Ability to Create a Diverse Team Is a Priority for Leaders to Develop - Coursework Example

Write 5 Essays (As Online Blogs Each 750 Words) According To Given Themes Blog Ability to create a diverse team is a priority for Leaders to develop This blog has been written with the purpose to explore the importance for leaders’ or managers’ efficiency in creating diverse teams comprising from people different cultures, nationalities and ethnic backgrounds so as to reward greater efficiency to the organisation on the whole. It is often argued that having a diverse team in the workforce can ensure better results in every aspect of operational processes conducted by the business. Correspondingly, this blog is expected to decode the importance of having a diverse team along with depicting how managers use the knowledge base obtained from diversity towards producing better results in the benefit of the company, accompanied with a succinct conclusion to the debate. With the changing nature of businesses in the contemporary society, managing people in the workplace has become quite a challenging task for organisational leaders. Managers has the responsibility to ensure that activities are conducted in the most efficient and effective manner in alignment with the goals of the business (Parmenter, 2011). In order to execute their responsibilities with utmost effectiveness, managers therefore need to acquire several skills among which, developing as well as managing a diversified workforce is quite crucial (Kossek, 2009). Conceptually, managing diversity can be argued as the systematic process of aligning people from various backgrounds in terms of culture, ethnicity and demographic attributes to develop a team that can yield maximum productivity for the organisation. It is also essential that the diverse team is able to align their motives with that of the business to deliver the expected returns (Pollitt, 2006). It is evident that managers or leaders play a key role in managing each and every operational aspect of the business. They are responsible for utilising the resources of the organisation in an appropriate way towards gaining maximum benefits from the developed diverse team, for the overall business. Managing human resource is among those vital tasks that are performed by contemporary organisational leaders. However, managing a diversified set of human resources in a workforce is arguably a completely different aspect altogether, owing to the complexities associated with the process (Golembiewski, 1995). With the changing nature of the contemporary business, the role of managers is no more limited only towards ensuring accomplishments of its profitability goals; rather it has gone much beyond profit concerns to a much wider phenomenon of sustainability. In this regard, managing people from different backgrounds and cultures through the development of an effective diversified team is among those extended tasks, which delivers greater focus on organisational sustainability. However, it is not easy to steer people from different backgrounds and cultures with a set of defined organisational policies as the individual participants are quite likely to possess diverse values, making it more challenging for them to be steer towards a single unified goal. Subsequently, according to Fox (2007), managers need to acquire certain skills such as awareness of diverse culture, ability to recognise behavioural differences among individual participants of the diverse team and the ability to unite people together for a particular goal. Taking the example of Toyota Motor North America, the importance of workplace diversity for the betterment of the business can be comprehended with greater in-depth. The company has been listed among the 50 most diversified organisations managing people from various spheres of the society. The company recruits people from all parts of the global economy, irrespective of their culture, racial background and their nationality. The only criterion followed is the person’s ability to work in an efficient manner and their flexibility to adapt to changes need for getting imbibed in the diversified culture of the organisation. The leaders in the business with all their diversity management skills mentor these employees of for a tentative period with a trainee-mentor ratio of 2:1 (Diversity INC, 2012). Applying these approaches the Toyota attempts to ensure that all the employees are able to get aligned with the organisational culture and goals, thereby eliminating any chances of hindrances likely to be caused by the diverse team in the organisation’s operations. Conclusively, it can be stated that with the changing nature of the business world, change has become quite a constant thing in the 21st century. Contextually, the concept of diversity in workforce is among those inevitable changes, which organisations should adopt with utmost efficiency to gain competitiveness and sustainability in the global plethora. References Diversity INC, 2012. Toyota Motor North America: No. 48 in the Diversity Inc Top 50. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.diversityinc.com/toyota-motor-north-america/ [Accessed 19 November 2013]. Golembiewski, R. T., 1995. Managing Diversity in Organizations. Alabama, US: University of Alabama Press. Fox, W., 2007. Managing Organisational Behaviour. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta and Company Ltd. Kossek, E., E., 2009. Managing a Diverse Workforce: Aligning and Managing Work/Life Relationships in Organizations. SHRM, pp. 1-16. Parmenter, D., 2011. The Leading-Edge Managers Guide to Success: Strategies and Better Practices. Hoboken, US: John Wiley & Sons. Pollitt, D., 2006. Diversity in the Workforce. Emerald Group Publishing, 14(3). Blog 2: Personal Style of Managers for Better Organisation’s Performance and Management Managers with specific leadership styles can be of great assistance in developing the behaviour, attitude and beliefs of employees. As commonly debated by scholars when emphasising this particular aspect, managers should have an in-depth understanding about the influences of leadership styles on the organisation’s success potentials along with employees’ satisfaction (Perry, 2009). Today, the business environment has intensified with competitions due to increasing numbers of competitors and changing preferences of customers. In this regard, leaders and managers play an effective role in managing along with coordinating business operations as well as employees to attain the determined organisational goals. Additionally, business organisations also need management teams following effective leaders in this competitive business environment in order to ensure that operations are executed in a competent manner for better sustainable performances. According to Thomas (2008), there are certain similarities along with certain differences between leadership and management which needs to be taken into due consideration when aiming at the development of an efficient management team. In this context, the major similarity between management and leadership is that both managers along with leaders play an influencing role in order to motivate employees. Moreover, they are provided with adequate power along with authority and accordingly are entrusted with the responsibility of seeking that employees and business operations are conducted in accordance with the objectives of business organisations. On the other hand, differences between management and leadership are mainly identifiable in relation to their assigned roles within an organisation. The managers of a business organisation are majorly entrusted with the responsibility of managing task oriented activities. In contrast, leaders play the role of inspiring along with motivating employees to perform their activities in accordance with the vision of the organisation. In this respect, it can be comprehended that managers are required to maintain order as well as consistency in the operations of an organisation while leaders should change and motivate employees to work with a better proficiency in order to accomplish the desired goals (Evenson, 2011; Thomas, 2008). CMI (2013) thus signifies that the approaches and personal styles adopted by the managers are based on the current business requirements along with their individual characteristics. Rigolosi (2005) also stated that the personal style of managers is dependent on different skill sets, which include their human skills, technical skills and conceptual skills. Respectively, managers possessing these skills are likely to develop their personal traits along with characteristics with the aim of developing their attitudes, beliefs and characteristic abilities. Accordingly, managers having a better understanding and idea about the needs concerning effective change implementation prospects in the present business environment are able to manage and motivate employees better, to perform with an enthusiastic zeal and unique set of competencies. Moreover, managers developing their personal style with the mix of their skills set along with the concept in relation to the changing business requirements are likely to enhance business performances as more beneficial in ultimate accomplishment of the defined goals (Rigolosi, 2005). In this respect, managers should seek that the management team is treated in fair and equitable manner. Moreover, the management team should be provided with all the information essential to ensure business successes and effective performances of the organisation on the whole, so that employees can devote their utmost efforts in accomplishing the desired goals. Contextually, a better communication process can be developed assisting in improved exchange of information amid employees and management. The team members should also be provided with the opportunity of participating in decision making procedure and to be offered with adequate resources required for their motivation to perform efficiently (Drucker, 2011). Most of the companies in the present competitive and changing business environment have adopted different management styles on the basis of their business objectives as well as structural orientation divergences. In this respect, the example of Tata Steel shall be noteworthy, which has been performing its business operations providing ample opportunities to people with greater emphasis on human rights considerations. Tata Steel can be identified as practicing participative styles of leadership developing open communication along with consultation facilities rewarding the organisation with augmented global competencies (TATA Steel, 2012). Conclusively, it can be affirmed that the management and employees needs to be facilitated with the opportunity of performing their tasks in an aligned and coordinated manner. References Drucker, P. F., 2011. HBRs 10 Must Read on Leadership. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press. Evenson, R., 2011. Customer Service Management Training 101: Quick and Easy Techniques That Get Great Results. Saranac Lake, NY, USA: AMACOM Books. Perry, M. P., 2009. Business Driven PMO Setup: Practical Insights, Techniques and Case Examples for Ensuring Success. Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA: J. Ross Publishing Inc. Rigolosi, E. L. M., 2005. Management and Leadership in Nursing and Health Care: An Experiential Approach. New York, NY, USA: Springer Publishing Company. TATA Steel, 2012. Principle 5. 105th Annual Report 2011-2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.tatasteel.com/investors/annual-report-2011-12/html/principle5.html [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Thomas, N., 2008. Best of John Adair on Leadership and Management. London, GBR: Thorogood Publishing. Blog 3: Managing Change in Business Change is the most constant thing in the life of human beings. It is necessary with regard to deal with the changing nature of the society, which poses new challenges every day. Organisational change has similar sort of importance for companies to sustain in the 21st century context. However, resistance to change is one of those factors that pose considerable challenging issues in the execution of any change in the business context today (Cameron & Green, 2012). In this regard, Mullins (2010) argued that management has very little role to play in managing resistance to change deciphered by employees within the workplace; rather, it is the personality of individuals in the organisation that performs a key role in mitigating such barriers. Arguments in Mullins (2013) can be supported from the fact that resistance to change of any individual in organisation is largely linked with their behaviour and attitude. People in organisation are often observed to become resistant towards any sort of change owing to their innate characteristics and perception. Commonly, it is their habitual traits, threats of their social relationship, their fear of the unknown and their economic insecurity among others that make people resistant to change. These aspects of their characteristics shape their behaviour, which further makes them reluctant towards any sort of change. However, on the other hand, the viewpoint in Mullins (2013) can be opposed on the grounds that this reluctant behaviour of people in the workplace can be managed with well-defined approaches of effective and responsible leadership. It is believed that people are likely to develop a habit of conducting their work in a defined manner, which makes them reluctant towards any new challenged introduced to them. In this regard, open-ended communication between the management and the employees can be beneficial. Moreover, to deal with the challenge of economic insecurity led reluctance among individuals, management or organisational leaders can convey to employees that the change is for the purpose of the betterment of the business along with providing them with a clear understanding of the change implications likely to be influencing their income and growth prospects, which is at common instance targeted towards a positive trend (Mullins, 2013; Reddy, 2004). From a critical point of view, the role of managers in dealing with resistance to change commonly witnessed among employees is quite noteworthy. According to Lawrence (2013), managers in the organisation need to make sure that all the employees in the organisation are participating actively in the change process. This will enhance the confidence of the employees toward adapting the change within minimum time frame as they shall be able to comprehend the process and need for the same in a more succinct manner. Mangers in the organisations also play a key role in depicting the actual reason for the change reluctance deciphered by people in contemporary organisations and take measures to fix the same accordingly. Apart from this, managers in business also play a considerable function in framing concrete steps when dealing with the diversified attitudes of the people in the workplace, which is also identified as a major reason for people to become reluctant towards the change process (Doherty & Horne, 2012). An example of managerial role in mitigating this issue can be identified with reference to the process applied by General Motors for dealing with the change resistance nature among employees. In General Motors, managers strive to ensure appropriate measures taken in order to deal with the issue having a two-way communication with the workforce at almost every level as per the employees’ role in the change process. This approach has enabled the company to manage changes in the business over the years and develop itself as one of the giant operators in the automobile industry (Krisher & Durbin, 2011). To conclude, it can be asserted that resistance to change deciphered by people in the workplace is one of the major challenges that companies need to deal with in the 21st century context. Though resistance to change is deemed to be entirely linked with the attitude of people, the management of business can certainly take remedial steps to deal with the same up to larger extent where organisational communication plays an inevitable role. References Cameron, E. & Green, M., 2012. Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Doherty, T. L. & Horne, T., 2012. Managing Public Services - Implementing Changes: A Thoughtful Approach to the Practice of Management. New York: Routledge. Krisher, T. & Durbin, D-A., 2011. GM CEO Dan Akerson: Our Company Has A Resistance To Change. [Online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/17/gm-general-motors-dan-akerson_n_1155376.html [Accessed 24 November 2013]. Lawrence, P. R., 2013. How to Deal With Resistance to Change. [Online] Available at: http://hbr.org/1969/01/how-to-deal-with-resistance-to-change/ [Accessed 24 November 2013]. Mullins, L. J., 2013. Management and Organisational Behaviour. UK: Edinburgh Gate. Reddy, R. J., 2004. Organisational Behaviour. New Delhi: APH Publishing. Blog 4: Ethical Leadership This blogs aims at arguing on the contribution of ethical leadership in assuring organisational growth and success. The advent of technologies and globalisation has provided business organisations with greater advantages to expand their operations successfully in the international paradigm. In this context, business organisations with diverse workforce, culture and regional challenges should develop an effective business environment with the aim of performing its business operations successfully over the long-run. Respectively, in the present competitive business environment, organisational culture should be developed with certain values along with ethics in order to ensure that employees perform their operations proficiently. In this regard, ethical leaders play an effective role in the development of moral conscience along with ethical principles on the basis of which, employees should execute their operations in an efficient way (Todnem & Burnes, 2013). According to Fairholm (1998), ethical leaders play important roles in developing values as well as standards to ensure organisational success simultaneous with the development of employees. The leaders thus need to practice the various principles and standards based on which, an efficient organisational culture can be developed. Subsequently, employees are likely to grow their ability to determine the most ethical way and universal principles of conducting business operations appropriately. Additionally, employees can also develop their traits and skills grounded on those principles, so that they are able to conduct their activities in an integrated as well as coordinated way (Fairholm, 1998). Furthermore, ethical leaders are entrusted with the task of managing all the employees of an organisation. In this manner, ethical leaders seek that employees of business organisations are offered with the best values along with standards, so that integrity and coordination is developed in the most effective manner. Additionally, the business operations can be executed with better team efforts so that organisational objectives and goals are accomplished successfully. Consequently, ethical leaders, with better coordination and group efforts are likely to accomplish the goals and objectives of an organisation effectively with better consideration towards the requirements of stakeholders and the society on the whole. In this manner, business organisations are able to perform their operations in a social responsible way and sustainably. Thus, ethical leaders are able to execute their activities in a stabilised and harmonised way (Hernez-Broome et al., 2006; Mendonca & Kanungo, 2006). The business operations of an organisation is required to be based on certain standards and principles on the basis of which, operations are required to be executed in order to ensure a sustainable performance in the long run. In this regard, an appropriate example of ethical leadership practise can be identified with reference to Ford Motor Company. Illustratively, the business operations in Ford are executed in accordance with certain principles along with standards, so that the requirements of the customers are sufficed ethically (Environmental Leader LLC, 2013). According to the annual report of Ford Motor Company (2012), the company produces and manufactures products on the basis of needs along with preferences of customers. Additionally, the company has adopted standards and ethical practices in its operations in order to ascertain that business activities are executed appropriately. The employees are treated equitably in the company and are provided with adequate employment benefits and incentives among others. Respectively, the leaders of the company has been adopting better values and standards aimed at integrating and motivating employees, so that thee operations are performed in the most cohesive and coordinated manner. In this respect, the employees are likely to develop their positive attitude towards the management and perform their activities to accomplish the desired goals and objectives of the company in the most effective and sustainable manner. Moreover, the leaders of the company emphasises towards developing plans as well as strategies with due significance to social and environmental development through the production of eco-friendly products (Ford Motor Company, 2012). Conclusively, it can be argued that leaders and managers play an important role in developing an appropriate organisational culture with better ethical policies and standards simultaneously binding the workforce in a cohesive manner. The leaders with the assistance of the developed ethical policies and standards aid employees in determining the appropriate procedure on the basis of which, operations are required to be performed in order to meet the requirements of stakeholders and society. References Environmental Leader LLC, 2013. Ford, Starbucks among ‘Most Ethical Companies’. Environmental Data. [Online] Available at: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/03/17/ford-starbucks-among-most-ethical-companies/ [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Fairholm, G. W., 1998. Perspectives on Leadership: From the Science of Management to Its Spiritual Heart. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press. Ford Motor Company, 2012. Profitable Growth for All. 2012 Annual Report. [Online] Available at: http://corporate.ford.com/doc/ar2012-2012%20Annual%20Report.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Hernez-Broome, G., McLaughlin, C. & Trovas, S., 2006. Selling Yourself Without Selling Out: A Leaders Guide to Ethical Self-Promotion. Greensboro, NC, USA: Center for Creative Leadership. Mendonca, M. & Kanungo, R. N., 2006. Ethical Leadership. Buckingham, GBR: Open University Press. Todnem, R. & Burnes, B., 2013. Organizational Change, Leadership and Ethics Leading Organizations toward Sustainability. London; New York: Routledge. Blog 5: Effective style of leadership My discussion about leadership has enabled me to understand about various aspects of leadership in the prevailing business environment today. As it has been widely comprehended, leaders are quite important to ensure organisational progress and their role in various domains of the business is non-negligible today (Rego et al., 2012). These facets have encouraged me to develop my own vision with regard to leadership. Having an appropriate vision is often regarded as the first step towards setting goals for one’s own self to accomplish the set goals in the future. Contextually, the principle aim of this blog will emphasise to clearly define my goals based on a precise understanding regarding leadership. Leadership can be of different types, followed on the basis of diverse team participants or the work that is to be directed. In general, different forms of leadership include laissez-faire leadership, participative leadership, autocratic leadership, transactional leadership and transformational leadership as the majors. Laissez-Faire leadership deals with supervising only top level managers and sub-ordinates that are highly experienced and require little guidance. People with autocratic leadership style possess utmost authority as they tend to impose their decisions on individuals in a strict manner. In a participative leadership form, leaders work in alignment with other team members considering their views and ideas in taking decisions (Day & Antonakis, 2011). Again, transactional leaders are task oriented and they work in accordance to the outcomes of any task assigned to the team members and on the basis of the results obtained, leaders reward or punish the team members. Transformational leaders are dependent on the decisions of the top level management. They take their decisions on the basis of the requirement of the management and convey the same to the people in the workplace via proper communication means in order to encourage them to work towards the accomplishment of the goals (Callahan-Howell, 2013; Yukl, 2007). As evident, the above discussion depicts about the various forms of leaders and their way of working. Since my childhood, I always have been deciphering skills that indicate towards an autocratic form of leadership. Though this sort of leadership is criticised by many for its rough nature, its effectiveness can also not be ignored at the same time, especially in developing a strong base for organisational development in the long-run. I had the aim to see myself providing my services to the technology industry since my teenage. I was always attracted towards this industry owing to scope of innovation in this sector and diversity. My stand on working in this industry sector has strengthened upto a considerable level owing to the inspirational leadership approach of Mr. Steve Jobs played a commendable role in strengthening the position of the company worldwide. It is believed that he, as a leader, had a strong ability to convince as well as encourage the employees towards accomplishing the goals set by him. His work involved continuous and aggressive innovation and out of the box thinking, which further differentiated him from other leaders at that time. His approach was believed to be quite autocratic with the employees, which also became a point of criticism at often instances. However, effectiveness of his approach can be depicted from the fact that under his leadership, Apple could touch new heights and a strong and sustainable position for itself in the global market (Allen, 2011). My vision of becoming an autocratic leader was also encouraged by my friends and colleagues. They also depicted me about how I always seek to ensure positive outcomes from my activities. I also had a different way of thinking as compared to that of others, which were further accompanied by advice and encouragement from my close ones towards adopting an autocratic approach in my attitude. However, it is a universal truth that no one is perfect in this world and contextually I need to develop some of my skills in order to enhance my autocratic behaviour so that I can effectively implement the same in the real life scenario. I need to be more independent in my decision making and rely little on others’ in this aspect. I would also like to progress my skills of managing a team and encourage them to work in a unified manner to ensure favourable results (Lord, 2004). Hence, these aspects will enable me to accomplish my vision as a leader in my future endeavours. References Allen, F. E., 2011. Steve Jobs Broke Every Leadership Rule. Don’t try it yourself. [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2011/08/27/steve-jobs-broke-every-leadership-rule-dont-try-that-yourself/ [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Callahan-Howell, K., 2013. An Authentic Pastor. [Online] Available at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2013/november/authentic-pastor.html [Accessed 25 November 2013]. Day, D. V., & Antonakis, J., 2011. The Nature of Leadership. California: SAGE. Lord, C., 2004. The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need to Know Now. Connecticut: Yale University Press. Rego, A., Cunha, M. P. E., Clegg, S. R., & Clegg, S., 2012. The Virtues of Leadership: Contemporary Challenges for Global Managers. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Yukl, G., 2007. Leadership in Organizations. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Read More