Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnectedness between leadership styles and governance models applied in present-day organizations
Leadership can be rightfully defined as a procedure using which an organization can successfully ensure that it’s able to successfully achieve its objectives. A leader is an individual who guides the different organizational members and goes a long way in ensuring that these members are able to contribute effectively towards the achievement of different organizational goals. The leader which has been chosen for the purpose of the report has been chosen as Katie Page. Katie is the CEO of Harvey Norman and has successfully lead the company during the e-commerce era and has taken it to great heights. Belonging to a humble background, Katie grew up in different locations like Rockhampton, St. George and Brisbane (Vogue.com.au, 2018). She was very enthusiastic about herself and took up several jobs and intelligence tests while she was young in order to improve her skills. When she initially joined the company, she was responsible for marketing, ad purchasing and other communication related activities of the firm. She has extensively contributed towards ensuring that Harvey Norman grows in size. She has been chosen for the purpose of this report, because she has shown exceptional leadership skills and with her guidance and experience she assisted the firm in expanding the different operations of the firm into the different countries like Malaysia, Slovenia, Ireland and Singapore (Harveynorman.com.au, 2018). It is due to her vision in guidance that the company currently has around 277 stores in various countries and earns a net profit which is more than 165$ million. Over the time she has portrayed incredible qualities of a leader whereby she has shown support to the employees, helped them to attain the vision, enabled a sense of belongingness and in addition to this, she has seen to it that the firm progresses along with its employees.
The given section will be analyzing the literature based on the different topics which have been learnt throughout the particular model. This will deepen the understanding of the topic and help in relating it to real life scenarios. The different topics which will be analyzed in the particular literature review will be with respect to the theories of teamwork, leadership, diversity, ethics as well as change management.
Team work can be defined as the integral aspect of any organization whereby the members are required to work together in a team in order to see to it that the objectives of the team are achieved at large. Team work requires a particular procedure and a synchronization which becomes quite difficult to achieve and it is due to this reason that the different theories related to team work and leadership need to be applied throughout the workplace at large. In addition to this, according to Burns (2016), there are a large number of team work and team performance theories available. One of the most popular theories of team work is the Team Development theory as developed by Bruce Tuckman. Carnall (2018), states that the given theory elaborates on the different stages through which a team passes while achieving the objective and while ensuring that the team is successfully able to ensure a long term success. Northouse (2018), has defined these different stages are Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. During these stages the team is formed which is then followed by the initial conflicts following which the norms are formed and finally the team is required to perform.
Develop self-reflection about one’s own preferred style of leadership, the ensuing impact and effectiveness
Leadership can be stated to be the art of managing a group of people and ensuring that they are successfully able to see to it that the organizational goals are achieved at large. There are a large number of leadership theories which are available and can be thereby used to understand the situation in an organization. The different leadership theories which are available are the Great Man theory, Trait Theory, Transactional Leadership theory, Contingency theory and other related theories. According to Lussier and Achua (2015), the different theories go a long way in assisting an individual to ensure that they are able to manage the team. The different leadership styles which are available like the transactional and transactional leadership style help a leader to work along the members of the team and state that team participation is active to the performance of the team at large. In addition to this, Northouse (2018), stated that the Trait theory of leadership lays down the different traits which are present in a leader and if they are not present they may lead to an inconvenience on the side of the leader.
Diversity can be rightfully stated to be the presence of a broad range of employees in an organization such that the belong to the different backgrounds with respect to race, sex, education, income and other related aspects. According to Gani (2014), due to globalization, the diversity has become a common part of the different organizations and with respect to this, the leaders in an organization would be required to follow certain theories like the Resource based view theory which states that the implementation of the diversity on the organization needs to measured accordingly. In addition to this, there also exists the institutional theory of Diversity Management which tends to highlight that the different laws and regulations inn an organization need to be formed in a manner such that it supports diversity.
According to Bowie (2017), ethics can be stated to be the identification of the right and wrong in a particular situation as present. It is crucial that the organization understands that it is important to portray an ethical behavior at the workplace and it lies the responsibility of the leader to ensure that ethical practices exist in the workplace. The three main different theories of ethics at the workplace are the theories of Utilitarianism, Deontological approach and the Communitarian approach (Brenkert, 2017). The Utilitarian approach is largely concerned with the basic criteria for judging the utility of an action and checking whether it is ethical in nature or not. According to Burns (2016), the Deontological approach concentrates on the rights and duties which are required to be performed in an ethical manner. The correct action which needs to take place is required to follow a general principle in nature. Lastly, the third approach towards ethics is the Community based theory whereby it has been stated that the moral thinking has its source from rituals of the community and other related aspects.
Interpret how networked organizations can be effectively managed by leaders
Change is considered to be an effective part of the organization at large and the organization is required to keep revolving so as to ensure that the firm is successfully able to innovate and have a competitive positioning in the market. There are various change management theories which are available and are required to be applied. According to Hayes (2018), some of these popular theories are the Lewins change management theory which lays down three basic of change which takes place in an organization and the Kotter’s 8 step change model which lay down the steps which a person goes through while adapting the change.
A leader needs to ensure that the firm which the particular leader is heading is successfully able to fulfill all the norms of an effective organization which comprise of the above discussed components of essential teamwork leadership traits, diversity management, change management and ethical consideration. Domain.com.au (2018), stated that Katie Page is often taken to be an effective leader in the sense that she tends to fulfill the all the criteria’s of an effective leader by showing excellent team work, leadership and ethical skills. When she first joined the company, she portrayed excellent team work skills whereby in her advertisement and communication department she ensured that those working with her ad common goals and worked towards the welfare of the firm. According to Vogue.com.au (2018), Katie follows a transformational leadership style which is largely based on changing the style of the working which takes place in the firm and ensuring that it is assigned as per the needs and demands of the different employees. According to Crane and Matten (2016), in addition to this, the employees love working under Page which reflects that she is a people`s person. Moreover, her stress on working ethically and following all the competition laws and other regulations can be identified by the fact that Harvey Norman has been performing successfully in a large number of countries and has been successful in gaining the trust of the different consumers at large (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). The ethical approach of Kate can be stated to be utilitarian in approach.
In the twenty first century, when an organization aims to attain long term success it is required to ensure that it engages in diversity which will allow the amalgamation of different ideas and thereby see to it that the employees of all race and culture are a part of the firm. Cew.org.au (2018) has stated that Katie Page believes in diversity and this can be rightfully witnessed by the fact that Harvey Norman has a large number of employees belonging to the different backgrounds. Moreover, with respect to the change management, Katie Page has followed the Lewin`s Model of change whereby she undertook adequate steps to ensure that the company is successfully able to transfer from the brick and mortar segment to the e-commerce segment by taking in the employees along with the different members of the firm present (Deluxe.com ,2018).
Assess the importance of ethics, diversity, and politics to effective leadership
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis as done on Katie Page, it can be stated that, Katie has shown extreme resistance and vigor as a leader and has undertaken some daring steps to ensure success for the firm at large. A leader needs to be an individual who is willing to take considerable risks for the welfare for the people at large and with respect to this, Katie Page has shown all credible characteristics of a leader whereby she has managed an incredible change procedure of the firm along with ensuring that all the employees were successfully able to adapt to the change which means that she believes in team work. However, very often she is taken to be a weak leader due to gender discrimination and this often leads to a sense of concern but during various interviews and seminars has portrayed the skills of a credible leader. In addition to this, she possesses strong ethics and this has proved to be a positive aspect. Hence, she can be termed to be a good leader at the workplace however, various aspects whereby she can show signs of improvement is leadership and in addition to this she can also foster an environment of employee engagement which will ensure long term success.
References
Bowie, N. E. (2017). Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Brenkert, G.G. (2017). Entrepreneurship, ethics, and the good society. In Entrepreneurship (pp. 85-128). Routledge.
Burns, P. (2016). Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Carnall, C. (2018). Managing change. Routledge.
Cew.org.au (2018). Katie Page – Chief Executive Women. [online] Available at: https://cew.org.au/members/katie-page/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Deluxe.com (2018). The top 10 challenges faced by entrepreneurs today: solved. Retrieved from https://www.deluxe.com/sbrc/financial/top-10-challenges-faced-entrepreneurs-today-solved [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].
Domain.com.au (2018). When Katie Page wanted the best apartments on the Gold Coast, she built them herself. Retrieved from https://www.domain.com.au/news/why-harvey-norman-ceo-katie-page-built-her-own-apartments-on-the-gold-coast-20170518-gvy6xu/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].
Gani, A. (2014). Understand Entrepreneurship. Routledge
Harveynorman.com.au (2018). Harvey Norman | Shop Online for Computers, Electrical, Furniture, Bedding, Bathrooms & Flooring. Retrieved from https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].
Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Pearson
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2015). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development. Nelson Education.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Vogue.com.au (2018). Katie Page, CEO of Harvey Norman and women in sport advocate. Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com.au/gamechangers/beauty-and-health/katie-page-ceo-of-harvey-norman-and-women-in-sport-advocate/news-story/203e2089ac20d98ab0a5655aa3f4c63f [Accessed 19 Nov. 2018].
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