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TABLE OF CONTENT Put a Customer in the Board……..……….3 Top-down or Bottom-up management…..14 Social Media............................….............21
Evolution of Leadership…………………..30
The
Spori Business
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Editors
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Copyright (c) 2011 – Cumorah
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FEATURES
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE Article by: JOE MOSHER & CHRIS FARMER If you provide better value to customers, naturally they will want to purchase from you. When you provide the same product, quality, and price, the key differentiation then becomes the customer experience. There are numerous reasons why the customer experience matters, after which we will explore the new-comer to the 21st century boardroom: The Chief Customer Officer.
14. TOP-DOWN or BOTTOM-UP MANAGEMENT Article by: Tallon Shreeve & Lane Judy This article will discuss different management techniques that are involved in a generalized business area. It will help the reader understand the differences between top-down management and bottom-up management, including the pros and cons of each. One generally is better than the other, and this article will discuss the reasons why in the pages that follow.
21. SOCIAL MEDIA Article by: Katie Fikes and Brent Carver In today’s world social media has completely revolutionized how people interact with everything around them. Being able to communicate and keep in touch with anyone anywhere in the world at any time with minimal cost has allowed people to keep and develop deeper more personal relationships at a distance. Social media has also allowed for consumers to find and explore new products that others have recommended that would not have been discovered otherwise.
30. EVOLUTION OF LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS
Article by: Sylvester Peter Brown & Shane Jones In this report we have presented theories that are general in nature and cuts across many organizational boarders. There are a few observations that we do recognize and these include the fact that these theories have evolved according to the trends in business world. This includes colonization of other nations, organizations across nations, organizations that go on the international market and the fact that in recent times everyone is thinking of globalization.
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PUT A CUSTOMER IN THE BOARDROOM1
JOE MOSHER & CHRIS FARMER
The world is globalizing. Products
and services are being imported, exported,
outsourced, in-sourced and off-shored. People
around the world enjoy far greater selection
for goods and services than at any time in
world history. With the increase of
globalization, the business environment of the
21st century is changing rapidly.
Globalization is a force “so ubiquitous that it
will substantially shape all other major
trends” (Brandon, 2005). Competitors are no
longer coming from the same city, state, or
country. “Drops in the cost of transportation
as well as increases in technology have led to
increased global trade, competition, and more
products being available to local consumers”
(Kreuger, 2011). Now, competition comes
from any country in the world that has an
internet connection. With increased
competition, prices naturally drop until we
1 Image from:
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achieve perfect competition where everyone‟s
price is nearly identical. With better
technology, developing countries are now
able to produce at the same quality as other
countries. While that may not be entirely true
today, it will be true in the very near future.
Will companies only be able to compete on
price in the future? With the increase in
foreign competition, it would be reasonable to
fear that customers will simply purchase the
lowest price. We‟ve seen this start to happen
already with customers purchasing their
electronics from Wal-Mart instead of Best
Buy, merely to save a few dollars.
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE KEY
Without being able to compete on
price, the customer experience will become
more and more important in the 21st century
business environment. If customers can get
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the same product from somebody else for the
same quality and the same price, why should
they buy it from you? If you provide better
value to customers, naturally they will want
to purchase from you. When you provide the
same product, quality, and price, the key
differentiator then becomes the customer
experience. There are numerous reasons why
the customer experience matters, after which
we will explore the new-comer to the 21st
century boardroom: The Chief Customer
Officer.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Customer service in a vital part of
a company’s job and should not just be
seen as an extension of the company
(Friedmann). Customers are a
company’s most vital asset. Without
consumer businesses would and could
not exist. When a customer is satisfied a
business grows. This happens when the
customer recommends the business to
family and friends and the customer
continues doing business with the
company.
There are many key traits to great customer
service. Susan Friedmann discusses some of
them in her article called, “The Ten
Commandments to Customer Service.”
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1) Know who the boss is. Businesses are
designed to fulfill the needs of
customers and that can only be
accomplished if the customer‟s needs
are understood. Listening to
customers is the best way to provide
them with good service and let them
know they are boss.
2) Be an effective listener. As
mentioned above listening is how
customers feel validated. Listening
requires asking thought provoking
questions. Listen to the responses of
the customer. What is their attitude?
Asking effective questions and
listening well will help to notice
trends and assumptions customers
have. This will allow a business
model to change with the changing
demands of consumers.
3) Anticipate needs and trends. Rarely to
consumers want products or services.
They want peace of mind and
solutions to problems. Customers
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shop to meet an emotional need rather
than a logical need. It is a business‟s
responsibility to see these needs and
take care of them.
4) Make customers feel appreciated.
Customers need to be treated as
people not statistics. Learn their
names and use it regularly. When
appropriate, find ways to compliment
them. This will create trust. Make
sure employee body language conveys
appreciation and gratitude. Thank
customers as often as possible.
5) Teach customer the systems. Each
business organization is different.
These differences make it tough for
consumers to learn all of them.
Explain the system to customers.
When customers don‟t understand
they get frustrated, confused,
impatient, and angry. They harbor
negative feelings towards unclear
businesses.
6) There is power in saying “Yes.” It is
important for businesses to look for
ways to help customers. When
customers have questions businesses
need to let them know they can help.
Once the customer is at ease with their
problem find the best solution to their
problem. Always perform any tasks
agreed to.
7) Know how to apologize. Mistakes
and accidents happen. When
something goes wrong, apologize. It's
easy and customers appreciate it.
Customers are not always right, but
they must always win. Deal with
issues immediately before the
customer has left or made a negative
scene. View complaints and criticism
as a way to improve business
practices. Don‟t take complaints
personally.
8) Go above customer expectations. The
future of a business goes hand in hand
with the happiness of customers. It is
important for a business to constantly
evaluate how it sits compared to the
competition. A business should ask:
What can I give my customers
that they cannot get elsewhere?
What can I do to follow-up
and thank customers?
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What can I do for or give a
customer that is unexpected?
9) Get feedback. Businesses should
always look for ways they can
improve. Customer feedback a great
way to find out what can be improved.
Feedback can be obtain by:
Carefully listening to what
customer say.
Regularly checking back to see
how things are going.
Provide a method that invites
constructive criticism, comments
and suggestions.
10) Treat employees well. Employees are
the face of the company. A happy
employee will be more likely to treat
customers well. Employees need a
regular dose of appreciation. Find
ways to thanks them and let them
know how important they are to the
business operations. Appreciation
starts with the chief officers. If they
do not show appreciation for those
around them it is unlikely that attitude
will flow to the entry position
employees.
By performing these ten simple tasks,
businesses can create brand loyalty and
lifetime customers. This happens are
customers understand the benefits that a
business can offer them. When these benefits
are difficult to see customer go elsewhere to
have their needs satisfied. It is important for
businesses to take care of needs correctly the
first time. Failure to perform these ten steps
will lead to the failure of businesses.
THE FUTURE OF CUSTOMER
SERVICE
Scott Schwartsman, COO of
Serviceware, recently shared his insight
regarding the future of business and customer
service. He said, “As the economy continues
to rebound, today‟s dynamic and competitive
business environment requires a new way of
approaching customer service and support. Of
course, modern customers still want to be
reassured that they are buying a quality
product or service; however, they also want to
feel valued, respected and important. Many of
today‟s customers are also quite tech-savvy.
Therefore, they want to be able to access
quality customer service quickly, anytime of
day or night.”
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A continually globalizing society
leads to a more complex environment. The
rapid increases in technology and the way we
communicate make staying in touch with
consumers easier. However, this increase
also makes competition just a click away.
What is the future for quality customer
service?
In order for businesses to progress,
they must adapt and change with their
customers. The era of customer loyalty is
coming to a close (Schwartsman). Customer
can quickly pick and choose the product that
meets his or her needs at a more affordable
price. Adaptive, knowledge powered
technology support is the solution that allows
businesses to keep pace with changing
conditions for the information technology
department (Schwartsman).
Being able to adapt the technological
support is vital to these fast changing times.
If it can‟t adapt quickly then the technology is
worth purchasing. Things are changing too
quickly (Schwartsman). Social media is a
great example of an adaptive technology that
can quickly change and adapt to meet the
needs of both business and customer alike.
As the social media industry expands it will
be a more powerful way to reach out to many
customers (Fisher, 2010).
THE CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER
The corporate environment in recent
years has been focused on the word “no.”
Author Jeanne Bliss wrote about her
experiences in corporate America:
The most important skill required for
the job: pushing back on the answer „no.‟ No
we can‟t change that policy. It makes too
much money. No, customers don‟t need us to
resolve their problems on the first call. No,
no, no. There is no reason that we should talk
to customers to understand why they left!
(Bliss, 2006 p. 3)
This illustrates the attitude that has
permeated corporate America during much of
the 20th century. Customers weren‟t able to
get your products anywhere else, so they were
stuck with you. You didn‟t have to treat them
nicely, what other options did they have?
However, in the 21st century business
environment, things have changed. Now
customers can get your product anywhere and
probably for a cheaper price. The key to
customer retention now is the customer
experience. But who is going to focus on the
customer experience? The CEO has to ensure
profitability to shareholders, the COO has to
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make sure operations is running smoothly, the
CFO has to make sure the company is in
sound financial condition, and the CMO is
focusing on making people aware of the latest
products. Who is watching out for the
customer? Who is watching the company to
make sure the customer is getting a consistent
and positive experience? Fortune 500
companies have only just begun to realize the
value of the key executive needed to weather
the coming storm: The Chief Customer
Officer (CCO).
WHAT THE CCO IS
The Chief Customer Officer is a new
and developing member of the executive
board whose primary role is to act on the
customer‟s behalf (CCO Council, 2011). The
CCO is given the responsibility to act as the
customer advocate in all decisions the
company makes that can have a potential
impact on the customer experience. The
CCO is the proxy for the customer in the
boardroom. This allows companies to
consider the impact of all decisions in relation
to how it will be viewed by existing
customers. The last thing you want to do as a
business is alienate your customers. Consider
how you plan on selling products if you have
no one to sell them to?
WHAT THE CCO DOES
The CCO Council is a newly formed
professional networking group for Chief
Customer Officers. On their website, they
provide valuable insight into what the CCO
does. The website states, “The chief
customer officer is responsible for the entire
relationship experienced by a customer.
Anytime a customer uses anything produced
by a company, the CCO needs to know about
it and be involved” (Chief Customer Officer,
2011). Because of this responsibility, the
CCO participates in strategic decisions,
development of a customer strategy, and the
retention / expansion of customers. In all
decisions, the CCO must look through the
eyes of the customer and consider the reaction
to a business decision.
STRATEGIC DECISIONS
When making strategic business
decisions, the CCO will advocate the
customers‟ perspective and articulate their
potential response. It may make financial
sense to move a production facility to another
state in order to take advantage of a more
favorable tax code. However, customers may
be alienated by the resulting increase in
shipping times to acquire their products.
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Companies may want to send their call-center
divisions to India to take advantage of cheap
labor. However, customers may be fiercely
opposed to outsourcing and defect to the
competition. From a normal CFO or CCO
perspective, these strategies make complete
sense and should be pursued. However, the
CCO can provide valuable insight into the
resulting consequences of these decisions.
The CCO provides the insight that a customer
would provide if the customer was in the
boardroom during the decision making
period.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
CUSTOMER STRATEGY
The CCO‟s role is to understand the
customer inside and out. The CCO must
understand a customer‟s buying motives,
price sensitivity, and customer support
requirements. By understanding these things,
the CCO is thus responsible for creating and
integrating a customer strategy. A customer
strategy is the plan of attack for meeting
customer needs. The strategy guides
management and employees when
determining how to meet customer demands.
One customer strategy would be to provide
the fastest response to any negative
experience. This would then lead the CCO to
develop teams designed to instantly respond
when customers are displeased or are
considering leaving the company. The
responding team would work with the
unhappy customer to resolve concerns,
provide solutions, and retain their important
business. The plan of attack from the
customer strategy can increase brand loyalty,
increase revenues, and drive profitability.
RETENTION / EXPANSION OF
CUSTOMERS
A main function of the CCO is to
retain customers and locate more.
Interestingly, the CCO should also find
customers within the existing base that
need to be dropped. Some customers
are actually worth less than the trouble
that they cause and should be
abandoned to focus on valuable
customers whose needs can be met.
The CCO should also meet with key
customers in person in order to build
stronger relationships with them. The
customers 5-10 year plans can provide
valuable insight to how the company can
meet their needs now and in the future.
The personalized CCO meeting
demonstrates to the customer that the
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company is committed to taking care of
them.
CONCLUSION
The era of globalization is far from
being over. Companies will continue to
face intense price competition from
foreign competitors. However, the
customer experience matters.
Companies that can utilize the 10
commandments of customer experience
focus their efforts on meeting customers’
needs, and make strategic decisions with
the customer in mind will be able to
emerge profitable and strong in the 21st
century business environment. The Chief
Customer Officer will become the key
player in this strategic approach to the
challenges that lie ahead.
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Top-down or
Bottom-up
Management Tallon Shreeve & Lane Judy
Businesses around the world
operate in a somewhat similar fashion, but no
two companies are the same. There are those
that would have you think that the way they
run a business is streamlined with no
mistakes. It would be a misconception to rest
upon the idea that a company couldn‟t
improve in some aspect on the way managers
manage their company. This article will
discuss different management techniques that
are involved in a generalized business area. It
will help the reader understand the
differences between top-down management
and bottom-up management, including the
pros and cons of each. One generally is better
than the other, and this article will discuss the
reasons why in the pages that follow.
Top-down Management
Top-down management has been
around for a very long time. It is a form of
managing that continues to be widely
accepted to this day. There are many
companies that implement this style of
leadership. In essence, what it entails is the
leading of a company, or department, from
those that are in charge, or at the top of the
organizational chart, to those at the bottom, or
the average employee. The person in charge
typically will have the idea and then tell those
under him to execute the idea, whether or not
it is the best decision for the company, which
will be discussed later on.
The CEO of wrike.com explains it this
way: The top-down approach remains
extremely popular in contemporary project
management. The phrase “top-down” means
that all the directions come from the top.
Project objectives are established by the top
management. Top managers provide
guidelines, information, plans and fund
processes. All of the project manager‟s
expectations are clearly communicated to
each project participant. Following this
approach, ambiguity opens the door for
potential failure, and the managers should be
as specific as possible when communicating
their expectations. Process formality is very
important for this approach. (Filev)
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The effects on a company
Companies have been able to adopt
this style of management and have been
successful and continue to grow.
Unfortunately, this growth is limited. There
are many great leaders with great ideas all
over the world. The opened door for potential
failure can come when these leaders become
selfish or arrogant. Many feel like they have
all the answers for the company‟s success.
They may see the benefits of their ideas, but
if implemented incorrectly, or not as
appropriately as possible, then there is
potential for disaster.
There are leaders that make all the
decisions for their company, and they need to
take special care in order to ensure proper
execution. Imagine a manager that isn‟t able
to communicate his ideas carefully. This idea
can potentially be misinterpreted or carried
out in a way that is not up to company
standards. The company in turn can come
across dramatic effects, all because one
person wasn‟t clear in their communicating
skills.
On the other side, if a leader is good at
what he does, then the company can succeed.
One of the advantages of top-down leadership
is that those who are at the top don‟t have to
jump through management hoops in order to
accomplish things. The process of getting
things done is therefore accomplished in a
much more timely manner, and the manager
will get due credit. One person‟s emotions
and opinions will influence all those that are
under him. Hopefully that one person is
energetic and full of good opinions. In such a
case, one will see why it can be so beneficial.
The effects on an Employee
Almost everyone at different stages in
their lives has undergone some form of top-
down management, whether at the top or at
the bottom. In either case, one can see the
benefits and the drawbacks. The effects that
this type of management can have on the
company have been discussed. The effects
that it can have on an employee is a different
matter altogether. The primary point on how
it affects employees depends largely upon
what type of personality that employee has.
Everyone knows the type of employee
that is good at his job. He shows up on time
and does what he is told. He doesn‟t
complain and then he goes home. This type
of person is largely dependent on top-down
management. They enjoy being told what to
do. It is easier and safer for them. They are
not full of innovation or change. They enjoy
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being managed and not having to contribute
largely or make important decisions.
On the other hand, there are those
employees that are full of good ideas, but
never get to express them. These employees
have a hard time seeing their good idea get
ignored or talked down. When upper
management makes a decision, these
employees feel like they could have helped
make that decision better. They tend to not
be as happy with their job and don‟t share
what‟s on their mind. In the end, the
company hurts from not letting these people
share great ideas, and the employees move on
to bigger and better careers. It is difficult to
find that balance where both the company and
the employee are happy and successful.
Bottom-up Management
Bottom-up management is all about
getting the individuals in running the
company. It helps the employees to be
interested in the company by showing them
that their participation and feedback is
important.
One thing that bottom-up management
really focuses on is being creative in all
positions in a business. Every person, from
the CEO to the part time people, could have a
great idea that would help the business to
grow.
With this way of management, you
look for passionate people that will help the
company to become a bigger and innovative
company.
The Effects on a Company
The following quote talks about how
the company can be affected by bottom-up
management.
“Some people resist assuming
responsibility for their actions
and prefer to have someone
else tell them what to do;
thereby when something goes
awry, they can blame the other
person for the snafu. This type
of person is more suited for a
dictator type of organization
where they can continue to
grouse about management, yet
do nothing to help correct the
problem. Aside from this, the
benefits of the bottom-up
approach far outweigh the
negatives. It is simple and it
works.” (Expert)
Even though there are some
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downsides, the upsides tend to be much more
rewarding in this system.
How Bottom-up
Management Works
As a manager in a company your best
alias are your employees. If you as
management treat your employees as equals,
they will help you to go up the corporate
ladder. They will give great ideas if they feel
like they are going to be going somewhere.
There is still some guidance that is needed in
bottom-up management, but for the most part
you can give your employees a task and let
them find the most productive way to
accomplish the task at hand. In the article
“Management Theories X Y and Z –
Managing from the Bottom-Up”, it gives
three management tips to managing
employees:
1. Delegate - prioritize and assign tasks
to qualified employees.
2. Control work environment - minimize
staff interferences and provide a
suitable workplace to operate with the
proper tools to perform the work.
3. Review progress - study employee
reports and take corrective action
where necessary. (Expert)
Management must be willing to listen
to all ideas that all management and
employees have. Management needs to
respect the good ideas that the employees
have. If they make employees feel like they
have something to offer they will be willing
to come up with great ideas that can help the
business out.
The effects on an Employee
Employees play a big role in bottom-
up management. They are given
responsibility to help management build up
and grow a business. In the article
“Management Theories X Y and Z –
Managing from the Bottom-Up”, it gives
three responsibilities that employees have.
“Individual employees have bottom-
up responsibilities to management:
1. Participate in the planning process -
review work specifications and give
feedback; estimate amount of time to
perform an assignment; assist in the
calculation of work schedules with
management.
2. Perform work within time and costs
constraints.
3. Report activities to management -
including the use of time,
interferences, and possible delays.”
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(Expert)
With this approach employees are
treated as if they could be a manager and they
are expected to act as such.
If employees do not show there
managers that they have what it takes to put
input in, then they will not take you seriously.
When an employee shows that they have the
company‟s wealth at heart, the management
will give that employee much more freedom
then they could ever want.
Why is Bottom-up
Management Better?
The reason the bottom-up manager is
so successful is because everyone has a stake
in the company. The managers do not have to
always be watching the workers. They can
focus on the important things in the business.
Managers can leave the employees to
themselves to get the job done in the fastest
way possible.
Employees feel empowered to
actually take more responsibility in the
business that they are a part of. With the new
responsibilities for the employees, they are
able to really focus on the task that they are
given then expound upon them if it is going
to help the company to grow.
How Companies have grown
With the implementation of bottom-up
management becoming more and more
common in the workplace, companies
continually are experiencing greater
quantities of growth. Companies are finding
the value that the bottom employees can add.
There are countless ways that these
companies are finding the advantages.
Google, for example, has a culture with all its
employees that is unheard of in most
organizations. They allow twenty percent of
their employee‟s time to be dedicated to
projects that they want. This allows
innovation by hundreds of individuals,
instead of just the leadership. Many new and
exciting ideas that become multimillion dollar
success come from the employee, not the
manager. If companies can catch the essence
of what is happening here, they will have
large potential for invaluable success.
Employees help the company to grow
a lot more then in top-down management.
They are given the opportunity to show the
managers new ideas that will help the
company to save money, become more
innovative, and much more efficient.
Managers do not have to worry about
if the employees are going to be able to
handle the position that they are hired for.
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How Employees are
empowered
Employees that are allowed to share
and express their ideas freely are much more
likely to enjoy what they do, which in turn
will increase their work outflow and increase
revenues. There are two key benefits that you
don‟t get with top-down assignments
according to the Behence Team. If you
assign a team to execute a project without
first gauging their interest and gathering their
feedback, you may miss a valuable
opportunity to refine the idea behind the
project or to understand why it shouldn‟t be
executed on at all. (Team) Employees will
work harder and more ideas will come forth.
Employees have more freedom to be
creative in this business model. Unlike top
down management were you are given a
project and then that is what you do. It is like
working on an assembly line put your nut and
bolt together. In bottom up management the
employee is given more responsibility to be
innovative. This really helps a company to be
able to get into the small areas of the business
to find ways to save money for the company.
How everyone is a Leader
Ultimately every company gets to
make the decision as to which management
style they will implement and why. There is
no set rule or guidelines that they have to
follow. Hopefully this article has helped
show how everyone can be a leader in their
own area of expertise and hopefully add some
sort of value to their company. The
possibilities are limitless. The constant battle
for success will continue. In this business
model everyone can become a leader in their
own area of their position.
Conclusion
As shown in the research, both of these styles
of leadership are important for all companies
and even individual people. Finding the best
solution for your business is important to the
success of your company as well as the
employees that are part of the organization.
For the majority of businesses, bottom-up
management is more efficient then top-down
management. Top-down is effective in
factory type jobs where there is set positions
that don‟t have much change to them. With
bottom-up management, this is where the
employees are able to help management to
make the business more productive. These
are more of the service based business. Find
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the type of management that is right for you
and go with it.
Bibliography
Expert, T. (2010, October 21). Management
Theories X Y And Z. Retrieved
February 14, 2011, from
http://www.articlesbase.com/time-
management-articles
Filev, A. (2009, September 16). Top-Down
and Bottom-Up Project Management.
Retrieved February 15, 2011, from
Project Shrink:
http://www.basdebaar.com/top-down-
and-bottom-up-1936.html
Team, B. (2009, May 13). A Bottom-Up
Approach to Staffing. Retrieved
February 15, 2011, from Open Forum:
http://www.openforum.com/idea-
hub/topics/managing/article/a-bottom-
up-approach-to-staffing-jocelyn-k-glei
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Social
Media Katie Fikes and Brent Carver
Social media is defined by Wikipedia
as, “the use of web-based and mobile
technologies to turn communication into
interactive dialogue.” (social media, 2011)
In the 21st century social media has become a
major competitor to the once dominating
forms of media such as newspapers,
television, and magazines. The main
difference between
traditional media and social
media is the ability of social
media to allow the majority
of people to publish with
little to no cost or
specialized skill that can be
easily altered; whereas,
traditional media is generally
privately or government owned, takes training
to create a product, and once it is printed it is
final. The main forms of social media include
blogs, social networking (such as Facebook,
My Space, and Twitter), content communities
(You Tube, Skype, Photo Bucket), and review
and opinion sites (ask, yelp, Ehow.)The ease
and low cost of has allowed the general
public to share their ideas, and connect with
people across the world. On the business side
social media has created a low cost platform
for companies to ad campaigns and a new
avenue for gathering information about their
customers that allows companies to target
them directly. This new method of
communication has completely revolutionized
the way in which business is done today and
as new technologies are developed social
media will be taken to the next level.
How social media has revolutionized modern
business
Over the past two
years one can see the
impact that social media
has had on companies
and business throughout
the world. The main
ways that doing business
has changed are more
efficient customer service, altered marketing
techniques, and new methods of acquiring
information about the customer. By taking a
look at some business dealings with social
media one can see the affect it has had on
their business.
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Care One Debt Relief is a prime
example of how social media has
revolutionized customer service. Care one
opened an online community in 2006 which
allowed people to register with the site and
ask questions about consolidation, budgeting,
and debt relief. In 2009, the company
decided to become active in social media such
as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The
original reason for this was to spread the
word about the
online community
and to interact with
existing customers.
However, Care One soon discovered after
those who frequented their social media sites
were actually prospects with questions.
These questions gave Care One the
opportunity to demonstrate to their value by
helping these individuals and connect to their
prospects on a different level. Through study
of where conversions to the online
community came from Care One was able to
determine that having the person connection
through social media led to a 25-28 day
buying cycle instead of a buying cycle as
short as 30 minutes. Prospects that used Care
One‟s social media sites filled out the initial
consultation form at a 179% higher rate than
the average customer. As for sales, those
brought in by social media were over twice as
likely to make their first payment. Care
One‟s experience with using social media as a
platform for customer
service is a great
example of how social
media can create a personal connection with
the customer which in turn helped to generate
a large amount of business for the company.
(Falls, 2011)
In 2010, Wheat Thins started integrated their
social media with their ad campaigns which
not only brought a connection straight to the
customers, but also has created enthusiasm
with the Wheat Thin
brand. Currently,
Wheat Thins has a
series of commercials
that originally aired on
YouTube, after going
viral then where put
on television. These commercials involve
people who have had positive tweets about
Wheat Thins and then are ambushed in
various manners by a team of Wheat Thin
spokespeople who give some type of Wheat
Thin gift in return. With these commercials
and updated Facebook and Twitter accounts
the company has repositioned the brand
perfectly for the young adult age group, with
a fairly reduced cost considering that
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YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are all free
forms of publicity. (Lukovitz, 2010)
Oreo by Nabisco has recently launched a
international campaign due to studying the
customers
visiting the
social
media
websites
and tailoring their campaigns to them. Until
August 2009 Oreo had their social media sites
geared specifically toward American
customers. However, upon further research it
was discovered that over 2.5 million fans of
the Oreo Facebook site were from outside the
United States. Oreo then took this
information and recreated their social media
sites to reflect a more global market, which
includes having a world fan of the week and
what is happening in other countries with the
Oreo brand. Without social media sites it
would have been very costly to target such a
large audience across the globe, and it also
would have been hard to gauge just how
many people across the world were Oreo
customers. However, with social media it
costs very little to reach a large audience and
the company was able to quickly change their
site to reflect changes in the customer base.
(Elliot, 2010)
How consumers connect with
social media
In today‟s world social media has
completely revolutionized how people
interact with everything around them. Being
able to communicate and keep in touch with
anyone anywhere in the world at any time
with minimal cost has allowed people to keep
and develop deeper more personal
relationships at a distance. Social media has
also allowed for consumers to find and
explore new products that others have
recommended that would not have been
discovered otherwise. In a recent study done
by OTX Research it was determined that 70%
of consumers use social media sites as a
resource for finding data on companies,
businesses, and products. Also, just by
having a representative of the product or
company reach out and contact the potential
customer on social media sites is said to be
much more effective in influencing consumer
behavior than advertisements. (Swain, 2009)
Social Media and
Globalization
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Social media has claimed its presence
in the world today and is not going away
anytime soon. With the development of
popular social sites many different countries
and types of people can communicate one
with another. We can see in many ways how
the U.S economy is striving to make
international
business more
effective and
easy, and it all
starts with the
internet. The internet, as a
whole, is not a new idea, but when coupled
with a place where people can meet online
and socialize, it takes on a whole new
meaning. Taylor says: „the question isn‟t
whether or not it makes sense to
delve into social networks, it is
more if you are going to pay
attention to a medium that
messages now have a life of their
own…. if you want to help your
client/customers succeed in this new 21st
century then you must embrace social media
because that is the trend…‟ (Taylor, 2011).
Here Taylor blogs about the change that is
taking place with internet based social media
and how we as business owners and online
customers can accept the change and use it to
our advantage, or to have someone else take
advantage. It is important to look at this
technological change as possibly the quickest
way to reach customers. There is an important
statistic that gives depth to this idea, “There
are 9 million blogs out there, with 40,000 new
ones popping up each day” (S.B. 2008, pg. 1).
Many people are somewhat familiar with
popular social media vehicles like Facebook
or Twitter, but that doesn‟t count the millions
of blogs that are written by many different
people. Blogs are written by businesses,
customers, and family to perhaps explain
product development, product usage, or
simply everyday life. Blogging is quickly
becoming one of the best ways to spread
detailed information without the added
pressure of signing up for something or fear
of clicking the wrong button.
Blogging can be done by anyone
in the world and as internet users
find material online that they can
trust they will keep going back to
that blogger making this a very
effective way of communication. Businesses
will sometimes hire popular bloggers (that
have a trustworthy reputation) to write about
products and pay them for their services.
Slideshare.net says, “Social network users are
three times more likely to trust peer opinions
over advertising when making purchase
decisions (Slideshare, 2011, pg. 1). This
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statistic puts a number and a figure to exactly
how useful social media vehicles are. If using
social networks helps link the gaps of worry
and anxiety, then we can only expect to see
more people join networks to link with those
people they can trust. The time has now come
where spreading technology can be done on a
global scale and makes it easier than ever to
be a customer or business associate.
Negative Affects of Social Media
on Business
It is very clear and obvious how we
can add value to customers and businesses by
using internet social media vehicles to spread
information online, but how did we survive
before it all began? Before the cutting edge of
social media we still had the internet, and
users would search online for popular sites
that they saw advertisements for or heard
from word of mouth. One of the benefits of
previously not having social media vehicles
has been privacy. Now days when we sign up
for Facebook or Twitter we add information
about ourselves like our age, location,
interest, etc. As internet social media vehicles
continue to develop, so does our privacy
become more visible and vulnerable. Privacy
is not the only thing to worry about, Cathers
says: „If you throw all types of social media
icons on your page (Facebook, twitter,
YouTube) and you promote that your
company/business is social, then you can look
a little irresponsible or unreliable if you don‟t
update your pages often…..Also if you put
lots of information on your pages, then you
reveal too much to your
competitors who then
can plan ahead from
that information‟
(Cathers, 2007).
Businesses and bloggers
are sometimes so quick to put the
symbols for Facebook (F) or Twitter (T) on
their social media sites thereby giving the
impression that they are up-to-date with the
trends. One of the negative aspects of doing
this as mentioned before is if internet site
information is kept up-to-date. It can really
hurt the impression and break the trust of
customers if they see information online that
is obsolete. In addition, what types of
problems arise if businesses are putting too
much information about their company on
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social sites? Businesses have a great strategy
at times to try to put trust into customers‟
minds and hearts by putting information
about businesses or products, but they are
making themselves vulnerable to the power of
competitors. Competitors can then take their
competitions‟ information and plan ahead by
taking the necessary steps to create a
competitive edge. There are many reasons
why the creation of internet social media
vehicles has a negative impact on the future
of internet business, and some will continue
to believe it is unsafe or premature to stay
with the trends.
Future of Social Media
We started off hearing from
businesses and products from television
advertisements. Next, the internet came
around and we saw flashy
advertisements that you could
click on to see further information.
Now we are in the trend of social
sites like Facebook and Twitter
which seems to be the focal point
for advertisers to advertise anything and
everything, but where is the next step? Some
believe the key to the next step is in mobile
devices in association with social media.
Wikipedia says: „There are really two basic
ways to categorize the future of mobile social
media networks: the first is those companies
that try to partner with mobile phone carriers,
and the second refers to those companies that
are not paired with such carriers and find
other ways to attract users‟ ( Wikipedia, 2011,
pg. 1). Foursquare has recently been
developed for the purpose of letting your
friends know where you are. Foursquare
works with the GPS idea and has created a
way to socialize by allowing your friends to
know what businesses you‟ve gone to or what
activity you are doing. It is an incentive based
mobile application that allows you to collect
points that you can later redeem for prizes or
coupons. Currently the benefit of using
Facebook or Twitter is to be in a place that all
of your friends are at; to make it easier and
more convenient. But the future of social
networks goes one step further by trying to
keep attention with such programs as the
foursquare incentive program. The key to
the future of social media is to create a need
for people to use services, and the best way
Foursquare has done that is to offer
collateral for its services. Another similar
technology is called Juicecaster. Juicecaster is
also a mobile based application that makes it
easier to send images and information from
mobile phone to mobile phone. We can
expect to see similar programs that try to
create needs and benefits for customers to use
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services. It seems like those companies and
social media vehicles that are first on the
scene are the most successful. The best way
to be the first on the scene is to create a
unique business idea and pair with a popular
company; in this context trying to pair with a
popular mobile phone provider like Apple.
The future of social networks will probably
be more and more visible as mobile phone
technology advances and more services are
provided to make life easier.
In conclusion, we all may have our
own opinions on the effectiveness or use of
social media vehicles, but one thing we can‟t
deny is that social media trends do exist. We
are in a world where maybe the most popular
thing to do is to go on social media sites or
vehicles and communicate with our friends.
Some people utilize social media to find
business information, business deals, or
consumer information; and others may choose
to be an independent worker that blogs about
the newest things in life. The history of
advertisement and communication leads us to
believe that we will continue to see social
media sites that are free to sign up for, but
that are supported by advertisers. There are
both upsides and downsides of the usefulness
of social media in relationship to business
usage, but since the creation of popular social
media sites, we will likely see more
businesses and
consumers
trying to
connect. As
social media
expands more
in the mobile
area we will likely see more and more
interaction between friends, colleagues, and
partners. The idea behind
successful business strategies is based on
improving the quality of life, and social
media are developing better and better ideas
in order to do that.
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Evolution
of
Leadership
in Business Sylvester Peter Brown & Shane Jones
One of the most multifaceted and
complex phenomena to which organizational
and psychological research have been applied
to is leadership. The techniques and power of
a leader in the business environment is still
somewhat of a new topic of research. The
term “leader” has been in use since the early
1300‟s; however, the term “leadership” has
only been in existence since the late 1700‟s.
In our society it is hard to picture a world
without effective leadership which makes it
hard to believe that scientific research on the
topic did not begin until the 20th
century.
Since that time intensive research has been
done addressing leadership and its value
towards companies and organizations. There
has been a long history of evolution in
leadership. There have been many leadership
era‟s which have helped shape the importance
of great leaders in our world. After reviewing
past era‟s and their effect on leadership
perspectives we will then observe the current
state of leadership in our society. Also, we
will introduce some research geared towards
shaping the future of leadership.
“Of all the hazy and confounding
areas in social psychology, leadership theory
undoubtedly contends for the top nomination.
And, ironically, probably more has been
written and less known about leadership than
about any other topic in the behavior
sciences.” This quote by Warren Bennis in
1959 implies how psychologically involved
leadership is. The effects a great leader can
have on an employee are immeasurable which
can make it a difficult value to put a price on.
In our effort to characterize leadership eras
we have decided not to list the historical lines
of leadership in chronological order. This is
because breakthroughs in leadership research
have occurred within short time periods and
many ideas have subsided simultaneously.
Also, it is tough to say that the different eras
of leadership theory have been always been
moving in a positive direction. Instead, we
will address in order relevance; therefore,
each new era will contain a higher stage of
development in leadership. While discussing
past leadership eras we must note that the
emphasis will be on the thought process
behind the transformation form era to era.
Leadership Theory in the Past
1. Personality Era. The first formal
leadership theories took place during the
personality era of leadership advancements.
The idea behind this era is that current
researchers would focus on great men, and
some women, during the course of world
history. By using research directed toward the
successful traits of these successful people,
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researchers would categorize great leaders as
those who copied their personalities and
behaviors. During this period linked great
leadership with personalities, some even
linked great leadership qualities to values of
inheritance. It did not take long however to
see that great historical leaders had differing
personalities, such as Alma, Hitler, and
Gandhi. After failures in imitating
personalities the personality era focused on
specific traits, which if adopted would result
in enhanced leadership capabilities.
Researchers quickly acknowledged that group
of traits directly affected leadership qualities.
Due to their simplistic approach on
leadership, the personality era has basically
become extinct. It is important to keep in
mind however that this era, as well as each
additional era, has set the stage for the next
through process of trial and error.
2. Influence Era. This era recognized
that leadership actually deals with
relationships between individuals. The
concentrated aspects of this era are power and
influence. The influence era attempted to link
leadership effectiveness to the source of one‟s
power and how it was used to command.
Dictatorial leaders used succeeded using this
method of leadership in a controlling nature.
Of course, in our day we do not consider this
approach to leadership effective. Especially in
today‟s business world, the exertion of top to
bottom influence is very inappropriate due to
the lack of consideration towards the wants
and needs of your followers. As the influence
era evolved coercion was removed from
possible traits needed for successful
leadership. The great leader tag was still
closely related to personal dominance. The
dominant leader approach is still widely used
in contemporary management despite
growing realization of the limitations that are
attached, such as the power of lower
participants.
3. Behavior Era. The behavior era
was the first era that began to emphasize the
actions of leaders opposed to the inheritance
of power or their personality traits. This
major advancement in leadership theory is
easily defined as a subset of human behavior.
This breakthrough was the first move toward
improving business environment due to
advancements in leaders within the business.
This era helped provide practicing managers
to improve their leadership effectiveness.
Finally, in this era it has been noticed that any
person has the potential to become a great
leader. Researchers in this are studied the
different behaviors of bad and great leaders;
also, researchers would study the typical
patterns of great leaders.
4. Factor Era. The situation advanced
leadership theory by acknowledging the
importance of factor beyond the leader and
the subordinate. Some examples of these new
found leadership factors are the types of
tasks, the social status of the leader and
subordinates, the relative position of power of
the leader and subordinates, and the external
surroundings. These situational aspects play a
very large role in determining different
leadership traits, such as: leader traits, skills,
influence, and behaviors. In this period
researchers noticed that leaders and
subordinates roles are defined by mutually
confirmed expectations concerning one
another. The main contributing concept of
this era is that it essentially combined
environmental and social parameters. The
combination of these parameters advanced
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leadership theory because it helped shape the
importance of group influences.
5. Contingency Era. This era
recognized that great leadership qualities
were not found in any of the traits mentioned
earlier particularly, but rather contained
elements of them all. Therefore, great
leadership is dependent on one or more of the
factors of behavior, personality, influence,
and situation. This breakthrough excited
research and created a large buzz of
contingency theories. Researchers in this era
started to link great leaders with the situation
they were put in. They found that different
traits suited certain industries much better.
This era also started to show the added value
to leadership that occurred when change in
your behavioral approach to an issue widened
the degree of influence.
6. Transactional Era. Differentiation
and social interaction helped shape the
following era known as the transactional era.
This era revitalized the importance of
influence between a leader and the
subordinate. This era also focused on the
transactions exchanged between the leader
and subordinate which shaped their
relationship. A breakthrough within this era
was acknowledging that different
subordinates responded differently from
previous transactions. New traits of great
leaders also become known, such as:
accepting diverse personalities and adapting
to them, the ability to increase participation
from less able members, and also they are
more tolerable of deviants. This era helped
shape how leaders emerge from the field of
other employees. Researchers found that the
leaders will act as role models to those equal
to or below their position. They found that
great leaders create positive expectations for
the future and have the ability to influence
others to hop on board with your ideas. A
great leader showed the ability to adjust their
behavior to subordinates various maturities,
interpersonal skills, and competence.
7. Anti-Leadership Era. The anti-
leadership era started to really look outside
the box. Due to research results of great
leaders not having a constant underlying
variable, researchers started to believe that
perhaps there was no articulate concept called
leadership. Many researchers thought it may
be necessary to stop research of the leadership
position. It was then argued that leadership
was only a perceptual phenomenon that took
place in the mind of the subordinate. Within
this era however, there came advancements
that resurrected the leadership importance
within a business. It became evident that
characteristics of the subordinate and the
organization can prevent a productive leader
from affecting subordinate performance. This
point of view helped researchers see that in
cases of substitutes and neutralizers of
leadership needs have been previously shaped
by leaders during an earlier stage.
8. Culture Era. This era realized that
leadership is not a phenomenon that tied in
only with individuals or small groups but
within the entire organization. This era also
touched base with an important
acknowledgment; leadership not only could
affect the quantity of work completed but also
could increase the value of quality work.
Researchers discovered that if a leader can
create strong culture within an organization,
then employees will react by leading
themselves. This breakthrough is common in
managerial practices today. If this culture is
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established correctly it will result in the
creation of next generation leaders. Therefore,
formal leadership is really in need when there
is a culture change within a company. This
founded the concept that improved leadership
can start at the bottom of the company and
impact its way up to top officials. This made
researchers aware of the vast needs of
leadership at every level of a business. It is
still important however to set the standard
early so that followers will be fueled to lead
themselves.
9. Transformational era. This is the
latest and most promising phase in the
evolution of leadership theory. Its
improvements focus on creating intrinsic,
opposed from extrinsic, motivations.
Researchers found that leaders needed to be
more proactive rather than reactive in their
thinking. Great leaders showed trends of
being more radical rather than conservative
which helped them stick out more than their
fellow employees. Great leaders were also
found to be more innovative and creative;
also, they were not afraid to share their ideas
for improvement and act on them. This new
definition of a leader was better able to
produce enthusiastic commitment from
subordinates. These newfound great leaders
created visions of potential opportunities to
help motivate others. Leaders were found to
be very important in the transition of a
business by creating employee commitment
to change. The perceptions of the employee in
these transitions were very important in their
success. Successful leaders were able to
provide a new and stronger sense of purpose
and meaning. Leadership became a state of
consciousness, rather than a personality trait
or set of skills. The ability to alter your
leadership approach became very important in
day to day leadership techniques. The
phenomenon of the self fulfilling prophecy
helped shape this ere. This phenomenon
showed the importance of prideful work done
by employees. Leaders found out that a good
way to increase motivation is to make the
workers feel as if their work is a very
important factor in the success of the
company. The task of leadership then became
one of building, monitoring, and reinforcing a
culture full of high expectations from
individual performances. Good leaders are
now known as those who ensure completion
of tasks, maintain strategic focus, and
facilitate group discussion; also, subordinates
have been from concerns regarding affiliation
and security to concerns of self actualization,
recognition, and achievement. Sales
compensations to get the most out of sales
representatives are an example of the
transformational era at play.
Leadership Theory Today
As companies and businesses grow
and evolve throughout the years so is it
necessary for leadership styles to also grow
and evolve. As we have seen from the
foregoing arguments and facts, Leadership
has indeed changed faces and styles of
administering. In this section, we are going to
explore and analyze some research findings
about what the new trend of leadership is that
is causing companies and businesses to grow
or match up to the market.
Although this article is geared toward
analyzing the new trends in leadership it
would soon be noticed that under this
segment leadership is not the only thing that
drives the success of the company any more.
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Leadership is just one of the tools or vehicles
by which success is achieved.
Magretta argued that, “the discipline
of leaderhip in business is still quite new.
This process is, however, an unfolding event
in our lifetime. Complexity and specialization
has been the onging trend of business
innovations. During the last several decades,
leadership qualities and skills has lead the
way in making these transitions possible by
getting the most out of their respected
departments”
In a Harvard Business Review,
published in July 2003 titled The Evergreen
Project: Our Research, they discovered that
besides identifying management practices that
can significantly affect a company‟s
performance, they can develop a list of
behaviors that support excellence in each
practice. They came up with four Primary
management practices and four secondary
management practices. The four primary
management practices are: Strategy,
Execution, Culture, and Structure. The four
secondary management practices are: Talent,
Innovation, Leadership, Mergers and
partnerships.
According to the above paragraph on
the findings through research on management
practices that affect a company‟s
performance, we can see that leadership is
actually grouped with the secondary
management practices. In the research there
was a segment on „making 4 + 2 work for
you‟ This simply means that every company
they included in their research always had
those four primary management practices as a
common feature with all of them. When it
came to the secondary management practices
it was different depending on what company
or industry or organization that you are
looking at. In that case they only had at least
2 of the secondary management practices. In
other words, completely focusing on
leadership today is not one of the primary or
key practices that will actually make or break
your company (well having said that it could
be argued that it depends very much on what
kind of business or organization or company
is in question.
Talent
Innovation Leadership Merge
& Partnerships
In the book What Management is, Magretta
said: “These days, there is so much talk about
customer focus that it‟s easy to think that this
perspective is axiomatic, that no one could
conceive of a business working any other
way. In fact, the insight that customers, not
producers, determine what constitutes value is
relatively recent.”
Today, leaders have to have the skill
of thinking outside “the box”. “Merely
knowing the material doesn‟t get you out of
the box. Living it does. And we are not living
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it if we‟re using it to diagnose others. Rather
we‟re living it when were using it to learn
how we can be more helpful to others”
(Leadership and self-deception: Getting out
of the box)
Some attributes of just knowing the material
Self betrayal leads to self-
deception and “the box”
When you are in the box, you
can‟t focus on results
Your influence and success will
depend on being out of the box
“You get out of the box as you cease resisting
other people” (Leadership and self-deception:
Getting out of the box)
Leadership today is more of teamwork ,
supervising and delegation. Anyone with
these skills or qualities will surely succed in
todays market.
Leadership Theory in the Future
“ I beleive here s one principle that
shold be embrasses by all organizations as
they move into the future, and that is
sustainabiliy. How can we endure over
time?”(leader to leader: enduring insights on
leadership from the Drucker Foundation‟s
award winning Journal)
As we go through different faces of
leadership over the years, it is only inspiring
to think what will become of leadership skills
or styles in the future. In a Harvard Business
Review titled “The Walt Disney Company:
The Entertainment King” which was
published January 2009 said, “the Disney
brothers ran their company as a flat,
nonhierarchiacal organization, in which
everyone, including Walt, used their first
names and no one had titles… Although a
taskmaster driven ti achieve creativity and
quality, Walt emphasized teamwork,
communication and cooperation.” Today
Disney has a whole new outlook on
leadership. They have a board of directors
and people go by their respective department
titles. You may ask “why is that?”. Well the
answers may vary a lot but for the purpose of
this article we will bring it down to just one
thing – growth in numbers.
As a company grows there is a lot of things
that come into play. One thing that is going to
be at its peek in the nearest future, which will
surely revolutionize the way leadership
operates in the business fields,is
Globalization.
Globalization is sweeping the whole earth.
Businesses are moving out of their homes and
outsorcing in other nations to cut down
prices, be closer to both capital and other
resources, and bring employment and other
growth opportunities to some developing
countries. The kind of leadership that comes
with globalization is a challenging on. It is
challenging because of the many issues that
needs to be dealt with. Some of these issues
will include the fact that businesses and other
companies will have to know their market.
They will have to know the culture of the
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people. A kowledge about some of the norm
will be very helpful. Some countries by
nature don‟t allow women to be incharge in a
society. This means that for certain
companies who believe in equal rights for
both men and women will face the challenge
of either promoting or sending a qualified and
experienced woman to that region to help
with the growth of that company. Another
issue that can easily be identified is the fact
that leaders will now have to be able to up to
date with the latest news around the world
because what happens in one country could
and would affect another country even if you
have a company there or not.
We need to prepare now for the future of
leaderhip in the globalized economy. This
preparation will have to start on the academic
level where students get to be more exposed
to the world throughcourses that teach about
international business. Students could also be
encourage to learn another language and if
possible participate in internship somewhere
other than their homes. This will help them
get used to the cultures and norms of other
people so that they could compete in this new
realm. Another means of preparation will be
to get familiar with the ways of leadership in
other countries so that you don‟t necessarily
impose your own style of leadership on that
contry when they are not used to it and this
may cause problems for your oragnization.
Conclusion
We believe that leadership theories
have „evolved‟ over the years. As
organizations and business grow there has
been a need for a new look at how roles and
leadership structures should go and look. At
the same time we do recognize that leadership
styles will differ from organization to
organization. This will depend on the fact that
the company is a service organization or a
manufacturing organization. In this report we
have presented theories that are general in
nature and cuts across many organizational
boarders. There are a few observations that
we do recognize and these include the fact
that these theories have evolved according to
the trends in business world. This includes
colonization of other nations, organizations
across nations, organizations that go on the
international market and the fact that in recent
times everyone is thinking of globalization.
Bibliography
Evolution.PDF (application/pdf object) Retrieved
2/24/2011, 2011, from
http://apps.business.ualberta.ca/rfield/p
apers/evolution.PDF
Institute, T. A. (2002). Leadership and self-
deception: Getting out of the box. San
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Magretta, ( 2002). What managemnet is. New
York: The Free Press.
Rukstad, M. G., & Collis, D. (2009). The Walt
Disney Company: The Entertainment
King. Massachusetts: Harvard Business
Publishing.
School, H. B. (2003). Making 4+2 work for you.
Massachusetts: Harvard Business
Publishing.
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