient and help in achieving enhanced and superior results. 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