CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP STYLES: BRAND IT LIKE BRANSON

Introduction

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Everything in the world changes so does leadership and its styles. It is intriguing to see how the concept of leadership has evolved over the years from as far back as 1780 BC(Johnson et al., 2009) . This evolution has been mostly caused by technological growth and globalisation, which has forced organisations to grow and evolve along with the leadership trends while driving individual motivations to achieve the organisations’ goals. 

The performance of an organisation is directly proportional to the leader’s level of effectiveness in motivating and guiding employees (DÜŞÜN & DEMİR, 2012). Organisational leadership, therefore, plays a major role in improving assets, recruiting the best hands, and believe that leadership ability brings valuable assets to improve growth and revenue(Surji, 2015) . It explains why organisations invest so much in training and developing leaders. 

However, over the years, one thing stands out from the park the year and form of leadership, and its effectiveness. Leadership effectiveness help in forging lasting growth of the workforce. This blog aims to examine the concept of leadership while elucidating on a few contemporary leadership theories. A critical evaluation of the Virgin Group as a case study was for the blog. 

What is Leadership?

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Leadership means different things to different individuals. There have been diverse attempts to define leadership as each of the definition is right in its stead. Leadership itself relates to many things, for example, leadership in politics is quite different from leadership in education or religious situation. The definitions differ, however, they tilt towards the same sentiment: leadership is about knowing how to influence other people to achieve goals and inspire others in the process. Kruse (2013) defined leadership as a form of shared impact that brings out the best in the input of others to achieve stated objectives. In clearer terms, leadership is about influencing other people (Vacar, 2015; Goncalves, 2013). Accordingly, it can be said that leadership combines persuasive means and a specified role (Kempster et al. 2011).

Leadership beyond the Title

There are several approaches and styles of leadership. That an approach or system works for a leader does not mean it will work for another leader. This explains the reason why principles, though exhaustive form the hallmark of great leadership. Leadership principles are guiding beliefs that leaders can utilise to become more effective and successful (Surji, 2015). They include:

1. Integrity: Integrity in leadership is not only about honesty but open-minded engagement in business dealings and reliability in transacting with others.
2. Performance: A leader must be able to live up to the expectation of him. He must be able to work diligently with appropriate regards to technical and professional standards
3. Objectivity: leadership involves being objective in dealings and judgements.
4. Competence: Competence is the ability to do something efficiently and effectively. A leader should be simply competent in all that is expected of him.
5. Courtesy: A leader must learn to discharge duties with courtesy and consideration for others.

Leadership Theories

Theories of Leadership. Image Source: https://businessjargons.com

Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making (Avenell, 2015). The Great Man Theory: contends that ―some leadership attributes needed to be successful are innate in some people (Tomey, 2009). This theory emphasises trailblazer, record breaker, and the individual with an unusual level of influence. It describes leaders as heroes and superhuman designated to assume leadership positions when the need arises. Suffice to say, Great Man became the acceptable term during the era leadership was wrongfully assumed primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership (Avenell, 2015). This theory posited that the rise to power is rooted in a ―heroic set of personal talents, skills, or physical characteristics The Trait theory is mostly attributed to identify specific disposition or social characteristics worthy of a leader (Avenell, 2015). 

The Situational theory posits that the qualities essentials of a leader vary as the situation changes (Tomey, 2009). The theory is a sharp departure from the great-man theory because it opines that rather than having someone born with leader attributes, in some undefined situation, shove demands on some people and that some people attributes are shove upon someone—that is, certain people emerge to prominence.

The Contingency theory focused on the significance of assigning leaders in a position that is the most appropriate style of leadership. The Transactional leadership theory is an interchange model that recognises the needs of the people being led and offers adequate compensation in return for anticipated discussion. It comes in form of employment or contracts with commensurate compensation (Tomey, 2009). The Transformational leadership theory posited that a leader has certain distinguishable characteristics – a charismatic trait that inspires followers to achieve their aims and objectives (Tafvelin, 2013).

Consequently, globalisation and technological advancement have increased the interactions between different leadership theories and the evolution of these theories over the years (Perez 2017). The implication of this is that it has driven organisations to recruit the best candidates to help them succeed in a globalized business environment

Case Study: Leadership the virgin Group

Leadership Style of Virgin Group by Billur İşcan . Video Source: Youtube

The Virgin Group was established in 1970 as Virgin Records, the company has grown to a massive business conglomerate. The business collection of the Virgin Group covers aviation, sport and fitness, hospitality and communication among others. The company’s philosophy and organisational structure have a direct link to the charismatic attributes of the founder, Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Group has over 200 companies across its business portfolio employing nearly over 70,000 employees across 35 countries in the world. Undoubtedly, The Virgin Group has seen constant progress since its inception.  It prides on generating over $21 billion (USD) annually in global revenue which shows the scale and magnitude in which Richard Branson has led the Virgin Group for over is operating (Virgin Group, 2020).

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The leadership style adopted in driving the affairs of Virgin Group has placed a major role in the success the company has recorded over the years.  It can be deduced that Virgin Group rises transformational leadership theory. An assessment of the success witnessed can be attributed to the exceptionality of the leadership model it has adopted. This form of transformational leadership theory stems from the personal philosophy and style of the founder Richard Branson. He sets and communicates synchronised goals which the top executives then break down to form doable bits for individual companies in the Virgin Group who then work with great care and perseverance, however independently to achieve the set goals.(Financhill, 2020).

At Virgin Group, employees are allowed to form cutting-edge solutions and products that the group sells to a global market. Having said that, transformational leadership is one of these strategies that have seen the company attain great heights of success. By working collaboratively, the workforce maximised the inputs and efforts towards attaining the company’s collective goal. Transformational leadership offers staff members of an organisation equal chance resources to get the anticipated results.  This is in contrast with other forms of leadership such as transactional leadership which in its stead, compensates employers’ adequate compensation for their performance. The negative side of this type of leadership approach is that it allows employees to work for compensation rather than the set goals. 

Conclusively, the success of the Virgin Group can be largely linked to the charismatic attributes of Sir Richard Branson. His charismatic attribute has helped him with an exceptional leadership model for his large organisation. He has been able to effectively merge two leadership models – the transformational leadership models to make the Virgin Group the success it is known for today. The current business environment characterised by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic calls for more ingenuity in the leadership model adopted by Virgin Group. A more appropriate approach will be to combine the participative leadership theory that puts the input and efforts of others into consideration in attaining overreaching goals.

References

Avenell, K. (2015). Leading teaching and learning–instructional leadership vs. transformational leadership. Australian Educational Leader, 37(2), 24-26.

Düşün, z. D., & Demir, b. (2012). The Effect of Team Leaders on Motivation and Performance ofEmployees. Leadership, 151.

Financhill, (2020). Richard Branson’s leadership style. Financhill.Available from https://financhill.com/blog/investing/richard-branson-leadership-style

Goncalves, M. (2013). Leadership Styles: The power to influence others. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4(4).

Kempster, S., Jackson, B., Conroy, M. (2011). Leadership as a purpose: Exploring the role of purpose in leadership practice. Leadership, 7(3): 317-334. DOI: 10.1177/1742715011407384

King, A. J., Johnson, D. D., & Van Vugt, M. (2009). The origins and evolution ofleadership. Current Biology, 19(19), R911-R916.

Kruse, K. (2013). What is leadership? Forbes Magazine.https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/?sh=8c5da475b90c

Surji, K. M. (2015). Understanding leadership and factors that influence leaders’ effectiveness. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(33), 154-167.

Tafvelin, S. (2013). The transformational leadership process: Antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes in social services (Doctoral dissertation, Umeå universitet).

Tomey, A. M. (2009). Nursing leadership and management effects work environments. Journal of Nursing Management, 17(1), 15-25.

Vacar, A. (2015). Influence and Leadership. Studies in Business and Economics, 10(2). DOI: 10.1515/sbe-2015-0030

Virgin Group, (2020). Understanding the Richard Branson approach to leadership. https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/understanding-richard-branson-approach-leadership Retrieved on 25th November 2020.

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE – REFRESH THE WORLD

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE. Image Source: https://youtube.com

INTRODUCTION

Business is becoming more globally competitive by the day and organisations working in a competitive environment are constantly being burdened with the demands to fulfil their obligations to stakeholders. This naturally places demands on organisations to have a unique approach to staying ahead of competitions through staff satisfaction which is known as organisational culture.

Organisational culture is a viable yardstick that differentiates successful companies from unsuccessful companies. According to Needle (2004), organisational culture represents the values and belief systems of the employees. It consists of a set of standards that control employee performance and service to investors, customers, and other stakeholders (Groysberg et al. 2018).

This blog aims to explore and analyse the core concepts of organisational culture and its relationship with performance. This would be done through an evaluation of theories of organisational culture on Coca-Cola Company, with recommendations for improvement. 

What Is Organisational Culture?

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Organisational culture explains the internal structure and employee experience. It answers questions such as what do the employees think of the organisation? To the staff, what does it means to be a staff of the organisation? How does the organisation measures and remunerate tasks, duties, and deliverables? What is the leadership and management structure?

For excellent service delivery and as a way to get ahead of fierce competitions, the organisation needs to constantly position itself to support greater workforce communication among its staff, commit to staff capacity building, and strengthening freedom of information. Organisational culture is also explained as the way organisations control their management structure in ways that reward creativity, innovation, learning, design thinking that focuses on meeting the needs of the customers (Elsbach and Stiglani, 2018).

Importance of Organisational Culture

Importance of Culture. Image Source https://beachfleischman.com

The role of organisational culture cannot be overstated.  It plays a critical role in modelling the behaviour and organisation’s results. Giberson et al. (2009) explain organisational culture as the mixing dynamism that drives the company’s behaviour in the direction desired by management. Organisational culture dictates the employee experience and sets the organisations for the daily operational routines. Organisational culture determines the long-term outlook and future projections of a company, the more vibrant and dynamic it is, the better, for the organisation. It is equally important as it guides the performance of any organisation towards the attainment of the company’s goals.

To achieve organisation’s goals, companies must focus on building organisational culture by building a vibrant and dynamic leadership that allows innovation, creativity, and customer-centric design thinking (Elsbach and Stiglani, 2018).

Coca-Cola’s Organisational Culture

Coca Cola . Image Source https://pexels.com

Coca-Cola is the strongest and biggest in the soft drink industry globally with operational reach in about 200 countries and daily consumer servings of about 1.9 billion (Anik and Habiba, 2020).  The company is known for its famed carbonated soft drink well distributed globally for over a hundred years. Since establishment in 1886. For over 115 years, the Coca-Cola Company has remained committed to creating moments of enjoyment for hundreds of millions of people daily across the world.  Currently, the Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Coca-Cola Company has the world’s most advanced and pervasive soft drink producer and distributor across the globe. They have a sophisticated structure that is especially devoted to staff committed to promoting the company’s brand. This unique worldwide system has made The Coca-Cola Company the world’s premier soft-drink enterprise. 

The working philosophy of the Coca-Cola Company speaks glowingly of the organisational culture of the company. The philosophy of the founder is to make the company’s work environment a sterling work environment for staff to be and a place where they feel motivated to provide their best. This can be attributed to the link that makes Coca-Cola the leading soft drink company in the globe. They aim at managing their business well with people who are strongly committed to the company’s values and culture and providing an appropriately regulated work environment, to constantly meet business goals and objectives. Also, it is observed that the stakeholders of the organisation take a joint obligation to ensure total deference with the tenants and intricacies of the policies of the company. They also give their best to protect the company’s assets and resources in ways that reduce business risks.

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The Coca-Cola Company adopts an organisational structure that is purposeful in invigorating the mind, stimulating people, and raising hopefulness. It uses a convincing approach to raise not just the company model, but also, an array of the workforce that goes out to influence their environment.

Coca-Cola has strong values they hold in high regard. This value system has been identified as one of the unique things that set the company apart. It is reported that the company’s values serve as a compass for actions and explains how staff members behave in their communities. This includes leadership to shape a better future, integrity, accountability, and collaboration among others. Staff at Coca-Cola enjoy a supportive work environment that allows the free flow of ideas and inspires growth.

Everyone in the Coca-Cola brand knows each day, the company develops meaningful and accelerated learning opportunities and anticipating the skills and resources needed to meet future demands. The work environment at Coca-Cola also fosters unity among the staff. The company prides itself on its mission to get the world refreshed. They believe that the relationship built throughout working at the company will help staff lead a successful career. The company ensures fair and inclusive workplaces and develop a workplace that embraces everyone’s unique abilities. The company is dedicated to providing support to targeted communities and planet conservation.

The Iceberg model

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The Iceberg model is based on a fundamental principle that addresses problems by examining how the factors within an organisation affect each other. The model is more associated with searching for patterns over a period and identifying root causes within an organisation, which is also in line with Schein’s model that reveals the different cultural levels within organisations.

Hofstede’s Culture Model

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions . Image Source : https://casework.eu

The Hofstede’s culture model, which is an outline for cross-cultural communication, is developed by Geert Hofstede and it explains the effects of the values an organisation holds in high regard on its staff and how these values translate to staff behaviour within and outside of the work environment (Adeoye and Tomei, 2014). Therefore, it can be summarised using these theories that the Coca-Cola organisational model is not in line with the Iceberg’s model but however in similitude to Hofstede’s culture model that embraces a large conglomerate as the company has been proven to help uphold Coca-Cola’s organisational values. However, it has been argued that Hofstede’s culture model does not take into account cultural diversity, migration, and women empowerment and ascribes culture to the geographical place of residence as obtainable in the contemporary corporate world (Williamson, 2002).

Also, the world is gradually moving into embracing sustainability in their work ethos. This means that the concepts of sustainability have been adopted. Owing to this, a change is paramount for the Coca Cola company, and it is recommended the organisation adopts the Johnson and Scholes Cultural Web Model that helps to create a balance in its economic exceptions,social obligations, and environmental risks as this will boost the reputation of Coca Cola regarding its culture to ensure sustainability {Scholes and Johnson,2020}

Johnson and Scholes Cultural Web Model. Image Source: https://frontrowresults.com/

Conclusively, Coca Cola without a doubt is no doubt the heartbeat of soft drink lovers all over the world and it has become the most popular word in this world. Coca Cola Company has over the years been through a lot of internal and external transformation and it has evolved successfully over the years, despite fierce competition, this has been mostly made possible through a well laid out organisational culture. A look into the Coca-Cola Company’s organisational culture depicts that for an organisation to be this successful, there is a need to adopt a workable culture that resonates with its operational tenants, The Coca-Cola company has successfully created a strong organisational culture that is entrenched in the fibre of its workforce. 

References

Adeoye, B., and Tomei, L. (2014). Effects of information capitalism and globalisation on teaching and learning. Pennyslvania: Information Science Reference, pp.352.

Anik, K., and Habiba, W. (2020). Marketing Management Practice of Coca-Cola. Marketing Management, 649: 3

Elsbach, K., Stiglani, I. (2018). Design thinking and organisational culture: A review and framework for future research. Journal of Management, 44(6), 1-33.

Giberson, T. R., Resick, C. J., Dickson, M. W., Mitchelson, J. K., Randall, K. R., and Clark, M. A. (2009). Leadership and organizational culture: Linking CEO characteristics to cultural values. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(2), 123-137.

Groysberg, B., Lee, J., Price, J., & Cheng, J. (2018). The leader’s guide to corporate culture. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 44-52. 

Needle, D. (2004). Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment. Business and Economics, pp. 646

Williamson, D. (2002). Forward from a critique of Hofstede’s model of national culture. Human Relations, 55(11), 1373-1395.