Leadership Theories Essay Example

the impact that they would have in a large scale retail organizational context.

The discussions will also highlight the current and future requirements that can be assessed within a large scale retail business. Based upon the points identified in the discussion a conclusion will be presented that utilizes the theories and supports the choices made. Task 1Pass (P1) Leadership Theories and Styles Leadership Theories Within the context of an organization there have been several theories developed that may be used to support various styles of leadership.

According to the trait theory, leaders are born with identifiable traits that can be identified and taught to create effective leaders (Judge et al. 2009, p. 857). Despite many studies with conflicting results on its relevance there is a general consensus on the noble characteristics of leaders. In efforts to alienate leadership from hereditary factors, behavioral theories were developed. These behavioral theories were formed on the basis of experiments that identified means that can be used to effectively condition specific responses from participants.

One limitation of the behavioral theories stems from the underlying assumption that the conditioned environment is devoid of any external influence (Judge et al. 2009, p. 857). It is known that even in the presence of the conditioning humans are also influenced by emotional and social needs which are important. Another theory that shifts focus from genetic aspects is the role theory. This theory focuses on internal processes of understanding and the definition of roles between individuals. The premise is that leaders should perform based on all perceptions related to their role (Changing minds 2009).

There are also theories such as the

contingency and situational theory that focus on varying leadership based on external factors. In such cases leaders may ascribe to different styles that best suit prevailing conditions (Waters 1984, p. 130-31). Leadership Styles The empowerment leadership approach also known as consultation, empowerment, joint decision making, power sharing, Management by Objective and democratic leadership (Changing minds 2009). This approach can be very beneficial but is prone to failure when managers ask for opinions and ignore them leading to feelings of cynicism and betrayal.

This theory is based on the assumption that involvement in decision making processes by the people performing tasks improves their understanding of the issues involved in the task. This assumption suggests that with this involvement the people carrying out task will through improved understanding be more committed to duties and know the essential aspects of the duty (Changing minds 2009). This participative interaction often takes place within a team. The transactional leadership style is a concept is based on contingency and suggests that performance is dependent upon rewards or punishment.

Despite the fact that there is a lot of research on the limitations of this concept in practice, it is still fairly popular with many leaders and managers (Hult et al. 2007, p. 395). The primary limitation of this approach is the rationalization of man to assume that money is adequate to motivate an individual. Leader’s who utilize this style will create clear structures where it is clear what is required of followers, and the rewards received for following instructions (Hult et al. 2007, p. 395).

The transformational style is an approach that entails a lot of effort in all

tasks and suggests caring for the participants and a joint will to succeed. The accomplishment of tasks is achieved through the injection of energy and enthusiasm and assumes people follow vision, which can be utilized to achieve great things (Hult et al. 2007, p. 395). A clear vision will almost always provide a path to follow or at least suggest suitable starting points to utilize. One pitfall of this approach is that passion can not be substituted for reality despite the fact that passion can assist in achieving remarkable feats.

Another approach to leadership involves the use of appealing aura and is known as the charismatic style. Leaders in this category could quite easily be transformational since a transformational leader could be charismatic. The main difference is that transformational leadership intends to change the organization while a charismatic leader may not be interested in changing anything (Sosik and Dinger 2007, p. 136). Such leaders have extremely high self belief and are very capable with respect to convincing followers (Sosik and Dinger 2007, p. 136).

This leadership approach assumes that charm, grace and a strong sense of self belief are all that is required to create a following. Many politicians use a charismatic style of leadership to garner support. A charismatic leader will instill commitment to goals and devotion to themselves. In the servant style of leadership responsibility of followers is placed on the leader’s shoulders, assuming that they should be accountable to society. The main assumption is that the best way to help other would be by leading them. The servant leader offers service to others as opposed to other approaches where they

receive service from others.

The service will help individuals grow, become wise and more autonomous and are thus more likely to become servants themselves (Abernathy 2009, p. 3). This theory has a strong moral bearing and involves putting the well being of followers before the objectives of the task. Impact of Leadership Styles In situations where an organization may require hiring contract workers to fill in temporary jobs that are not necessarily very strategic, it has been noted that directive leadership may be preferred. According to Liu et al. this stems from the fact the relationship between employers and employees will be quite poor because of the transactional nature of a contract (2003, p. 136).

This situation allows leaders to focus on performance as opposed to broader issues and therefore allows for the full authority of the leader to be used in ensuring compliance. Transactional approaches in such setting will not aid building compliance and may help employees realize what they are missing in their contracts. This case is also true in the case of transformational and empowering (servant leadership) that are increasingly focused on nurturing employee commitment (Liu et al. 003, p. 137). This would posit that directive leadership with its emphasis on compliance best addresses the demands of a contract based employment environment. Some examples of these jobs include administrative positions, support staff, low level clerical jobs, etc. As Liu et al. 2003 suggested, in a job based setting a transactional approach to leadership is likely to be the most effective style (p. 137).

The payment of such employees is based upon the market price for the benefits created by

such individuals. This situation suggests a tendency in which both parties will continue to sustain the elationship so long as the feeling of its being beneficial is maintained. Because of this nature the transactional leadership that focuses on rewards against performance will be favored since it will build the commitment of employees based on rewards (Liu et al. 2003, p. 138). In contrast, directive leadership which focuses on authority may not be successful in such categories because employees are likely to move if they are not satisfied. In similar fashion both transformational and empowering leadership styles which focus on building commitment but not satisfaction.

Based on this argument it would appear transactional leadership would be best suited to manage human resources that are valuable but not unique to an organization. Examples of jobs include accountants, sales persons, lawyers, etc. Transformational leadership has been found to be effective in situations where organizations utilize an external human resource which is unique but not entirely instrumental to an organization. The organization may form a partnership where both are mutually beneficiaries to avoid costs associated with internalization. This process would require transformational leadership to initiate and facilitate (Liu et al. 003, p. 139).

Through the vision and commitment that is characteristic of transformational leadership, such a partnership can be realized and nurtured to the benefit of both parties. In such cases a directive approach to leadership will probably cause dissatisfaction and cause the partnership to end thus bringing increased financial strain on the organization. The transactional approach may be able to foster mutual benefit of the relationship to both parties but owing to its nature, will fail

in building essential aspects of such a relationship such as mutual trust and cooperation (Liu et al. 003, p. 140).

Examples of jobs include architectural services, consultants, executive trainers, etc. In circumstances where the organization requires highly skilled internal human resource that is highly valuable and unique empowering leadership should be considered. In such instances employees provide a competitive advantage by nature of their skills, further, the benefits that are gained from these employees exceed the cost of internalizing this resource (Liu et al. 2003, p. 141).

Such employees are encouraged to participate in decision making related to their work, involve themselves in strategic decision making as well as assist in organizational planning. These expectations are consistent with the logic behind empowering leadership (Liu et al. 2003, p. 141). In contrast to this, both directive and transactional leadership focused on compliance and rewards respectively, will be completely unable to foster the high level of commitment required of employees in this category.

Examples of such positions include mechanical engineers, research scientists, etc. Task 2 Pass (P2) Current Assessment and Future Requirements: Large Scale Retail Business In this section the discussion presented will focus on the current and future leadership requirements in the retail business. In a study on the role of retail manager’s Arnold suggests, that achieving higher sales in a competitive environment would require some changes to leadership perspective within the industry.

Arnold continues to argue that this would suggest leaders concentrate on sales planning and transformative leadership approaches which underscore the importance of long term planning and effects of leadership actions. In less competitive environments more transactional approaches may be

just as effective (Arnold et al. 2009, 129). This stance is supported by data that indicates that retailing is the second largest industry in the US both in terms of outlets and employment (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 129).

This industry is highly competitive in nature and is affected by many drivers and as such good leadership is essential in achieving and sustaining success. Therefore, the selection of this industry is based upon the fact that it is very well known across the US owing to its commercial prevalence and, this industry being highly competitive relies heavily on the role on leadership for success. In the study of retail business Arnold et al. identifies three essential aspects for success; problem solving, solution implementation and social judgment (2009, p. 30). Problem solving entails collecting information, formulating ideas and developing appropriate solutions to problems. This would therefore include sales effort and planning in retail which are both essential to the success and form a key part of the leadership duties. In addition to this the leader in a retail setting is required to orientation on the nature of sales.

A good work ethic was also noted to be essential to completing tasks and as such leadership will need to foster such an ethic within its ranks (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 34). In a study conducted by Bent and Freathy 1997, it was indicated that the main factors motivating retails staff included money, the work itself, customer interaction and worker interaction (p. 204). In addition to this the main factors that were not motivating to staff in the retail sector included repetition, rude customers, low

pay and unappreciative bosses (Bent and Freathy 1997, p. 204). As an effective leader it would be important to assist the team to find the most productive path as the organization forges into the future.

This would suggest that among the future requirements of leadership in this sector include; developing means to alternate duties to minimize boredom, address the remuneration offered, improve the relationship between the boss and the employee and consider efforts to improve customer relations within the store. In addition to the above it was also noted that good sales were motivating to employees, suggesting that leadership should attempt to increase sales in the store through the use of a variety of tools to improve competitive advantage.

These represent the future leadership requirements that may be useful in building a successful large scale retail organization. Task 3 Pass (P3) Future Proposals It appears that in the long run such enterprise may benefit from implementing a transformational approach to leadership. This argument is based on several studies that indicate that transformational leadership can greatly improve the performance of retail sales people (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 140). To achieve this, an organization and its leaders at the various facilities will be required to strive to change the values, objectives and goals of its staff.

This can be done through training, instruction on working hard and smart as well as changing the approach to sales from customer oriented to brand oriented. This fact is corroborated through a study by Noble et al. (2002), that indicates, organizations that realigned competitive orientation to include sales orientation or national/brand focus perform at superior level when

compared to customer oriented organizations (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 133). The effort put into sales and planning have been prove to have a positive impact on sales in research studies on retail environments (Arnold et al. 009, p. 140). In line with this discussions presented earlier highlighted the importance of motivation to employees in this sector. In large scale retail business sales are usually carried out in the storefront with the sales persons being primary determinants of performance. A directive approach to leadership would be inappropriate seeing that it would not motivate the employees. Similarly transactional and empowering leadership approaches would build commitment to the organization but not necessarily improve the performance.

As such it would appear that a transformational approach would be most suited to enhancing motivation of employees and by extension sales in this setting. This is also supported by the fact that a transformational approach tends to set a store apart from the competition offering much needed competitive advantage (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 141). This approach would also be particularly useful to the organization with regards to building partnerships with suppliers. The retail business is highly competitive and involves a large network of suppliers who deliver goods to the various outlets.

These suppliers are essential to the organization and the agreements between the two parties can have significant impact on performance. As earlier detailed it was found that transformational leadership can be extremely effective in situations that involve partnerships and would further support the use of this leadership approach. These relationships would require a high level of cooperation and trust which is best achieved in an approach that

focuses on vision of the organization (Liu et al. 2003, p. 140).

However, it was noted that too much supervision tends to reduce motivation among employees and as such the leaders using this approach may consider supervision of oriented on goals and expectations, as opposed to opposed to performance based supervision (Arnold et al. 2009, p. 141). This approach may not effectively deal with the issue of remuneration as effectively as a transactional approach but it could be assumed that the benefits accrued through improved image should be used to achieve improvements.

This is possible owing to the fact that transformation is focused on building commitment towards achieving goals. Conclusion The discussions presented in this paper have focused on leadership theories and styles and the impact of various styles on an organization. Through the discussion it is evident that leadership plays a crucial role in an organization and just like human resource management, it can have a direct effect on the organizational outcomes. The various styles and theories of leadership can be applied effectively in many settings and in fact many rganizations tend to ascribe to more than one style in practice.

This may be achieved by implementing different styles at different level in the organizational hierarchy. Further through the discussion it has been revealed that different modes of employment better utilize different styles. This is because in these varied modes the objectives often lean in favor of one style as opposed to the others. It is therefore important that organizations make efforts to realign their positions to reflect this for better productivity.

This would suggest that situational leadership style which

acknowledges the different requirements with varying situations may also be effective in providing good leadership solutions. However, this perspective does not sufficiently address aspects such as commitment and motivation which are also important within an organization. This suggests that there is a need to further study the relationships between leadership and employment to allow for greater benefits within the organization.