Corporate Reputation and Sustained Superior Performance - Case Study Example

PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS AND LEADERSHIP STUDENT NAME STUDENT ID NUMBER Contents Contents 2 Aspects of Team Leadership 3 Aspects of Strategy 4 Aspects of Planning 4 Aspects of Organisational Culture 5 Elements of Change Management 5 Management versus Leadership 7 Forms of Leadership Styles 9 PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS AND LEADERSHIP Brisbane is a soccer team that has achieved unprecedented success in the history of Australia under the leadership of Ange postecoglue. As a result, business organisations can learn a lot from the leadership style of Postecoglue to enhance management effectiveness. This essay first discusses the key aspects of team leadership, strategy, planning and organisational culture outlined in the case study. Aspects of Team Leadership Team leadership is the process that ensures that needs of a team are met while the person entrusted with the achievement of the goals of the team is the team leader (Morgeson 2010). One aspect of team leadership is vision (Dine 2011). Vision is what the team intends to achieve and the basic purpose for its existence, without which the team can have no direction. The author further argues that vision keeps the team members inspired and enthusiastic about its goals. In the case study Postecoglue has a vision for the team as it has been indicated that he knows exactly what he wants that is, to change the attitude of the players towards the game, and to also make alterations in the way training is conducted. The second aspect of team leadership evident in the case study is communication. Postecoglue not only knows the vision for his team but he also makes it known to the club’s board while making sure that their rivals stay in the dark about it. Business leaders through communication can address the organisational goals, problems interfering with achievement of those goals and receive feedback from employees (Dine 2011). A third element of team leadership is attributes of the leader himself according to Dine (2011) The author argues that leaders can posses qualities such as respect for members of the team, being approachable and being supportive towards followers. These qualities will certainly go a long way in determining whether the team leader is successful. In the case study Postecoglue is depicted as a persistent leader. This is shown by his determination to pursue his goals even when the team first performs poorly after the introduction of changes, because he is confident that the long term goals would be positive. He is also respectful towards players and other stake holders as he cared about how they related. Aspects of Strategy Strategy involves analysis and understanding of the current state of the organisation as well as the desired future state and coming up with ways of bridging the gap between the two. (Pasmore2013) Also strategy can be seen as “actions through which human and financial resources can be deployed to achieve agreed objectives” (Compass partnership). A key aspect of strategy is objectives. In the case study, the team has an objective of improving its performance and therefore the leader introduces two training sessions per day which is the strategy for ensuring the objective is achieved. Another strategy introduced by Postecoglue that would later result to realization of objectives is, short passing the ball by Roar members to other team members more often Aspects of Planning Planning is another managerial function outlined in the case study. It involves making decisions in advance about what is to be done, when, how and by whom (Olusanya 2012). An important aspect of planning explained by the author is staffing and team building Postecoglue knows in advance the kind of soccer style he wants to introduce and so he recruits the right players to ensure success Aspects of Organisational Culture Organisational culture, according to (Willcoxson 2000) refers to” norms, beliefs, principles and ways of behaving that each give an organisation a distinctive character,” Another definition by (Martin 2006) is values that determine the behavior of individuals in any group. One aspects of organisational culture is values according to the author. When an organisation goes through a difficult situation it sets plans to handle the situation and if the plans successfully solve the problems the plan becomes a value as it can be reused in future to solve similar problems. In the case study we find Postecoglue advocating a soccer style that he believes will be so successful that it will stand the test of time. This then means the style will be used repeatedly and so will be part of the organisational culture. Martin (2006) explains that after continued use of the values, they form underlying assumptions which are also aspects of organisational culture. The underlying assumptions are not easy to notice as they only manifest through reactions, thoughts and behavior of members (Martin 2006).In the case study Postecoglue’s style of play made him confident and calm as he believed that play day was for the players to execute his strategy. Elements of Change Management The second part of this essay dwells on key elements of change management. Change is always present in any organisation and therefore there should be ways of effectively managing it to ensure it achieves the intended objectives. Berns (2007) has defined change management as” managing people in a changing environment so that business [and organisational] changes are successful and the desired business [or organisational] results are realized”. To have the desired results change has to be effectively managed. In the case study the soccer team wants to introduce a number of changes e.g. change the way players think about football, playing style and methods of training. To ensure that the changes are successful Postecoglue has used the following tools of change management. Communication According to Bern (2007) communication is an element of change management that involves making known the proposed changes and the expected results to all levels of the organisation clearly and in good time to avoid confusion and to prepare members of staff to receive change positively. E.g. in the case study when player living in a nearby city learnt of the changes in the training hours, as a way of preparing for the change, they moved to reduce driving costs. Also Postecoglue regularly communicated his vision and strategy to the team members and the administration staff to ensure that every person understood what they were working towards. The second key element of change management as explained by Berns (2007) is human factor. There are people who get involved in the process of designing change, implementing while others live through it (Berns 2007).The emotional effects of change on all the involved parties should be effectively addressed to ensure the ultimate success is achieved. (Berns 2007).In the case study some of the changes introduced had short term pains which had not been addressed. This led to disappointment and departure of some high profile players. Had they known that the changes would deliver long term success they would have been persistent Availability of resources is the other element of change management according to Berns (2007). Resources can be in form of human resources and if the current staff cannot handle the proposed changes, recruiting additional staff may become necessary, (Berns 2007) Postecoglue starts by recruiting the players he perceives most suitable to employ his new play styles .He also changed the composition of leadership by installing leadership group of five players. Berns (2007) explains a fourth element of change management as, leading change. This can be done by an individual or a group of people as long as they are passionate and dedicated. This clearly indicates that the person charged with the responsibility of leading change is also responsible for the outcome of the whole change process. In the case study Postecoglue is the change leader as he is the one who initiates the changes and comes up with strategies of ensuring success of team Management versus Leadership The third part of this essay discusses management versus leadership. To be in a position to tell whether Postecoglue was a leader or a manager, we start by analyzing the key differences between managers and leaders, followed by explaining ways in which he acted as a leader or as a manager. Although scholars have often argued that leadership and management are similar, there are clear distinctions between the two (Lunenburg2011). Leadership refers to ways in which people who have held leadership positions influence the minds of others towards achievement of the goals of the organisation (IAAP 2009), while management is the process through which managers ensure that organisational goals are achieved through the use of authority and consultation. (Lunenburg 2011) further argues that a leader advocates change and different approaches in the performance of the activities of the organisation. A manager on the other hand advocates status quo. (Lunenburg 2011) also suggests that a leader is concerned with the development of vision and the alignment of vision with the employees through communication, motivation and empowerment. A manager on the other hand focuses on managerial functions such as planning, controlling, directing and staffing. Leadership brings about uncertainty due to the introduction of changes while management brings about stability. In the case study Postecoglue has the title of a manager but the case argues he was more of a leader. The following reasons support the argument: First, as stated earlier leadership is responsible for bringing new ways of doing things. Postecoglue introduced several changes in the team e.g. new play styles and new approaches of improving soccer .He also tried to help the team cope with the changes by communicating to the team members and the board exactly what the long term outcome would be. Second reason why he was more of a leader is the fact that he is the one who developed the vision for the team and aligned it with the team members. It has been indicated in the case that Postecoglue knew what he wanted for the team and so he made all the adjustments in the team that would undoubtedly result to success. A leader also creates uncertainties and Postecoglues leadership is no exception. Immediately after introducing changes, the team’s performance deteriorated and the team members not knowing what to expect, left in disappointment. A leader recognizes the importance of audience and other stake holders outside the organisation (Avolio & Gardener 2005). Postecoglue and his team related well with stake holders such as sponsors and other clubs as he did not want his team to play to empty stadium. Avolio et al. (2005) further explains that a leader equips his followers with the necessary skills, lets them learn from their mistakes along the process of achieving the goals set. Postecoglue was such a leader as he encouraged the team members even when the performance was not good and also taught them winning play styles. The argument that he was more of a leader is questionable as he acts as a manager in the following ways. One of the managerial roles that he performs is staffing as it has been indicated the he changed the composition of the team membership by recruiting players who would successfully use his new play style. He also performs strategic planning e.g. where he has vision that’s beyond the mare winning of a weekend match but rather aims at raising the bar for Australian soccer as a whole. Avolio et al. (2005) argues that a manager needs to possess skills such as technical, Conceptual and interpersonal skills. Postecoglue is a good manager as he has interpersonal skills which enable him relate well with people and has conceptual skills from his experience of many years both as a player and as a manager Forms of Leadership Styles The fourth and the final part of the essay focus on leadership styles. Iqbal (2012) suggests that leadership style is the behavior used by leaders to interact with subordinates. First leadership style discussed is transformational leadership. (Chiun, Ramayan & Min 2009) explains that transformational leader is one who uses his personal power and shares it as well with his followers, which makes this kind of leadership satisfying and also enhances productivity. IAAP (2009) adds that under this leadership, the leader gets people to do things through injecting enthusiasm and energy. The key aspects of this style of leadership is vision, where the leader creates vision which excites his followers, and also guides along the way towards the achievement of the goals IAAP (2009).According to Lo et, al. (2009)transformational leadership can be subdivided in to two: authentic transformational leadership and pseudo transformational leadership. The second leadership style is transactional. Lo et al. (2009) argues that this style involves getting things done by subordinates through motivation. Lo et al. (2009) further explains that a leader can motivate his followers through meeting their self interests and giving rewards and also as a way of creating royalty and commitment. It is then clear that under this leadership it is possible to get people carry out duties they initially did not plan to do. Lo et al. (2009) argues that this leadership can also use management by exception, where the leader stays vigilant to ensure subordinates meet predetermined goals. Some key aspects of this type of leadership according to IAAP (2009), it works best with a clear chain of command and through creating clear leadership structures. The third leadership style is leissez faire. Under this style the role of decision making is left to the subordinates leaving the leaders with minimum involvement (IAAP 2009).This means that it can bring about satisfaction as followers will respect decisions they have made. IAAP (2009) further explains that it is most suitable in organisations where followers are capable of making decisions without central coordination The fourth leadership style as indicated by IAAP (2009) is participative style. The leadership style is also known as, consultation, empowerment, democratic, management by objective and power sharing (IAAP 2009). The author adds that it is a style where the leader involves subordinates, superiors and other stake holders in the process of leadership. It can thus be concluded that it results in contentment of all members of the organisation as they feel that their opinions and contributions are greatly valued. IAAP (2009) however argues that it can be confusing when so many differing opinions are given. The fifth leadership style is servant type. According to Bass (2000) this is the leader who prioritizes the need of others, and does not necessarily direct the efforts of his follower towards attainment of the set goals. Bass (2000) argues that this leader has a natural feeling of wanting to be a leader and he is successful only when the needs of his followers are met. IAAP (2000) discusses the sixth type of leadership as autocratic style. The author explains that it as a style where the leader neither involves his subordinates nor other stake holders in the process of decision making. It can therefore be said that it involves dictatorship which is likely to cause dissatisfaction among the members of the organisation. IAAP (2000) further explains that the style is most appropriate where involving members of the organisation or not would have no effects on the organisation. One advantage associated with this style is that decision making process takes little time. From the various leadership styles discussed, we can argue that Postecoglue was a transformational leader because through his power he got things done and he even shared his power through working with a board of governors and other player appointed to positions of leadership. We see productivity improving as a result of this leadership style. We can also argue that Postecoglue was a participative leader because he involves superiors, subordinates and stake holders in his leadership. Conclusion Businesses that can adopt leadership styles similar to the ones employed by Postecoglue can have lasting success. It becomes crystal clear that the current performance of an organisation may be poor but development and implementation of proper strategies, under appropriate leadership style, can transform the organisation, making its objectives and goals a reality. REFRENCES Dine, C, Kahn, J, Abella, B, Asch, D &. Shea, J 2011, Key elements of clinical physician leadership at an academic medical center, Journal of graduate medical education. Morgeson, F, Scott DeRue, D & Karam, P 2010. Leadership in teams: a fundamental approach to understanding leadership structures and processes, Journal of management: Southern management association. 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