Leadership Theories That Link with Culture - Case Study Example

Introduction In management, there is a need to have various understanding and levels of responsibility and leadership. Because of the importance of the concept of management in the work area, as well as the various roles that are vital for the survival of the particular area of expertise, is also the need to have the defined roles and levels of understanding in order to manage everything effectively. Management is not just a way to understand how to relate to others and how to factor in leadership roles. It is also important to factor in the approaches towards responding to employees and individuals in the internal and external environment. An understanding of the mentality of those around managers, and how this is affected by things such as culture will allow for managers to reach a more thorough understanding of how to interrelate with those in the work place. The purpose of this report is to examine the different ways in which management can be approached, as well as the different theories that allow for a new sense of leadership to be formed. Specifically, this report will define the needs that are a part of an organization which will allow for the correct sense of leadership to be a part of the work force. This will be seen through the concepts of culture and how it links to those who are working as well as what their mentality is. By examining these different approaches, managers, leaders and those involved in business can have the necessary styles of leadership and management in order to effectively build the environment needed for functioning. Leadership Theories That Link With Culture In order to correctly define the specific types of management and how they can be used, it is important to first define the theories and styles that are pursued in the work force. Understanding these different approaches will allow for different concepts to be built into the work area and will create the capacity to build effective leadership that is able to work through management and to the employees. Specifically, is the need to understand how culture relates to leadership and effects the functioning of those in the work force. One of the first theories linked to leadership is not with leadership alone, but how the environment responds to different types of leadership styles. Within each organization is an environment that is based off of the mixture of individuals who are working within the business and interactions with how they respond to each other. This is not important only because of the environment, but also because the types of leadership will cause a difference in the social behaviors that are within the environment. This is known as the strategic environment, and not only causes a difference within the organization, but also one that moves into the relationships with customers and those in the external environment (Sheldrake, 2002). In relation to the theories of how the social environment effects the internal environment is also the individual relations and how this is affected by culture, politics and the external forces that are brought into the work environment. This gives managers the need to add in value added resources and to find alternative responses towards new and innovative ways to incorporate the specific ideals that come to them in relation to the cultural concepts that are in place. “Managers of value – added processes do not make decisions in a vacuum. Indeed, the need for strategic management emerged as the competitive environment changed from a relatively stable to a dynamic and competitive environment.... Most managers implicitly consider external issues that arise from the competitive, economic, financial, and political environments. A fifth factor, national culture, plays an important role in international operations” (Fawcett, 2000). This concept shows that not only does their have to be an internal environment that takes a sense of leadership, but also factors in how the different cultural changes in the area are causing employees, leaders and individuals to react to specific situations. This includes things such as interrelations with other customers, how individuals interact within the workplace and how they respond to the different information that is given to them. Not only does the environment factor in the different concepts through culture, but is also known to interrelate with the various ideals that occur in the workplace. Some say that the culture, management and the internal environment will not only affect the different types of interactions with those in the work force and how they respond, but also directly links to the financial success within a company. This includes a series of enterprise environmental factors that link to marketplace conditions, organizational processes and project team knowledge. When examining these different elements that are a part of the work force, is also an understanding that these are all interlinked with the project management, and how this relates to cultural needs within the environment (Project Management Institute, 2004, 163). Responding to Culture In order for leaders to respond to the different elements that may factor into the concept of culture, are specific ways in which the managers need to be trained and have to develop an understanding of what is occurring within the workforce and why specific responses are made. This is not only important for the managers in responding to the environment, but also places an emphasis because of the need to balance the culture with the ideals of the organization and how everything continues to function. Understanding how leadership will affect the culture, as well as what defines the culture, will allow managers to take a better position within the environment. One of the concepts which leaders can apply towards the environment is creating a different culture that is within the workforce. While different external factors will still be a part of this culture, it will provide the ability to focus on the needs within the organization and to go through the necessary changes within the environment. “If one wishes to distinguish leadership from management or administration, one can argue that leadership creates and changes cultures, while management and administration act within the culture” (Schein, 2004, 11). This ideal is one that can help to completely create the culture according to the leadership style that is being used and how it interacts within the organization. When moving into this particular aspect of defining culture, leaders and managers will need to grow in a conscious effort towards shaping and refining how employees interact with each other, how they interact with customers and what helps to define them as a business. This can provide a sense through the environment that there is a culture that is somewhat similar to the outside culture, but provides a different level of functioning and concepts within the environment. By managers finding ways to define the environment in which they want to create, there is the ability to further explore and refine the capacities within the organization. Specifically, leaders have the responsibility to define quality, innovation and speed that is within the organization, as well as things such as ethical trust and responses that are included in the environment (Lawton, 1993). To begin defining the qualities that leaders need, is the need to train, plan and create a culture that occurs before the leaders and managers are in place. When leaders begin to understand concepts such as motivation, ethical approaches to the environment and the desired outcome of employees, then they can begin to move into the right area of building a culture that is only temporarily affected by the external environment. This can be done through training as well as implementation of specific philosophies and policies in which managers, mid-level leaders and those who are at the top of a structured organization are in charge of implementing and training others into becoming a part of. This will make a difference in how others respond to the environment and the reactions that are taken in relation to cultural ideals (Kotter, 1992). Organization Example An example of an organization that applies the internal and external influences for culture and leadership is Sony. This area offers electronics, entertainment and an international corporate structure that applies different levels of innovation within the technology and entertainment sector. This specific group began in the early 1900s, in the United States. It now functions on an international level, with the main headquarters being in both New York and in Japan. The workforce of Sony has 180,500 employees world wide. This includes a consolidated profit that comes from the corporation of $29 billion per year, with estimated costs rising in the different areas. As one of the largest operations for entertainment and technology are specific leadership structures that are used in order to integrate cultures into the products and allow for growth of the company (Sony, 2008). Sony uses the cultural theory needed in order to integrate both the outer culture with the internal forces. Because it is an international corporation, it offers the ability to integrate the external culture with the internal culture. The entertainment sector, for example, will have capacities such as Japanese anime, entertainment that is specific for the Chinese culture and other corporate strengths that are integrated into a national structure for the area. At the same time, the technology and electronic products can work as a direct response to the demands and culture that is beginning to thrive in areas of games, entertainment and technological products. Beyond this, the leaders of the corporation have integrated a culture that works within the structure of Sony in order to separate the main stream culture from the products that are offered from the internal environment. This comes from the structuring and hierarchy that begins at the top area, and filters through to the employees. This is done through levels of motivation and ethics, which are offered as a main staple and as a part of the structure of Sony. By doing this, there is the capability to offer a specific relation to how the corporate structure functions. Through the executive officers, is also a defining of the cultural aspects that are brought into the culture of the work force, as well as the ability to re-define the external culture by supporting some factors of the work force and not allowing others in. This allows for levels of motivation and understanding among the work force and the ability to continue to expand with what is offered to consumers. Comparisons to Civil Defense This particular corporate structure, which relates to the culture and how everything is built, can be compared to other structures that are outside of the work force, but directly interrelate to things such as culture. One of the organizations that this can be compared to is with the civil defense and how this links to culture and structures that are defined on both a national and international level. At a national level, civil defense is defined by the protection that is needed through political needs and concepts. While this comes from political arenas, the culture that is at the national level will cause the responses from the civil defense system. The leaders will then set the policies, principles and enforcements into place. This same type of structure works at an international level for protection and in order to ensure that the area is protected. This links back to the culture in the area and what demands are needed through the force. Through the defining of culture, is also the set of responses that are defined by the civil defense department in relation to the area. For example, if a disaster happens, the civil defense system will respond through a series of steps for the recovery. However, this will be defined by the area, the preparation for what the culture will need and how this interrelates to the policies and ethics of the civil defense system. This response allows for complete integration of what is needed in the area at the time (ICDDS, 2008). This shows how the integration of culture, no matter whether it is in management of a corporation or in civil defense, is still in response to what is needed in the culture, what can be integrated and what has to be left out in order to effectively monitor and define leadership. Conclusion The concept of cultural theory is one that is defined through different levels. The first is with the employees and the levels of culture that are brought into the work force. The second is through the culture in which the external environment enforces on the culture and how this affects the work. The third way in which culture is affected is through the leadership and how they develop the internal culture that is in the area. This allows for different types of influences and pressures within the environment to be available through the culture that is created by the managers and leaders within the area. With the different types of culture that are presented in one area is also the need to understand how to implement how leaders can respond to culture in order to create one that is more conducive to the environment and the work force. By allowing for the training and motivation to be available through leaders, the ability to control and influence the concept of culture can be used within the area and can allow for different types of work to be available through the area. This provides a sense of a different type of culture to be integrated into the system. This particular example can be seen through different types of work forces, both within the corporate structures available, as well as those that are available through civil defense. Within this, leaders are able to respond to the environment by bringing in different aspects of culture from external influences. At the same time, leaders are able to implement internal structures that are more conducive to what is needed within the area and can provide those who are in the work environment to have a direct response to an internal culture. Integration of cultural concepts within the work force is one that allows for different concepts to be available within the workforce. The ability to maintain and create levels of culture is also one that allows for the structure of an organization to continue functioning and to provide managers with a sense of leadership that is more conducive to what is needed within the work force. References 1. Fawcett, Stanley. (2000). The Supply Management Environment. The ISM Knowledge Series. Arizona: Institute for Supply Management. 2. ICDDS. (2008). Institute of Civil Defense and Disaster Studies. Retrieved from: http://www.icdds.org/. 3. Kotter, John. (1992). Corporate Culture and Performance. Kotter and Associates: New York. 4. Lawton, Robin. (1993). Creating a Customer – Centered Culture: Leadership in Quality, Innovation, and Speed. 5. Project Management Institute. (2004). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 3rd ed. Pennsylvania; Project Management Institute. 6. Sheldrake, John. (2002). Management Theory. Cengage Learning Press: New York. 7. Schein, Edgar. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. John Wiley and Sons: California. 8. Sony. (2008). Sony Corporate Structure. Retrieved from: http://www.sony.com/SCA/corporate.shtml. 9. Read More