The Republican Citizen and the Author of The Prince - Essay Example

Applications of Machiavelli Machiavelli rose to power like 500 years ago but was dismissed from his political power due to his opposition on the type of governance and leadership. Upon dismissal, Machiavelli hit back at his critics through a book he named the Prince. Despite writing a political book, most of the analysts have found this book very applicable in the modern business scenario. This is because management of politics and business are much related. According to this author, he stressed that a leader must be able to appreciate the employees morale at all times. Since a corporation is viewed as a human being sometimes, he may forget to look at the grievances of his employees. If a manager does not understand the grievances of his/her juniors then it becomes very difficult for them to address their challenge. If this does not happen then the leader is likely to face rebellion and therefore a good leader must have his fingers at the pulse of his/her employees. John and Johnson Company have applied this option through its strong business ethics principle. The company exhibits strong business ethics whenever conducting its business. While collaborating with the manufacturers, John and Johnson ensure that there is a strong client-customer relationship. It feeds the manufacturers with the required information on the products customers require, defining their features and characteristics. Additionally, the company ensures good relationships with its customers, especially in meeting their needs and responding to their queries. Thus, it observes morals and ethical business relations with its customers. It avoids the use of child labor, provides the customers with safe products, and even educates the customers on the various products they provide to them. The author believes that any good leader to be successful must be able to maintain an air of power. He proposes that the leader should always have the last word despite listening to advises from various sources. He is insists that it is not good for a leader to let others know what he/she is thinking about. Another important lesson that we learn from Machiavelli is that good managers should be able to appeal to people’s passions. Just like a good leader, a corporation should strive to gain human loyalty. This will help the leader gain recognition, reliability, and loyalty from his/her juniors. In the business arena, this is called the principle of marketing which involves creating a strong brand image. John and Johnson Company has managed to create a good brand image which is attracting and maintain loyal customers to their company. There are various definitions regarding branding. According to American Marketing Association, branding refers to the name, sign, symbol, or design that is meant to identify a good, product, and services and distinguish from one seller to another. According to this definition, branding is not just the concept of marketing your product and making it known but it is the concept of differentiating a product or a service from one seller to another. According to the American marketing Association, a good band must be able to deliver the intended message clearly in addition to confirming the credibility of the product or service. A good brand should also be able to connect your target prospects emotionally and motivate the buyer in addition to concreting customer loyalty. Since time in memorial, brand has been seen as a part of the product to cause fashion. With this in mind, communication strategy towards the brand, has been working on exposing brand image of a certain product. According to[Aak00], the traditional way of branding was only concerned with building the brand image, which according to them was only leading to short-term results. According to[Jea97], a brand is supposed to be disclosing hidden qualities of the product or the service that people cannot come into contact or see. Moreover, Machiavelli teaches the value of always watching our back as good managers. In his book, he says that even the person closest to the Prince must be viewed with a skeptical eye. This means that a good business manager should be ambitious and believe that the company’s market share can be taken any time. Machiavelli therefore encourages managers to be ambitious and rigorous through their marketing and branding of their company brands. According to Machiavelli, a good prince must have wisdom in order to recognize wisdom. It means that a good business manager must constantly associate with smart people in order to remain smart[Bar11]. In addition to this, Machiavelli argues that before smart rulers know how to control their choices hence always leaving nothing to chance. This is encouraging our modern business managers that they must be apt with the business mission and vision and set their objectives properly as a means of attaining the company’s goal. According to Machiavelli’s concepts of a modern manager and guidelines for a new Prince John and Johnson Incorporation should be engaging in mergers, takeovers, and acquisition. He says, “there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of new order of things”[Opp11]. Machiavelli believes that this should only happen if a leader in his/her capacity embraces the strength of a lion and using the cunning nature of a fox to influence the employees and to create love and fear. However, Machiavelli believes that this strategy is impossible and therefore leaders should do everything to be feared. For this reason, he disregards the traditional kind of leadership, which requires a leader to pay attention and keep promises even if the promises are not adding any value to the organization. However, looking at the current John and Johnson Company, no takeovers, mergers, or acquisition has taken place. However, when John and Johnson finally engage in the acquisition or the merger the Prince, which will be the manager, is expected to come and live in the kingdom. Machiavelli advises managers that management of large corporations become very difficult and for this reason, it is expected that the manager relocate offices. This means that the manager should be in the highest position where he/she can easily monitor the progress of the company. Machiavelli also argues that whoever is willing to enjoy constant success must be able to change his conduct with times. In addition to this, a review of First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Buckingham, M. and C. Cuffman, the two authors believe that rules are made for the guidance of the wise men and for the obedience of the fools. The authors then assert that the world greatest managers do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom which I believe is true. Although leadership in not deeply discussed about the Jon and Jonson company I believe this should be a turning point for the leaders in the company. Machiavelli believes that not any business is able to succeed without facing obstacles or challenges in the business and for this reason; he argues that entrepreneur’s roles should be turning the obstacles to their advantage and solving the customer problem through innovations. Machiavelli suggests, “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is a little difference between obstacles an opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage”[Ski11]. The great philosopher did not fail in enticing leaders to take risks. He says that nothing of great value has ever been achieved without danger. The author is encouraging managers and investors to take risks. This is the scenario with John and Johnson Company. In order for the incorporation to achieve great things, it must be able to take risks. Machiavelli says, “Take the big risk now it gets much harder as you get older and begin to acquire things you don’t want to risk losing”[Viv13]. Creating your own legacy as a manager is very important. Machiavelli argues that a leader should create his/her own legacy since a man who rules an emperor will always be compared with the previous leader. He says in his book, “I am not interested in preserving the status quo, I want to overthrow it[urd13]. This is one area that John and Johnson Company has not tackled. The kind of leadership in this company has not been highlighted making it difficult to draw a conclusion. However, since a corporation can be linked to a man, it is important that this corporation strive to leave a legacy and strive to do things differently. The author and greater philosopher warn against isolation. The corporation just like a human being needs to socialize. In this case, the Corporation should be in tandem with other companies creating good sustainable development strategies. The author exceptionally distinguishes those leaders who have turned their employees into best performance through organization communication. The author helps to distinguish between a successful Prince and a failure. For instance if our employees have answers on what they get from the Corporation, what do they give, do they belong to the company and if they can grow, then as the Prince of the organization you will have built a great place of work. In addition to this, your staff will be highly motivated and highly productive. From the theories of organization culture, organization structure, staff motivation, and effective leadership this is an ideal concept. Moreover, the author suggests that effective organization involves matching specific jobs with the right talent make up. Talents, skills, and experience are very important factors considered during selection and hiring. This is true since productivity of John and Johnson organization is in relation to selection and specialization. The author believe that with good organization communication, selection should be simply on talent basis but not only experience, intelligence and determination. When managers are selecting expectations they should define the right outcomes and no the right steps. This is where successful Princes break most rules but still end up successful. With effective communication within the organization, the author argue that successful managers in the case of John and Johnson Company concentrated on strengths while motivating their employees and not on their weaknesses. Moreover, when the developed the next leader most of the successful managers found him/her right and not simply the next rung on the ladder. According to Machiavelli, talent is a recurring pattern of thought, or a feeling or behavior that when applied is productive. The author believes that if someone does not have a talent in a specific area there is no need of wasting your time trying to change them. One most famous quote of the two authors from the book is, "People don't change that much. Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough." This concept can be applied in the leadership strategy of the company. Conclusion Machiavelli’s principles on leadership have a strong correlation with business ideas. it has been interesting linking the concept of the prince with that of the corporation which is viewed as a human being. Machiavelli has drawn up several principles such as taking risks, motivation, strategic planning, acquiring mergers, and takeovers as strategies, which can be used to create success in an organization. Works Cited Aak00: , (Aaker & Joachimsthaler), Jea97: , (Kapferer), Bar11: , (Baron 271), Opp11: , (Oppenheimer 67), Ski11: , (Skinner 102), Viv13: , (Vivanti 113), urd13: , (Urdjevic 12), Read More