Leadership - The Challenge of Managing Diverse Teams - Essay Example

Leadership

• “The challenge of managing diverse teams.”

Introduction

Globalisation has made the world borderless, and businesses are now operating in the various parts of the world by expanding their operations thereby increasing the profitability of the organisation. Hence, for a business to be successful, it should respect the diverse workforce culture thereby making the working atmosphere that facilitates all of its employees to flourish and accomplish their potential. Thus, diversity management is nothing but a process aimed to establish and to maintain a positive work atmosphere where all the variances and similarities of individuals are respected (Barak 2013:1). This section will analyse the challenges faced by the organisations in managing the workforce diversity.

Details of various theories of diversity and its authors.

The “Racial Identity Theory” was developed by Tajfel in 1981. It has played a dominant role in formulating the research, model development, theory building and evaluation strategies in the area of racial identity. For example, in the USA, some concessions are being offered to the Native Americans which fall into this category. “Racial Identity Theory “was conceived by Phinney in 1992 and this deals with socially developed groups derived from physical features such as the colour of the skin and hence, shapes how others retort to an individual. Social and Self-categorization theory developed by Pettigrew in 1986 has functioned as a cornerstone for research on disability. Similarity-attraction paradigm developed by Byrne in 1971 explains that attraction towards an individual is positively associated with the magnitude of attitudes and identities connected with that person. For example, an individual with the identical economic status to be lured to each other. Relational demography developed by Tsui, Egan & O’Reilly in 1992 deals with similarity-fascination theory and demonstrates that the more individuals recognise themselves to be demographically identical to their workgroups, the more recognised and fascinated to that group members will be. Averse racism theory conceived by Dovidio & Gaertner in 1986 deals with negative outlooks towards blacks and as such, such feelings are not based on hate or hostility but feelings of uneasiness, fear, discomfort, and disgust. Rational bias theory conceived by Larwood, Gutek & Gattiker,1984 deals with the situation where a manager undertakes that if no discrimination is shown towards the technological background, it will result in organisational risks. Homophily theory developed by Lazarsfeld & Merton in 1954 demonstrates that it is the processes through which social affiliations interrelate with cultural values to engender varied forms of friendship. Tokenism and Proportionality Theory by Kanter in 1997 demonstrates that once tokens stretch to a target point of fifteen percent representation in a job, they start to witness fewer workplace issues. “Stereotype and Prototype theory “conceived by Davis & Watson in 1982 deals with age discrimination in employment or unfair treatment likely to happen for aged employees. (“Shore et al. 2009:117”).

“The challenge of managing diverse teams.”

The introduction of the Equality Act in 2010 offers a legal safeguard against discrimination in the employment and it promotes diversity culture in the UK businesses operating both in the UK and outside the UK (Hepple 2014:1).

A variety of theories has been employed for researching diversity in workplaces and how it helps to increase the bottom lines of the business. Some of these theories originate from a micro-theoretical view and try to demonstrate demeanour of an individual or within workgroup parlance. The preponderance of these theories originate from the fields of social cognitive or psychology and emanate from our social requirements and cognitive to categorise others. Further, these theories are footed upon readily perceivable or surface-level demeanours such as race. Commonly, these theories have been employed to justify or introduce theories that have spotlighted on negative results or predictions due to ethnicity or racial variances (Shore et al., 2009:118).

As per Cox (1993) “value in diversity “theory, diversity establishes value and advantage for team outcomes (Cox 1993:1). As per McLeod, Lobel & Cox (1996), diverse workforce makes wiser business decisions than non-diverse work teams (Goode 2014:24).

“Advantages of workforce diversity “

• Deloitte (2012) study found that 80% of the enhancement in business performance were reported in the business where there was high magnitudes of diversity.
• As per BNY Mellon bank which operates in thirty-five nations and across 100 markets, diversity is their foremost asset and success in business.
• As per Horwitz and Horwitz (2007) study, there is a direct and positive association between team performance and diversity (Smedley 2014).

Some of the disadvantages are that employers are of the opinion that in the name of equal opportunity, their authority is restricted in the selection of the employees of their preference. Some employers are of the view that inclusion practices make them to incur additional expenses as they have to accommodate the religious practices of diverse employees in the workplaces.

Benefits of Diversity in Workforce

Source: http://www.diversitypartners.com.au/business-case/diversity-business-case

How to overcome the challenges of diversity in the workplace.

For the success of diversified workforce, an organisation should overcome cultural, perceptual and language obstructions. Ineffective communications of major aims of the business to the employees may result in chaos, low morale and lack of teamwork. Some employees are not accepting the truth that the cultural and social background of their organisations are transforming and hence, they may offer resistance to change. Thus, the organisation should see that the mentality that “we are correct” has to be changed and they should accept new ideas and should not hinder the growth of the business. With the assistance of the outcomes of employees’ evaluation and research information, the organisation should establish and introduce a customised initiative to maximise the impacts of the diversity in the workplace. In addition to exhaustive training, the organisation should establish a culture of diversity that infiltrates into every function and department of the organisation (Greenberg 2004).

As per Ozbilgin & Tatli (2011), non-existence of diverse workforce may result in an increase higher labour turnover, the loss of skilled employees, fighting cases in employment tribunals and connected negative publicity against the business organisation (Chaunda 2014:307).

As per McKinsey, listed companies in EU with higher gender diversity outperformed sector averages. Such companies posted a return on equity of 11.4% as contrasted to non-diverse firms which posted an ROE of 10.3%. As per Virtcom Consulting, those companies which are having diverse board members are able to post 16.2% ROE over the last 5 years (Govt Equality Office 2013).

Facebook is embracing the Rooney Rule where it has made a rule that in the case of any interview for filling a job position, at least one minority candidate has to be interviewed for such position. Intel has established a goal to attain full workforce diversity at all stages in its workforce by 2020 (Huffingtonpost.com 2016).

Conclusion

In this era of globalisation, businesses organisations with diverse workforce are better matched to serve diverse customers from different cultures. Diverse workforce makes those organisations have a good appreciative of the needs of the political, economic, social, legal and cultural atmospheres in which they operate.

2. “Most Effective Leadership & Management Styles & approaches.”

Introduction

There is a striking difference between management and leadership. Management is a process of establishing and accomplishing goals of a business mainly through its activities such as estimating, managing, coordinating, inculcating training and supervising. Leadership, on the other hand, pertains to the capability to influence, to make others to follow, the capability to guide the others. Thus, if a leader wants to be a good manager, then he should disown the concept of control and dictation’ and should embrace the counselling and engagement approaches of leadership. This research essay will discuss in detail about the most effective leadership and management approaches and styles (Janacek 2016:124).

Compare & contrast the similarities and differences between management and leadership

There is a striking difference between manager and leader as the management connotes a profession or a career whereas the leadership involves a calling. A manager must be respected whereas a leader is one who subordinates adore and follow through their own preference. A manager attained that position after long experience and loyalty shown to the organisation, and a manager may lack leadership qualities. On the other hand, a leader may lack organisational skills, but his vision unites subordinates behind him. Even though, management and leadership are two separate concepts that are frequently employed interchangeably but in reality, they are two distinct concepts. Leadership is the chief ingredient of change, offering vision and devotion essential for its accomplishment. Leadership is a skill that is acquired through education, experiences, communications with the people and inspiring. Ideal leadership is based upon how the leaders explain, follow and exchange the vision to their subordinates or followers. (Janacek 2016:124).

“Theories of Leaderships”

Contingency theory is concerned with which type of leadership style is best for a scenario. Situational theory deals with the selection of the best course of action by a leader footed upon situational variables. Behavioural theories deal with the concept of leaders are made and not born. Participation leadership theory deals with how successful leaders encourage the contribution and participation by group members in the management of the business. Relationship theories deal with the associations established between leaders and followers. Management theories, on the other hand, deals with the part played by supervision and group performance and is footed upon a system of punishments and rewards (House et al. 2002:4).

Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership (TL) is a kind of leadership in which the leader recognises the required change, establishes a vision to monitor the change through motivation, and carries out the change with the pledge of others. TL taps into the spiritual and sensitive resources of an organisation. TL encompasses emotional intelligence, value systems and attention to the spiritual. TL enhances the human demeanour and ethical objectives of the business of both the leaders and his subordinates and thus, has a transformational impact on both. Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corporation is the best example of transformational leadership (Marshall & FAAN 2010:3).

“The most effective approach to managing the work of subordinates.”

According to me, by practising participation theory of leadership, a leader can extract the best from his subordinates. The participative or democratic style of leadership is footed upon mutual respect. Participative theory deals with the collaboration between the leaders and the followers whom the leaders guide.

I totally agree with the point of view suggested by the CMI 2013 that leaders should be of more advice-giving and engagement approaches of management and leadership instead of dictation and control’ approaches.

Advantages and Demerits of Participative Leadership

Source: http://psychologia.co/participative-leadership/

Real World Examples of Participative Leadership

Google Inc is an ideal example of participative leadership style. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hired experienced Eric Schmidt from Novell to make their search engine as the leader in the industry. Google adopted a mixture of laissez-faire, autocratic and democratic leadership styles in their management activities. As of today, Google stays really democratic in its stride to product development. Genentech is the world famous biological drug company which follows participative/democratic leadership style. Genentech remains as the global leader by mixing autocratic manufacturing with the democratic R&D leadership styles (Gill 2016).

Indira Nooyi

Indira Nooyi, the Chairman and the CEO of PepsiCo is practising democratic leadership. Nooyi is in the habit of sending newsletters of achievements attained by the employees to parents so that they can feel proud of their son’s achievement. When a new recruit reluctant to join her company, Nooyi called the mother of the candidate, and she convinced her and later, she made the candidate to join the company. This demonstrates that Nooyi has embraced democratic leadership (Gill 2016).

Bill George

When Bill George was the CEO of the Medtronic during 1991 and 2001 which is the manufacture of heart stents and heart valves, he practised participative leadership style which made the company as a pioneer in the heart stent manufacturing business (Gill 2016).

As a member of a team, I would like to be managed or led like Muhtar Kent, who was well-known for his participative leadership styles. Being Chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, he has a repute for inviting input from his subordinates on major business decisions. Kent is practising an inclusive leadership style that mirrors his pledge to diversity. I would like to follow the Kent style of establishing collaborative management teams mainly to address the key business issues by mirroring a mixture of democratic and autocratic styles (Gill 2016).

Conclusion

According to me, the strategy of participative management followed by Indira Nooyi, Bill George, and Muhtar Kent has made them the most attractive and successful business leaders. Thus, in manufacturing industries like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, a blend of both participative and autocratic style of leadership is to be followed to make the business more successful.

3-“Leadership & Change.”

Introduction

Change Management (CM) is a set of procedures that is used to make sure that vital changes are introduced in a methodical, organised and meticulous style to effect organisational change. In the contemporary dynamic business atmosphere, change is inevitable and the manner in which businesses manage the change is crucial to the success of the business. It is really important how both the business and the employees comprehend the necessity for the change and process associated. Introducing change management activities can be a key factor in accomplishing goals for both unplanned and prearranged changes both externally and internally. Change management also assists to find out the issues linked with the transition before they turned to be a crisis. In this section, I will discuss how leadership manages the changes in the real world and how it overcome the resistance to the changes from employees.

“Theories of Change Management”

The theory of change illustrates the building blocks needed to accomplish long-run objectives. There are varieties of change theories are available on how to carry out change. John P Kotter can be said to be the father of the change management theories as the majority of the change management theories are being built upon his concepts of change management. Kurt P Lewin and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross are also the famous change management gurus (Michaluk 2008:76).

“McKinsey 7-S Model.”

This model proposes a holistic path to the change management. This model is based upon seven factors that function as a combined agent of change. The seven factors are a strategy, shared values, systems, structure, staff, style and skills. This model offers the following advantages such as it acts as an efficient technique to identify and comprehend a business, it offers some direction on organisational change, it mingles emotional and coherent elements, and it stresses that all factors are integral in nature, and it should be addressed in a combined style. Some of the disadvantages of this model are differences overlooked, since all parts of interlinked, when one part is changed, then, it became necessary to change in all parts, it is intricate in nature, and the majority of the companies that have perused this model have met a higher incidence of failures(Michaluk 2008:76)..

Source: (Michaluk 2008:76).

Real Life Industry Example of Change Management – RBS Group, UK

RBS Group, UK sustained heavy losses during the 2008 financial crisis. As a condition for receiving £45 bn financial aid from EU regulators, RBS group was asked to dispose of its insurance business. Paul Geddes is the CEO of RBI group insurance division, and he formulated the strategies for isolating the insurance division from RBS group as a standalone business which would help it either to dispose of it or listing it on London Stock Exchange. Geddes considered the separation as a positive strategy and separated it and rechristened it as Direct Line Group. Separation is not without challenges as once the isolation is completed, much attention is to be given to establish a new brand and fastly establishing the business into a feasible, standalone business. Geddes encountered many resistances to change, but he managed it wisely. In 2012, Direct Line Group went to initial public offer, and it was subscribed overwhelmingly. The share prices of the Direct Line Group has prolonged to soar up since it floated and Paul Geddes is even now the CEO of the company (Arnold 2015).

CEO Paul Geddes

“Recommendations for managers on how to use knowledge of change management theories and models to produce better results”.

Managers can use Adkar model in case if he wants to accept the change by each and every individual in the organisation. Adkar model recognised that people can change but not organisations. Adkar is employed in many businesses as it offers a checklist of the stages of the change transition. Bridges transitional model stresses the variance between the transition and the change. It also illustrates how employees feel psychologically as there is a change in the organisation. Managers may also use Kotter’s 8-step change model as it deals with formulating and accepting change and not the real change. Managers may also use Lewis model as it recognised that the majority of the employees apt to function within zones of comfort. This model is preferred by many business organisations as it is easy to use and major changes can be introduced without many intricacies with the help of this model (Hiatt 2006;2).

Conclusion

For the success of any change management plan, managers should actively involve employees who are impacted or interested by the change so as to make certain to find out the most adaptable and complete solution. Managers should be ready for and retort to the perils of lack of acknowledgement or resistance to the change through well-drafted stakeholder communication and management initiatives and attentive supervision of the indicators of apathy or resistance.

4. “Your vision of leadership.”

Introduction

In this section, I will discuss about my vision of leadership. I want to be a participative leader as I am of the strong view that any change or progress in the organisation can come to reality only when all the stakeholders are made to be involved. I wish to recall here how Eisenhower, president of USA was not only a strategist but also a consensus builder. Even though Eisenhower was a military commander, he perused participative leadership style while acting as the president of the USA (Gill 2015).

“What is your vision of leadership?”

My vision of leadership is democratic leadership as it is footed upon mutual respect. There is always good understanding is needed between the leaders and the people they want to direct. Moreover, it is just analogues to any power sharing contract in which employer influence is shared among individuals who are not equals in hierarchical wise. The salient feature of this model is that to allow subordinates to involve in the decision-making process and it authorises employees to have a say in the management of the business (Gill 2015).

“Who has inspired your understanding of effective leadership and why?”

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc inspired me very much in comprehending the participative leadership style. Apple Inc was a successful business from 1976 to 1985. However, in the mid-1990s, it met many failures. Later, it became successful again. When Apple Inc was in trouble in the mid-1990s, many of its competitors such as Microsoft, Gateway, and Sun Microsystems tried to acquire it. However, Apple Inc never yielded to such pressure tactics, and it successfully maintained its individuality (Gill 2015).

Steve Jobs learned how to adapt these turbulences and due to that Apple Inc is able to survive. Steve Jobs became a participative leader and also turned to be laissez-faire or charismatic leader. Steve Jobs became a successful leader mainly because he adopted participative leadership and when he became autocratic leader later, the Apple Inc board asked for his resignation (Gill 2015).

Steve Jobs

He imbibed a mixture of leadership qualities and came back to Apple Inc after a decade and made the participative leadership as his gamut. He employed well-experienced people from the industries and allowed them freely to go up in their jobs. Due to participative leadership, Steve Jobs encouraged Jonathon Ive, Apple’s lead designer and he elevated Tim Cook, Apple’s manufacturing expert to become CEO of the Apple Inc. Because of Steve Job’s participative leadership, the other top officials of the Apple is able to take a major decision, and that resulted in the overall success of Apple Inc (Gill 2015).

• “What feedback from your colleagues has helped you to become more aware of your strengths and areas to develop as a leader in your chosen industry?”

From the feedback from my colleagues, I am of the opinion that participative leadership style has more values in retail industries. Some managers in the retail industry give more attention to the relationship ability in their leadership style. Participative managers in retail industry deliberately spend more time in communicating with the employees thereby developing a personal bond with them. Thus, I understand from colleagues that a participative manager in the retail industry can accomplish better outcomes in establishing team-oriented subordinates. Thus, in a retail industry, the team-oriented employees are more possible to fill in a colleague’s job or can act as a substitute when another staff is on leave or off-day. Further, in the retail industry, the customer relationship is crucial as a positive workplace may offer a better atmosphere for customers as employees seem to treat customers the manner in which they are being treated by leaders (Kokemuller2015).

• “What leadership skills do you want to develop as you progress through your MBA and how will you develop them?”

I want to develop the participative/democratic style of leadership during the progress of my MBA as many participative leaders such as Steve Jobs, Indira Nooyi, and Bill George practised it and proved to be a success. I will develop the participative leadership through studying case studies, viewing videos about participation leaderships, the knowledge gathered at my MBA classrooms and also visions about participative management shared by my MBA colleagues.

Conclusion

For the success of participative style of leadership needs a unique type of leader. It also needs a unique group of stakeholders. With the participatory process, every stakeholder has to be on board. This needs an extremely watchful and innate leader who functions authoritatively when conflict happens among team members.