STREAT - Professional Practice in Business Name - Case Study Example

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN BUSINESS NAME University name City Country Introduction Leadership is key in determining the success of an organization. Since the core objective of any organization is to meet all the set objectives, it is important that that good leadership be exercised to achieve the dream. As Gronn (2009) assert, the achievement of objectives is the true measure of success. Some major scandals like the fall of Enron occurred because of lack of leadership and responsible leadership to be precise (Maak, 2007). Responsible leadership entails all about making decisions business decisions that, apart from taking care of the interests of the shareholders, also take care the interests of other stakeholders like workers, company clients, suppliers, the environment and the general community at large (Groves, & LaRocca, 2011). This essay focuses on applicability of responsible leadership at STREAT. Responsible leadership Responsible leadership entails all about making decisions business decisions that, apart from taking care of the interests of the shareholders, also take care the interests of other stakeholders like workers, company clients, suppliers, the environment and the general community at large (Groves, & LaRocca, 2011). Responsible leadership is a term that is used to convey or communicate various elements that actually determine the level of responsibility that a certain leader portrays and the manner in which a leader behaves in conducting businesses of making decisions regarding people they lead and the performance of organizations they manage (Henry, & Wolfgramm, 2015). Maak & Pless (2006) critically examine responsible leadership as an evolution and transformation of leadership from a “Leader-subordinate” leadership relationship to a “Leader-stakeholder” relationship. Therefore, this kind of transformation greatly widens the scope and meaning of responsible leadership to significantly encompass a diverse group where relationships among stakeholders become a center of interest and focus (Miska, Mayer, & Hilbe, 2013). Infact, ethical leadership is connected to responsible leadership theory. Similarly, responsible leadership is agreement with behavioural theory and trait leadership theory because both theories advocate for the behaviour of a leader (Zaccaro, 2007). The behavioural theory offers a completely different perspective regarding leadership, a perspective that places more emphasis on the behaviour of a leader as opposed to placing emphasis on the physical and mental characteristics of a leader (Westaby, Probst, & Lee, 2010). Responsible leadership, through shifting focus to wide a variety of stakeholders, helps create a strong and binding relationship between leaders, their followers and other relevant stakeholders (Ike, 2016). In fact, responsible leadership echo the sentiments of transformational leadership which states that leadership is a process by which a leader interacts with his followers and other stakeholders in order to create a very strong and solid relationship that consequently results to a high level of trust that will in the long run translate to increased intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in both leaders and followers (BAMFORD-WADE, & MOSS, 2010). Overview of STREAT STREAT is a social enterprise based in Melbourne, Australia established with a purpose of providing youth with a support to enable them move from the streets to a livelihood that is much more sustainable (Streat, 2017). Established in the year 2009 by Rebecca Scott and Kate Barrele, STREAT has grown over time to extent its operations to regions beyond Melbourne. STREAT amassed much of its startup funding from various overseas philanthropists including the TK foundation (Streat, 2017). However, STREAT has greatly spread and widened its support base to even include the Australian government, other philanthropists, businesses and even individuals. When STREAT kick started its operations, it alongside offered a six month certificate II program to its young people (Streat, 2017). The programme has so far expended to include other hospitality courses and other interesting and creative programs. STREAT clearly understands that young people need compassion and a path way of opportunities, something they have capitalized to boost their success. In the year 2012, and STREAT started an equity investment in an Australian social enterprise, leading to a successful acquisition of The Social Roasting Company, a company which operated a coffee roastery alongside other two cafes (Streat, 2017). To date, STREAT’s commitment to provision of best support and training opportunities to young people in the whole community has never waned neither has it gotten staggered. Why I chose the company In Victoria, Australia, there are over 7,000 youth or rather young people between the age of 12 and 24, who are homeless (SVA, 2017). The future of these young people is bleak, besides their options being limited. Most of these young people have gone through and endured very unwelcoming situations in their lives that have led to their homelessness, most of them having left schooling at tender ages, even before attaining 10 years (SVA, 2017). Owing to the kind of diverse problems faced by these young people, it is obvious that very intensive and integrated help and support is needed of help them move out of their problems. It is for this reason that STREAT chose to socially and morally equip these young people with necessary skills to enable them have out of their disadvantage. Similarly, it is the ability of STREAT to help and equip these young people with skills necessary to help them better their lives. I also decided to choose STREAT because of the kind of leadership style the enterprise believes in which helps it implement the Concept of empowering the vulnerable and the disadvantaged people in the society (SVA, 2017). Ways in which the leaders show responsible leadership Since responsible leadership entails taking care of not only the shareholders by a bigger part the stakeholders and the community, it is evident that this is what has always been and is being practiced at STREAT. The leadership of STREAT has portrayed responsible leadership in the following ways: Firstly, STREAT has focused on transforming the livelihoods of youths from the street based life to more affordable and sustainable life. As Ponnappa (2014) asserts, a good project should be transformative. The transformatory nature of the projects they undertake is one indication of the application of responsible leadership. Secondly, by creation of opportunities. The leadership of SREAT has exercised responsible leadership by creating opportunities for the youth. This aspect of opportunity creation itself has enabled the youth self-manage their own lives. The leadership has positively impacted not only the youth but also the entire society as a whole (Groves, & LaRocca, 2011). Challenges faced by STREAT There are a number of challenges faced by STREAT in the course of delivering its core objective and mandate. Firstly, STREAT is faced with a problem of resources. Money as a resource has been a challenge to the leadership of STREAT because a times the people they serve, the youth, outweigh the resources they have (SVA, 2017). Serving more than 7,000 homeless youths is not easy. Secondly, most of the youth are very young, most of them being the age of between 12 years and 17 years. Having left schooling at very tender ages, it becomes and challenges to take them through technical courses because they are below age (SVA, 2017). Suggestion to ensure that STREAT remains successful and responsible STREAT has been and is one of the most successful social enterprises of all times. Its success is owed to the ability of its leadership to be highly responsible and inclusive. STREAT has stayed focused to its core objective of transforming the lives homeless youths from the streets to a more sustainable lifestyle (Pless, 2007). Besides, the leadership of STREAT has also realized that the youth need skills and opportunities to enable them better their lives. Therefore, STREAT has capitalized on opportunity ad skill creation to better the lives of the homeless youths by offering them necessary skills and creating opportunities. Therefore in order to make STREAT more successful in its quest to transform the livelihood of the youth, I recommend the following: i. Get focused to its core objective and try as much as possible to better it time in time out. ii. Ensure that they establish projects which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound. This enables them work within the limits of their resources, and keep them focused on their core objective (Pless, 2007). iii. They should always ensure that their projects conform to the triple constraint or the Cost-Schedule-Quality equilibrium. The leadership of STREAT should ensure that they continually produce projects that are cost effective, time effective ad of high quality (Pless, 2007). iv. The leadership of STREAT should continually undertake a cost benefit analysis of their projects to ascertain the impact the projects is creating in the lives of the youth, as compared to the input in terms of cost. Ideally, according to Missonier, & Loufrani-Fedida (2014) a successful project should create more positive impact in terms of output as compared to input in terms of resources. What I have learned about responsible leadership I have personally learned that responsible leadership pertains being true to self, shareholders, stakeholders and the entire community. I have come to the realization that responsible leadership is transformatory, enabling people move from a current negative situation to a prospective future positive situation. Responsible leaders take care of all the parties affected by the projects initiated by the organization (Westaby, Probst, & Lee, 2010). For example, Responsible leaders ensure that the projects initiated by the originations are transformative in nature, create more positive impact, are cost effective and are compliant with various regulatory bodies. Additionally, I have learned that responsible leaders take full control of their actions. By undertaking this assignment I have learned the applicability of leadership theories and the context in which leadership theories like behavioural and traits theories are applied (Groves, & LaRocca, 2011). Conclusion Responsible leadership is a major determinant of success in an organization (Pless, 2007). Responsible leadership focuses more on the community and other stakeholders other than the ordinary shareholders. This shift in focus is important because of the nature of inclusivity contained in it. It is evident from the essay that STREAT is and has been successful because of the applicability of responsible leadership. Its ability to transform the lives of the homeless youth from the street to a more sustainable livelihood is amazing. In conclusion therefore, to be successful leaders must shift their focus to other stakeholders apart from the common shareholders. References BAMFORD-WADE, A. & MOSS, C. (2010). Transformational leadership and shared governance: an action study. 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Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1): 6-16. Read More