Jamie Olivers Approach to business - Essay Example

 Jamie Oliver’s approach to business is innovative and highly motivating. In the current environment of competitive business, Oliver’s leadership initiatives have huge relevance as they not only promote a flexible approach but are also greatly inclined to become proactive participants in the social development processes. I have learnt a lot from his approach and consequently, as a Manager of the organization, I would like to emulate his style of managerial leadership to improve and improvise performance outcome.

Most importantly, I believe that the new approach, as inspired by Oliver, would enable me to gain competitive advantage in the industry. At the same time, the strong ethical considerations would help create credibility amongst the various stakeholders. Oliver has been able to create a niche market position in the catering business overcoming the challenges of stressful conditions, high competition and low payment. The main reason has been his leadership initiatives that thrive on clear vision, effective communication, perseverance and capacity to inspire others (Kouzes & Posner, 2007).

I would also create clear and strong vision with long term objectives and short term goals that would be shared with the workforce. By working along with my workforce, I would serve as model that would inspire them for higher achievement. Teamwork has been integral part of Oliver’s approach to work. Argote (1999) believes that motivated teamwork is based on sharing of knowledge, understanding and mutual respect. As a leader, I would ensure that team learning processes are encouraged for higher productivity.

Effective communication amongst the workers not only helps to resolve conflicts but also inculcates understanding of cross cultural values and helps develop mutual respect. It also encourages workforce to be committed to the organizational goals and work towards excellence, both in terms of goal delivery as well as personal and professional growth. Constant learning environment is yet another major feature of Oliver’s approach that would be used to provide opportunity to the workforce to improve their skills and core competencies to meet the challenges of time.

In the current environment of global competition, learning environment of organization would help create a group of human capital whose competencies could be exploited to gain competitive advantage within the industry. Judicious planning and work details were important aspects of Oliver’s managerial approach. Indeed, Bateman and Snell (2009) have described organizational planning as ‘the conscious, systematic process of making decisions about goals and activities that an individual, group, work unit or organization will pursue in future’ (132).

It is essential part of business strategy that provides business with alternative plans which can be applied in contingency situations and thereby maintain leverage. The flexibility in strategic planning helps to succeed in cut throat business environment. Delegation of power and promoting relationship building were critical issues of Oliver’s approach. As a manager, I would empower the workforce and equip them with necessary knowledge and skill so that they would be able to make decisions based on informed choice.

Empowered workforce is highly motivated, disciplined and accountable. The ethics and moral responsibilities would be strongly stressed amongst the workers for maintaining credibility and strong market position. Lastly but not the least important is Oliver’s social consciousness. Corporate goals are intrinsically linked to people and therefore it is important for organizations to become accountable to the people at large (Porter & Kramer, 2006). As manager, I would ensure that our corporate social responsibilities respond to the needs of society and contribute towards its development.

(words: 573)ReferenceArgote, L. (1999) Organizational Learning: Creating, retaining and transferring Knowledge, Norwell MA: Kluwer Academic.Bateman, Thomas and Snell, Scott. (2009) Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World, 8th edition, NY: McGraw hill.Kouzes, James M and Posner, Barry Z. (2007) The Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Porter,M and Kraner,M. (2006) Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility.

Harvard Business Review, vol. 84, no. 12, pp. 78-92. Mullin, J. 2010. ‘Jamie Oliver: The Naked Manager?’ Taken from Organizational Behavior, p537-540.