Behavioral theories of leadership
Discuss about the Emerging Role of Transformational Leadership.
This study focuses on management of Walmart. In accordance with the opinion of Schermerhorn et al. (2014) management refers to the set of the principles associated with functions of the planning as well as organizing the resources. In the opinion of Kerzner and Kerzner (2017), effective management helps the companies like Walmart to attain its targeted objectives there increasing the overall workflow of the respective organization. In this particular studies, different behavioral theories are explained, that ca differentiate effective leader as well as ineffective leader of Walmart. A short overview of Walmart has been provided in this particular study. Apart from this, dimensions of organisational culture are highlighted in this particular study. It has been observed that an assessment of Walmart’s culture has been conducted here using the various dimensions of organizational culture. Apart from this, an analysis has been conducted on leader’s effectiveness and ineffectiveness that has improved and hindered the goal attainment of the respective company.
Walmart Inc is a reputed multinational retailer of America. It functions a chain of hypermarkets, grocery outlets along with discount department outlets. This organization is a public organization. It was founded in 1962. The headquarter of Walmart Inc was located in Bentonville, Arkansas. This organization is conducting its business through 11, 718 stores all across the globe. About 1.4 million skilled professionals work at this organization in U.S as per the statistics of 2018. There are 2.3 million individuals who work at this company according to the statistics of 2018 (Walmart.com 2018). It offers diverse range of products such as electronics, craft supplies, grocery products, health and beauty items to its users and buyers. This company also offers pet supplies, jewelry, footwear, toys, home and furniture etc to its users and buyers. About US$500.34 billion is the total revenue, which is earned by this company in 2018. In the same year, its net income is US$S 9.862 billion. About US$20.437 billion was the total operating income of Walmart Inc as per the statistical information of 2018. Doug McMillon is the Chief Executive Officer of this particular organization since February 2014 (Walmart.com. (2018).
As per the theoretical concept, there are certain behavioral characteristics, that segregates a leader from an ineffective leader. In other words, trait theory concentrates on identifying various personality traits as well as characteristics, which are connected to the successful leadership in diverse situations. This theory was developed by Thomas Carlyle. This particular theory is used for forecasting the effectiveness of leader. Some of the common leadership traits are initiative, tenacity, high levels of energy, flexibility. There are other traits of leadership are creativity, charisma, self-confidence, honesty, integrity, emotional intelligence and high levels of energy (Christopher 2016.). According to the concept of this particular theory, leadership development comprises of identifying as well as measuring qualities of leadership, screening the leaders from the non-leaders and training the leaders with potentials (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus 2014). In other words, training the leaders with potentials will make them a great leader (Heizer 2016). It is seen that successful leaders possess interests, capabilities along with personality traits, which are completely different than that of ineffective leaders. On the other hand, ineffective leaders do not have a proper vision. They do not have a sense of accountability and they are incapable to cope up with any kind of situation. Poor integrity is one of the most common qualities of an ineffective leader (James et al. 2014). This is applicable for Walmart.
Analysis of Walmart’s culture using dimensions of organizational culture
According to this theoretical concept, it focuses on the patterns of the behavior of the leader in the conditioned situation. This theory has been created scientifically by examining the behavioral attitudes of the leaders and impact of their leadership on the skilled employees along with surrounding environment ( Lackland 2014). In this context, it can be stated that University of Michigan Studies and University of IOWA studies are the most common theories which are well- connected to behavioral theories of leadership.
It has been noted that there are two different kinds of leadership style which results in the higher performance along with group satisfaction.
In the opinion of Lehmann and Joseph (2015), managers who follows this leadership style pay minute attention to the work of the subordinates. Not only this managers also explains the work processes and they are focused on improving performance of the employees.
Managers who are following this particular leadership style, they take care of their subordinates. In addition to this, managers lay emphasis on the interpersonal relationships
Different leadership styles have been identified in this particular study. In 1939, Lewin, Lippit as well as White had conducted this particular study (Dinh et al. 2014). Authoritarian leadership style, democratic leadership style and Laissez-fair leadership styles are the three different kinds of leadership (Bartlett and Beamish 2018)
In accordance with the opinion of Meuser et al. (2016), it is seen that leaders gives instruction to its subordinates. Leaders are authorized to dictate as well as control every activity without taking any opinions from the subordinates. These autocratic leaders are authorized to determine what objectives are to be attained by the rest employees.
In case of democratic leaders, leaders includes skilled professionals in the decision-making procedure. In the opinion of Ghasabeh, Soosay and Reaiche (2015), democratic leaders gives importance to the opinions of its subordinates. Based on their decisions, effective decisions are undertake by democratic leaders.
Such leaders give the group freedom to make decisions and finish the allocated tasks. In accordance with the opinion of Buchholz and Sandler (2017), in laissez-faire leadership style , final decisions are undertaken by the members of the group. It has been observed that Walmart follows a job-centred leadership style. In this particular style, close attention is being given to the workforce by the management of the respective multinational retailer of America (Van der Brempt et al. 2017). It is seen that managers are mainly interested in the performance delivered by the employees within the workflow of the respective organization.
It has been noticed that there are six dimensions of organizational culture such as people-oriented dimensions, outcome-oriented dimension, detail-oriented dimension, team orientation, aggressiveness, stability, innovation and risk. In accordance with the opinion of Platow et al. (2015 ), outcome-oriented businesses are concerned about results. In case of team-oriented culture, skilled professionals love to work together as a unified team. It has been observed that employees cooperate with rest members of the team in order to achieve the targeted goals of the respective organization. It has been noticed that there are certain business firms who values cooperation, whereas there are certain companies that gives importance to aggressive competition. It is seen that Walmart’s culture is based on four essential components (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017). These four elements are ‘Service to the Customer’ and ‘Respect for the Individual’. In addition to this, there are other components such as ‘Strive for Excellence’ and ‘Act with Integrity’ (Dezyre.com, 2018). It has been team-oriented culture exists in Walmart,. Almost all the employees work together as a team and they working in a coordinated manner. The owners of this multinational retail form believes in teamwork. Jacobs, Chase and Lummus (2014) commented that teamwork enables the organization to meet its strategic goals thereby sustaining the comparative edge in the current market of America. In this context, Heizer (2016 ) commented that this multinational retailing organization has encouraged its team members to work as a team. On the other hand, Heizer (2016) commented that team members cooperate with each other. All the employees shares a relationship based on mutual trust. In this context it can be stated that this approach of the team members reduces the chances of internal conflicts within the team. In this regard, Christopher (2016) commented that by teamwork has increased the productivity of Walmart. It has been noticed that teamwork also enhances the interpersonal relationships among team members. It has been observed detail-oriented culture exists within the working environment of Walmart. It is seen that detail-oriented organizations pay minute attention to details of its business. It is seen that precision is being valued in such consumer-oriented business firms. Heizer (2016) has observed that this multinational organization believes in giving close attention to details of its business. In this regard, it can be stated that this company keeps a track of its consumers. It targets each consumer individually. This company keeps a track on what their consumers are purchasing. In addition to this, Walmart also gathers information on the residential address of their existing customer base (Bartlett and Beamish 2018). In this regard, it can be stated that this organization keeps a track on the choices and preferences of their customers. In this way, meticulous attention is being given by the management of Walmart in every aspect of its business. It has been noticed that outcome-oriented culture exists within the workflow of the respective multinational retailing company. It has been observed that the managers are concerned about making profits in the organization. It has been observed that managers of Walmart are concerned about increasing the revenue generation of the respective. It is seen that Walmart believes in aggressive competition rather than valuing cooperation. It has been observed that this respective multinational retailer has adopted merger and acquisition strategy for dominating the retail market of America. This aggressive approach of Walmart has aided the company to retain its competitive advantage in the existing retail market of America.
It has been noted that leaders are capable of motivating the skilled proffesionals to perform better within the workflow of the organization. In the context of Walmart, it can be stated that its leader used to motivate the workforce. The company has a proper vision for the future. Sam Walton wanted his company to become the top-ranking organization in the retail sector of America. Due to his effective leadership, Walmart has occupied the first position in the retail market of America. The effective leadership of Sam Walton has resulted in the expansion of business in US, Canada, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. It has been seen that all the directives are given by Sam Walton to its subordinates. Managers of this organization instructs the employees how to perform their jobs. Not only this, managers also describe the working procedures to their employees under the leadership of Sam Walton. As a result, it people becomes clear about their roles and responsibilities and they tries their level best to achieve their goals. It has been observed that employees of Walmart share a close bonding with each other. Therefore, it becomes easier for the company to achieve its targeted objectives. Under the effective leadership of Steuart Walton, who is the grandson of Sam Walton, it is seen that, Walmart has achieved success in acquiring Flipkart in 2018. This shows that effective leadership can result in acquiring other organizations. It has been observed that ineffective leadership can result in low morale among the employees. In accordance with the opinion of Lehmann and Joseph 2015 ), ineffective leadership might create disappointment among the employees working at Walmart. As opined by Lehmann and Joseph (2015), high employee turnover is an outcome of ineffective leadership. It has been noticed that organisational culture is based on four important elements such as ‘ Service to the Customer’, ‘ Respect for the Individual’, ‘Strive for Excellance’ and ‘Act for Inregrity’. It has been observed that management working at Walmart focusses on profit-making business. As a result, it is creating pressure on its workforce that might result in low morale among the employees. It might happen that employees feel demotivated towards their work, which may negatively hamper the overall production of the company. On the other hand, it is seen that, sometimes it becomes a problem for the leader to cope up with the changing nature of customer’s choices and preferences. As a result, it might happen that the leader might not be able to guide their subordinates properly. Therefore, this ineffective leadership creates an adverse effect on the performance of the employees thereby negatively impacting on the overall productivity of Walmart. Besides, there are high chances that internal conflicts may arise among team members. In this regard, it can be stated that internal conflicts might negatively affect on the employee performance. As a consequence, productivity gets hampered thereby reducing the overall workflow of the organization (Lehmann and Joseph (2015). Aggressive approach of Walmart might lead to low productivity of the respective organization because it will create immense pressure on the employees and they will be unable to meet their individual targets as well as company’s specified objectives. Thus, the employee will suffer from low morale and motivation. This approach of the employees gives rise to low productivity of the organization. In this way, ineffective leadership creates an obstruction in meeting the goals of Walmart.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that good leadership aids the organizations like Walmart to attain its goals and objectives. It has been observed that the proper implication of behavioral theories like Trait theory, University of Michigan and University of IOWA will aid the respective organization to sustain their advantageous position in the competitive market of America. It has been observed that Walmart adheres to job-centred leadership style where attention is given by the management to each and every aspect of its business operations. It has been observed that Walmart lays emphasis on teamwork. It has been observed that this multinational corporation has given importance on keeping a track of the customer’s choices as well as preferences. It has been observed that residential addresses of the customers are also tracked by the management of Walmart.
References
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