Larry Ellison - Leadership and Communication in a Company - Case Study Example

Leadership and Communication (Larry Ellison) Name: Institution: Date Abstract This paper evaluates leadership and communication impact in the development of a company. It distinctively identifies Larry Ellison as the case study in relation to various principles of leadership which covers the following: his careers and education background, meaning of leadership on the basis of his life, the dimensions of leadership from his life, managing diversity in oracle, personal attributes, the leadership as motivator and coach and finally the creative and the innovative aspects of leaders. Biography Larry Ellison date of birth was on 17th August 1944 in New York but he later grew up in Chicago. His higher education was challenging in many ways, he studied in the University of Illinois at urban-Champaign and the University of Chicago respectively though he never completed nor graduated. He later joined Ampex corporation as a programmer where due to interaction with various data management skills he grew interest in relational databases which is a type of database programming in the early 1970s.He was greatly influenced by research in the same field and after advance involvement and progress he developed Oracle as a database management program in 1977.Larry Ellison is a programmer, Business entrepreneur, Internet interest, thinker innovator and through a combination of various entrepreneur skills he became the founder and the chief executive officer of Oracle which was a successful trader of database programmes. He offered stiff competition to other database vendors in the US i.e. SQL, my sql, Sybase and this opened a way for him which saw him see through a great financial transformation and later grew his wealth to become one of the richest Californian. Introduction Barret, 2011 asserts that good communication makes an effective leader. In his article he established that managers in all organization continuously engage in communication at least in 60% of their time and as a result good managers should have good communication skills in order for the companies and organizations to achieve the long term and short term goals. Leaders should persuade others to follow them and in even also persuade them to the goals they pursue. It’s therefore an indicator that all leaders should have a good image and responsiveness in all aspect of business development since the staff emulates them Jeff, 2010 confirms that leadership is different from management and us a result it requires different development needs. But he insists they should not be seen as separate entities rather they are supposed to complement each other. Larry Ellison was born on 17th August 1944 in New York but he later grew up in Chicago. For his higher education he studied in the University of Illinois at urban-Champaign and the University of Chicago respectively though he never completed nor graduated. He later joined Ampex corporation as a programmer where due to interaction with various data management skills he grew interest in relational databases which is a type of database programming in the early 1970s.He was greatly influenced by research in the same field and after advance involvement and progress he developed Oracle as a database management program in 1977.Larry Ellison is a programmer, Business entrepreneur, Internet interest, thinker innovator and through a combination of various entrepreneur skills he became the founder and the chief executive officer of Oracle which was a successful trader of database programmes. He offered stiff competition to other database vendors in the US i.e. SQL, my sql, Sybase and this opened a way for him which saw him see through a great financial transformation and later grew his wealth to become one of the richest Californian. Educational Background. Larry Ellison was born in New York and schooled in Chicago. He graduated in 1958 from Eugene Field Elementary in Park Ridge Illinois. In 1958 Larry Ellison attended Sullivan High School before he moved to Chicago South Shore. He went for his higher education in University of Illinois at urban-Champaign and later the University of Chicago where he studied for two years. It’s after this that Larry dropped out of school and headed to California. At the age of 22 years when he was in California he started having an interest in computer design and also relational database programming. This is after being involved in various research project and program implementation. Career Larry Ellison career started when he moved to California that is after dropping out of school. This after he drew interest in relational database programming. This after he joint Ampex Corporation where he spear headed various projects on database design mainly for the CIA which had various complexity. The core interest was driven by Edgar F. Codd on his research paper which he studies relational databases which took care of the large data concepts and integration. At this started the long dream to start and build oracle started. In the year 1977 Larry Ellison and other partners started a software company that was called Software Development Laboratories. After two years the company renamed to relational database Inc which as planned and also due to very fast development to combined product research which lead to extensive product development. In 1982 after complete development and implementation of oracle product there came the establishment of Oracle systems Corporation. Oracle at this time had an instinct and knowledge based interest on IBM which at the moment was leading in database implementation and management with products like DB2 and SQL products. This didn’t move for long since IBM didn’t focus on relational databases for both Unix and also windows which had grown a lot of popularity among users. As a result this gave way for other competitors in the market which include Microsoft, Oracle,Informix and Sybase which offered more competition. Sybase through mergers with other companies was finally dissolved and at the end the company was taken up by Microsoft and the final naming and development was SQL Server. At this point Oracle stood up as a sole unique provider of relational databases. The tug of war grew enormous between 1994 and 2010 where together all the companies had tremendous changes and also mergers. During this time Informix having acquired Sybase seemed to offer oracle stiff competition but this lasted for two years after which Oracle became the winning lot in relational databases which made it more dominant. This is because oracle could be able to offer a solution to a mix of operating system and Microsoft sql server which runs on windows. Oracle at the year 2010 had all the rights reserved and as a result the European Union gave a nod to acquiring Sun Microsystems which run the MySQL open source databases. This gave an elaborate and distinct distribution rights to database users. Larry Ellison Seemed to make decisions that showed his leadership skills this was evident in the fact that he did a number of resignation due to luck agreement with the board decisions. At this point oracle became the leading relational database provider. Meaning of Leadership on the basis of his life as well as theoretical Leadership is an integral part in running any organization and also determine how successful an organization can be.Leaderhip involve s decision making Organizing the available resource, planning of all processes, Directing by channeling the right force to the right people for good results, and finally controlling through both long term and medium goal management. Leadership effectiveness is core in any decision making process in a company. This plays a key role in determining the required results in terms of productivity, quality and also satisfaction in terms of acquiring the needed results. Larry Ellison demonstrated good leadership by making proper decision and also making sure tha the required satisfaction is achieved to the required standards. In his research he realized that users of both Unix and windows software had a challenge in managing their database thus he identified an opportunity and also a gap that need to be merged. Leadership provides change and also adaptability which in return streams to the organization success and growth (Dubrin,2012).Larry Ellison Demonstrated this aspect by the fact that he saw the company grow b y heap and bumps. The development of oracle didn’t develop from a single ides but a series of changes through research and development. Oracle idea was diverse since it was a mix of ideas and need to provide the required solution to both individual and corporate world. In addition Dubrin 2012 recognizes tha leaders’ transforms an organization. This is evident because from inception when the company was established the company have changed and increased its capability as a database program vendors. In the beginning IBM had dominated the market through provision of database to windows plat form. Larry Ellison through research came up with relational databases for both Unix and windows. This gave oracle a product mix philosophy hence its ability to grow in the market. Leaders are an integral part in product and organization vision which create an atmosphere of higher competition and efficient delivery of solutions to different phenomena and conditions. Larry Ellison had a vision to provide the best database management for bulk and complex solutions. This Vision had a significant impact on the company and at one point it was clear that vision drove him to bargain for deals and also defy rules of exploitation and insolvency. In the same capacity its clear to assert that leadership have various roles in a given organization. This can be summarized briefly as a negotiator, Strategic planner for various implementation policies and procedures. Commonly a leader should be problem solver and innovator to implement and discover new trend and adversely Dimension of Leadership from his Life. (Jeffrey, 2011) asserts that with leadership there is eight dimensions to focus and deal with. The eight dimensions model provides one with a way to discover the primary leadership dimension and its associated primary roles. The eight dimension of leadership is a combination of psychological makeup, Intelligence, training and experience. In order to be a a leader there have to tough decisions to be made and some time the decision have to be between competing brands (Jeffrey,2011).In all this factors surrounding leadership people make an integral primary part with which all this decision affects them directly of or in a secondary manner. The eight dimensions include the following: Pioneering, energizing, affirming, inclusive, humble deliberate, resolute and commanding. From Larry Ellison life leadership dimension was observed as a primary player in both the company growth and also the product placement. Larry was energetic in his life endeavors and everything he pursue he did it with a lot of energy and determination. He was also pioneering which is a unique character displayed by leaders at any one point.In all the leadership dimensions he was all inclusive in man of his decisions especially the once affecting the company performance. This dimension made him interact with other companies like apple,HP and at some point he was included in the board decision making panel but ultimately he quitted due to conflict of interest and also lack of principle leadership agreement. The primary leadership dimension is mainly to discover one self and to match this with required human characteristic to create an environment with which people can be managed effectively without change of character or influence falsely on someone else behavour or change of though in its mandate to achieve the required goals of the organization. Larry Ellison has a deep sense of thought for all the dimensions that lead him to reinvent himself and also the organization in all the aspects that worked towards achieved toward the long vision and long awaited goal. Its inevitable to mention that being the leader you always make decisions that affect other people directly or indirectly. Leadership is all about initiating control and commanding various policies in order to be implemented in the correct way. Its therefore to in order to mention that Larry Ellison passion and motivation clearly shows the dimension of leadership which in normal life style are hiden but they play a key role in development and growth of the company. Personal attributes. According to the university of Melbourne 2011 personal attribute is the characteristic of a person, place or a thing that clearly distinguishes one person to the other. Personal Attributes are diverse and combination of various attributes results to success or failure of oneself. Dubrin, 2011 asserts that the personal attributes are traits that contribute to leadership effectively. He further classifies attributes as characteristics that when combined demonstrates the leadership role and obligation effectively as required. He further analysis the characteristics that contribute to leadership into three categories mainly: personal traits,leadership motives and need, and finally cognitive factors. General personal attribute can be looked into different dimensions and vary from one person to the other. This includes the following attributes: Self confidence, humility, trustworthiness, enthusiasm, reliability, common sense, personal presentation, adaptability, motivation and drive, self esteem, honesty and integrity. Effective leaders have been mainly been distinguished from their motive and needs. The increased need to control resources makes it in evitable to combine the various attributes in order to provide the required leadership mix to sustain and control the various resources required at any one point. Leaders are believed to work extremely had to achieve their goals .Without this personal traits which in some cases are measureable makes it difficult to maintain the required standard and motives. Larry Ellison in general had a mix of personal attributes that drove him to success and its also through this personal traits that he was able to be seem as a successful leader who grew the company fro grown and see it through as a multinational. He had commitment which was evident from the start and helped him sail through the various challenges and barriers. His honesty made him resign from Apple and also he seemed to criticize the other companies from an open and honest mind set. Self Confidence is another trait that is influential in making decision and also in the growth of the company .Larry Ellision demonstrated this through self research and being an entrepreneur he was able to implement his own projects and development of a software company. In many events there was change of company from the parent company which was in partnership which he transformed to greater heights and greater standards and later developed software that matched the international standards. In some instances he was approached by software giants like IBM which he turned down leading to failed mergers. Adversely its mentioned that leadership is a wider scope that incorporates managerial roles. It characterized by several complexities which highly depend on the character traits of the individuals. University of Melbourne specifically irons out that the leadership traits play a greater role in development and growth of a company. Leadership entails decision making both long term and short term which adversely affects the set goals of an organization. Secondly leadership involves planning which depend with the level of engagement in all scope of organization structure. Planning involves arrangement and distribution of available resources in an organization which includes but not limited to human resource and finance. In 1997 oracle had faced a challenge that lead to laying off employees. This was as a result of poor planning in terms if managing sales which lead to cumulative bonuses and payoff and this was not reflected as actual sales. Though a decision was made through the help of Larry Ellison as Chief Executive officer and later all went back on track. Organization trait is also a key element demonstrated by the Oracle Corporation .It forms part of key and very important leadership role.Inorder to determine the progress and the future position of a company it’s necessary to organize your input so that the required output can be generated. Larry Ellison through his experience and the visionary trait had to match this aspect with conditions so that he can be able to adversely grow the company to greater heights. Managing Diversity in Oracle. Through a report oracle admit that its employees are diverse growing from various cultures, span four generation, religion and also a mix of large economy cities and lower economy small cities. Oracle is software that fulfills database management to all organization worldwide. It has grown from being a United States provider to a word wide provider of softwares.This diversity has made oracle to be all inclusive and taking all the people into account. Oracle has grown to be operational in 150 countries and this aspect has made oracle to be absorb all the employees. Oracle group has diversity in implementation and employment and this facilitates more employment in all area.This form of engagement forms the key oracle performance strategy which leads to motivation of employees. Oracle corporation employee portfolio is all inclusive which incorporates all races, religion, region which is global based in all areas. Oracle also is gender sensitive in that it employs both men and women in a given ratio according to the requirements. This has brought a mix in employment which creates a mix interaction and this helps to bond the operational team which in turn boosts the motivation of workers. Oracle provides also a human resource policy that controls and regulates the employment procedures which have to be adhered to in all levels of employment. Going by the report it’s a clear indication that young people are engaged as management trainees at an early stage just after training. In this regard the age group cuts across all the ages and this is leveled with increase work and professional experience. Oracle ideas and talents are diverse and ranges from all scope and walks of life. This aspect makes oracle to focus on building an all inclusive organization combining all the talents out there and building on the believe that talent is molded and worked for in all the global integration aspect. Through well established policies and business development oracle corporation has diverse customers and to build a firm business platform oracle focus on a diverse management team that will be able to serve satisfactorily the diverse customer base(Deloitte University Press,2013). This acts as combined effort and phenomena that bring out the combination of client base focus in order to bridge the gap that may arise between the different customers. Oracle's Workforce Minority Employees: 37% Female Employees: 29% Minority Managers: 34% Female Managers: 25% The leader as motivator and coach. Dubrin, 2012 asserts that effective leaders are outstanding motivators and coaches. Through motivation leaders keep the employees engaged and in return they appreciate the work they are delegated and they perform to the fullest. Through the expectancy and motivation theory it’s evident that individuals give more as they expect more reward. As a priority it’s evident that individual give a lot of input to what they think will benefit them more. The reciprocation factor seems to attract individual work input hence in order for organization to perform better the work force that makes the bigger part of the human resource need to be motivated. This aspect needs an effective leader who can combine both aspects of coaching and motivation in order to produce the right results. Larry Ellison as an effective leader has been a motivator in the technology industry, He dropped out of school twice and with this trend he was able to achieve his goal as a leading software vendor and also the highly paid Chief Executive Officer. Ellison greatest drive to work this far is the desire to compete. He has attained much as per know but he still involves himself fully to his career and company more than anybody about his level could do. He affirms that competitive environment and spirit is the greatest motivator and this aspect makes him work extremely hard and achieve the required through put. This is very motivating aspect of every leader who work towards achieving the highest end of a blue chip company. Motivation that extends from the leader or a position of a Chief Executive Officer makes the workforce look upon their leader and this increases the throughput For any motivation and good performance a conducive environment need to be provided and established with regard to the required output. It’s therefore important to b balance the different aspect of development lifecycle of the workforce available in order to determine whether their performance is the expected outcome. Motivation does not have to be expensive as every person refers it but some aspects like recognition plays a key role in establishing the link which in return helps to improve performance of the employees. Larry Ellison through his input and recognition of the workforce brought together a number of aspects and also motivational aspects hence good performance .Technology industry is very involving due to extensive programming and implementation as a result he makes sure that he lead by example and through instructions and policy make up he established a diverse and creative team to implement the various projects. Larry Ellison was fully involved in design and research from the start. After leaving Apex Corporation he incorporated his company as a provider of software solutions from the scratch with little financial capabilitie.This was a motivation to other innovators and entrepreneurs who would wish to grow their organization to greater heights. He was fully involved in design and implementation of all the projects. This element made him a coach since he could engage fully from development and implementation. He adversely focused in creating a competitive edge through research and development to standout among other key players like IBM, Informix and Microsoft .He lead the way and ultimately in 2010 oracle was outstanding as a major database program provider and a vendor The creative and innovative Aspects of Leaders. Learders are seen as the key and integral part of any company. Leaders are deemed as the planners and organizers of the resources of the organization. This Includes the financial resource, human resource, and the technical support.Inorder the companies to be equally competitive and to grow to greater heights and human resource and mostly the human resource need to be creative and innovative in all areas. Jeffrey Zacko Smith, 2006 asserts that in 21st Century is the time for heavy innovation and a leader is viewed as a person who can be able to initiate and manage change. In technology world the requirement change as need for new for new development grows. As a result technology world require the players to be very innovative in all manners and scope. One of the key roles of technology industry is to offer solutions to the customers and to bridge the gap of solution deficiency. Technology world has diverse customers base which is as a result of various requirements in order to solve they solution they need. As a result one needs to be very innovative and creative in order to achieve the competitive advantage in the competitive world Larry Ellison admitted that whatever drives him to work hard every day is the desire to compete competitively in all field of database softwares.He attributes the growth of Oracle to constant creativity and innovation in order to fulfill the software need of the clients. In particular it’s in order to establish that Larry being a leader had a direct contribution to development of the oracle software and that’s why every customer requirement was achieved since he needed to achieve his goal as an entrepreneur. Conclusion It’s clear to mention that the growth and establishment of any company purely depends on the type of leaders that drive the company forward. Larry Ellison was the Chief Executive officer and founder of oracle and he directly played part in key decision making and development of the soft wares to the required standards. He built the company from the scratch and was able to rise to the required standard. Leadership involves planning of the available resources, organizing the resources to give the right output, Control of the resources to make sure that the right purpose is achieved to reduce the operational cost of the organization and finally the leader are deemed to be the directors and instructors to direct other people in the organization so that the right output can be achieved. Leadership and communication go hand in hand in that through proper communication helps to motivate customers and hence required product out put. Barrett, 2011 asserts that leaders must be able to communicate effectively with other teams or staff. Managers spend most of their time communicating to other staff as a result a good manager should have good communication skills in order to achieve the required goal. This ranges from cell phone communication, Verbal communication, emails, reports and also letters. Therefore in order to achieve the long term and short term organization goal the managers and other leaders need to have a good communication strategy so that to be able to deliver the right information in the right manner at all time. To be good communicator you need to have good personal traits that are both inborn and also trained to perfection in order to have good implementation. Leaders also need to be motivators and coach since the other teams looks upon them. Therefore its clear to establish that to be a leader does not only basically mean giving instructions but it encompasses many aspects that drive the company forward. References Career planning worksheets (2011).Retrieved from:www.hr.unimelb.edu.au/careers/development/career-plan University of Melbourne Managing Diversity in oracle http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/careers/diversity/overview/index.html Deloitte University Press, July 2013: http//www.Dupress.com/articles Dubrin,A. (2011). Principles of leadership . 7th edition:Boston:Cengage learning publishers Jeffrey, S (2011).8 dimensions of leadership: Retrieved from: www.8dimensions of leadership.com Barrett, J (2006).A communication approach for senior –level managers. Retrieved from: https://www.scholarship.rice.edu Business communication for success .Retrieved from: www.saylor.org/.../textbooks/Business%20Communication%20for%20Su Key leadership strategies to enhance communication. Retrieved from: http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p195-pub. Jeffrey Zack Smith (2006). Creative Leadership: http://www.academia.edu/ Jeff, G (2010) Leadership and management development.retrived from: www.shop.cipd.co.uk/.../bookshop/.../pdf/bookstorepdfs/leadership Read More