Examine the leadership issues free essay sample

Leadership is very important to organizations, especially teams or in companies. Good leadership could ensure that the members are going in the right direction, and that the business is successful. In the past, research has focused on the difference between leadership and management, whereas nowadays the potential advantage of leadership is more important, especially to the organizational performance and improved employee behavior. A number of recent articles (Cappelli et al. 2010; Ladkin and Weber 2011; Useem 2010) have explored the characteristics of a successful leader. The three articles all examine the leadership issues and challenges regarding what characterises attribute to be a successful leader. While the study by Ladkin and Weber focuses on leadership issues specific to the tourism industry, the article by Cappelli et al. focuses on leadership lessons from India companies. However, the reflection by Useem apply military leadership to business. A major concern of all three articles is that leaders require a variety of leadership skills. We will write a custom essay sample on Examine the leadership issues or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This review will compare these articles in relation to three specific skills: decision-making, communication and adaptive leadership. All the authors concur that an essential characteristic for leadership is decision-making. Cappelli et al. point out that India leaders tend to own the strategy function, setting the agenda and taking a visible role in strategy development (p. 92). Similarly, according to Useem, leaders have to make ‘good and timely call’ (p. 3), which is a focus of responsibility in a leadership position. Useem recommends that a leader should make fast and effective decisions after consulting staff, and should not expect perfection (p. 3). Ladkin and Weber state that the leader has to be very resilient in decision-making and has to make the decision in a confident manner, which is similar to the finding of Useem. However, Ladkin and Weber focus on being determined, whereas Useem focuses on more input from staff. All three articles state that communication is a specific leadership requirement although there is a difference in their methods. Cappelli et al. point out that India leader helps employees to find their own solutions by motivation and by fostering a closer relationship with them, even though this challenges the traditional India deference to hierarchy (p. 95). Cappelli et al. also note that India leader creates a sense of social mission, which is central to the company culture, and provide transparency on developing and personal modeling systems to encourage openness. They also enable communication and push making decision through the ranks, and invest in training (p. 95). Similarly, Useem asserts that it is important to create a personal link with employee and leading them through challenging times, which means employees need a direct connection to reinforce the leader’s message. Moreover, Useem recommends that the leader needs to find common ground and to set the direction, but avoid micromanaging that gives employee the freedom to improvise (p. 76). According to Ladkin and Weber, communication is identified with trust, perseverance and vision as the main components of leadership, and are connected with ‘credibility, dependability, accountability, self-confidence, loyalty and decisiveness’ (p.273). In addition, Ladkin and Weber also note that the leader needs to be very clear about aims and objectives, and they have to communicate with their subordinates clearly, if the leader gives the employee an equivocal direction, then staff will start to wonder. Both Cappelli et al. and Useem refer to a reciprocal relationship, which means e mployees have more influence of their leader, and the leader usually offers employees increased financial incentives to increase revenue. In contrast, Ladkin and Weber focus on one-way communication, and refer to motivating employees in non-financial ways, such as inspiring them to identify with the company’s mission. All three articles analyse the adaptive leadership skills. Ladkin and Weber point out that the current industry trends required changing leadership skills (p. 21). Ladkin and Weber recommend that as a leader need to not only prepare for the effect of future changes, but also to adapt to new technologies, different type of employees and new customer expectations (p. 285). Cappelli et al.describe India leaders have been trained in uncertain environments, and they have much greater ability to deal with uncertainty. Similar to Ladkin and Weber, Cappelli et al. mention that India leaders tend to be more creative, because they have to face different sorts of difficult situations (p. 97). Both articles emphasize that as a leader, they need to adapt to different uncertainties. Useem point out that ‘a culture of adaptability is vital to survival’ (p. 2), and as business leaders deal with more uncertainties, they can learn from military’s book. Useem believes that adaptive skills are needed in a fast-changing world of unprecedented uncertainty (p. 2). In contrast to the other authors, Useem’s idea comes from military and as a result it does not take into account the commercial reality and practicality into consideration. These three studies make significant contributions to the understanding of the requirements of becoming successful leaders. They provide the key requirements for a leader to possess detailed business knowledge. It is recommended that future researches are based on the balance between profit perusing and relationship building.

History of Empires in Past and Modern World

History of Empires in Past and Modern World Introduction All through history, there have always been reports of the growth and development of empires. The Egyptian, Roman and Greek empires are but some of the greatest empires during medieval times (Haspeslagh, 2010). During the 16th and 17th century, the Spanish empire was one of the strongest empires in the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on History of Empires in Past and Modern World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Later on, during the 19th and 20th century, the British Empire became the largest and strongest empire in the world (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). Even at the present day and time, there are empires. However, the composition and operation of the current empires are somewhat different to those of ancient times. This essay shall thus compare and contrast ancient and modern empires in order to determine their similarities and differences. Empires Contemporary empires differ a lot in the manner i n which they are constituted and operated (Hobsbawm, 2003). The modern world has become vast and almost everything is integrated. As a result, each and every action is dependent on many other factors and its overall outcome has the chance of affecting almost all aspects of life. During the beginning of the 21st century, for instance, SARS, a respiratory disease that originates in China affected transport, communication, international relations, the global market and the entire economy of the world (Hobsbawm, 2003). This is because the world that we are living in currently is mainly dependent on globalisation. Thus, a lot of operations other than political matters are conducted across the physical boundaries of nations (Hofstede, 2009). This globalisation is mainly dependent on technological advancement. Thus, many nations have adopted technology, which has been incorporated even into the military to ensure that states are able to defend their citizens and interests effectively and e fficiently. At the present moment, USA is the largest empire in the world. However, to achieve this, it has used relatively different tactics as compared to ancient empires (Hofstede, 2001). However, the manner in which the United States Empire is organized is quite different as compared to that of ancient empires like the British Empire during the 20th Century for instance.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More USA is a vast nation comprising of individuals from different nationalities hence it has a universal purpose (Deusen et al, 2003). In addition, the empire comprises of a number of satellite states mainly in the west that have come into an alliance that has benefits from both ends thus it does not colonize its subjects. Britain on the other hand is a small nation that mainly comprises of individuals from similar culture and backgrounds hence the British Empire had a British purpose. Despite that the British Empire comprised of approximately a quarter of the globe during the 20th century, all of these territories were actually acquired via colonization (Minkov, 2007). However, the British did not control the world to achieve political or military supremacy. Instead, they control the world for economic reasons in order to get raw materials and convert them into finished products that were sold to developing countries at exorbitant prices (Alessio, 2010). The US Empire on the other hand mainly works hard to protect its internal interests (Hobsbawm, 2003). During the 21st century, the US Empire has worked hard to protect its industries from external competition (Asenova et al, 2002). In addition, the nation also strives for arms power especially during the cold war. Thus, these two empires were based on the concept of globalization but had different interest (Jovanovic, 2011). Conclusion In history, several empires have been in existence. Ho wever, the manner in which ancient and current empires are constituted is quite different. Despite the fact that both of these empires have been based on globalization, modern empires like the US Empire strive to achieve economic and military supremacy while ancient empires like the British Empire aimed at meeting their own interests that was economic sustainability. Therefore, both of these empires have some element of similarity and difference. References Alessio, D 2010, ‘Monopoly Imperialism: How Empires can be Bought or Leased’,  Social Affairs Europe, Sage, London.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on History of Empires in Past and Modern World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Asenova, D, Beck, M, Akintoye, A, Hardcastle, C and Chinyio, E 2002, ‘Partnership, value for money and best value in pfi projects: obstacles and opportunities’, Public Policy and Administration, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 5-20. Deusen, C, Mueller, C, Hofstede, G and Charles, T 2002, ‘What goals do business leaders pursue? A study in fifteen countries’, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 785-803. Haspeslagh, P 2010,’Corporate governance and the current crisis’, Corporate Governance, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 375-377. Hofstede, G 2001, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hofstede, G and Hofstede, G J 2005, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, New York. Hofstede, G 2009, ‘American culture and the 2008 financial crisis’, European Business Review, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 307-312. Hobsbawm, E 2003, The Empire Expands, Still Wider and Wider, https://www.counterpunch.org/2003/06/10/the-empire-expands-wider-and-still-wider/Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Jovanovic, M 2011, International Handbook on the Economics of Integration: Competition, Spatial Location of Economic Activity and Financial Issues, Edward Elgar Publishing, Sacramento. Minkov, M 2007, What Makes us Different and Similar: A New Interpretation of the World Values Survey and Other Cross-Cultural Data, Klasika i Stil Publishing House, Sofia.

Government Contract Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Government Contract Law - Assignment Example One of the commonest systems used to enforce the existence of propriety and fairness is the code of ethics. There is the code of ethics are enshrined in rules and regulations of companies at the local level. There are others that are put in place laws and policies such as Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). PrintMark Publications is the new firm specializing in publishing and printing that is seeking to investigate how the code of ethics would impact its activities and programs. Evaluating the Raytheon Code of Ethics and relating it to the publishing organization, it can be said that the codes are very effective in avoiding any conduct that may even appear to be unethical. There are two major reasons why this position is taken. In the first place, the Raytheon Code of Ethics is very universal in nature. What this means is that the code identifies all person within the organization and what they are expected to do to avoid conduct that may appear to be unethical or inappropriate. Bowie (2002) lamented that there are organizations that refuse to accept the fact that codes should cover those at the top as well as those at the bottom. Consequently, such organizations only make codes to cover those at the bottom. In such situations, chances that acts of conflict of interest will be engaged in by senior management members are higher. The Raytheon Code of Ethics, however, covers both leaders and employees. The other rationale for saying the code is effective is tha t the code has been structured in such a way that it incorporates Government Accountability Office reports and decisions. This means that adopting such code would ensure that the organization’s ethics fit into the larger public ethical expectation in publishing. As explained earlier, the clauses selected from the Raytheon Code of Ethics will solve the specific ethical issue of the unlawful use of information as has persistently existed in the publishing industry. Within the publishing industry, there seems to be a very huge ethical dilemma when it comes to the interpretation of freedom of information law. There are many who tend to think that because of the existence of the freedom to information law, they can go every extent to access information from other people. Most of the time broadcasters feel that by becoming the first to break news they would become the most preferred destinations for news by the public.