Dick Smiths Business Success - Assignment Example

CASE STUDY by Student Student’s Name + Code Institution’s Name Professor’s Name Course Title + Code Town/City Date of Submission Case Study Introduction Effective leadership is important towards the success of an organization. In the ever-changing business environment, effective leadership is taking precedence over efficient management because of the competition and leaders have the role of shaping the future for better results and survival of the business. In the case study, Dick Smith demonstrated great leadership skills and competencies that saw him succeed in the Australian environment that demands that leaders inspire followers and adapt to the business culture (Hanson et al 2011). It is clear that Smith was a charismatic leader who was determined at transforming the business environment. He showed an extraordinary capability to connect with the public, as well as gain the respect and admiration of workers and business leaders with the same measure. From, the case study, it is apparent that he was determined at influencing those who worked with him becoming successful. He was able to apply the transformational style of leadership, where he was appealing to follower’s values and operating at a higher level as compared to his followers (Ramsey 2000). Question One: What do you think has contributed to Dick Smith’s business success? Dick Smith’s had the capacity to adopt changes towards attaining success in the challenging environments in Australia and other parts of the world. He had the capacity to influence his followers through motivation in order to meet business objectives and goals. Dick did not only align and elevates the needs, as well as the values of followers; however, also offered intellectual stimulation and increased follower confidence in the workplace. As evident in the case study, Smith behaved in a manner that result in him being admired , trusted, and respected, as well as finally becoming a role model. He became successful because he demonstrated high moral standards and by showing optimism and enthusiasm. Motivation is an important leadership element that was evident in Dick’s business. He used intrinsic motivation (compensation and remuneration) to inspire his followers; hence, increasing productivity (Viljoen & Dann 2003 ). Furthermore, the success attained by Dick was greatly promoted by his dedicated to greatness. In this case study, Dick is seen to having inspired both his followers and other members of the society. Dick was a social leader that made him to interact with his followers more easily. This made him to understand his followers and make an effort to make changes to the concerns of his followers. It has been argued that leadership demands that leaders should demonstrate high-level standards in regard to morals and ethics. Smith succeeded in the business environment and other spheres of life since he is seen to observe Australian ethos. This made him to be admired by many , leaders included as he became the role model. He understood that in order to succeed in the business , it was important to observe the set ethics in the society to avoid some litigations that may negatively affect the reputation of his business (Hanson et al 2011). Dick always inspired his followers to observe and promote ethical standards. Additionally, Dick’s succeed was anchored on his ability to develop a workplace culture that encouraged corporate social responsibility. The workplace culture in the business was important it inspired those who were with him to do the same. For instance, he ensured that one-third of the profit from Dick Smith Foods was donated to charity organization (Ramsey 2000). Question Two: Identify the attributes that contribute to Dick Smith’s charisma. Charisma is an important attribute of leaders because it is associated with leadership. Thus, charismatic and transformational leadership model surpasses simply considering personality. The basically pursue and value an interrelated set of images , which are perceived as credible, honest, morally worthy , powerful , as well as esteemed. From the case study, Dick Smith was able to demonstrate charismatic attitudes that enabled him to succeed in the Australian business environment. Being a charismatic leader, he was able to be admired by many and attracted his followers. He understood the followers are important to his success as a leader; thus, he normally associated with them through social interaction. In addition, Dick knew the importance of communication. In the case study, Dick motivated his followers through remuneration and compensation and shared with them vital information and details (Hanson et al 2011). This came to be evident in his powerful speech. Thus, knowing how to speak to groups and to make difficult information simple to understand permits a leader’s to know what to do, as well as the way to carry out the plan for action. Excellent communication skills assisted Dick to motivate his followers making them to perform their assignments more easily and confidently (Ramsey 2000). As a charismatic leader, Dick Smith articulated the vision in the way he wanted the business to be in inspirational manner, as well as motivate those around him. His vision for the business was to be team-oriented, successful business, which he made sure that he gathered his management team and the workers. He communicated to the vision and shared through different communication pathways. This implies that he was persuasive when describing the business vision and his passion for the vision. This was instrumental towards making him a charismatic leader, hence becoming successful. Through his vision, he was able to convince the Australians while he was in Dick Smith Foods on the significance of maintaining balance in Australian ownership of Australian business, through selling food manufactured in Australia (Robbins et al 2007). Furthermore, being a charismatic leader, he was able to expand his vision of running a successful business to promoting national pride, identity, and self-confidence not only in the workforce, but in the Australian populace at large. Dick displayed all traits of charismatic leadership, gaining trust and endorsement from the business community and employees and senior management (Smith et al 2002). Question Three: Is Dick Smith a transformational leader? Explain your answer. The role of leadership is vital to empower and motivate others to take part in productive change. Effective leaders start inside with a purpose in order to serve others. Dick was inspired to serve others at his young age during his childhood. He had the passion of transforming the business community and society through communicating his vision and philosophy. He served his community through his philanthropic nature where he wanted to be a role model and contribute to the society. Serving others is an important vision of a transformational leader that Dick possessed (Robbins et al 2007). It is apparent from the case study that Dick Smith demonstrated a transformational model of leadership that his charismatic attributes. Transformational leader has a desire and capability to raise the consciousness of others by using powerful moral ideals and values. Dick was in the forefront towards observing and demonstrating high morals and ideals that are important towards success of the business. Ethical standards among transformational leaders are important since it will them to understand, as well as accepting the challenges of attempting to do the right thing always. The aspect of ethics enabled Dick to make important decisions regarding the business as he was dedicated to ethical response (Thorndike 2012). Through motivation strategy employed by Dick, it is apparent that he was a transformational leader that influenced others in the business and Australians in general. He was able to persuade followers by serving as a role model through ethical practices and good morals. He championed for the business to promote social corporate responsibility, which is vital towards assisting communities that they operated. He believed that social responsibility is an important role of a transformational leader. Accordingly, Dick Smith Foods donated one-third of the profit they donated it to charities. This ensures that the bond and trust between the community and business is strengthened (Smith et al 2002). Additionally, transformational leaders demonstrate high-sense of effective communication. Dick had an effective communication ability has shown through his effective speech that is able to convince his followers and the Australian society on the importance maintaining balance by using foods manufactured in Australia. Transformational leaders are open and communicators, whereby they use communication as an instrument to fashion an understanding between different levels of the business (Johnson et al 2008). Dick in his speech was persuasive and able to share his vision with the followers to inspire participation plus commitment. Transformational leaders are always social in their dealings, which makes them to interact and share information with others regarding business goals and what need to be done to attain these goals (Viljoen & Dann 2003 ). Dick demonstrated unique capability to link with the employees and the public and gain respect and admiration of the workers and business leaders. This attribute as transformational leader was important because it earned the respect, where he was appointed by many companies in corporate positions. Conclusion `From the case study, Dick Smith demonstrated attributes of a transformational leader who had the passion to serve others. The case study showed that Dick was an effective transformational leader who was able to inspire his followers and business leaders. Motivation was important attribute that made him a charismatic leader, where he used intrinsic motivation to make followers to be productive through achieving business goals. Also, he was a good communicator through his inspiring speech that made it possible to communicate the vision of the business (Smith et al 2002). Dick believed in serving others through his business and different positions he held. Lastly, he understood that maintaining and sustaining the image of the business was essential towards becoming successful in the business. List of References Hanson, D., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D. and Hoskisson, R. E. 2011. “Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalisation, Pacific Rim 4th edition”, Cengage, Australia. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. 2008, “Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases, 8th edition”, Prentice-Hall, Pearson Education, UK. Ramsey, A. 2000,’Evasive action on air safety’, Sydney Morning Herald 1 April. Pg 49; Robbins, S. P., Bergman, R., and Stagg, I , 2007, “Management”, Prentice Hall, Australia. Smith, D., Blakeslee, J., & Koonce, R. 2002. “Strategic Six sigma: Best practices from the executive suite”, Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Thorndike, W. 2012. “The outsiders: Eight unconventional CEOs and their radically rational blueprint for success”. Viljoen, J. & Dann, S. 2003 , “Strategic Management”, 4th ed., French Forest, N.S.W.: Prentice Hall. Read More