Type of Leadership Okuda Uses - Assignment Example

Client inserts his/her name Tutor’s name Name of institution Course title Date of submission 1. List and explain the different leadership styles (not theories) put forward in the academic literature by different researchers and discuss what style of leadership is the most appropriate in different environmental situations and with different categorizations of employees.  A. Autocratic Leadership According to Tittemore (2003), it is considered to be a classical approach where the leader maintains much power and the authority to make core organization decisions. The staff is not consulted in any occasion, and they are not allowed to give any contribution. They are expected to respect orders as they come without demanding any explanation. With this leadership type, the workers are usually highly resistant and therefore, make it an ineffective strategy in many environmental situations. On the other hand, autocratic leadership defines a set of punishments and rewards for workers. The leaders rely on punishments and threats in the workplace to control and influence the staff. They limit their input because they do not trust the staff members. Despite the leader centered nature of autocratic leadership, it is most effective when the organization has new and untrained staff who do not comprehend the procedures of work and which tasks to do. In this case, supervision can be done through giving orders and instructions to such category of workers. It is also appropriate where workers fail to respond to other leadership styles , and thus the manger feels insubordinate. In addition, when time is less for decisions to be made, autocracy may be applied. However, it is not prudent to use autocratic leadership in a situation where the staff demands that their opinions should be heard and thus become rebellious. Low staff morale and high levels of absenteeism should never be managed through threats or punishment. (Mumford et. al, 2000) B. Bureaucratic leadership In this type of leadership, everything is done in accordance to the rules, procedures and policies set by the organization. The role of the leader is to enforce the rules and pass to a higher level those that deem tough to handle. (Tittemore, 2003) The method is appropriate where the staff comprehends well the standards and procedures of an organization and thus follows them closely. When workers perform repetitive tasks, bureaucracy is effective. In situations where safety and security training is conducted, bureaucratic leadership is used since the workers have to follow instructions to the letter. It is also advantageous for workers who perform tasks that involve handling money. (Jacobs & Jaques, 1990) It is however, advisable to stop applying the method of leadership, where habits are formed and are difficult to rid them especially where they are no longer required. Staff may lose interest in their work and do what is only instructed. This may kill creativity and achievement of job satisfaction. C. Democratic Leadership It is also known as participative leadership because it allows staff members to take part in organizational decision making. The leader encourages staff to participate and also keeps them informed about everything that may affect them within their working environment. Sharing is the key aspect in regards to decisions made as well as solving problems that arise as people execute their duties. The method is appropriate when applied with highly experienced workers. (Zaccaro et.al, 2001) It is also significant in situations where operational changes have to be implemented or when resolving disputes among individuals or groups. Where a leader desires to offer opportunities for workers to establish high self esteem, confidence, personal growth and job satisfaction, democracy is appropriate. Some situations need a lot of input for a right decision to be obtained. They call for participation and team work for the right conclusion to be arrived at. (Spillane & Richard, 2004) D. Laissez-Faire Leadership It is called hands off leadership since the leader gives little or no instructions to the staff for duties to be performed. The staff are given enough freedom to do exercise what they believe is right for them and the organization. They therefore, set goals, solve disputes and make decisions on their own. It is advantageous to use where the staff has self drive and highly motivated. They should be highly skilled, educated and experienced for them to be trusted. (Mumford et. al, 2000) D. Creative leadership It entails a leader with the ability to inspire people to comply or act quickly in response to the changing situations at work. It is appropriate where workers have self drive towards generating innovative responses that are shared to come up with creative solutions. (Tittemore, 2003) E. Change Leadership The leaders endorse changes beyond the imagination of individuals and the organization. The leader offers a solution to problems by taking different dimensions of a single problem. The main aspect is to rethink the system with the aim of introducing new changes of parts and their relationships to one another. (Mumford et. al, 2000) F. Servant Leadership The leader becomes a servant and then proceeds to leading. They ensure that the people’s interests are served first before looking into their own desires. This kind of leadership is used where an organization is new in its ventures and thus wants to captivate public attention. It is common in rare business. (Bass, 1990) 2. Based on your answer to Case Study Question 1 (above) how would you describe Hiroshi Okuda’s leadership style/s? Cite specific examples in the case study that support your choice.  Okuda’s leadership styles are varied and interrelated depending on the situation at hand. He employs change leadership, where he resorts to transform the organization into a new form as indicted by his nature in reference to his lack of fear to speak his mind. He sets out to impose a radical change in Toyota Motor Corporation. His aggressive style is appropriate since other leadership styles seem to have failed to redeem the organization’s heritage. It is discussed that, for initial eighteen months on the job, Okuda put into place drastic changes such as the nature of official promotions. He cooperated with t company’s vehicle designers in order to increase speed at which the vehicle went from its conception to market. What once took 27 months was shortened to 18 months. A custom made car can now be completed in 5 days. He also practices servant leadership through his ability to lead after serving. He does not easily give up as he took up a project that was almost scraped off and attained the best at the end. His experience gives him greater motivation that helps him to overcome obstacles. Okuda practices democratic leadership where merit comes along with performance. He recognizes and encourages achievement as in the case where he replaced nearly one-third of Toyota’s highest-ranking executives basing his selection on performance. It is indicated that some outstanding performers moved up several managerial levels in that regard. He produces both quality and quantity , and he stands as a coach to the staff. The changes he has achieved as president show that the staff receive and respond his tactics with cooperation, team spirit and high motivation. The move encourages staff to grow on their jobs and be promoted on merit. 3. Explain the terms ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ leadership. What form did Hiroshi Okuda exhibit? Cite specific examples in the case study that support your choice.  A. Transactional leadership In transactional leadership, the members are meant to accept and comply with the leader totally when they accept to take the job. The agreement is that they are paid for their efforts which complete the essence of a transaction. There are predetermined standards that need to be followed and the leader has the capacity to punish workers if they do not comply with those standards (Hemphill, 1949). The transactional leader’s role is to ensure that routine work is done unfailingly and according to the set rules and regulations. Team leaders cannot do much to improve on job satisfaction since the leader applies incentives, and rewards at will in case they need to be encouraged to produce higher, and perform better on the job. Transactional leadership is regarded as a type of management because the organization using it focuses on short term tasks. It is notorious in limiting creativity and knowledge expansion although it is effective in some situations. (Bass, 1990) B. Transformational leadership Leaders in this case inspire the staff members with shared visions of better things to be implemented in the future. There fervor and enthusiasm is passed on to the workers. The leaders look after those initiatives that bring more or add some value to the organizations current state. (Frey et. al, 2009) Frey et. al (2009) argues that it is similar to charismatic leadership where the leaders create teams that are very energetic to move forward. However, leaders may extremely rely on their own sentiments than what their teams believe in which may impose a risk to the organization or a project in case the leader leaves suddenly. This is because success is endowed to the leader because it is achieved through considerable responsibility and commitment. (Hersey et. al 2008) This type of leadership is considered effective since teams are motivated to be effective and efficient. Communication is particularly central in this case, and the group is focused to goal achievement. The leaders are highly seen as the center of achievement , and he uses a fair chain of command to get things done. This leads to development of, strategic interpersonal, alliances since the leader is ever interested in finding new ideas that can move an organization to another level. (Frey et. al, 2009) Type of leadership Okuda uses He employs transformational leadership since all his energy is directed towards moving the organization to a higher level. He leads the project of constructing a manufacturing facility in Taiwan to success by mobilizing workers. He changes the nature of promotion to a performance based strategy as a way of increasing job satisfaction and performance in that regard. Okuda manages his team by setting attainable goals and nurturing the team towards attaining them. The positive behavior he fosters in the workers indicates that he shares his vision with them. He recognizes that those workers are the strength as well as the backbone of the organization and thus acknowledges their hard work by promoting them according to performance. They are motivated and work towards leveraging business growth through creativity and innovation. (Hemphill, 1949) His fervor for a better organization is witnessed when Okuda worked with the company’s vehicle designers to increase the speed at which the vehicle went from concept to market. This was shortened to 18 months from what was before 27 months. A custom made car could be completed in 5 days. He is aggressive in using the visibility of his job to address larger social issues facing all Japanese businesses. These instances indicate that the individual strives harder to create change in Toyota Motor Corporation 4. When a company is in crisis, do you believe that a radical change in leadership is required to turn the company around? Why? Why not?  In my point of view, I believe that radical change leadership is particularly necessary when handling a company that is in a crisis. This leadership style is very significant since it redeems the company’s reputation within a short period of time. However, it is only applicable where the team has high skill levels and experience working in such situations. Considering the nature of the crisis, a company needs to be moved to a new face quickly and thus making radical change leadership appropriate. (Zaccaro et.al, 2001) Where a company has been overly bureaucratic for many years, a radical change is very necessary to overturn the nature of the situation by completely eradicating the bad culture and imposing a new one. It is really a kind of purposeful leadership where a leader has the aim of developing change by providing the drive, authority as well as the commitment to undertake projects as outlined in the case study presented. Conclusively, no single leadership style is effective as described by Argyris (1976). Leaders should chose a style or still apply an opposite method in a wanting situation. It is important to consider own background and the experience with the styles before settling on one. The staff on the other hand comprises of varying individual personalities and backgrounds which calls upon the leaders to choose a style in which the workers respond appropriately. Moreover, the nature of the organization is important since organizations vary in terms of values, philosophy and ethics. All leaders should adjust the leadership style they apply considering the situation at hand as well as the people who are supposed to be controlled in that regard. References Argyris, C. 1976, Increasing Leadership Effectiveness, Wiley, New York, Bass, B. M. 1990, Bass & Stogdill's handbook of leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications (3rd Ed.). New York, NY, US: Free Press. Frey, M., Kern, R., Snow, J., & Curlette, W. 2009, Lifestyle and Transformational Leadership Style. Journal of Individual Psychology, 65(3), 212-240. Hemphill, J. K. 1949, Situational Factors in Leadership. Columbus: Ohio State University Bureau of Educational Research. Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. & Johnson, D. 2008, Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources (9th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Jacobs, T. O. & Jaques, E. 1990, Military executive leadership. Measures of Leadership, 281-295. Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O., & Fleishman, E. A. 2000, Leadership skills for a changing world solving complex social Problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35. Spillane, J. & Richard, D. J. 2004, "Towards a theory of leadership practice". Journal Of Curriculum Studies, 36 (1): 3–34 Tittemore, J. A. 2003, Leadership at all Levels. Canada: Boskwa Publishing. Zaccaro, S. J., Rittman, A. L., & Marks, M. A. 2001, Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12(4), 451-483. Read More