Leadership That Produces Results - Essay Example

LEADERSHIP THAT PRODUCES RESULTS Student Name Institution Date Introduction The success of any institution or the progress of any nation requires visionary leadership. In many parts of the world, nations have failed and businesses have crumbled because of the lack of proper governance. In nations where poor leadership is exercised, the result is increased chances of civil wars and economic problems. In businesses also, the results of poor leadership include the poaching of employees by other firms within the same industry, lack of proper coordination in the various department, sabotaging work by the employees as well as reduced competitiveness of the enterprise. Leadership is described as an art of exercising authority over people. In simpler terms, leaders are known to have power over the people they rule. They have an obligation to bring people together in working towards achieving a common objective. Leadership can be political, where individuals seek political positions to either meet the needs of the people or their own selfish gains. Such kind of leadership is commonly practiced in both democratic and dictatorial regimes all over the world (Gallos, 2008). In business, however, leadership is an essential tool for the success or failure of an enterprise. Big institutions that have very good business plans have always failed to implement such plans because of poor leadership. The business environment, therefore, describes leadership as the process of getting things done through people. There is the need to recognize that the leadership of any given institution has the mandate to develop strategies and work out ways of implementing them to the latter. Successful business leaders usually employ well calculated methods in implementing their strategies. They act as pace setters and involve all the other workers in trying to achieve the goals of organizations. Such leaders also look for ways of developing blue oceans for their companies so that they are not faced out in the wake of competition within the industries where they operate. Developing a market niche for any given company requires a lot of sacrifice and time input from the leadership (MacLean, 2008). A common misconception about leaders is that a leader should be someone with a bog title or an individual dominating a given company. However, leadership involves the ability to empower people while ensuring that they effectively meet the goals of the given organization. Leadership in enterprises requires that the needs of the employees be met and the organizational competition be upgraded. For instance, the Starbucks Coffee Company, through its chief executive director has shown exemplary leadership in the corporate world. The company has a large number of employees who are properly managed. As an incentive to ensure that their overall performance is increased, the employees are provided with better working conditions, health and retirement schemes. The company also exercises strategies such as franchising, licensing and operator owned subsidiaries to increase its influence in the global market. Various leadership skills can be used in ensuring the success of a company. According to Daniel Goleman (2008), there are six distinct leadership styles that can be exercised in an organization. One of them is the coercive style where the leaders demand that their wishes be done by their subordinates. The method is commonly employed when changes need to be done in an organization and there is strictly no time for meetings and discussions. Another method used is the authoritative style where a person establishes himself as the company’s expert and leads the company towards achieving its goal. The method is commonly used in situation where a company requires a change in direction and the need of an individual to steer it to the next level. Pacesetting leadership involves establishing high performance standards and ensuring that they are mat. This is especially significant in organizations where employees are highly skilled. Another leadership style is the democratic leadership in which the contributions of the team are essential in developing final decisions of the company. The leader chair a meeting in which the team vote for or against a motion. This kind of leadership allows employees to increase their performance since it increases their morale. The other leadership style is the affiliate leadership which mainly involves team building. In the business world, great leaders are characterized by flexibility in thinking. Since there is nothing in the world that remains static over the years, great corporate leaders should have flexible minds to ensure that their businesses survive and thrive (Maxwell, 2007). For instance, government regulations, technology, natural disasters and competitors’ targets have profound effects on businesses and the leaders should be innovative in thinking to survive in such environments. Secondly, great corporate leaders are humble. In as much as they have many employees that are answerable to them, many successful business people are always ready to learn from the employees. They do not act arrogantly when handling even the least person in the organization but listen to them. This helps in improving the performance of employees since they feel as part of the organization. Quality leaders also depends on communication and talent. Good leaders know their talents and can apply them well in their situations. Communication is also important as it creates a good working environment and encourages others outside the organization. This paper describes the leadership and communication style of a Chinese corporate leader, Jack Ma, and examines whether it fits in the current globalized environment. Discussion The business environment all over the world has had many innovations that have served as employment opportunities for many people world over. Of great significance is that such innovations are inspired by good leadership. One of the countries in the world that have had huge progress in the world today is China. In the recent past, China has expanded its branches in all parts of the world especially the developing world, hence stirring up economic development in those regions. Overview of China’s Economic Status The beginning of market reforms in China in the 1970s has played an important role in transforming the economy of the country from a centrally planned to market based economy. The result is increased economic and social development, reducing poverty in the country. With a population of 1.3 billion individuals, China is regarded as one of the most populated countries in the world, but the rapid population growth has not hindered its development. According to statistics, China has a gross domestic product (GDP) increase of up to 10% annually, impacting positively on the lives of the poor. The rating of China as a developing nation despite the increased economic growth is however because the income per capita is less than those of the developed nations and the market reforms is not complete. The nation still experiences challenges such as poverty as approximately 98 million people still live below the poverty line. It is one of the fast developing nations in the world with its economy beating even some of the developed nations. The rapid economic development has also brought a lot of challenges in the country. Such problems such as environmental unsustainability are caused by the rapid industrialization which reduces the air quality especially in the cities. Increased population growth also causes overreliance on the natural resources by the poor, hence deforestation and other environmental challenges. Other problems caused by this economic growth include rapid urbanization and increased inequality. These challenges are, however, not a drawback for the country as it has managed to set itself in the economies of other developing countries. Today, China is the main exporter of electronic materials and other appliances to developing countries such as Kenya. A lot of roads are currently under construction in the African nations courtesy of the Chinese government. The country enjoys partnership in projects with many of the developing nations and continues to improve its economic growth. Such economic increase has caused the country to not only be at the core of innovation in other countries but also stir up business opportunities within the country. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Among the best performing companies in China today is the Alibaba Group Holding Limited. The company is an electronic business that allows the exchange of goods and services among consumers and businesses through e- portals. The Chinese company offers services to its customers by allowing them to interact via the portals created. The company also offers cloud computing services, payment modes and search engines for shopping. This way, it creates a linkage between the Chinese manufacturers and the overseas buyers. The main mission of the enterprise is to make it possible to do business anywhere in the world. Its vision is building the commerce infrastructure by enabling business and social interactions among customers and business people. The company was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma together with eighteen other members. The starting of this company was driven by the realization that the internet, being a helpful tool in business, would help small businesses to increase their competition in the market where other big companies dominated. Alibaba. Com holds the flag of the group and provides a channel through growing entrepreneurs can market their products worldwide. Market Domains The company operates majorly in three market domains. The first one is the international market where it facilitates the exchange of goods and services among companies in different countries. This market niche is majorly for importers and exporters. There is also the Chinese market that operates commonly within the country. The business provides educational programs for young entrepreneurs and leaders across China. A third market is the Japanese platform where the company also works with an associate company in Japan to promote customer relationship among small businesses and buyers in the region. These market domains all together constitute over 50 million registered users. Since then Alibaba Group has strived to increase its services to the customers thus helping it to scale up the business ladder. Initially the company helped small exporters, manufacturers and entrepreneurs to market their good globally. Today, the company has grown to offer other services to its customers such as advertising and marketing; cloud based computing, mobile solutions and network services (Schepp and Schepp, 2013). The core achievements of the enterprise include going public in the New York stock exchange, offering mobile virtual network operator services in China and extending its services to enable international companies to offer their products to China in a direct manner. The company is also represented in more than 60 cities across China, the United States, Japan, Korea and Europe. The company also enjoys a good international reputation with over 1.8 million users of Alibaba.com in the United States alone. The United States has 16% of the users of the company’s website with the number expected to grow in the coming years. Culture and customs Since the main aim of the organization is to upgrade small businesses within the country, the organization operates in an environment that allows all the participants to prosper. The operations are carried out in a transparent manner so that the needs of all stakeholders are taken into account. The growth of the company is attributed to entrepreneurship, innovation and the need to cater for the needs of all stakeholders. Among the core values of the company is the need to put customers first. This increases the preference of this company to other e commerce companies in the country. Secondly, the company believes in teamwork and flexibility as important agents of success. In developing team work, the company brings together the workers with the aim of ensuring that the customers receive efficient services. The company also recognizes that change is inevitable and therefore has set up mechanisms that make it flexible in the event of changes that may occur in the market place. Flexibility is important in any organization since changes occur in the world almost every day. Business strategies In order to achieve the status of world renowned e-commerce business it enjoys today, Alibaba implements specific strategies in ensuring its competence in the market. Among these strategies is an evaluation system. The system allows comments from both sides, that is, the buyer and the seller once a transaction has been completed. The importance of this strategy is to allow honesty from both sides. This enables the business partners to develop trust with each other. Another strategy employed by the high quality of services offered. The company ensures that its services are offered in a transparent manner. For instance, for effective and convenient communication among the customers, the company provides communication forums to the customers where the prices of goods can be negotiated and agreements reached. This enables the customers to interact freely among themselves. The communication tools are also essential to the company as they enable gathering of real time information about ongoing transactions. The communication tools that are used to this effect are Alitalk and Yahoo message (Erisman, 2015). Price strategy is another important way through which Alibaba has managed to beat other companies to become the most popular e-business enterprise in the world today. To find a market niche, Alibaba initially used free registration as a way of attracting customers to use the websites. Today registration for local Chinese businesses is $365 and even more for companies in the international market domain. This enables the company to make enough profits that can sustain its expansion all over the world. The place strategy has also helped in the rapid expansion of the business. The success of the Alibaba Group of businesses is facilitated by the location of the company in Zhejiang province which has a good market economy because of the rapid development of privately owned businesses. Jack Ma Important to note is that good leaders are not born, but made from hard work. At the core of the success of the Alibaba Group is a talented corporate leader called Jack Ma. He is a self-made billionaire and former chief executive officer of the company. Currently, he is the chairman of the board of directors after stepping down in 2013. Jack is also a renowned business leader in China and all over the world for scaling his company to relevance in the global market. All these achievements require visionary leadership as seen in Jack Ma. Jack was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in China to parents who were traditional story tellers in 1964. His desire to learn English caused him to interact with the foreigners in the city in an attempt to improve his English. The name Jack was given to him by one of his foreign friends who had difficulty pronouncing his name. Having failed the university entrance exams, he enrolled in the Teachers Institute in Hangzhou, where he graduated with a degree in English in 1988 (Liu and Avery, 2009). His leadership skills began manifesting in school where he was a student leader and later became a lecturer in English and International Trade at Dianzi University. He later furthered his education in Beijing, graduating in 2006. He started off by developing websites for Chinese entrepreneurs with the help of his American friends, before starting his own company, alongside 17 other members in his apartment in Hangzhou, which is also his hometown. Today Jack stands as the richest man in the republic of China, with his company extending its branches to many countries in the world. Having heard about the internet for the first time in 1994, the innovator, together with his friend created an ugly website about China at a time when the searches related to China had no results. After five hours he received emails from Chinese nationals who were inquiring about him. That is when Jack realized the untapped potential that the internet could offer and got an inspiration to pursue it further. Together with his wife and a friend, the trio started a company called China Yellow Pages, with only $20,000 and earned &80,000 within three years of operation. At the time, Jack was working as an information specialist at the China International Commerce Centre, a department of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation. He quit his job and moved back to his home town in Hangzhou to start Alibaba. Com in 1999. He brought together 17 other members in making it happen. Under his leadership, the company has developed fast, currently having over 79 million followers globally with a profound presence in more than 240 countries around the globe. Achievements Having met a lot of challenges in his life as a youth, and not letting the challenges of life affect his vision, Jack has managed to achieve greater things for Alibaba hence becoming the greatest billionaire in China. In fact, he first encountered a computer at the age of thirty three. Having the passion to learn has caused him to scale higher in the corporate world, hence gaining recognition globally for the things he has managed to accomplish. Among the greatest accomplishments of Jack Ma include leading the company in winning an international joint venture worth $25 million twice. This happened in 1999 when the business commenced and in 2000, barely a year after it began. The investment was aimed at improving business especially in the small and medium size categories in China. The urge to improve e-commerce among small businesses in China and in the diaspora drove him to start Taobao market place, Alipay, Alimama and Lynx in 2003. Currently Alibaba Group holds subsidiaries such as Tmall, Alibaba.com and Taobao market place among others. Leadership Style As a leader and the founder of Alibaba Holdings Company, Jack has exercised leadership skills of high quality to ensure that the company reaches where it is today. He is described as a pace setter and a democratic leader. He has served his employees well over the years and engages them in matters concerning the well-being of his organization. His ability to bring together his juniors in achieving the mission and vision of the Alibaba Group Holdings is unquestionable. Among the leadership skills that Jack exercises, making him surpass all other entrepreneurs of his age is the excellent communication skills he possesses. Communication is one of the important skills in making it happen in the business world. Through good communication, he is able to get his employees to improve their performance by talking to them nicely. It also takes excellent persuasion skills to convince the customers and clients to use your item. For instance, with his little knowledge about software, he persuaded an IT team to establish Alibaba. He also managed to convince the founder of Soft Bank to invest a lot of money into his business. Through his good leadership skills, he has managed to establish a good rapport with his employees based on communication and gives them credit in any forum he addresses. This makes the employees to feel valued and hence have the spirit to perform. Another leadership skill that has helped in improving Alibaba is the ability to accept and embrace failures. Good leaders are not afraid of failure and use such situations to improve themselves. Failing the university entrance exams thrice was not a drawback for Jack and he managed to secure a position in a teaching institution to improve his English. In his organization, he always took the blame in case of anything inappropriate. This way, he eliminated blame games in the company and provided a basis for a healthy working environment. Jack Ma can also be described as a visionary leader. Good leadership requires the ability to look into the future and understand the potential that it holds for an organization. In his good will for Alibaba, he had envisioned the company beating eBay and Amazon, which were doing quite well at the time. He made his employees feel as part of the future of the organization and encouraged them to work towards this common goal. Today, Alibaba is the most recognized e-commerce company in the world. Frustrated by the rapid growth and competition from Alibaba, eBay closed most of its Chinese websites. Attitude is one of the key values of a good corporate leader and Jack is not an exception. In order to stir an organization to the next level, attitude is an important factor. His positive attitude towards having a world class e-commerce company has enabled him to beat other companies within the same industry. He has also inculcated this attitude in his subordinates, thus enabling them to complete the work assigned to them within the stipulated time. Correspondingly, patience is another trait the tie exercised by the Alibaba founder which enables him to prosper despite competition from other companies. For instance, in a meeting where a proposal almost eluded the group, Jack did not lose his patience but rather used his persuasion skills in ensuring that the proposal got back in his company. This kind of patience is essential in the success of any business. Market intuition is the other trait that made Jack one of the globally successful businessmen on the planet. The ability to identify a need and find ways to solve the problem in a different manner is important to the success of any company. In beginning his career, Jack worked as an English teacher for six years before starting his own business. At the time, he created websites for the local government part time. He realized that working with the government offered very little opportunities and that partnering with the small and medium sized organizations would have great potential since these businesses, together formed 85 percent of Chinese enterprise. When he founded Alibaba.com, Jack did not use the customer to customer or business to customer models used by eBay and Amazon respectively at that time. He however, focused on the business to business model whose main aim was to create market via the internet to the small and medium enterprises considered to have nothing compared to bigger companies. The leadership strategies used by Jack Ma in the management of Alibaba Holdings fit in today’s globalized world in many ways. First, the world today recognizes the rights of the employees and the need for the management to offer incentives that increase their morale in the work place. Jack Ma’s case is exceptional since he goes out of the way to share the visions and plans of the organization with his employees. As a result, a sense of belonging is inculcated in the employees and their ability to function effectively increased. Secondly, the leadership skills exercised by Jack Ma have a place in the globalized world today. In his interview with Business Review, Jack admits that he hires people who are better than him to accomplish his goals and desires that someone should also beat him. This kind of inspiration is important in encouraging the young and upcoming entrepreneurs that it can be done. Conclusion From the above discussion, leadership is not just an art but a science in which an individual masters his organization well and uses the available resources to drive it a notch higher. Good leadership that produces good result require that leaders, especially in businesses tread extra miles in ensuring that the goals of the company is accomplished. these should encompass proper employee motivation and efficient communication skills References Arbinger Institute. (2002). Leadership and self-deception: Getting out of the box. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler. Erisman, P. (2015). Alibaba's world: How a remarkable Chinese company is changing the face of global business. Fannin, R. A. (2008). 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