Leadership Case Study Examples

QUESTION A1 :Five Leadership Principles:

Assuming that I am the Chief Executive Officer of a large corporation, the five leadership principles that can lead me and my business to a remarkable success in today’s environment just like Amazon include the followings.

  1. Listening:

The prime leadership principle that could help me and my business is listening. Most of the CEOs in the present day world consider that they have full authority and rights to speak and direct others without thinking that the other person can also have a valid point or important information. Listening is one leadership principle that can help even the CEOs learn new things and gain knowledge that could not only help in accomplishing the organization goals but also makes life easier for others. It is rightly said, that life is worth learning throughout the life time, and listening is one of the best method where in an opportunity to others to display their ideas and innovative thoughts can bring out new improve way of managing things.

  1. Learning:

The second leadership principle that could help me and my business is learning. Learning should continue throughout life, and CEOs should continue to learn throughout life if they want to maintain their pace of success and growth in life. The learning can be accomplished when the past records and present accomplishments of other business executives could be read and learnt about.

  1. Proactive:

The third leadership principle that could help me and my business is through application of proactive approach. Under this approach, the CEOs are required to take action in advance considering the probability of occurrence of a particular event. Thus a proper plan of action can be prepared that could help best in dealing with the situation that may arise in future (Quaddus & Woodside, 2015).

  1. Planning:

The fourth leadership principle is planning that can help me and my business to explore future opportunities by making assumptions and estimates of what can be expected and needed to be achieved. This way planning can help in setting priorities that could help businesses to sustain and develop for longer time frame.

  1. Courage

The fifth leadership principle is courage that can help me and my business to accomplish more than expected. Courage does not mean taking lunartic actions, but, daring actions that could help in accomplishing desired goals and objectives. This means that a CEO should not only dream of improving his career growth and increasing revenue generation for the organization but should also take courageous steps to accomplish such goals through proper care and planning process in action (Onah & Anikwe, 2016). 

QUESTION A2 : Leaders applying task behavior or relations behavior:

Leaders can use task behavior as well as relation behavior together to accomplish their objectives as well as keep their employees motivated. This can be done as follows.

  • Emphasis on work and interaction facilitation:

The task behavior of emphasising on work can be aligned with relation behavior of interaction facilitation. This can help the leaders to set priorities for the business which can help in accomplishing long term goals and objectives. Also the interaction with the employees can help in conveying the goals and objectives so that the strategies can be framed and tactics can be planned accordingly.

  • Focus on structure, roles and tasks along with relationships, well being and motivation:

The leaders can align the task behavior including focus on structure and roles with relationships, well being and motivation so that the right person can be deployed for the right job position so that the most desired outcomes and gains can be achieved. This include shifting of employees to restructure the organization and applying such roles that can bring out the best from the human resource. This will help in making the positive reinforcements such as motivation and incentives for developing better relationships and well being of the employees (Guang & Trotter, 2012).

  • Producing desired results along with positive relationships:

The leaders can produce desired results by fostering positive relationships with the employees. This include allowing employee participation in the decision making process so that new and innovative ideas can be brought in which could cut costs and improve overall productivity of the business.  Thus not only the positive relationships will be developed with the employees wherein they are given opportunity to spell out their experience and ideas so that the most desired results in the form of accomplishing long term goals and objectives, cost effectiveness and increased revenue generation can be achieved.

  • Goal setting through team communication:

The leaders can apply task oriented outlook wherein goal setting can be done through communication with the team members. As a result, the inputs attained from the employees help in setting up SMART goals which are specific, measurable, achieveable, realistic and timely. This way the goals are set which can be accomplished through proper temam communication suggesting the best course of action and strategies that can help in accomplishing the best outcomes and gains for the organization.

  • Schedules and plans supported by team meetings:

Leaders should apply task oriented goals through setting up of schedules in conformity with the relationship oriented goals following regular team meetings. This way the team meetings can help in setting up schedules that help in setting up practices, procedures and programs so that the most desired outcomes are achieved. In the team meeting the schedules could be supported by incentive systems and punishment plans so that the best performance outcomes can be retrieved from the employees that supports accomplishment of long term target goals and outcomes for the organization (Dalziel, 2015). 

SECTION B 

QUESTION B2  :Potential benefits of executive teams inorganizations:

The potential benefits of executive teams in an organization include the followings.

  • Offer their specialized skills and abilities:

The primary benefit of executive teams to the organization and the CEO is that they offers their specialized skills and abilities. The executive teams members of high level management are actually equipped with latest information inputs, specialization in certain field and knowledge that could prove vital for the organization. In addition to that the executive teams are mostly consisting of the highly experience and skilled managers who brings along with them such skills and abilities that are gained through years of service in other organization. As a result, deep rooted experience and decision making ability can help the organization and its CEO to take advantage of diversified knowledge, skills and abilities of the executive team (Townsend et al., 2017).

  • Compensate the weakness of the CEO:

Another main benefit of executive team is that they can compensate the weakeness of the CEO. This means they can help bridge the gap between the required abilities of the CEO with their actual abilities. CEOs are not at all capable of doing everything and due to this reason they are supported by the executive team who can offers their specialized knowledge and skills. As a result, the weakness of CEO can get compensated. For instance, a CEO may be a MBA with years of experience in managerial decision making process, but, can lack the ability to access the accounts books as efficiently as a CA or Chartered Accountant. As a result, the decision making can be affected if the CEO is not able to evaluate the financial figures efficiently and apply the decising making process accordingly. Therefore the executive team helps in supporting the effective decision making process by offering their expert advice in their particular field so that the CEO can apply the best and most relevant decision which could take the organization to new hieghts of success and growth.

  • Support decision making process:

Executive teams support the decision making process. This is done by offering their valuable advices, suggestions and innovative ideas that help the CEO in getting to know about the possible way to solve problem and move ahead with the business strategy. For instance, the Chief Engineer and Production Manager who is part of the executive team and keep ahead SMART goals which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. This will help the CEO pacing up expectations up to the required levels. Hence the chances of inaccomplishent and dissatisfaction will decline as the goals will be accomplished with extra efforts and strategic inputs to accomplish realistic goals (Ruthven & Chowdhury, 2015).

  • Influence strategic decisions:

Executive teams helps in influencing strategic decisions. The years of experience of the executive team members can help the CEO in setting up strategies that are time proven to be effective. This way the chancs of losing money and facing failure will decline because the executive team members will make the CEO well aware of the potential outcomes well in advance.

  • Team work and power balance is attained:

Executive teams helps in applying team work and offer power balance in the business process. This way the executive teams from different background, experience and expertize are allowed to suggest the best course of action to the CEO as per their skills and abilities. Hence the best outcomes are expected to be achieved when the power is shared by the team members for the benefit of the organization (Haque et al., 2009).

QUESTION B3  :Factors enabling you to better influence others.

The several factors that enables a leader to better influence others include the followings.

  • Sharing vision:

The first and foremost factor that enable a leader to better influence others is sharing vision. A leader should share his/her vision with other team members so that they could get convinced and make efforts towards accomplishment of particular targets and goals for the organization. Sharing vision can help the leader to convey the cause of particular decision making process and therefore ascertain that conflict or criticism is not attracted from the team members.

  • Leading by example:

The important factor that enable a leader to better influence others is through leading by example. The leaders should first initate the decision, apply of him/her and then create an example so that others can follow. This could motivate others to follow the similar footsteps so that the most required outcomes and gains can be attained. Leading by example not only make it easier and comfortable for the team members to follow but also brings a sense of possibility wherein sincere attempts are attracted (Gray et al., 2015).

  • Demonstrating integrity:

Another important factor that enable a leader to better influence othes is by demonstrating integrity. A leader should reveal his true ability and sincerity for accomplishment of target goals and objectives for the organization. This will help in attracting attention as well as commitment of other team members who will follow the similar foot steps.

  • Effective communication:

Effective communication is another vital factor that enable a leader to clearly convey the strategy, tactics and plan of action which brings the conformity and acceptance of the team members. Thus taking courageous decision becomes easier in such case. Also the motivating and inspiring others become easier (Arun & Kamath, 2015). 

References:

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Arvind, A.B., 2015. Management Information Systems for Microfinance: Catalyzing social innovation for competitive advantage. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Dalziel, H., 2015. Infosec management fundamentals. Waltham: Elsevier.

Fukuhara, Y., 2016. A critical interpretation of bottom-up management and leadership styles within Japanes companies: A focus on empowerment and trust. Al & Society, 31(1), pp.85-93.

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Gray, H. et al., 2015. Management Information Systems. Milton: John Wiley and Sons.

Guang, T. & Trotter, D., 2012. Key issues in cross-cultural business communication: Anthropological approaches to international business. African Journal of Business Management., 6(22), pp.6456-64.

Hahtela, N. et al., 2014. Influence of workplace cultures on nursing-sensitive nurse outcomes in municipal primary health care. Journal of Nursing Management., pp.1-9.

Haque, A., Tarofder, A.K., Rahman, S. & Raquib, M.A., 2009. Electronic transaction of internet banking and its perception of Malaysian online customers. African Journal of Business Management Vol 3(6), pp.248-59.

Hodges & Howieson, 2017. The Challenges of Leadership in the Third Sector. European Management Journal, 35(1), pp.69-77. Available at: DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2016.12.006.

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Lin, D., Lee, C., Lau, H. & Yang, Y., 2018. Strategic response to Industry 4.0: An empirical investigation on the Chinese automotive industry. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 118(3), pp.589-605.

Mamun, A. & Hasan, N., 2017. Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention strategies in business organizations: A Conceptual View. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(1), pp.63-71. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.15(1).2017.06.

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Onah, O.F. & Anikwe, S.O., 2016. The task of attraction and retention of academic staff in Nigerian Universities. Journal of Management and Strategy, 7(2), pp.9-20. Available at: doi:10.5430/jms.v7n2p9.

Quaddus, M. & Woodside, A., 2015. Sustaining competitive advantage via business intelligence, knowledge management and system dynamics. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Ruthven, I. & Chowdhury, G., 2015. Cultural heritage information: Access and management. England: Facet Publishing.

Samson, D., 2015. Management. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning.

Townsend, K., Mcdonald, P. & Cathcart, A., 2017. Managing flexible work arrangements in small not-for-profit firms: The influence of organizational size, financial constraints, and workforce characteristics. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(14), pp.2085-107. Available at: DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2015.1136671.