Leadership Articles Analysis - Essay Example

Cisco Sees the Future: An Interview with John Chambers John Chambers is Cisco Systems’ remarkable influence on its success at present. The company was able to take hold of a near-drowning experience just right after the internet bubble in 2000. However, equipped with wisdom in business, Chambers eventually saw the future and allowed the company to survive tough times. Thus, the article about “Cisco Sees the Future: An Interview with John Chambers” integrates the ideas and concepts on how Cisco sees the future, and the combinations of conversations and processes that allow the company to foresee trends and rapidly capitalize on them (Cisco Sees the Future 1). The whole article tries to emphasize that Chambers is one who is able to see the future market trends before anyone else does. In an interview, Chambers emphasizes that it is important to identify and manage market transitions. According to Chambers, this market transition happens when there is “subtle but clear disruptive shift”. The changes in social, economic and technological could eventually happen before the market will be able to consider the significance of those prevailing changes in the future. Therefore, a market transition will be an opportunity to increase market share and eventually generate a competitive advantage. However, Chambers also emphasizes that a market transition could also be a business-model shift. This is a change that should happen within the entire business context of an organization. According to Chambers, market transitions are also precursors to market disruptions. This should be the case, because Chambers noticed that transitions cause disruptions. The game-changing innovation happened when the market finally noticed the importance of a transition. The game-changing innovation is a kind of response to transition that eventually leads to disruptions according to Chambers. Chambers also remarkably argued that customers are good sources of clues on what to do in the future. Customers know what they need and because there are shifts in social, economic and technological aspects in the business environment, the change in various needs in the market is not that impossible to take place. Chambers sees this as a remarkable consideration that cannot just be simply overlooked. Chambers considers the point that it is also important to learn from the experience of other companies. This is a way to know what exactly needs to be done in the future. This is also a way to prepare for the future, and learn what things that should not be considered to be done. Chambers also emphasizes that they listen to their customers who tell them what are the market transitions and then they eventually capture those market transitions. This according to Chambers is where they diverge as a company in considering listening to clues from customers. Chambers is eventually adhering to collaborative management, which means eliminating hierarchy, using collaborative teams, and taking advantage of videoconferencing technology. Eventually, Chambers is not putting a period to everything in relation to finding something new to do in the future. His leadership is obviously dynamic when it comes to formulating changes. Therefore, as a good CEO and a leader, he is not eventually afraid to embrace change and formulate a culture that is not hesitant to achieve change. To put this in practice, the idea of Chambers as CEO and leader is something significant to ponder about especially for the individuals who are learning the vital components of management in today’s dynamic business environment. Chambers is trying to show that in the business world, a leader should expect that change is imminent and in fact, it is something that should bring a remarkable opportunity for an organization. The idea of Chambers about market transition is a more meaningful point that may go beyond the concept of understanding customers’ feedback and response. Instead, it is trying to get closer to fact on knowing what exactly needs to be done in the future. In totality, Chambers point of view may remind the learners of management that it is important to think ahead about the future, in order to remarkably adjust and even be the leading provider of business solutions, products and services that would matter to the customers or target market in the future. For this reason, it is reasonable to bear in mind that embracing the change is even more important if it has to be remarkably based on the market transition just before the game-changing innovation. In a nutshell, Chambers’ point of view is necessary for an organization that would want to achieve a remarkable success in the future by seeing what is yet to come just before the other can actually or finally realize its existence. Work Cited “Cisco Sees the Future: An Interview with John Chambers.” Harvard Business Review 2008: 1-9. Print. Name: Tutor: Course: Date: We Had to Own the Mistakes The article about “We Had to Own the Mistakes” is an exclusive interview with Howard Schultz. In 2000, Starbucks, the company that Howard Schultz established was very promising and renowned by the time Mr. Schultz stepped down as CEO on the same year. However, like any other companies, those that are tested by time and rough roads ahead, Starbucks suffered a remarkable challenge, especially in the aspects of rough economy and the firm’s personal strategic missteps (We Had to Own the Mistakes: An Interview with Howard Schultz 1). This scenario once again brought Schultz to the spotlight, leading him to return to the CEO seat at Starbucks, but this time with a challenging mission, to lead the company once more to where he first set its direction. There are compelling ideas and experiences that Schultz shared, especially in the point of retaking the rein at Starbucks in the midst of a crisis, which the work at hand highlighted. As a leader, Schultz wants to stay off from the burden in his shoulders, by accepting his mistakes. For him, it is here where the journey to a remarkable change for good should begin. It would be more meaningful for him to face the fact that the leadership has failed so as to remarkably explore more possibilities for improvement and eventual survival in a tough or challenging competitive world. On the other hand, in tough times like financial crisis, Schultz is in the habit of connecting with individuals who are more likely having the same experience like him. This action was only to find out on the part of Schultz that he has even more knowledge than anyone else. Schultz is also not happy with the on-going competition, because for him, it made their company being squeezed to the middle, due to competitive practices of probable competitors in the industry. However, Schultz remained composed, gave respect to their competitors, but they did not give any respect to their practices. This what Schultz must have experienced especially in the event of facing the serious competition in Starbucks’ industry. Starbucks also faced real issue about environmental stewardship, placing them on the defensive side, but this gave Schultz a reason to believe how the media have become so powerful in attempting to let the firm’s reputation suffer. However, according to Schultz, the most challenging point after his return in Starbucks is on how to preserve and enhance their values, culture, guiding principles, and the reservoir of trust with the firm’s people (We Had to Own the Mistakes: An Interview with Howards Schultz 3). For Schultz, their integrity is their only powerful asset. This is the reason why Schultz defines success as nothing if it does not have emotional meaning. Considering the point that Schultz adheres to establishing, maintaining and enhancing their integrity, he would never gamble in the reduction of the quality of their products, even if the said action would allow the firm to save on cost and extend its ability to gaining remarkable profit in the future. For this reason, Schultz is a man who would defend shareholder’s value, and generally execute vision and strategy with full consideration of integrity in the process. The learners and management may eventually learn many things from Schultz, a very emotional man when it comes to leadership and in the implementation of strategic inputs. In fact, as previously stated, Schultz regarded success as something significant if it is linked to an emotional meaning. Schultz is reasonably also playing his role as one who should place remarkable importance on the preservation of integrity. Part of this, Schultz does not see any problem with accepting one’s mistakes. As a leader, Schultz way out to free himself from associated burden in line with tough challenges facing Starbucks is to admit his mistakes in the process. Perhaps, Schultz’s leadership is something not new for many of the learners in management, but the point is that it fits the requirements necessary on how to survive Starbucks in tough or challenging times. It is for this reason that the learners of management should establish the thought that leadership and its eventual success relies on the existing situation of the company. In the case of Starbucks, the only thing that will allow Schultz to maneuver everything directing to his desired direction for the company is to ensure the fulfillment of establishing the company’s culture founded by integrity. Thus, it is reasonable enough to say that Schultz’s leadership is something that is tested by time and should reasonably work at its best, not because it is far excellent than the other, but due to the ability of Schultz to fulfill first some of the necessary requirements prior to its implementation. Work Cited “We Had to Own the Mistakes: An Interview with Howard Schultz.” Harvard Business Review 2012: 1-7. Print. Read More