Leadership Assessment - Case Study Example

Leadership Assessment of the of the Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Comparison ofthe leadership style between Bill Marriott and Arne Sorenson 3 2. Organizational Structure and Culture of Marriott International 4 Organizational Structure 4 Culture 4 3. Evaluation of the performances of the selected leaders 4 4. Best practices by the organizational leaders to motivate the employees 5 5. Challenges faced by the leaders while managing diversity 6 6. Recommendation of an effective business strategy 6 References 7 Introduction The project deals with the assessment of the leadership style of the organizational leaders which helps in the success of an organization and also in the development of a smooth relationship between the management and the employee. The company that has been selected for assessing the leadership style of the leaders is Marriott International. Marriott International is a well known American hospitality company which manages and also franchises the wide portfolio of various hotels and their related lodging facilities. Presently the company has greater than 3800 properties in almost 74 different countries around the world (Marriott International, 2013a). 1. Comparison of the leadership style between Bill Marriott and Arne Sorenson Marriott International was founded by J. W. Marriott in the year 1927 (Marriot International, 2013b). The company achieved a huge success during the fifty years career of J. W. Marriott Jr. He has been the Executive Chairman and also the Chairman of the company’s board for a period of almost 50 years before handing over the responsibilities to Arne Sorenson. He has led the company to a remarkable position and helped it to be called as one of the leading lodging companies in the world. During his leadership span, the management style he built totally emphasized on the importance of the employees of the company and also recognized the value that these people add to the organization. Presently the company has more than 3000 employees working at the headquarters and also other offices and at various franchisee locations. The company is renowned for being a good place to work and also for the commitment related to the social responsibility, diversity and the community engagement. The company started its operations as a hotel ownership business in the beginning. But in the later half of the year 1970 Bill Marriott shifted the company’s business model to property management & franchising. The strategic decision of J. W. Marriott Jr. helped the company in accelerating its growth and widening its leadership position all across the globe. His focus on building a good work environment to work at and also creating employee motivation had a positive impact on the employees of the organization. This increased the employee engagement and improved their performance. After the span of leadership of J. W. Marriott, the CEO responsibilities were handed over to Arne Sorenson. Arne Sorenson has been the President and also the Chief Executive Officer of the company. According to Mr. Sorenson the focus of the organization and its employees should not be that how well they are doing, rather it should be that what else can be done to make the performance even better. His personality and leadership style focused on the young generation. Arne Sorenson has made his mark as a successful leader on the company and contributed in making it an even more remarkable global enterprise. His journey has not been an easy one as he had to face many tough situations when the travel of the company came to a position of standstill. It resulted in the downturn of the company and finally the reduction in the number of staff. He had to struggle in order to achieve the former position in the market. But it is his management style that helped the company to regain its position. 2. Organizational Structure and Culture of Marriott International Organizational Structure The organizational structure of the company is mainly bureaucratic i.e. it follows the rules and regulations and procedures. The job descriptions are very specific leaving very little scope for change and thus making it difficult to meet the new demands. The organizational structure of the company has set up in such a manner that it sets different jobs into the respective department making it easier to control and manage the organization as each department has a seperate manager. The employees within the organization are supposed to report to the managers who will then report to the general manager and the process continues until it reaches to the topmost level of management. The company prides itself on being able to maintain the ethics and the rules and regulations of the organization. Culture The name of Marriot has come from the surname of the chairman i.e. J. W. Marriott. The red color used in the logo of the company has been designed on the request of his wife. The company focused on its work culture in order to increase the employee engagement. The core values of the company are leadership excellence, quality of the life at work, personal growth, action planning and total rewards (Marriott International, 2013c). 3. Evaluation of the performances of the selected leaders According to Howell & Costley (2001) and Johnson (2000), the organizations require developing their leadership skills for increasing the engagement and commitment of the employees in their work effort. Morrison et al. (2003) argued that leadership is mainly the ability of the leaders to implement various contemporary management theories for solving the organizational problems. The three pillars for developing the successful leadership characteristics are mainly a) Building self efficiency, b) Providing motivations to others to perform well, c) Developing various skills for influencing the followers (Popper & Lipshitz, 1993). The management style of Bill Marriott emphasized on the importance of the employees of the company and also recognized the value that these people add to the organization. The company under his management focused on the career growth and the personal development of the employees also. The performance development of the employees leaded to the performance development of the entire organization. According to Bill Marriot, the main focus of the company was to take care of the guests, the extensive operational knowledge, creation of a high skilled workforce and finally offering one of the best portfolios of the lodging brands to the customers. He followed the philosophy which was adopted by his parents that the organization should take care of the employees, who will in turn take care of the customers. The customer satisfaction gained due to the performances of the employees will retain these customers back in the organization. Because of his long period of operations as a chairman and also the CEO of the company, there has been a clearly visible link between his leadership and the company’s growth and success. According to Arne Sorenson, success is never the final thing, it should be achieved in every step and it exists in the DNA of each and every individual. He wanted his employees to focus on what strategies should be adapted to improve the performance of the company rather than focusing on how much success have been achieved by the company previously. He has provided a new direction to the corporate culture and has also been a driving force responsible for its evolution. During his leadership period, the company adapted the latest trends which were followed by some of the companies which were much more fashion forwarded. 4. Best practices by the organizational leaders to motivate the employees According to Yukl (2010), the leaders play an important role in increasing the performance of the team by fulfilling and satisfying the personal objectives of the team members of the organization. The three types of powers which can be used by the company to motivate the employees and improve their performances which will automatically result in the improvement in the performances of the organization are 1) referent power, 2) reward power and 3) expert power. Referent power- It is generated by the leader, based on the identification and the admiration that is achieved from the subordinates. It develops the ability within the leader to influence his team members and motivate them. Reward power- It is generated by the leader, based on providing financial rewards to its subordinates within the organization. It increases the employee engagement and increase the competition among the employees thereby increasing the overall performance of the organization. Expert power- It is generated by the leader based on his/her skills, knowledge and experience. It will help the employees to trust on the ability of the leader and work effectively under his/her guidance. 5. Challenges faced by the leaders while managing diversity One of the challenges that were faced by the company during the leadership period of Bill Marriott was managing the diversified customer base. In order to manage the diversified customer base, 30000 associates were employed, speaking more than fifty different languages; 60 percent being minorities and one half of which were women. The company also focused on the supplier’s diversity. The board of directors of the company had a Committee Excellence which focused on the diversity. Arne Sorenson stated that hospitality itself is a diversified industry. In the past few years, the visitors to United States from countries like Brazil, Mexico and China have almost doubled. The people from different places have different cultures and beliefs. The management of the diversification has been an important challenge for the company during the leadership span of Arne Sorenson also. Arne Sorenson believed that the company must prepare itself beforehand for welcoming the diversified travelers from different nations. 6. Recommendation of an effective business strategy Differentiation in the service product of Marriott International is an effective growth strategy which will help the company to strengthen its position in the existing market and expand its operations in the new market and achieve competitive advantage over its competitors in the existing as well as the new markets. The company should differentiate its service product based on the customer’s wants and demands. Guester Satisfaction System (GSS) should be the main composition of the overall satisfaction of the customers. Global satisfaction should be the main principle of Marriott International. References Howell J. P., & Costley D. L. (2001). Understanding Behaviours for Effective Leadership. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Johnson, M. (2000). Reliability and Validity of the Leadership Self-Efficacy Scale. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University. Marriott International. (2013a). About Marriott. Retrieved from http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/boilerplate.mi Marriott International. (2013b). Careers. Retrieved from http://www.marriott.com/careers/business-facts.mi Marriott International. (2013c). Core Values and Heritage. Retrieved from http://www.marriott.com/culture-and-values/core-values.mi Morrison, J., Rha, J., & Helfman, A. (2003). Learning awareness, student engagement, and change: A transformation in leadership development. Journal of Education for Business, 79(1), 11-17. Popper, M., & Lipshitz, R. (1993). Putting leadership theory to work: A conceptual framework for theory-based leadership development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 14(7), 23-7. Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in Organizations. London: Prentice Hall. Read More