LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS:

LEADER AS A SOCIAL ARCHITECT

Dr. Faridahwati Mohd Shamsudin Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, College of Business Universiti Utara Malaysia

MBA Angkasa Training Centre Shah Alam

Leadership Vision
A dream for the future An attractive, ideal future that is credible yet

not readily attainable Strategic leadership:

Ability to anticipate and envision the future,

maintain flexibility, think strategically, and initiate changes that will create a competitive advantage for the organization in the future

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Examples of Brief Vision Statements (selected)

Ex. 13.2

Motorola
Become the premier company in the world

Ritz-Carlton (Amelia Island) Engineering Dept.

Where no hotel has gone before free of all defects

Johnson Controls Inc.

Continually exceed our customers increasing expectations

New York City Transit

No graffiti

Egon Zehnder
Be the worldwide leader in executive search

Vision

The Nature of the Vision

Ex. 13.3

Current reality

Staying the course

Common Themes of Vision

Vision has broad appeal Vision deals with change Vision encourages faith and hope Vision reflects high ideals Vision defines the destination and the journey

Visionary Leadership
Stimulating vision and action
Link dreams with strategic actions Translate vision into specific goals, objectives, and

plans

Life without vision is drudgery Vision without action is but an empty dream Action guided by vision is joy and the hope of the earth

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Shaping Culture and Values

Culture The set of key values, assumptions, understandings, and norms that is shared by members of an organization and taught to new members as correct Culture strength
The degree of agreement among employees about

the importance of specific values and ways of doing things

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Levels of Corporate Culture

Ex. 14.1
Culture that can be seen at the surface level

Visible
1. Artifacts such as dress, office layout, symbols, slogans, ceremonies

Invisible
2. Expressed values, such as The Penney Idea, The HP Way Underlying assumptions and deep beliefs, such as people here care about one another like a family Deeper values and shared understandings held by organization members

3.

Importance of Culture
1. It integrates members so that they know

how to relate to one another. 2. It helps the organization adapt to the external environment.

Ex. 14.2 Adaptive Versus Unadaptive Cultures

Adaptive Organizational Culture
Visible Behavior
Leaders pay close attention to all their constituencies, especially customers, and initiate change when needed to serve their legitimate interests, even if it entails taking some risks

Unadaptive Organizational Culture

Managers tend to behave somewhat insularly, politically, and bureaucratically. As a result, they do not change their strategies quickly to adjust to or take advantage of changes in their business environments

Expressed Values

Leaders care deeply about customers, stockholders, and employees. They also strongly value people and processes that can create useful change (e.g., leadership initiatives up and down the management hierarchy) Serve whole organization, trust others

Managers care mainly about themselves, their immediate work group, or some product (or technology) associated with that work group. They value the orderly and risk-reducing management processes much more highly than leadership initiatives Meet own needs, distrust others

Underlying Assumption

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Corporate Cultures
Flexibility Clan culture Values: Cooperation Consideration Agreement Fairness Social equality Adaptability culture Values: Creativity Experimentation Risk-taking Autonomy Responsiveness Achievement culture Values: Competitiveness Perfectionism Aggressiveness Diligence Personal initiative Stability
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Internal focus

External focus

Bureaucratic culture Values: Economy Formality Rationality Order Obedience

Ceremony, Story, and Symbol

Ceremony
A planned activity that makes up a special event and is

generally conducted for the benefit of an audience

Story
A narrative based on true events that is repeated

frequently and shared among employees

Symbol
A object, act, or event that conveys meaning to others

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Forces for Change

Force
Nature of the workforce

Examples
More cultural diversity Aging population Many new entrants with inadequate skills

Technology

Faster, cheaper, and more mobile computers On-line music sharing Deciphering of the human genetic code
Rise and fall of dot-com stocks 200002 stock market collapse Record low interest rates Global competitors Mergers and consolidations Growth of e-commerce
2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic shocks

Competition

Forces for Change

Force
Social trends

Examples
Internet chat rooms Retirement of Baby Boomers Rise in discount and big box retailers IraqU.S. war Opening of markets in China War on terrorism following 9/11/01

World politics

E X H I B I T 191 (contd
2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

Managing Planned Change

Change Making things different. Planned Change Activities that are intentional and goal oriented. Change Agents Persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities.
Goals of Planned Change:
Improving the ability of the organization to adapt to changes in its environment. Changing the behavior of individuals and groups in the organization.

2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

The Eight-Stage Model of Planned Organizational Change

1. Establish a sense of urgency 2. Form a powerful guiding coalition 3. Develop a compelling vision and strategy 4. Communicate the vision widely

8. Make the change stick 7. Keep up urgency to tackle bigger problems 6. Generate short-term wins 5. Empower employees to act on the vision
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A Range of Everyday Change Strategies

Disruptive selfexpression Variable-term opportunism

Private Leader working alone

Verbal Jujitsu Strategic alliance-building

Public Leader working with others

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