Organisational Leadership and Human Resource Management - Essay Example

?ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP s SECTION A Case “In December there was a foodscare involving contaminants in Retailcos own branded chocolate snowball confectionery in China and SE Asia. Complaints and criticism remained into February because Retailico Company was unable to remove the stock. Sales in UK and across Europe were affected as consumer confidence was dented because press stories concerning sick infants in Shanghai and Beijing were widely publicized. The scare coincided with the retirement of John Scott the long serving CEO and the new CEO'S initial months at the head of the organisation has been problematic. Media stores have suggested that he hasn't effectively managed the reputation damage to Retailco's brand and was not fully conversant with or effectively leading the international markets. In addition to that, the Executive Board is uncertain as to how to develop the China strategy and as a consequence its share price and ability to raise funds from investors is at risk.” Thus, the purpose of this part is to provide a solution to the challenges faced by Retailco Company. Reputation is often associated with damage and it’s never intentional. For instance, the Snow ball chocolate contamination has badly ruined the Retailco company reputation. No single organisation intends to temper with its perfect reputation on purpose. According to the reputation theory, reputation damage can be mitigated and managed. In addition to that, reputation risks makes organisations not to meet expectations in terms of revenue and also give surprises that are unpleasant. To manage reputation risks, company’s managers should invest in trust as it is the principal currency. All in all, successful mitigation of reputation damage helps in achieving of high performance, activity and behaviour consistent alignment with the expectations of the stakeholder. For purposes of managing the company reputation risk, the CEO needs to identify and appreciate his stakeholders as vital ingredient for managing reputation. This is because; the primary stakeholders are vital organisation components without whom the organisation cannot function properly. The stakeholders are such as the customers, suppliers, employees and stakeholders. Even though secondary stakeholders are not that important, the loss of any of them or a substitute addition is not critical in any business environment. As such, the CEO of Retailco company should identify 6-7 stakeholders whom he should closely watch. In addition to that, the CEO should comprehend that there is no way that is simple when it comes to managing reputation. He should aim at preventing the situation in which the company reputation can be damaged. As such, he should put in place a protection policy. Since Retailco Company is managing business internationally, he should have a clear understanding of the factors that might affect his business such as competitive, economic, environmental and market factors. In addition to that, he should ensure that his employees understand the language of the people that houses its foreign operations. Furthermore, they should comprehend the attitudes of the people in the foreign country and also the things that motivate them. Finally, the company should ensure product sustainability through building products that are perfect and do not cause harm that is unnecessary. In addition to that, the managers should use their business to implement and inspire solution to crisis that is environmental among others. If all the above measures are followed, the company will regain its reputation again. In the light of the above, the reigning CEO should gather his employees together his employees together for purposes of imposing his beliefs, values, vision, goals and assumptions. All these are aimed at solving the problem in the company which is brand reputation. This is a perfect way of developing leadership and organisation culture. The end result is equipping of organisation employees with knowledge and skills and also broadening their mindsets. SECTION B Perspectives of Leadership and Management Managers lead whilst leaders manage. However, the two tasks are not tantamount. The functions of management can potentially yield leadership. On the other hand, leadership activities can help in contributing to management. On the contrary, some managers cannot be leaders and some leaders cannot be managers. Management and leadership are both significant. Nevertheless, they seek to perform things that are different. According to Thompson and Strickland (1995, p.243), each and every organisation structures itself with the aim of accomplishing its goals in a manner that is responsive to its surrounding. For instance, the Coca-Cola company Chief Executive and chairman of the Board has influenced his employees to be committed to the spirit and values of their brand that is widely recognized in the world. In the company endeavour to become profitable and sustainable, there has been an evolvement in their management structure. This is for purposes of sharpening their external focus on the market environment with rapid speed, effectiveness and productivity. Once an organization establishes its efficiency, individuals are tasked with system maintenance while assuming the environment will be constant. The focus is then directed to management as it keeps the operation of the organisation perfectly with the existence of little changes. But it is obvious that the organization environment of an organisation is not always static. For instance, there are always changes in tests and preferences of the consumer, culture of the society, historic event, technology and social attitudes. As such, when an organization experiences management problem, it has to focus more on its leadership. This is because, leaders endeavours to bring their organisation in level with their environment realities which in most cases necessitates the changing of resources, structures and organisation relationship which have been achieved through hard work and management. Leadership vs. Management Management produces consistency and order Leadership produces movement and change Budgeting and planning Developing agendas Setting timetables Allocating resources -Establishing direction -creating a vision -setting strategies Staffing and organizing Providing structure Making work placement Establishing procedures and rules -people alignment -goals communication -commitment seeking -Building coalition and teams Problem solving and controlling Incentives development Developing creative solutions Taking actions that are corrective Inspiring and motivating Energize and inspire Subordinate empowerment Satisfying needs that are unmet. Within the practices in the leadership field, individuals have shifted towards conceiving leadership with regards to collaboration between more than one people. The public debate increasingly recognises organizations, corporations and state are led by numerous individuals rather than a single person considered to be charismatic” a great man” (Reichner, Hislam & Hopkins, 2005, p.550). The reason claimed for the above undertakings is that, organisational leadership is an exhausting and complex job that requires too much of one person. In addition to that, shared leadership is a means of broadening personality and competence based on management. For example, the Coca-Cola Company has various senior managers in countries they are operating for purposes of increasing their efficiency as well as maximizing on their profits. The pursuit of leadership perspectives is what has enabled individuals in the modern society to work jointly with leadership without them sacrificing some things in their lives. They aim for perspectives that may enhance leadership legitimacy in a society that resurfaces extreme moral doubts with regards to consequences and content of management practices that are modern. New forms of leadership should incorporate issues that are more reflecting whereby, followers and leaders shares leadership practices perception as legitimate both in terms of morality and effectiveness (Crevani, et al., 2007, p.47). Section 2B Critically analysing ethic and leadership giving organisational examples to illustrate the answer The moral failures and triumphs of leaders illustrate a greater volume and weight than those who are not leaders. In any leadership, it is obvious to see morality being magnified and that is why it is important for people to study ethics for purposes of understanding leadership. The study of ethics involves knowing about human relationships. It is all about what an individual should do and how it should be done in a humane manner as members of a society or group in the distinct roles we perform in life. It is about wrong and right evil and good. In the context of business, ethics forms part of an individual business culture in which people abide to since they have moral authority (Toeeington, et al., 2005, p.719). Leadership forms part of human relationship. Some of the relationship hallmarks are such as influence or power, obligation, vision and responsibility. It is essential for an individual to understand the above relationship since ethic central issues forms part of leadership. The central issues are such as authenticity personal challenges, self-discipline and self-interest and moral obligations that are related to duty, competence, justice and the greatest good. This makes us to ask if what the senior managers at Tesco Company were ethical from the following action. The Tesco Company executive company sold the company shares just before Christmas sales were officially announced. This is because; he clearly understood that after the announcing of shares, the prices would considerably drop. As such, he accumulated 250k pounds on selling the company's share before they were announced. Based on the theoretical ethic perspectives, the senior executive’s action is unethical. According to Deontology, ethics is seen as an individual duty to handle people with respect and not treat them as “means to an end”. The manager acted in such a way in order to fulfil his self interest which is an immoral act. This goes against the definition of a manager. A manager should be a problem solver and should possess qualities such as tough-mindedness, goodwill and persistence. If Tesco senior manager had good will, he could not have sold the shares before they were announced. As a result of the actions taken by the Tesco Senior managers, there is need for companies to employ leaders who are authentic. This is because, leaders who are authentic illustrate a passion for their actions, consistently practices their values and lead using their heads and also their hearts. In addition to that, they help in establishing a meaningful and a long term relationship. Furthermore, they exhibit discipline for purposes of achieving results. Authentic leaders possess the following attributes; they have insight, demonstrate initiative and exert influence among their followers. These ingredients are essential in business ethics. As they help a leader in handling of his employees, suppliers and customers and company’s stakeholders. In addition to that, the leader will understand the effect of his company’s business on the environment and also gain skills in operating business internationally. In summary, ethics is a necessity to leadership. This is because; a leader influences and drives his followers or subordinates to achieve a goal that is common. It is the job of an ethical leader to handle his juniors with respect as each and everyone has a personality that is unique. Organizational ethical environment is developed and build by a leader. Since they have a role that is influential in an organisation more so in developing the values of an organisation. Bibliography Torrington, D., Hall, L and Taylor, S. (2005), 6th Edition, Human Resource Management. Prentice Hall: Harlow Thompson, A. A., & Strickland, A. J. III. (1995). Strategic management: concepts and cases, Chicago, Irwin Reicher, S., Haslam, S. A., & Hopkins, N. (2005). Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 547-568. Crevani, L., Lindgren, M., & Packendorf. (2007). Shared leadership: A post heroic perspective on leadership as a collective construction. International Journal of leadership studies, vol.3. no.1, p.40-67. Read More