How Leadership Has Changed within the Context of Globalization - Essay Example

Leadership Change Student’s Name Professor Subject University/Institution Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 How leadership has changed within the context of globalization 4 Changes in leadership structures 4 Changes related to theories of leadership 5 Alliances and partnerships 7 Change in the way they make decisions 8 Global Challenges: Multiculturalism and Diversity 9 Collaborations through Building Relationships 10 Collaborative Leadership 11 Changing Leadership Traits and Personalities 11 Conclusion 12 References 14 Introduction The concept of globalization is not new but nonetheless poses challenges to some aspects for instance leadership. Globalization has brought with it technological innovations and inventions and providing avenues through which people are more linked to one another. People mix, mingle and therefore form new partnerships than they did before and hence create more diversity in terms of culture in the workplace. The global environment is changing and evolving at a pace that is exciting and at the same time challenging. For instance, companies nowadays are combining their efforts in a bid to search opportunities and also market and exploit markets which are new. Technology has brought surprises to the world that even aspects like leadership cannot afford to turn a blind eye to. In the global environment where there are so many volatile changes which are uncertain, leadership has to be related to change if not aligned to the volatile changes for change to leadership becomes inevitable. This paper therefore presents a discussion as to the way leadership has changed over time and in light of the global environment. However reference is to be made to Richard Branson as a leader who possesses the leadership and communication styles of a global leader. The choice in choosing Richard Branson lies in his success in owning the Virgin group that is made up of over 400 companies. Leadership as defined is the process through which a person gains the support of the others through influence and hence accomplishes a certain task. The model leader, Richard Branson, posses the characteristics of a leader worth to be emulated and hence forms part of the discussion, through examples when analyzing how leadership has changed over time in the context of the global environment. How leadership has changed within the context of globalization Changes in leadership structures Contrary to traditional notions that leadership could be learned and had to practiced by the “book”, modern leadership in light of the global environment is a bit complicated. The first change that has occurred in leadership within the context of globalization is that best leader tends to lead through influence rather than through the power in their positions. Prior to globalization the command, control and hierarchical structures were the most commonly applied structures. The earlier organizational leaders applied the hierarchical organizational structures where there are a single or a group of power at the top most level and a number of subsequent levels beneath the top most level. This organizational structure has already been surpassed by time and the modern day leaders are not using these organizational structures and have over time employed other structures which are in line with the globalization of the business environment. Also the command and control structures that were used are not currently been applied in organizations. Earlier leaders managed their organization by means of command and they had full control of everything that happened within the organization. Their subordinates acted upon the rules and regulations which were directed upon them by the leaders and they were supposed to act upon then without any question (Bratton, Nelson & Grint, 2004). This is not the case with the modern day leaders and they have fully integrated their employees and thus the employees are also involved in the running of the organization. Such concepts as teams in the organizations, projects which are undertaken by employees and bottom to up models of communication only serves to ascertain that nowadays leaders have integrated more with their employees than they did before for the organization has turned to be a place where interactions are occurring and not a place where the leaders rule on what is to be done and what not to be done. Changes related to theories of leadership Another change that has come around within the context of globalization is the theories of leadership. In the modern day leadership, leaders employ the contingency and situational leadership theories and the two theories maintained that leaders were supposed to fit their leadership styles to the needs of the situation at hand. For example, Fred Fielder was of the opinion that the task oriented leaders were best suited for situations that are extreme that is very extreme or very difficult situations. The other leaders who were people oriented performed well in between situations. The decisional leadership model directed managers on how they were supposed to arrive at their decisions for example they would either make the decision alone or at times they would allow the team or the departmental input and this was carefully done by analyzing the characteristics of the situation to the decision to be made (Bratton, Nelson & Grint, 2004). The above mechanical situational theories subjugated leadership development as well as training for decades. However within the context of a globalised environment this has really changed. New ways of thinking that are related to leadership have been developed. The new approach views leadership as an extremely complex as well as an approach that is focused more on the followers. Within the global context the most popular leadership theories are transformational leadership and the leader member exchange theory. These two theories hold that effective leadership is solely based on the leader’s ability to energize, engage and develop new followers. The other common theories that have been developed are the shared leadership theories, these theories assert that the responsibility of leading the members of a team and the decision making power are dispersed equally among all the members. With the era of globalization, placing all the responsibility on a single leader will slow the effectiveness of attaining the objectives of the organization as there needs to be division of labor and specialization, hence the creation of other leadership positions in the organization like departmental leaders, regional leaders and national leaders among others more so to the companies which operate globally. Hence leaders have learnt to share these responsibilities among them. Thus the new wave in relation to leadership has a number of factors in common such as greater focus on the followers, a decentralized form of decision making or empowered followers, recognition of the complexity that exists in leadership. Within the context of globalised environment, a successful leader ought to be able to motivate and engage his followers. The common day leaders have a shared, consultative decision making and their followers are more empowered to act independently or take responsibility. When they are applying the transformational leadership for instance the leaders aim is to build up follower’s leadership ability thus ultimately transforming followers into future leaders. The speed of making decisions is seen as a critical aspect in the modern day business so the followers ought to be able to act even without the direction from the leader. The modern day theories do not permit the leaders to lead all by themselves. In reality the followers seem to have a higher level of accumulated knowledge related to the purpose of the team and that of the organization, so it seems necessary to share the responsibility. In relation to the recognition of the complexity that exist in leadership, leadership was seen as been a straight forward issue as it was suggested by the contingency theories. With the context of a globalised environment, the world has become more complex and thus it requires the capacity of the leased and the shared capacity within a team so as to be effective and competitive. In relation to this, leaders ought to engage their followers, delegate, motivate, monitor and at the same time analyze the complex situation that arises. It may be seen as a difficult job, but for them to stay competitive they need to adopt the new forms of leadership that have been made possible by the new forms of leaderships. Alliances and partnerships The other form of change that has occurred in leadership in relation to the globalised nature of the business environment is based on the fact that the modern day leaders are forming alliances and partnerships. Prior to the globalization of the business environment most leaders acted within their own boundaries and they did not form any alliances though currently this is seen as a common notion with the modern day leaders. Before globalization, almost all businesses operated just within the boundaries of the country in which they were based in but with globalization companies has established their core business activities even in countries that are many miles away from their parent countries (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001). A good example of this is companies such as IBM , prior to globalization of the business environment the company was not involved in the formation of any alliances and partnership and they tended to operate within certain geographic boundaries but with the globalization of the business environment the organization have established partnerships as well as alliances with other companies. Through formation of the alliances as well as the partnership, the organization have been able to have a wide customer base since they have a reach to a wide market since they are operating in more than one country. Currently tend to have different forms of partnerships as well as alliances almost every week. Therefore there has been a constant change in terms of the formation of alliances and partnerships. The leader of virgin has anticipated and joined an alliance with other alliances and according to him the alliance will in a way offer the organization a competitive edge as compared to the other airlines operating in the country. By merging with the rival or joining the alliance were able to survive in aviation industry which has over time became the competitive and it has really changed with the advent of cross border super carriers. Change in the way they make decisions Another major change that has occurred to the leaders is related to how they make their decisions. The leaders of the past had to take time to make their decisions, the modern day leaders ought to possess the ability to make their decisions in a quicker way, irrespective of the uncertainty and ambivalence that has been brought about by globalization and the globalised nature of the business management. Within the context of globalization and other technological innovations that are taking place, the strict boundaries that used to separate companies and industries are easily blurring. Most companies have based their operations in more than one country and thus their presence is been felt globally (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2001). Globalization has also lead to real time competition between companies operating in the same industry thus the common day leaders do not have all the time to plan thus they need to make decisions in a haste but in a correct manner so as to remain competitive in the industry and for them to be ahead of their competitors at all time. Another aspect is that prior to the concept of globalization the leaders used to make decisions that affects a company in just one location sine they had not based their operations in many counties, but within the context of globalization the decisions made by the leaders tend to have an effect on all the subsidiaries that are owned by the compare even though they may be operating in other countries at times the subsidiary companies are also based in different continents for those countries which have their presence in almost every continent (Day, Zaccaro & Halpin, 2004). The modern day leaders are therefore faced by a major challenge on how they make their decisions despite the limited time that they have to make the decisions and the employees look up to them to make the correct decision despite the limitations of time that they have and despite the greater number of companies that will be affected by the decision that the leader makes. Global Challenges: Multiculturalism and Diversity Organizations operating in the global context have to constantly bump into challenges in terms of differing ways of conducting business in the global arena and cultural differences. The ability for an organization to adapt to such changes lies in the type of leaders that the organization has. Modern day leaders ought to have leadership skills that will enable the organization to successfully adapt to global challenges. Pettigrew (2000) critiques that change literature that was traditionally available did not allow leaders to take into consideration the contextual issues like emerging issues of multiculturalism brought about by globalization and hence there was a universalistic approach to leadership. However and in an example, modern day leaders have to deal with such aspects like multiculturalism where there is diversity of employees in the organization. Modern day leadership has to change to the changing times where there are able to deal with employees regardless of their backgrounds or their ethnic makeup (McNamara, 2002). Taking the example of Richard Branson, he is the leader behind the Virgin Group Companies that are over 26 countries of the world. He is a leader who is fun and easy to work around with people with his basic principle being that employees are the fundamentals or the bone of contention behind the companies’ success and therefore developed and still develops moral responsibility as well as ethics to the people he works with in establishing his empire. In establishing his companies in more than 20 countries, Branson has a good idea that dogmatic and traditional leadership styles that are deeply embedded in traditional leadership theories cannot work in the global context. In addition, the Virgin Company C.E.O. uses diplomatic tactics in lobbying so as there would not be a war price that can put Virgin Airlines out of business. Were it not for leadership change in light of globalization, companies would be struggling to survive on an equal setting; for example, Virgin Atlantic would long have been overshadowed by British Airways which enjoys such advantages like it was a national carrier. This example therefore serves to reassure that there is no doubt that leadership has changed over time and in the globalised world. Collaborations through Building Relationships Modern day leadership involves creation of relationships with the community, politicians and also famous people. Organizations nowadays have created or established processes through which the community or the customers are an integral part of the organization for instance through organizations becoming socially responsible to the community and also establishing customer care departments in the organizations. Leadership, in this sense has changed so much to the extent that modern day leaders are very well aware of the organization responsibility to its customers and the community that the organization is operating in (Wanberg & Banas, 2000). Initially, organization’s leaders main concerns was the way the organization was to make profit without even minding the community that such an organization is set in. Modern leaders are more bent on the image of the organization to the outside world for the local community involves the global community thanks to the interconnections as a result of globalization and events happening miles away takes only seconds to be shared across the globe. Thus, organizational leaders have learnt to cope with such changes and therefore channel more resources towards the community through corporate social responsibility activities and taking part in initiatives that are bent to add to the good name of the organization. Collaborative Leadership With the wave of globalization, it has made companies introduce concepts like outsourcing where the companies can outsource their work to developing countries. This therefore means that the organization’s leaders need to have the skills that should empower employees to work in teams and collaborate across networks. In addition, organizations nowadays have leaders and managers who have to work together for the attainment of the goals and the objectives of the organization and hence collaboration (McNamara, 2002). With globalization, companies across countries communicate with ease and hence the leader has to know how to manage networks of companies scattered across the globe. For instance, Richard Branson, as the model leader for this case, has to manage all the companies that he started and which are across many countries. The bottom line for leadership in light of globalization is to congruence the synergies in leadership in light of a globalised world. Changing Leadership Traits and Personalities Leaders have to be constantly changing their approach depending on the situations that they find themselves in and thus leadership cannot be static across the globe. In some organizations for instance the multinational organizations where there are many shareholders, staffs and serve a relatively large proportion of people with their products or services across the globe, leaders have to be flexible enough to adapt to leadership traits that are goal focused. For instance, when dealing with the staff, a different approach has to be used that is different from an approach that is used to deal with stakeholders or the customers. The personality of the leader as well as the traits of the leader are core when it comes to leadership but nonetheless, the leader has to operate within the context and the needs of the organization at that particular time and context. Therefore, the behaviors of the organization’s leaders nowadays employ the context of organization needs to be the drivers of their behaviors and hence the change in leadership. To bring the point closer home, leaders are no longer chosen to head an organization based on their traits and personalities other than on the needs of the organization (Wanberg & Banas, 2000). Conclusion Following the discussion, it is apparent that leadership has changed and continues to change every now and then. Globalization has been the platform through which changes occur for through globalization, the world ha]s become very interconnected and hence organization’s leaders have to change the approach that they use in dealing with employees, stakeholders, governments of where their branches are located, their consumers and suppliers among others. In the example, Richard Branson as a leader has shown that being a leaders, one has to be diverse in his or her tactics and hence one has to change the approach to leadership depending on the situation and the needs of the organization. Therefore, ascertaining the fact that leadership cannot be practiced by the book nowadays will not only form a strong opinion that leadership has changed but also cement the idea that leadership still continues to change in light of the globalised world. References Bratton, J., Nelson, D. & Grint, K. (2004). Organizational Leadership. Boston: South-western College Publishers. Day, D., Zaccaro, S. & Halpin, S. (2004). Leader Development for Transforming Organizations: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow (Applied Psychology Series). USA: Psychology press. McNamara, C. (2002). Guidelines to Understand Literature about Leadership” PP. 1 – 4, retrieved from http://www.mapnp.org/library/ldrship/ldng_lit.htm. Retrieved on 6th September, 2012. Pettigrew, A. M. (2000). Linking Change Processes to Outcomes. A Commentary on Ghoshal, Barlett and Weick. In M. Beer & N. Nohria (Eds.) Breaking the Code of Change. pp. 243 – 266. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Wanberg, C. R. & Banas, J. T. (2000). Predictors and Outcomes of Openness to Changes in a Reorganizing Workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85: 132 – 142. Zaccaro, S. & Klimoski, R. (2001). The Nature of Organizational Leadership: Understanding the Performance Imperatives Confronting Today's Leaders (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership). United States: Pfeiffer. Read More