Comparison of Leadership Theories (Path-Goal & Situational)

Path-Goal Leadership

The path-goal leadership theory, as the name implies, is the path to accomplishing goals through increasing employee motivation. A leader’s role can be divided into two categories, the path to the end result and the rewards which will be tailored to achieve the desired motivation. In this theory, it is the leadership behavior which is changed based on the situation. It’s important to remember a leader is responsible for defining goals, clear a path, and eliminate any hurdles, by doing these three things, a leader can help their followers achieve their goals. Leadership behaviors can be broken down into four categories;

•  Supportive: leadership is based on supporting the needs of the employee, and fosters team building.

•  Directive: this leadership style the employees are told exactly what to do and how to do it. Leaders ensure proper procedure is followed.

•  Achievement-oriented: goals are set and employees are encouraged to continuously improve.

•  Participative styles: leaders encourage support from the team. Employees participate in the decisions being made.

  

Situational Leadership

The situational leadership theory involves the abilities/attitudes of the employees and the situation itself. This theory is divvied into four styles, which all have to do with the difference in the willingness of the employees. The leadership style utilized in a particular situation will depend on the follower’s readiness or maturity as described by Warren Blank, Stephen Green, and John R. Weitzel in their article “A Test of the Situational Leadership Theory”. 

•  Directing: there is an increased concern for the established goals and less for the employee. The leader provided complete instructions. (Low follower readiness)

•  Coaching: equal attention is paid to both the task and employees. (Moderate follower readiness)

•  Supporting: increased attention towards supporting the followers and less on the task, participation from the followers in decision making is encouraged. (High follower readiness)

•  Entrusting: responsibility is given to the team for the given task. Very little support or direction is given to the team. (Very high follower readiness)

Theory comparison

The path-goal and Situational leadership theories both have their similarities and differences. The main focus of the path-goal theory is motivation, what the followers need to complete the task. In contrast, the situational theory is based on the readiness or maturity of the followers; how capable are they? Within each of the two theories, the breakdown of styles is very similar. They both have a directing category in which the leader’s main attention is given to providing directions, and a supporting style which fosters team building and encourages followers to participate in the decision making.

I believe the path-goal theory is the most effective. This leadership theory motivates the followers to perform and the tasks are clearly set and goals communicated; hence, rewards are a large factor in achieving the set goals. 

Similar to the situational theory, the leadership behavior is determined by how capable the followers are. Whether a leader chooses the path-goal or situational theory, I believe people skills play an important role. A leader needs to effectively understand what motivates the followers and what they are capable of doing. By relying on their people skills, leaders can ensure they utilize the proper leadership style; for example, morale could be greatly affected if a directing style is used with highly competent staff. Likewise, the end result may be undesirable if an entrusting style is used with staff who are not competent and require more direction.

References

Blank, W., Weitzel, J. R., & Green, S. G. (1990). A Test of the Situational Leadership Theory. Personnel Psychology, 43(3), 579-597.

Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience (Sixth ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning

Landrum, N., & Daily, C. (2012). Corporate Accountability: A Path-Goal Perspective.        International Journal of Business Insights & Transformation, 450-62.

Egg Substitute, What’s the Global Impact?

CBC radio in 2013 reported on a new egg substitute made from plants which the company Hampton Creek believes taste just like real eggs. They have egg substitutes for baking which are currently used in various products. They are currently working on a liquid egg substitute which will allow scrambling, which they claim will cook, look, and taste like the real thing for a fraction of the cost to produce and ship. I started to think of this in terms of how this will affect global economics?

There are over 6.5 billion egg-laying hens around the world each able to potentially lay 300 eggs/year. www.worldpoultry.net (2013) reported the global trade of eggs in 2012 was about 127 million dozen worth $122 million which was up 59%. Some of the top exporters are Hong Kong, Canada, and Mexico.

Question?

What would be the global impact if this egg substitute becomes a success?  Maybe a better question to ask is how does new technologies and innovations affect global and local economies? Would countries impose tariffs to help out farmers and limit this new product?

The Eggs got me to thinking; is the global economy a reason why governments have yet to totally embrace forms of energy other than oil?  We have had the technology since the 1980’s to produce electric batteries which are highly efficient.  We do have complete electric vehicles; however, the push seems to be for hybrids and better fuel efficiency. In Canada alone, goals have been set at 500,000 electric cars on the road by 2020, which is only about 1.5% (total Canadian cars, just over 33 million). This seems very low considering the impact oil has on the environment. I can see the global economy changing significantly if the world no longer required oil for transportation. Oil producing economies would drastically change as well. Would they be able to adapt to the new world without the need for gasoline? I can’t help but think that this plays a major role in government policy.

Automobiles imported from outside North America usually have tariffs, what would happen if a larger tariff were to be placed on gasoline vehicles, and little to none on electric vehicles?

What are your thoughts on tariffs, good or bad?

References

CBC news http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/03/us-candy-company-makes-safer-kinder-egg-substitute.html 

International egg commission https://www.internationalegg.com/corporate/eggindustry/details.asp?id=18

US poultry and egg exports break records (2012) http://www.worldpoultry.net/Broilers/Markets--Trade/2013/2/2012-US-poultry-and-egg-exports-break-records-1174390W/ 

The Value of People: Why are Analysts not interested in the human capital?

When we hear how companies are doing in the market, we seldom hear anything about human resources. Wall Street analysts typically don’t talk about the human capital aspect of companies when evaluating market potentials or when giving advice. There are many examples of analysts giving advice to organizations as well as individuals on what to look for when deciding to purchase stocks, the website Marketwatch.com is one such case, (How to Choose a Stock 2011). According to Marketwatch.com, some of the items to consider when choosing stocks are;

• Buy what you know
• Consider price and valuation (stock's price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E)
• Evaluate financial health
• Look for revenue growth
• Check the bottom line
• Know how much debt the company has
• Find a dividend

A quick scan of this list, one can see there is no mention of human resources or any information at all about the human capital of a company.

There are many reasons why analysts stay away from talking about human capital and applying any kind of value to the people of an organization. As Robert Grossman (2005) points out, one of these reasons could easily be due to the legal problems which are often seen in the investment industry involving human capital, “In fact, critics say the investment industry is rife with HR problems” (Grossman 2005, pg 3, para 16). If Wall Street analysts start talking about how good the people of a company are, and how this will lead to the success of that company, they will also need to talk about the companies with poor human resources, which could very easily have adverse effects on the investment firm’s financial situations.

Another reason for avoiding the human resource aspect of companies is, how do we evaluate the human capital? It’s very easy to look at the financial condition a company as well as it strategic plans and gauge how well they will do. However, when it comes to the value of people, this requires more thought, research, and analyses. One of the problems with evaluating human capital is how much inconsistency there is between companies with how they themselves evaluate their people’s performance. When it comes to companies performing appraisals on their staff there are many different ways this is currently accomplished, as well as some of the things which need to be considered (Belcourt, Singh, Bohlander, & Snell 2014);

• Strategic Relevance
• Criterion Deficiency
• Criterion Contamination
• Reliability

This helps to demonstrate the need to consistency with the performance appraisal process. Many organizations conduct appraisals monthly, yearly, semi-annually, or not at all. This fact alone can make it is very difficult for analysts to discuss a company’s human capital with any degree of confidence as there can be little to no correlation between companies, “It's not official, not audited, not clearly comparable from company to company” (Grossman 2005, pg. 3, para 5). However, it has been demonstrated in which many people agree, “…80 percent of a company's worth is tied to human capital” (Grossman 2005, pg. 1, para 1). For this reason, there needs to be a standardized method for analyzing human capital. Organizations need to come together to develop clear global performance standards which will make it more feasible for Wall Street to add human capital to their analyses. 

References

Belcourt, Singh, Bohlander, & Snell. (2014). Managing Human Resources, 7th Edition. ISBN-10: 017650690X; ISBN-13: 9780176506902

Grossman, R. J. (2005). Blind Investment. (cover story). HR Magazine, 50(1), 40-47.

How to Choose a Stock. (2011). Retrieved May 01, 2016, from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-choose-a-stock-1305567953708

Effective Brainstorming

Problem solving can be difficult for any team to work through in order accomplish an assigned task, especially for global virtual teams. Brainstorming is an effective means of solving any problem. It’s a great tool which teams can utilize to generate new and creative ideas, (Fisher & Fisher, 2011). “As Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist was known to have once said: The best way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas - and throw the bad ones away” (McKenna, n.d), this is the main concept of brainstorming. The effectiveness of brainstorming along with the solutions generated depend greatly on how the process is carried out. The primary goal is to increase collaboration, foster open communication and team engagement. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to encourage team participation; no idea generated is any less than the others in this creative process to solve problems.

The Brainstorming process

Fisher & Fisher, (pg. 180, 2011) break down the brainstorming process into seven steps:

1.    Define the problem

2.    Select those who will attend

3.    Review the brainstorming process

4.    Generate as many ideas

5.    Clarify and eliminate duplication

6.    Evaluate ideas

7.    Have fun

The most important step in this process is, of course, understanding the problem. It’s unwise to expect a team to generate solutions which will be implemented if those solutions are to fix the wrong problem. G. K. Chesterton commented on this very issue, “It’s not that they can’t find the solution … they can’t find the problem”, (Schoultz, n.d).

I believe the next important step in the brainstorming process is ensuring everyone understands the process itself. This is probably the most difficult aspect of brainstorming as people already believe they know how to do it, (McKenna, n.d). As children in school, we learned how to brainstorm, how to encourage everyone’s participation and how there are no wrong ideas. Our teachers kept us engaged making it a fun exercise in solving problems; everyone’s suggestions had its value. When do people forget this concept of brainstorming?

I believe the proper technique to brainstorming is lost in three situations;

1.    During a change effort where leaders are looking for quick answers to their problems. Once they hear a plausible idea the run with it, no time to waste. This has the potential to cause more problems than it solves as the suggestion utilized may not have been the best.

2.    Problems associated with technology use by global virtual teams. Improper use or improper technology utilized to promote effective brainstorming. Global virtual teams will require extra attention taken to ensure the right technology is available for everyone who will be participating.  

3.    Cultural diversity. All parties involved in the brainstorming need understand the importance of cultural difference and how this will have an impact on the final outcome of the brainstorming.

A common mistake made during brainstorming is when ideas undergo “evaluating, judging, or critiquing”, (Cain, 2012) during the brainstorming session. “Brainstorming should be a no judgment zone.” (Cain, 2012). It’s up to everyone involved, especially the leaders and facilitators to ensure brainstorming is effective, and everyone feels comfortable to contribute. In 1953 Osborn described what was required for effective brainstorming to take place, “Defer judgment (don’t get upset when people say bad ideas) and reach for quantity (come up with as many ideas as possible)”, according to Cho, modern day brainstorming is lacking in one or both of these criteria, (Cho, n.d). This is why it is critical to ensure proper orientation in brainstorming prior to beginning any sessions.

Making it fun

 What’s wrong with making brainstorming fun? Brainstorming, if done correctly is something which normally doesn’t take that long.  To take a quote from the Imagination Movers, a New Orleans alternative rock band, who also star in a Disney TV show for kids, “Reach high, think big, work hard, have fun!”, (Tanya, 2009). The more fun everyone has, the more ideas will be generated which will eventually lead to the success of the brainstorming session.

References

Adler, N. (2010), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 5th edition. Cincinnati: Southwestern College Publishing. ISBN: 9780324360745

Cain, S. (2012), The Rise of the New Groupthink, retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2 012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Cho, M. (n.d), The myth of the brainstorming session [Blog], retrieved from http://blog.pic kcrew.com/the-myth-of-the-brainstorming-session/

Fisher, K., & Fisher, M. D. (2011). Manager’s guide to virtual teams. New York: McGraw-Hill.

McCarthy, D. (n.d). 15 Ways to Rain on a Brainstorming Session, retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://management.about.com/od/projectmanagement/fl/15-Ways-to-Rain-on-a- Brainstorming-Session.htm

McKenna, P. (n.d), The Art of Brainstorming: Part I, retrieved fromhttp://www.edge.ai/Edge- International-1058130.html

Schoultz, M. (n.d), 8 Ways to Ace the Effectiveness of Your Brainstorming Methods, retrieved from http://www.digitalsparkmarketing.com/innovation/brainstorming-methods/

Tanya, (2009), Imagination Movers: Warehouse Mouse Edition DVD (On DVD 5/5/09), [Blog], retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.mommygoggles.com/imagination-movers- warehouse-mouse-edition-DVD/

Psychology of Leadership

Image retrieved from: http://holykaw.alltop.com/ten-sets-of-stats-that-leaders-should-know

One of the topics in the article “The New Psychology of Leadership” by Reicher, Platow & Haslam, (nd) which I found to be most interesting was the concept of group identities, “The most effective leaders define their group’s social identity to fit with the policies they plan to promote”, (Reicher, Platow & Haslam, (nd). I believe this to be important if a leader has followers who share and embrace their vision. Followers need to be able to relate to their leader and feel as though they are a member of the group with the same goals and invested interest.

According to Steffens, Haslam, Kerschreiter, Schuh, & van Dick, in their article “Leaders enhance group members' work engagement and reduce their burnout by crafting social identity” (2014), “leaders’ identity entrepreneurship” is when a leader actively engages in the promotion of the group’s identity.

The research conducted by Steffens et al. (2014) “indicated that when leaders acted as identity entrepreneurs, group members not only reported higher group performance but also experienced less burnout and were more engaged at work”.

This shows the importance of an effective communication climate, not only does an effective leader need to define the identity and how it relates to their vision, they must also share this with their followers. This research illustrates the importance of knowing your followers, and the role communication, motivation, and empowerment have on the success of an organization.

Leaders Role and Traits

One of the sections of “The New Psychology of Leadership” by Reicher et al. (nd), which I can relate to my leadership is found in paragraph 5, “According to this new approach, no fixed set of personality traits can assure good leadership because the most desirable traits depend on the nature of the group being led”. I believe this correlates to the situational leadership theory; every situation and/or group being led will require a different leadership style and can lead to a leader expressing different personality traits depending on the group or individual. An effective leader will be able to seamlessly adjust their leadership style to suit what is required by their followers.

References

Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience (Sixth ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning

Reicher, S., Platow, M. & Haslam, S. (n.d), The New Psychology of Leadership

Steffens, N. K., Haslam, S., Kerschreiter, R., Schuh, S. C., & van Dick, R. (2014). Leaders enhance group members' work engagement and reduce their burnout by crafting social identity. Zeitschrift Für Personalforschung, 28(1/2), 173-194. doi:10.1688/ZfP-2014-01-Steffens

Cultural Blindness

Cultural differences can be difficult to manage considering virtual teams can be spread out in both “space and time”, (Alder, 2010). Multicultural teams have a greater potential for success over homogeneous teams, even though the diversity can and will increase the amount of time and energy required to lead the team. On the other hand, a multicultural team does “risk experiencing greater losses due to faulty process”, (Alder, 2014). This is one of the reasons why it’s important to understand cultural differences, so these processes can be altered to benefit everyone on the team and ultimately the outcomes. One concept which can affect a team’s performance is when organizations, leaders, and/or team members are affected by cultural blindness.

Cultural blindness according to the online Psychology Dictionary is “the incapacity to comprehend how specific situations may be seen by individuals belonging to another culture due to a strict alignment with the viewpoints, outlooks, and morals of one's own society or culture” (Def. 1), or simply making the decision not see these differences. It was interesting to read about cultural blindness and how it can affect global teams. People either do not see the differences in cultures or merely do not want to see. For those who do not see these cultural differences, education would be an asset. For the latter, some organizations have their managers blind themselves to gender, race, and ethnicity. They believe by refusing to see and act on cultural differences, by treating everyone the same, the potential for teams to succeed is greater. This blindness to different cultures helps to create the illusion everyone is the same and will perform equally, however, this is not the case. Studies have shown by recognizing the differences in cultures, actually, has the opposite effect. In fact, by ignoring cultural differences teams can become unproductive, (Alder, 2014).

Education of Children

Earlier in this article two ways individuals could have cultural blindness was stated; they simply don’t recognize cultural differences and organizations promote blindness. There is a third manner in which individuals could have cultural blindness, Julie Briggs (2014) suggests another in her article titled “Is Culture Blindness as Bad as Bigotry”. What if cultural blindness was a way in which a different generation tried to prevent racism?

Briggs (2014) goes on to say in her article;

“Like most North American children, my peers and I were taught by teachers and other well-intentioned adults that people around the world are essentially the same on the inside and to admit otherwise was akin to a form of racism”.

This raises the idea cultural blindness is primarily the result of how children were taught in an attempt to promote cultural desensitization. The leaders who instruct their teams to blind themselves could be simply following their teachings from childhood, in an attempt to prevent stereotyping. This has been shown to have the opposite effect, as “they don’t know what to do and the difference becomes a threat” (Briggs, 2014). This has the potential to cause more problems resulting in a dysfunctional team and reduced team performance.

Training Required

To help eliminate cultural blindness I believe education is vital. Organizations need to include Cultural sensitivity training for all their leaders, and especially individuals working on global teams; this will greatly increase the performance of these teams. In today’s global environment organizations need to embrace cultural diversity in order to benefit from all it as to offer. I believe Briggs, (2014) is correct with the approach required, “the most effective approach is to treat everyone you meet as a unique individual, keeping in mind that deeply embedded cultural values often play a role in the behaviors we encounter...” (Briggs, 2014).

References

Adler, N. (2010), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 5th edition. Cincinnati: Southwestern College Publishing. ISBN: 9780324360745

Briggs, J. (2014), Is “Culture Blindness” as Bad as Bigotry? Retrieved from http://blog.rw-3.com/blog/2014/03/is-culture-blindness-as-bad-as-bigotry

Cultural blindness [Def. 1]. (n.d), Online Psychology Dictionary, Retrieved from http://psychologydictionary.org/cultural-blindness/       

Fisher, K., & Fisher, M. D. (2011). Manager’s guide to virtual teams. New York: McGraw-Hill. 

What’s involved in making Strategic Plans Successful

“A mediocre strategy well executed is better than a great strategy poorly executed,”

Martin, 2010

Once an organization commits to a plan, the primary focus changes to that of converting the plan into actions, which will lead to the desired results. The success of a strategic plan comes down to both managers and people the organization has in place to execute the plan. However, it is important to note, due to the wide range of strategic plans, economic environments, and all the reasons for strategies, there’s no definitive recipe for the successful execution of any strategy.

Ten basic components of the strategic execution process;

1.    Staffing

2.    Developing resources

3.    Creating a strategy-supportive environment

4.    Allocating resources

5.    Policies and procedures

6.    Best practices and business process

7.    Information and operating systems

8.    Rewards and incentives

9.    Corporate culture

10. Internal leadership

When looking at this list, it’s important to notice they are not just bullet points, these are number points which do provide a hierarchy to the list, the most important being the proper staffing of people and managers and ensuring they are in the right positions. Without the proper staffing, the execution of any plan may be poor to nonexistent, which plays to the quote, in the beginning, it doesn’t matter how great the plan is if the execution is poor it’s not going to mean much, and may not be any better than doing nothing at all. Keep in mind the above list isn’t exactly a recipe, however, regardless of the strategic plan, and situations presented, following this list will aid in achieving desirable results, some people may even say most of this list is common sense. When it comes to executing strategy, the image below says it all.

A strategy on paper may look good and give executives something to talk about and help to get people excited, however, without the execution and the means and process in place to do so, simply put, it means nothing.

Reference: Martin, 2010, The Execution Trap, https://hbr.org/2010/07/the-execution-trap