Leading a Continuously Changing Organization

1 Leading a Continuously Changing Organization Foundational Leadership Theories I would draw upon foundational leadership theories such as style, contingency, and pathgoal to lead the organization in implementing the changes to offshore some of its operations. The style leadership approach focuses on the leader’s behavior. According to this approach, leader behavior can be categorized as consideration and initiating structure. These categories are also referred to as relationship and task orientation or employee and production centered (Northouse, 2010). The initiating structure prioritizes goal attainment and focuses on efficiency and structure in the workplace. It focuses on formal procedures and policies and ensures the employees’ responsibilities are well-defined. Conversely, consideration prioritizes the employees’ wellbeing. It focuses on showing concern and care for the workers and promotes trust and respect.

According to Judge et al. (2004), initiating structure is associated with group-organization performance and job leader performance, while consideration is related to the motivation and satisfaction of followers and the effectiveness of leaders.

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Contingency is another foundational leadership theory based on the premise that particular leadership behaviors are more effective than others based on the context and circumstances of their occurrence. Leaders need to align or change their actions and behavior to suit different situations. According to Fielder’s contingency theory, group performance is determined by a proper match between the situation, the leader’s style, and the extent to which the situation gives influence and control to the leader. Leader behavior can either be relationship or task-oriented. According to this theory, situations can be categorized based on three factors, including task structure, leader-member relations, and position power (Northouse, 2010). Task structure refers to the extent to which a task’s requirements are clear. Leader-member relations refer to the group atmosphere and the level of loyalty, attraction, and confidence that followers have for the leader. Lastly, position power is the level of authority possessed by a leader to punish or reward the followers. The most favorable situations include defined tasks, good leaderfollower relations, and strong position power.

Path-goal theory is another foundational leadership theory that posits that leaders can have a positive impact on their followers’ performance, motivation, satisfaction, and effort by minimizing obstacles, explaining paths towards goals, and matching their styles to the characteristic of the followers and the environment. This theory focuses on the relationship between the followers’ characteristics, the work setting, and the leader’s style. The four types of leader behaviors include directive, participative, supportive, and achievement-oriented (Northouse, 2010). Directive leadership is useful for providing clear guidance to less experienced followers. Supportive leadership entails demonstrating concern for the followers during highly stressful tasks to improve their psychological security. Participative leadership involves leaders encouraging the workers to take part in decision-making. Lastly, achievement-oriented

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leadership seeks performance improvement, encourages excellence, and inspires confidence in the followers’ capabilities.

Application of Foundational Leadership Theories I would apply the style approach to the situation by employing both consideration and initiating structure during the change. I would apply the initiating structure to ensure that all the goals of the change are attained. Moreover, I would employ consideration by demonstrating concern for the workers’ well-being to ensure that they are satisfied and motivated to implement the changes.

I would also apply the contingency leadership theory by adjusting my style to suit different situations. For instance, it would be necessary to apply different leadership styles to the employees resistant to the changes to offshore some operations and the newer workers receptive to these alterations.

Moreover, I would apply the path-goal theory by defining the goals of the change, clarifying the steps to be taken, eliminating obstacles, and offering support to the workers (Northouse). I would start by defining the objectives of moving some operations offshore. Then I would clarify the steps that need to be taken to achieve the goal of offshoring. I would eliminate obstacles to the changes, such as the resistance from the long-term employees who are unwilling to accept new ways of doing things. Lastly, I would support the employees during the change process by guiding them, listening to all their concerns, and responding appropriately.

I would also apply different leadership behaviors depending on the characteristics of the employees and the tasks. I would apply directive leadership to rigid and overbearing subordinates and tasks that are complex, ambiguous, and with unclear rules. Moreover, I would apply the supportive style to employees who are unsatisfied and need the human touch and

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affiliation and tasks that are mundane, repetitive, and challenging (Northouse, 2010). Moreover, participative leadership will be suitable for autonomous subordinates who need control and tasks that are unstructured, ambiguous, and unclear. Lastly, I would apply the achievement-oriented style to employees with high expectations and a need to excel in complex, ambiguous, and challenging tasks.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Foundational Leadership Theories The effectiveness of the foundational leadership theories can be assessed using various criteria, including logical consistency, empirical validity, scope, testability, usefulness, and parsimony (Akers, 2013). Logical consistency is the clarity of the concepts utilized in forming the theory’s propositions. All the theories are logically consistent as their concepts are clearly defined and the propositions logically stated. The scope is the range of the theory’s explanations (Akers, 2013). Style theory’s scope is broad as it focuses on employee-centered and taskcentered aspects of leadership. When making changes to the organization to move operations to an offshore location, it is necessary to focus on both task-centered and employee-centered aspects to ensure that the goals are accomplished, and the employees are motivated to work towards them. Moreover, the contingency theory has a broad scope as it focuses on leadership styles in different situations rather than emphasizing a single type of leadership. However, the scope of path-goal theory is limited as it does not focus on various aspects such as the impact of leadership on several managerial levels and subordinates, strategic leadership, and leaders’ political behaviors.

Parsimony refers to the simplicity and conciseness of a theory (Akers, 2013). The three theories are parsimonious as they are simple and easy to understand. For example, the path-goal theory is parsimonious as its proposition is that leaders become effective by engaging in actions

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that complement the followers’ environment and capabilities to compensate for deficiencies and facilitate the workers’ satisfaction and performance. Testability implies that a theory can be empirically scrutinized to ascertain the validity of its propositions (Akers, 2013). All the theories are testable as it is possible o subject them to empirical tests. Empirical validity means that there is credible evidence supporting a theory (Akers, 2013). The three theories are empirically valid as there is credible evidence supporting them. Lastly, usefulness is the application of a theory to solve problems (Akers, 2013). The theories are useful as they can be applied in organizations to solve problems. For example, the contingency theory provides information on leadership styles that can be useful to firms during human resource planning to develop leadership profiles. The theories are also useful as they can be applied in the organization to lead employees towards the successful implementation of the change to move some operations offshore.

Leadership Skills and Style My leadership skills and style would be an asset to my effectiveness when implementing change in the organization. Some of my leadership skills that will be useful during the change process include communication, courage, conviction, and creativity (Iacocca, 2007). Effective communication during change is necessary to convince people about the need for change and inform them about all the areas that will be affected. It is also necessary to have the courage to take a position and stick to it even in the face of opposition (Iacocca, 2007). For example, some employees are not receptive to the idea of offshoring, but the leader needs to stick to the decision because it will benefit the firm. As a leader, it is also necessary to have conviction, which is the passion to get the changes implemented. Creativity is also necessary to come up with solutions to challenges facing the organization and any problems encountered during the change process.

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My leadership style is transformational, which involves getting the followers’ support by inspiring them to identify with a vision beyond their self-interests. I possess all the four dimensions of transformational leadership, including idealized influence, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation (Chou, 2014). Idealized influence implies leaders serving as role models to followers. Individual consideration entails supporting and meeting the followers’ individual needs. Intellectual stimulation involves challenging the status quo and questioning assumptions. Lastly, inspirational motivation entails articulating a clear, inspiring, and appealing vision to the followers (Chou, 2014). During the change in the organization, I would act as my followers’ role model, support and meet their needs, question existing practices, and articulate an appealing vision for them. The transformational leadership style is effective in influencing the workers to support change. It enhances their self-efficacy, leading to increased support for change (Chou, 2014). Thus, the transformational leadership style contributes to the successful change implementation in firms.

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References Akers, R. L. (2013). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Routledge.

Chou, P. (2014). Does transformational leadership matter during organizational change? European Journal of Sustainable Development, 3(3), 49-62.

Iacocca, L. (2007). Where have all the leaders gone? Simon and Schuster.

Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Ilies, R. (2004). The forgotten ones? The validity of consideration and initiating structure in leadership research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(1), 3651.

Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage.