Leadership and Globalization - Literature review Example

Discuss the way that leadership has changed within the context of a globalized environment. College Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date Author note: “Leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership.” John Kotler Introduction Globalization has brought about technological innovation, new linkages among people, new events and activities, and a changing pace that is relentless. Business communities of today mix as they have mixed never before, from different fields of work and culture, forging new partnerships and creating new collaborations. Globalization has given businesses new ways to exploit new markets and delve into new opportunities, springing surprises in the field of business and shaking up newer ideas as rapidly as globalization is looking forward to touching new frontiers and new possibilities of mutual interest. In this endeavour and at the core of these activities lies the new leadership that is deemed as unlike before. This leadership is critical to how globalized world carries on with its business that has been synchronized with new rules and new methods. That is not to say that the role of leadership has not been critical to businesses before, but what is implied is that the leadership today has assumed a totally different role and donned an entirely different mantle. Emerging parameters in globalization has brought the discipline of leadership to the forefront in a little over last two decades. The development of leadership has been taken as seriously as having a competitive edge over the nearest competitors and at the centre of such development, globalized world has found the need to incorporate both management and technical know-how. As a result of this, leadership in today's workplace has come to stay as something that must be able to execute and delver multiple roles. The critical issue of role of leadership in the wake of globalization has been aptly described by authors James M. Higgins and Ilan Alon, in their best-selling book Global Leadership Success through Emotional and Cultural Intelligences. They have described what it means to be a leader that sans constraints and borders and how effective leadership is able to transform vision into reality (Alan and Higgins, 2005). There are a number of key points that need to be acknowledged in order to perform as a successful leader in a globalized economy. Most important of all is to develop global competencies. This is considered as an important aspect of global leadership since the shortfall of such leaders that exists in the corporate world today still remains to be met. This can be gauged by the statistical estimates that of top 500 Fortune firms only 8 percent are running global leadership programs. Alon and Higgins (2005) state that globalization has brought upon the corporate world the urgency to develop that ubiquitous link between global leadership and managerial competences. Earlier on, leaders were supposed to be primarily those senior people in the corporate circles who could guide large teams of workers in an organization. Today, globalization has changed that definition a bit. Today, leaders are not only seen as ones who can lead but also ones who possess those unique qualities which can make them effective leaders. Knight and Davis (2005) have remarked that some of these qualities include being committed to success, being able to set priorities, demand and set high standards, have this uncanny knack of being fair and tough at the same time with workforces, be able to identify possibilities and positives, maintain and develop a sense of urgency that is strong, have a keen eye for detail and be able to pay minute attention even to not-so-significant matters, count the possibility of failure too and be able to handle it when it arises, show personal involvement in the jobs in which they expect their teams to be serious about and even be able to have some fun. The Global Experience Leadership has taken a centre stage in organizations in the last two decades and it can be assessed by the trend that two things have continually been talked about it through the last 20 years. One is leadership development methods – it has proliferated in organisations as much as it could; and second is emotional resonance of leaders, its important and impact on others. What has been interesting to note in these two decades is that organisations of repute have taken up the task of carrying out classroom-type leadership training programs, which have included such subsets as mentoring, coaching, 360-degree feedback and action learning. These have formed cornerstones of leadership development initiatives. Hunt (1999) has stated that all these programs fall in the bracket of development relationships and normally takes two forms: mentoring and coaching. The former involves one-on-one learning which is goal-focused and practical and aims at bringing about a behavioural change in leaders. This is sort of a short-term intervention aimed at developing leadership skills that are meant to meet specific organizational needs. Those required to cover wider organizational interests are taken care of through extensive grooming processes, that is so effective form of coaching that it is able to understand and asses the challenges an organization is facing and which need to be looked into by its leadership. Such extensive programs are meant to ensure support for sustaining development, reaching goals and ensuring accountability (Ting & Hart, 2004). Mentoring, on the other hand, is a long-term relationship, a committed one, in which senior leadership supports junior leadership on professional and personal development front. Globalization has induced such a culture in organisations that they, in order to meet global challenges, look at ways and means that can help them mentor leaders and leadership development efforts. Furthermore, globalization has changed leadership in the manner that organisations look upon leaders to tackle real-time organizational issues and problems. So as to enable leadership to tackle such problems, organisations have embarked on action learning initiatives, which seek three kinds of objectives: communicate learnings in specific contexts, delivering organizational results that are measurable, and developing leadership capabilities and skills that are general in nature (Palus & Horth, 2003). Action learning is being taken at multiple levels of being tacit, high-impact and unfacilitated - all aimed at transforming both organisations and leadership (Marsick, 2002). One important and drastic change that globalized environment has brought on leadership is that now generic leadership training is not supposed to be as enough for meeting the challenges of diverse organisations which having taken the corporate world by storm today. In the past, there was no global element in corporate world and competitors were closely knit and often competing in the same territory. Today territories have been abolished and world has become a singular marketplace. This has resulted in the shifting of focus to both emotional intelligence and cultural competency - two important components of world marketplace considered as forging healthy relationships with global alliances. Earlier multi-intelligences were deemed as a domain of teaching styles only; today they have penetrated into management styles as well. Alon and Higgins (2005) have argued that globalized world cannot afford to have wrong leadership as it proves both expensive and detrimental to the financial, ethical and cultural well-being of an organization. Said that, while organisations are doing their best to enhance their emotional intelligences, they are yet to catch up with cultural intelligence the way they should. Cohn et al (2005) have remarked that globalized environment has put companies under pressure to along their strategic development priorities with leadership development processes. This is essential since this way they are able to build attractive and clear identities; an vital feat because it ensures that the companies do not only do better at their competitive landscape but are also able to attract their future leaders. It is not to say that previously companies did not have leaders; they certainly had but all the changes that they implemented were not successful. In a fiercely competitive and globalized world as today, more often than not, leaders envision changes that are brought so that they could be successful in the first place. Kotter (2007) has remarked that leaders who are known to transform businesses are supposed to do all things but at the same time all things right. In stating so Kotter has analysed a number of companies undergoing positive and successful changes even as he admits that no change can be quick-fix. In the new globalized environment for such changes to be effective, there has to be a plan - good leaders know what that plan is. They thrive on the sense of urgency and for transmitting that sense in a top-down fashion they know how to create the environment first, and how effectively to communicate that urgency to their employees. Globalized environment demands a shift in organizational identity and thinking and leadership at the helm of affairs in this environment know where and how that shift befits. In keeping up with this background it would not be an understatement that globalization has been responsible for spreading qualities pertaining to leadership and management in order to improve or augment the organizational conduct almost throughout the world. The trend has been more widespread in nations that are governed by democratic systems of governance. Baylis, Smith, and Owens (2008) have remarked that globalization has been interpreted differently by different scholars with more or less the similar meanings of international interconnectedness or alliances between businesses operating in different countries. The factors that are at the core of spreading globalization far and wide and rapidly are the same for leadership spearheading these globalized micro or macro environments. The prime factor is communication and ease of travel by sea or by air. Since globalized environments are geared towards economic self-interest and enlightenment, leadership has also moulded itself towards these two goals (Lehman, 2008). Businesses are compelled to succeed in foreign environments and leadership is the key towards that success. Leadership in globalized environment determines the context of actions in diverse cultures. While dealing with diverse cultures, today's leadership understands that it is duty-bound to create a culture of excellence. That is, actually, the impact globalization has had on the corporate world in the past two decades (Tierney, 2007). Globalized environments have provided leaders with new playing fields where leadership should be at the forefront to immerse itself into. In order to survive, it is important for modern organisations to adapt to change (Burke, 2002). This change, according to Kerno (2008), is dependent on change in culture, attitudes and adaptation to modern technology. As a result of this modern leadership has so seasoned itself that it can bring about such a change, and rejuvenate workforce spirit while enhancing organizational profitability. In other words globalization has not only enhanced competitiveness, it has also moulded and nurtured leadership and managerialism. Globalization being a virtual phenomenon, its impact throughout the world is palpable. It is just a way of being borderless and creates value in organisations by exchanging products, ideas, money, knowledge and much more. It can be viewed as both value-free and value-laden entity; while the first promotes utilitarianism and individualism, the second promotes positive economics. At the centre of each, however, is the effective leadership that makes both tick (Gaburro and O’Boyle, 2003). It has enhanced the morality on which leadership is based; the attributes of which are responsibility, trust, emotion, obligation and a shared vision. Globalized environment has helped leadership live up to Ciulla's (1998) statement of leadership being a "multifaceted moral relationship between people". He further states that it is the dangers that globalization has created that need a new type of leadership to address. This leadership has to be, more than anything else, collaborative. Citing the dangers of globalization, Coleman and Ryan (2005) has remarked that having this type of leadership in a globalized environment is a must, as the lack of it can create forces that are not destructive only to the organisations but also to the society. Issak (2005) terms such leadership as 'ethical leadership' which is capable of addressing problems of universal nature apart from pressing organizational issues. This leadership ensures sustainable economic development and moral behaviour; an act that passes on self-respect to both the giver and the taker. The change that leadership has undergone on account of globalization is because globalization could not have done without it. This is because globalization is not only about making businesses thrive but also about creating an environment of good deeds among people in which businesses operate and society at large through societal and cultural orientations as leadership may deem fit. The impact has been inevitable and one paradigm can better describe this impact. According to Sarif and Ismail (2011a) this paradigm means 'global' thinking on cognitive, emotional and spiritual front. Globalization influences leadership in such a way that it becomes ethical and effective (Ford and Ismail, 2006). Bhawk (2008) has stated that it has a potential to either differentiate or homogenize human society's ethical values. Voegtlin, Patzer, & Scherer (2012) term it as discursive conflict resolution and deliberative practices that establishes a business' macro-view with leadership's micro-view. The change in leadership in global environments has also been instituted since globalization demands leadership that is consistent. Consistent leadership is capable of engaging key stakeholders, link organisations’' enterprise-wide strategy with learning initiative, customize learning while keeping localization in mind also, create a global footprint that contains high-quality instructions, embark on continuous improvement and create high-impact modalities which it can leverage in future. Globalization requires organisations to think about their portfolio of brands, their strategies, systems and processes required to keep a track of their activities across many geographies and also that of their supply chains and their effective development. Previously they did not think much about their leadership culture and as to how it could be instrumental in achieving success, expanding and deepening the global footprint. Now this has turned into a race and at the forefront are many Western multinationals that have been seen on track for some time now. It is these companies that have been investing a fortune in creating global leaders - leaders that are in tune with their respective organization's vision and mission. These leaders have dramatic influence over the culture of their companies. They ensure there s no mismatch between the global footprint and the methodology which they use to promote it (Bains, 2012). Globalization has turned leaders into strategic leaders who are capable of affecting organisations at almost every level. These are the leaders who, by virtue having been mentored, possess attributes that are ensconced in diverse repertoire, which helps them confront challenges of global nature quite effectively. The effect is so profound that leaders are not moulded by globalization only at the global level but also at the local level. Boal & Hooijberg (2000), citing examples from the past two decades, have stated that impact globalization has been having on leadership has continued to draw attention studying strategic leadership. On account of this the new global leadership is primarily well-versed to do three things confidently: i) he can influence others, ii) he is a cognitive complex who is capable of holding both long-term and short-term goals simultaneously, and iii) he possesses a future orientation (Rowe, 2001). Business Leader Profile The world today is fortunate to have some of greatest living business leaders making stride upon stride globally. To name a few: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Anne Mulcahy of Xerox, Brad Smith of Intuit, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Larry Page of Google, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group. Sir Richard Branson He is one who owns over 400 companies and his total worth being worth billions of dollars. That he is going up and up the ladder of success is clearly indicative of his flawless leadership and communication styles. Owing businesses in airlines, formula one, telecommunications, space exploration and cosmetics to name a few, Branson today is hailed as one such business leader who has a knack for effective communication and exemplary leadership qualities. His leadership qualities can be gauged from the fact that he has been dubbed as one who has a "keen eye for customer service". His seven customer service rules have become a benchmark in effective communication, which include saying "Yes", "Dreaming Big", "Taking Risks", "Living for Each Customer Service Moment", "Giving Respect", and "Giving Back". Conclusion Constant changes in the global business environment and with the advent of borderless work-culture, leadership has undergone tremendous changes. Today's leadership is unlike the one that was in the past, when businesses were mostly local and not international and the focus was domestic than international markets. Globalization has been met with new challenges and it was out of this necessity that globalized environments found it necessary to have leaders that can suit and synchronize with their international vision. As emerging global economies need leadership having wider and experienced base, over the years it has been able to produce some that befit such a need. References Alon, I., & Higgins, J. M. (2005). Global leadership success through emotional and cultural intelligences. Business Horizons, 48 (6), 501. Baylis, J., Smith, S. & Owens, P. (2008). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. New York, Oxford University Press, Inc. Burke, W.W. (2002). Organizational change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bains, G. (2012). What does globalisation mean for your leadership culture. 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